SYLLABUS
ART
380 -01/-03
(2D
Computer Graphics Animation)
CALIFORNIA
STATE UNIVERSITY LOS ANGELES
Professor
Jim Ovelmen
jim@jimovelmen.com
Jim.Ovelmen@calstatela.edu
LAB HOURS FOR THIS CLASS: PLEASE SEE
SCHEDULE POSTED OUTSIDE THE DOOR FA-225
Office: |
FA 227 |
*Office Hours: |
9 to 10:50am, 4-4:10pm Tuesdays &
Thursdays |
Phone: |
Ext. 3-4033 |
Class Location |
Rm. FA 225, Art Department |
Term/Year |
WINTER 2008, beginning January 3rd |
Course Length |
10 weeks + finals day |
Meeting Time |
Sec.
01: 10:50am to 1:20pm,
Tues. & Thurs.
Sec.
03: 1:30pm to 4:00pm, Tues.
& Thurs. |
*Please make an Appointment in the Art Office
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COURSE
DESCRIPTION |
This course introduces students to basic priciples
of both lifelike and exaggerated animation via the use of 2D digital
animation tools, namely Toom Boom Studio. Through increasingly challenging
class assignments, students will learn fundamental concepts and practices
in creating basic character through both drawing and cut-out animation,
which will prepare them for future courses, assignments, or positions
requiring this as an expected skill.
The key ingredient in lifelike animation lies
in weight and timing. This concept has many relatives including: exaggeration,
anticipation, overlapping action, etc. These items will be focused upon
throughout all weeks of instruction.
Students will learn how to create animated content
which may be used for the web, broadcast, short subject, or as well
as an introduction to the feature animated pipeline.
Students are also encouraged to experiment in
their final project with different sources of 2D content including importing
scanned flat-art from a variety of sources.
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PREREQUISITES |
Art180, Introduction
to Computer Graphics |
INSTRUCTIONAL
METHODS |
Class lectures,
in-class assignments, and project related demonstrations will be provided
from original or researched content. Supplemental homework assignments,
specific tutorials from published sources may be given. Most of these
assignments are, of course, to be done exclusively outside the hours
of class time.
The expecation is 3 to 6 hours per week working
outside of class on project assignments and homework. Lab hours will
be posted.
There are literally thousands of books and online tutorials on animation.
I have listed recommendations of texts and URLs for specific study into
relavant topics. I will also distribute or web publish, images, and
other reference materials to supplement your studies.
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TEXTBOOK
(s)
Assignments may be given out of these selected
texts
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-Timing
for Animation,
by Harold Whitaker and John Halas, Focal Press ISBN 0-240-51714-8
-The
Illusion of Life,
Disney Animation Walt Disney Productions ISBN 0-7868-6070-7
-The
Animator’s Reference Book
, Les Pardew & Ross WolfleyThompson Course Technology, USBN 1-59200-675-2
-The
Animators Survival Kit, by Richard Williams, Faber, ISBN 0-571-20228-4
-Cartoon
Animation, by Preston Blair, Walter Foster, ISBN 1-56010-084-2
-Understanding
Comics, Scott McCould, ISBN 0-06-097625-X
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OTHER
SOURCES |
click
for text list (Word file) |
EDUCATIONAL
OUTCOMES
upon completing this course the student should
be able to: |
-Demonstrate
knowledge and proficiency at timing, weight, and locomotion of an lifelike
animated content.
-Have a proficiency of the Drawing and Sceneplanning
tools in Toon Boom studio, with the ability to design, create and animated
characters and/or elements in an animated scene(s)
-Create a high-quality, expressive, short animated
film, ready for broadcast, the web or short presentation.
-Obtain an understanding of 2D planning of the
animated production, including the workflow of staging scenes, templates,
and framing the story.
-Have a deep understanding of essential animation
concepts and appreciation of the underpinnings of the craft and artform
through exposure to historical and contemporary examples; which will
broaden their experience, thus, approach to the animated form.
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PHYSICAL
SUPPLIES |
-USB
Flash Drive (1 GIG recommended)
-Large sketchbook, graph paper, Pencils, markers,
and other drawing materials
-a small mirror |
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CLASS INTRODUCTION and SURVEY of 2D ANIMATION
· Personal intros (Professor then Students) -instructor
demo and student interview
· Intro to classic 2D animation history and evolution
to 2D Digital, both technology and cultural changes in styles and purposes...
History of Animation: in a succinct timeline: click
here:
· Discussion
of early animation, Victorian era curios:
· Magic Lantern 1671, Zoetrope
1832 , Phenakistascope
1933, flipbook 1868
· Muybridge's Zoopraxisope
1879, and...animals
· Gertie
the Dinosaur 1914, and
more
·1920's Otto Messmer, Felix,
to Steamboat Willie
and out of the Silent Era
·1930's Fleischer Betty
Boop. Koko
(rotoscoping)
· full (feature) animation, Snow
White 1937, Momotaro's
DSW1944
· Waner Bros. Looney Tunes 1930-1969
· limited animation: 1950's (nonrealistic), UPA Gerald
McBoinBoing,
· limited animation: 1960's, TV, Yellow
Submarine G. Dunning '68, The
Dot and the Line C. Jones '65,
· anime and TV : SR,
SRj, Astroy
boy, Gigantor,
C.C.
· experimental, cut-out animation, Adventures
of Prince Achmed 1926
· jump to contemporary, autuer/independent animation: how
to kiss, rejected,
David Shrigley:
what
happens..., who
I am...
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· Intro to 2D digital animation and design concepts
· Intro to Toon Boom Studio, vector explanation. Navigating
in Drawing View: Z/X zooming, Spacebar tracking.
· Creating basic shapes and manipulating lines, drawing, and
color.
· Practice drawing in the Camera View: Practice at the Brush
Tool/Center-line Tools
· study of basic timing of inanimate objects
· Exporting short movies as QTs (or AVI's) and/or exporting
to Flash (.swf)
· Creating Color Swatches, create and color a character.
· More explanation of the X-sheeet and managing keys/exposures
· Learning keyboard shortcuts
IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENT: Squash and Stretch bouncing ball
animation: utilizing two techniques: Straight Ahead
Animation & Pose-to-Pose (or Key-to-Key) Animation
HOMEWORK: download the TB Tutorial (below) and read the Introduction:
Intro
Toon Boom Tutorial
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BOUNCING BALLS and the
ESSENCE OF TIMING
Intro to Toon Boom drawing mode, drawing tools, x-sheet; copy, moving,
adding removing exposures. working in Elements. Priciples of layering/Exposure,
Auto-Light and Onion-skinning. Exporting Movie, x-sheet.
· Learning keyboard shortcuts
Essential Properties and Tools of Animation:
· two approaches to drawn animation: STRAIGHT-AHEAD
and POSE-to-POSE
field size, x-sheet,
ball-bounce full,
Bowling ball down,
ball-bounce Part1,
ball-bounce Part2,
ball compare, inanimate
object nature, anything
a ball, parabolas,
water balloon, weight
and force, fast action
antic
Apply these concepts in Toon Boom:
· Creating elements: drawing, image. make a background, understand
exposure, layering, navigation and TB's x-sheet
HOMEWORK: animate a ball bouncing; one with the "straight
ahead" method, one with the "pose-to-pose" method
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· introduce concept of pegs for attaching camera and for elements,
and the upcoming choice between pose-to-pose animation (individual drawings,
and tweened animation via animated pegs.
· Creating a SQUASH-and-STRETCH animation (Bouncing Ball)
· can also copy and paste
same ball into exposures, but must PASTE OBJECT if
you want to see placement change. (you must also click once again in
the Drawing View)
· convenient hotkeys: a=PrevExp, s=NextExp, r=AddExp, e=RemExp,
R=AddBlank, E=RemBlank....to see more: keyboard
shortcuts
HOMEWORK:
1) making drawings in the X-SHEET, creating animation with
a variety of weights: BOWLING BALL, BALLOON, SOCCER BALL, and/or WATER
BALLOON.
2) Finish Drawing/Painting Assignment "Character and Background"
3) Read ToonBoom tutorial:"Drawing and Painting. (click
on link below)
Drawing
& Painting in Toon Boom Tutorial
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CUT-OUT ANIMATION and its WORKFLOW
some historical and contemporary cut-out animated films:
Anthony Lucas: Holding
Your Breath, The
Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
Lotte Reiniger, the Little
Chimney Sweep, Secret
of the Marquise, Hansel
and Gretel, Prince
Achmed,
Walter Ruttman
American History
South Park,
back to Toon Boom: Sceneplanning Mode:
· Show sceneplanning and the timeline
· Show pegs, explain and create peg animation
HOMEWORK:
1) Using your painted "Character and Background"
from last week, put the background on one Motion Path, and your character
on another animated peg. Add some flair to the peg's motion path (you
can go back in space to make it look like the character's coming from
the distance to the foreground)
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· Understanding layering, and different Play>Previews: use
a character and BG for tests.
· In X-Sheet: L is Top, R is bottom; in Timeline: Top to Bottom.
Ctrl-clickDrag to change postion of Element. This is the same as changing
layer order in Timeline. Doing one effects the other as well.
· Animating drawings/Animating Pegs
· Different Steps for attaching a figure to a Peg, "zero
out", and instant parent-peg.
· Add new cameras, and study natures of each, how to render
differents cams. (the black dot)
· studying a cut-out character and peg hierachies
· tricky differences between drawing and sceneplanning modes
(esp. timeline)
· Sceneplanning Tools: select, transform, rotate, scale and
motion. Pegs can only be seen in Sceneplaaning mode.
· description and understanding of pegs and moving/animating/attaching
pegs, reminder about adding exposures R and E, adding blank cells shift+R,
shift+E,
· discuss creating of Final Project (short)
· creating a cutout character, building pegs and hierachies.
· Demo a cut-out character (in 4.0) and/or recreate a very simple
peg/character hierachy
FIRST PROJECT [15 points]
cut-out, jumping character
ASSIGNED 2nd Class of Week3, DUE: 2nd class of
WEEK 4
1) Create/prepare a simple character for cutout
animation. Each moving part of your character must be drawn on a different
Element. Build a hierarchy of Pegs in Sceneplanning FIRST. Then attach
all your cutout parts to the logical components of your hierachy. Make
sure to move the rotation pivots where they need to be. Test your character
to make sure it moves properly and limited "gapping". (this
is called the RIGGING process).
2) Animation your character doing a simple JUMP.
limbs and head can overlap animate to fling in the air, then settle,
landing back on the ground, some sense of wieght, overlap, anticipation
and timing shound be displayed.
3)Put this jumping character also on a Peg which
is animated (ie: West to East), so that the figure appears to jump in
a parabolic arc.
4) create a simple background/environment your
character is jumping within.
EXPORT THE RESULT TO A MOVIE
(due second class of next week)
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BODY MECHANICS and DESIGN
timing priciples:
anticipation explained,
antic grab, antic
cartoon, follow through,
flag_cycle, stick_and_string,
force,
body mechanics and anatomy:
Human Anatomy, joints,
pelvis, rib
cage, arcs, arcs_movie,
spine, shoulders,
skull and jaw,
Character Concepts
character design
concepts,
Character Exercise (lift)
animating a
lift,
Walk Cycle Concepts:
walk description,
walk description_2,
walk mechanics,
Walk Cycles:
basic walk, even
more walks, more walks,
overlap,vibration,
walk moods, norman
walk,
Stylized Walk Cycles:
hick
cycle, pirate
simple,
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· FIRST PROJECT DUE at the beginning of class,
review student work.
-Human Locomotion Animations:
dive, lift_2D,
lift_3D, pull,
push,
-Walk Cycle Animation:
basic walk,
angry walk,
cool walk, depressed
walk, dreamy
walk, happy
walk, macho
walk, run, run_away,
run_toward,
skip, sneak,
tip toe
· Animal Locomotion Animations:
dog_canter,
cartoon_dog,
dog_gallop,
dog_trot, horse_gallop,
horse_trot,
horse_walk,
panto_horse,
cat_walk, cow_walk
IN CLASS ASSIGNMENT:
-Create Another cut out character, this time draw it in a SIDE VIEW.
-animate your character lifting a heavy object, see: animating
a lift
if you finish this, with-in class time, then move on to...
-animate your character in a basic walk cycle,
see: basic walk
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MIDTERM PROJECT [25 Points] Walk
Cycle in a MultiPlane (assigned 2nd class of Week 6)
-look over "animated lift" (in-class assignment)
Demo on Motion Paths, creating a later, creating a simple Mulit-Plane
(putting the camera on the peg)
· ToonBoom MOTION POINTS in Motion Paths: adding a CONTROL POINT
(green), (shift-click), as apposed to an KEYFRAME (red) (alt/Option-click)
on your Motion Path.
-turn a CONTROL POINT into a KEYFRAME (click "Lock in Time"
in Properties)
-you can make a character flip or "turn a corner" by adding
a "-1" in scale on the Key.-show FUNCTION EDITOR: (can drag
blue line in function editor to move): you can change the shape of a
motion path (Motion), and you can teak the velocity down the path (Velocity).
In Velocity, you can't move the first and last points, and each point
has a limitatio: (only up-and-down, and limited in height, always sum
to100)
-ADD a function point, by moving the blue line in Function Editor,
or Subtract. This will NOT add or subtract Keys from the timeline. It
will only puts points on the Function Curve.
-Look at the FRAME MARKS, as Velocity INCREASES, there are LESS marks.
· More on Locomotion and Timing: Anticipation, Overlapping Animation,
· Walk Cycle, drawing man, woman, or animal walking, and animating
background· Observation of Nature, weight and locomotion everywhere:
motivation and acting
· discuss story ideas and storyboarding process for Midterm
and Final Projects.
· multi-planing, and controling scene and composition
·Creating multiplane Scenery, recyling imagery using "clone
element"
· Creating multiple Scenes, (Window>Scene Manager)
-Creating cycles in Drawing, Drawn in Exposure Sheet, select drawing>Elements>Cell>Cycle
(this cycles "drawings" bitmaps only)
-Creating Cycles on Cutout Characters: slelect ALL layers of elements
in TIMELINE, copy, then go to the last/next open frame, and paste. The
animation/elements are duplicated.
·Create a timeline for Final Project with weekly deadlines
·Working with the Library
-Creating a template, pick element or layer in timeline>drag to
Library
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Lecture on Acting:
BillieJean, FandB,
see Pixar examples saved to Intructor HD.
Secondary and Tertiary Animation, Getting in and out of Poses.
(go over specific question and solutions for specific projects)
-FIELD OBSERVATION! if its not raining, go outside
(out on campus) find a corner or confortable spot where you can observe
people walking, or if not easy or appropriate, other kinds of nature
(birds, wind moving leaves). BUT look for CYCLICAL movements
and rhythms. Take notes while making sketches of the rhythms
at which living things move in cycles. You can easily count to yourself:
"ONEonethousand, TWOonethousand" Make inferences about the
timing of a walk. ie:How long does it take to take from stride pose
to stride pose? how different is that from person to person.
Make rough sketches of key poses that you think you might use if you
needed to animate them. Make at least SIX observations
on the rythmic cycles of living these and report you findings in you
notebook back in class.
· MIDTERM PROJECT Assignment DUE (beginning of 2d class of Week
6)
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· FINAL PROJECT (assigned
1st Class of Week (description and specs to be announced)
FINAL PROJECT:
BELOW IS THE CRITERIA FOR THE
Final Project (film)
1)The standard and
quality of animation must be very high (matching the most rigorous evaluation
grading cirteria (in blue below)
2)The film should
reflect a SINCERE ATTEMP BY THE STUDENT TO COMMUNICATE something of
personal, or social importance. It does not have to be heavy or hit
the viewer over the head with import. It also can use humor to lead
the viewer to the message, or can be poetic or deep as well.
3)The piece MUST
have something to say to specific audience, group, or general audience.
4)The film must
be AT LEAST ONE MINUTE LONG, without title.
4b) Project FRAME RATE should be set to at least
24 fps, Exported Movie must have 24fps (or the same rate you play back),
and have a resolution of 640x480 (set in Animation Properties) check
this rendersize chart for reference
5)The must have
TITLE and CREDITS.
6)The film must
show a DEFINATE STYLE, a graphic or aesthetic strategy used by the artist.
(see previous examples in week 1 for just a few historical examples)
7)The film must
attempt to master a technique or use: ie :cut-out" animation, pose-to-pose,
and have a unique aethetic (drawing style or look)
8)The film must
have must have an element of sound. The sound may come from a sound
library or be recorded by you. It does NOT have to be lipsynch or synched
sound.
9)The film should
contain camera moves. If the style dictates fewer camera moves, then
this must be supported in you storyboard.
10)The film may
contain multiple scenes, or contain just one scene, depending again
on style and desgin of the story and animation.
11)You must turn
in your 640x480 rendered video as a Quicktime or AVI, and also turn
in the original ToonBoom file, in the same folder with your name, ie:
YourName_Final >
ROUGH STORYBOARDS for the FINAL
PROJECT due, 2nd class of week-7
· introduction to sound and how lipsych is used in Toon Boom,
(phonemes)
· importing your own sound and lipsynch in ToonBoom
· using the automatic lipsynch tool in Toon Boom
Final Project Production
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Staging and Storyboarding
Final Project Production
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Final Project Produciton
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WEEK 10
Special Topics Visited
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Completion and Presentation of Final Project
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