Syllabus	Things to remember when Opening MAYA	U of MN Animation Home Page
Class Outline	CG Production Workflow from Isaac Victor Kerlow	Links
Recommended Texts	High End 3D	John Lasseter's Principles of Animation
Assignments	Getting Started in Maya with Tutorialized.com	A pdf of MAYA HOTKEYS
Assessment	A pdf of selected pages from the Help files	Video Copilot.net tutorials for After Effects
		After Effects tutorial at the Adobe web site

Animation Assignments and projects.

Bouncing Ball	Modeling a 3D Room	Kinematics Animation
Large Project	Written Proposal	Storyboards and Pre-Viz	Animatic	Rough Cut	80%

We'll be working with Maya 8 to create work and Flash, After Effects and Final Cut as the sort of "finalizing" software.

I'd like to give people a lot of latitude in their projects and style choices, and emphasize a stronger understanding of the art and craft of animation and the principles underlying it.

Skill set development, (20%):

These are short, rough animations of between 5 and 15 seconds that allow you to practice and demonstrate proficiency in some fundamentals of animation. You will be able to complete the tasks in the technique of your choice, however, I would strongly recommend that you work in the medium of your Large Project.

There are three of these –

• A bouncing ball and flaming hoop
• Modeling a 3D Room
• Kinematics Animation project

Large Project, (Final version = 30%):

Create a complete, short animated film between 30 seconds and 5 minutes long. It can utilize any animation method you choose, but it must utilize, be created with, or digitally re-create traditional media. It can be abstract or narrative, but should clearly demonstrate the fundamental principles of animation.

You can work independently or in groups of 2-4.

“Mile Markers”, (25%):

Along the way I’m going to ask to see and have you present your progress. I will ask you to turn in digital copies of your pre-production planning and to occasionally share your work with the class.

There are five of these production mile markers –

• Written proposal
  • This is a paragraph or two, in Word.doc, text, rtf, or pdf file format, that essentially gives your pitch for your final project. Tell me what you want to do, if you will be working alone or in a group, and give me an idea of what you hope to have done by the 1st and 2nd Rough Drafts.

• Concept art and story boards
• You should have as much pre-visualization as possible done before you actually start working on your project. These can be sketches, either traditional or digital media, references, blueprints, character designs...anything that might aid you in developing your work.
  • The storyboard should be a shot-by-shot blueprint for your final. Every shot should be included, and the timing and any movement of the camera or within the frame should be noted. Again, it can be traditional, digital, 2D or 3D, or even photographs, but it should all be pulled together in one electronic document; a pdf, a photoshop or illustrator file, even a Word document will be acceptable.
  • This is due after Spring Break.

• Animatic

• Rough Cut

• 80% version