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Assigned: 11.29.2006

Final Project: Putting it all together

Due: December 12th by midnight

This project, like the others, is quite open ended creatively, there are just a series of required items to guide you. All models in this project must be created by you, though you can reuse any models you have made for previous projects.

Requirements
1) 15 seconds of rendered animation
2) 1 or more animated characters
3) Soft shadows and multiple lights (ray tracing optional)
4) At least one animated object (keyframe, motion path, dynamics, etc.)
5) At least 5 objects in the environment
6) At least 1 blend shape animation or other physical transformation of an object, like shatter (can be on the character, the animated object, or an object that one of these interacts with)
7) Materials on all textures, and at least one file texture.
8) At least one animated texture (see lecture 7)
9) The most important item, style! All of your objects should look like they were created by the same person, in the same style. It is completely your choice, but be consistent. Also, be certain of what you are trying to convey with your project. Show it to people and ask them if it is clear. If you get blank stares, it's not done.

Do not turn in something abstract. Abstraction is for the masters. Picasso did thousands of paintings before he developed cubism. I don't want to see distorted primitives flying around randomly. On the other hand, re-creating the "Pink Elephants" scene from Dumbo would be hilarious.

Example project:
Melancholy cartoon looking boy is bouncing a ball, he throws the ball, it hits a lamp, which falls and breaks into 3 pieces. There's a desk, books, and computer in the room.

The example is a very simple project, but could easily be part of a short film. I'd like to see that, if given enough time, you could create your own animated short, and people would want to watch it. If you're not sure about your plan, please feel free to email me with your ideas.

Please stick to the conventions from previous projects for filenames and submission. Create a link to a zipped video file (avi or mov) and put lots of comments in your description. Include your references. Write out how you fulfilled 1-9 of the requirements.

As always, make your project something you enjoy doing.

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Assigned: 11.18.2006

Project 4: Character and Prop Animation in an Environment

Due: Thursday, November 30th (11.30.06) before class

Animate a character, with prop, in an appropriate environment. This can be the same character as project 3 or a new character you have made. The animation is less important than the binding and environment. Show off the binding: have your character do stretches or something. Appropriate means a warrior is in a castle and a ballerina is in a dance studio or on stage.
Find or make a reference video! You do not need to turn it in, it's just helpful for you. Reference images are helpful as well.

Deliverables:
A zip file of
1) At least 10 seconds of high quality rendered video and as many jpeg images as necessary to show the environment.
2) Comments on webCT! Tell us exactly what you did and why you did it that way.
3) You can turn in reference images, but not video, in the zip file.

Filename Convention: last_first_projectname_project_4.avi
Where projectname is something you make up to name your project. If your project is put in the gallery, it will be under the name you've made up.

Grading: (0-10 percent of your total grade)
Binding: 0-2
Character Modeling and Texturing: 0-1
Environment Modeling: 0-3
Definite Style: 0-2
Lighting and Rendering: 0-2

EXTRA CREDIT (Up to 5 Percent):
Write a step by step tutorial on how to model your character. A beginner should be able to follow it. The tutorial should be in pdf format and included in the zip file with your homework. Late extra credit assignments will be penalized just like late homeworks. There is no guarantee that you will be given 5%, it will be judged based on how easy it is to follow and how nice of a result it creates. Be sure to include images of every step, tutorials without images will get few points.

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Assigned: 10.28.2006

Project 3: Character and Prop Modeling

Due: Tuesday, November 14th (11.14.06) before class

Model and texture a character, arms out, palms down, legs apart, with a definite visual style. The character should be looking down the Z axis, just like the Bear we modeled in class.
Your character should be visually engaging and detailed enough to be the main character in a film. This does not mean visual realism, the style can be japanese paintings, cartoons, pixar, hyper real, renaissance, or any other style. You MUST state this style in your comments on WebCT.
If you choose a visual style that is very easy, such as simple cartoons, do not turn in only one character. If it appears that you didn't spend enough time, you will lose points. If you are worried that your character is not detailed enough, turn in a whole family. Make use of the Lattice Deformer to make large general deformations to change one character into another, then add details.
Try to make a character that doesn't need realistic hair. Since hair is made up of hundreds of thousands of strands, it is a pain to deal with. One technique for faking hair will be demonstrated in class.
Your character also needs at least one appropriate prop. Examples: a warrior should have a sword, a child should have a toy car, an old lady should have a nice hat with a feather. If you make several related characters, you do not necessarily need to make a prop for each of them, but it couldn't hurt. The prop should match the style of the character.
Your character should be on a white background with shadows on. This will be demonstrated in class.
This project will take some time, so don't leave it until the last minute. You will have had a month and a half since the last project was due, so my expectations are pretty high.

Deliverables:
A zip file of
1) At least 6 Images (at least 800x600 resolution) of your character from different angles. The character's prop should be next to them.
2) At least 2 reference images or your own character sketches
3) Comments on webCT! Tell us exactly what you did and why you did it that way.

Example Comments (could be even more detailed):
"I used NURBS modeling, in Maya, to create a superhero similar to Pixar's Incredibles. Please see the attached reference images of Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. Please also see the sketches of my character. I chose NURBS because I wanted everything to be very smooth, and I don't expect to export him for an interactive system.
My character has claws like Wolverine and wings like Archangel, but is made in the Incredibles style, only a little darker. I gave him a dark purple spandex suit with his symbol on the front. He's a brooding super hero who works at Best Buy during the day, but is a vigilante by night. His prop is a 32", 200 lb, TV. The reason he has this prop is that he has to be careful not to carry it one handed over his head during his day job, to protect his secret identity."

Filename Convention: last_first_projectname_project_3_imagenumber.jpg
Where projectname is something you make up to name your project. If your project is put in the gallery, it will be under the name you've made up.


Grading: (0-10 percent of your total grade)
Reference Images: 0-1
Character Modeling and Texturing: 0-5
Prop Modeling and texturing: 0-1
Definite Style: 0-2
Scene setup: 0-1

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Assigned: 09.29.2006

Project 2: Animation Hierarchy and Motion Paths

Due: Thursday, October 12th (10.12.06) before class

Create an animation that uses translation (keyframing), rotation in at least 2 dimensions (animation hierarchy), and is tracked by the camera. Depth of field recommended and lens flares are acceptable.

The modeling requirement is that it is obvious what the models are. Try to give them some level of setting, as in, "on a desk", "in a room", or "outside". Make use of polygon smooth as necessary. All objects should have at least a basic material with appropriate settings (color at least). Make use of file textures at your discretion.

Light the scene as you see fit; use Depth Map shadows, soft shadows preferred. Spotlights have similar controls to Camera and Aim, experiment with them if it is appropriate to your scene.

Please see projects 2 and 3 of last spring for ideas and this example video http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~brossen/cgs3034gallery.php
Sample Finder Robot Example

If you choose to use depth of field, please note that in your comments in webct. To recieve extra credit, don't just throw depth of field in to try to get extra credit, it should be used as a tool to direct the viewer's attention. If it causes you significant grief, just don't use it.

If you choose to use dynamics, and want to receive extra credit for it, you must describe where you used motion path animation and where you used dynamics. Place this in the comments of your homework in webct. Be aware of your computer's capability, if you don't have the system hardware available, just don't do dynamics. The lab computers should be able to support up to 4 rigid bodies in single simulation, more than that and you will encounter difficulties.

Total running time, 10 second minimum. Your animation should be at least 10 seconds long. At 24 frames per second, that's 240 frames. Be certain that when you compress your animation, your video editor is set to 24 frames per second.

Render the animation and compress it. (Instructions for this will be put online and shown in class)

Deliverable: a link to a video file. There is a good chance your movie will be too large to upload to webct, so you'll need to learn to create a link to a file through cise or your own resource. YouTube and the like is not acceptable, the quality is too low. Though you are welcome to post what you have made whereever you want.

Filename Convention: first_last_projectname_project_2.ext
Where projectname is something you make up to name your project, and .ext is either .avi or .mov, depending on the compression you use. If your project is put in the gallery, it will be under the name you've made up.

Using Other Packages: Maya is the preferred package for this course, but, if you have extensive experience in another program, you are welcome to use that for modeling and/or rendering. You are (more or less) on your own with any package but Maya. The collada and FBX exporters can be used to transfer between packages, be sure to get the newest update of the exporter for both programs.

Maya PLE: I'm sorry, Maya PLE cannot be used for this project. The watermark makes things too difficult to see and grade. Maya 6.5 in the lab provides nearly all of the same tools as Maya 7 or even Maya 8.

Grading: (0-10 percent of your total grade)
Keyframe Animation: 0-2
Motion Path Animation: 0-2
Camera Animation: 0-2
Modeling: 0-2
Lighting: 0-1
Rendering: 0-1
Depth of field: 0-2 extra
Dynamics: 0-2 extra

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Assigned: 09.03.2006

Project 1: Building a better room

Due: Tuesday, Sept 19th (09.19.06) before class

Part 1: The project is to model, light, and texture a room in 3d. Find a room in real life, this can be your own bedroom, livingroom, or any room you have easy access to. Add as many details as you can manage, the goal being that anyone could recognize that the 3d room is the same room as the real room. Don't add details like modeling every piece of popcorn on the ceiling, use a fractal texture for that. Also, any screws don't need to have the actual relief to insert a screwdriver, they can just be shiny. You don't need to model every item in the room, just the items that make a large impression. Unless you have prior experience, please don't try to model organic objects, like plants. You can remove many details, especially if you don't have a close up on the item. For example, a monitor can have hard edges, and doesn't need to be showing anything on screen. If you have questions about the level of detail, please ask them in class or email me.

Part 2: Model at least two objects that aren't in the room, but you'd like to have there. Like a Gauntlet or Pac-man arcade system, a telescope, or a large pile of gold bricks. Get at least one real image of each item you'll be putting in the room, and submit that with your project. You don't have to take these pictures yourself, find them online. Google images will give you just about anything. Keep in mind, you can take real items out of the room, and replace them with your new items. Be sure to plan ahead and not actually model the items you won't be using. An alternative is to upgrade the real items for better items. For example, if your bed is standing on cinder blocks, maybe you want to model a big wooden four poster, or have it hanging from the ceiling.

Part 3: Take at least 6 photos of the real room, they don't have to be high quality, they can even be taken with your camera phone. These images are a part of your project submission. After you have modeled your room, render it from 6 similar viewpoints from which you took the real life pictures. If you are uncomfortable having the graders see images of a particular room, please don't use that room for this project.

Deliverable (the thing you actually turn in): the set of at least 14 images: at least 6 real photos, 6 rendered jpgs, and 2 images of the items not in the room. Also, include a text file citing any tutorials or textures you used from the internet. You are welcome to use any resources on the internet except for complete models, but you must cite them! The citations need to be a link directly to the tutorial or the book title and page number and a description of how this resource was used. You can also include any side notes or descriptions to the graders in this text file.

Using Other Packages: Maya is the preferred package for this course, but, if you have extensive experience in another program, you are welcome to use that for modeling and/or rendering. You are (more or less) on your own with any package but Maya. The collada and FBX exporters can be used to transfer between packages, be sure to get the newest update of the exporter for both programs.

Maya PLE: I'm sorry, Maya PLE cannot be used for this project. The watermark makes things too difficult to see and grade. Maya 6.5 in the lab provides nearly all of the same tools as Maya 7 or even Maya 8. I have requested that the CISE Sys Admins upgrade the lab machines to Maya 7 or 8 asap, but there are no guarantees.

Grading: (0-10 percent of your total grade)
Using Primitives: 0-1
Combining and deforming primitives: 0-2
Materials and Textures: 0-1
Lighting: 0-1
Detail: 0-3
Rendering: 0-2

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09.03.2006
See projects from last spring