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John Lasseters' Fundamental Principles applied to 3D CGI	Three Walks		Adding the Upper Body, Walking with Character
Class Outline	IK Character Walk		Character Crit teams and forms
printable pdf of the SYLLABUS	SNAFU	The Assignment	Rough Draft 01 Crit teams and forms
		The Process

"The important thing is to keep the important thing the important thing."

-- Albert Einstein

S.N.A.F.U.
Situation Normal,
All F***** Up

In this project, you will depict a character proceeding in a “Normal” activity, that then turns “F***** Up”.

the max file:

SNAFUinTeams04.max

	"The important thing is to keep the important thing the important thing." -- Albert Einstein
	This project is worth 300 points, roughly 30% of your final grade.
	The quality of your animation is the quality that you will be judged on.

The Process
It’s going to be broken down into four parts:
A: Storyboard. Due class 01 of Week 08. Worth 50 points. These can be basic, but should be well thought out and clear. Please submit them electronically, as a pdf or PowerPoint.
B: Rough Draft 01: Due class 02 of Week 09. Worth 75 points. Basic rig and any skinning should be complete. All shots should be laid out and evaluated for clear staging. This should be clear and demonstrate all of the extreme poses of your storyboard. These should be assembled into a 'layout reel'/animatic/blocking pass to check timing, composition and scene dynamic. The rig should include some IK and FK, and be reasonably functional for the movement of your character. All members of the group should be fully familiar and comfortable with the rig they are using. If working with a model, you should have a “rough”, low-poly or ‘cut’ model to work with for skinning. Complexity of surfaces is our enemy here. Submit a QuickTime (800X600, h.264) of your animatic, (this can be a preview) and the .max files of your rigs, collected into a single folder per group, with each .max file labeled: "Lastname_Firstname_SNAFU_rig.max"
C: Rough Draft 02. Due class 02 of Week 10. Worth 75 points. Major movements should be roughed in. If you are going to use audio, you should include it here. This should be submitted in QuickTime format, H.264, no bigger than 800X600.
D: Final. Due class 02 of Week 11. Worth 100 points. This should clearly demonstrate the fundamental principles of animation. This should be submitted in QuickTime format, H.264, no bigger than 800X600.

Team 1	Team 2	Team 3	Team 4	Team 5	Team 6	Team 7	Team 8

	SNAFU in teams
	PARAMETERS Each team of three will animate the script listed below. The final animation MUST be 30 seconds long – exactly. (and yes, I will take points off if it is more or less). It must be rendered out as a QuickTime Movie, 800X600, using the H.264 compressor. You must include some audio; sound effects or music, but no speech. All narrative must be communicated through body language. Each team should create a breif PowerPoint presentation on their process.
	The Script: With each character using only ONE of the props given in the scene, depict the following: Three characters find themselves surrounding a box. They must work together to decide what to do with the box. They must do SOMETHING with the box before the clock strikes 12.
	RESTRICTIONS: Each character must use only ONE prop, (not including the box). The characters must interact. Each person in the group is responsible for one of the characters. All characters are expected to participate equally. All characters must be alive and conscious. You may move and rotate objects, but you cannot scale or create any objects EXCEPT – what’s in the box. You may add lights and textures, but they will not count towards your final grade. You may, (and probably should) use multiple camera angles to depict your scene.

	For this project, I want to give you the opportunity to bring to life a character that you have designed and constructed. If you have a character that you have modeled, we will attempt to rig and skin it. HOWEVER -- This is not mandatory, in fact, all I need for this project, like the others, is a simple, basic skeleton. Facial animation is of little to no importance. This is an animation class, after all, and you should be able to communicate everything with fundamental body language. Buster Keaton did it. Chuck Jones did it. So can you. DO NOT spend your time modeling or building rigs. ONLY do this if you have a model completed, or near completion and are fast and comfortable building rigs. The quality of your animation is the quality that you will be judged on in this. I will allow the use of any practice rigs available out there, (Low Max or the like), BUT... I want you to focus on the fundamentals first. Work to achieve mastery of the fundamentals before you go and play with all the fun toys.