From “The Illusion of Life”, by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston

“John Hench, one of the studio’s most gifted artists, said “We don’t really know how much we learned here about using images to communicate – to develop a kind of visual literacy.”  At the time, none of us thought in those terms or stopped long enough to gain perspective on what was happening.  The language of imagery was emerging as a separate art form of its own, requiring skills and disciplines different from those of related crafts.  Not every artist could master the demands, and most failed to realize that they were involved in something quite different and exacting.
  “I think this is a little hard for people to understand, John continued, “the fact that you are developing a kind of language, and a very precise one.  They figure that graphics are not precise at all – they’re just sort of decorative, they’re pleasant to look at, they’re aesthetic – instead of understanding what the basic thing is about ‘image’.  I don’t know how else anyone could get this except in motion pictures, and, particularly, in cartoons – you sure don’t get it in an art school.”  -- p. 23 & 25

Animation

University of Minnesota, Fa Semester 2010

ARTS 3604, (prereq. 1001 and 1601)
ARTS 5640, (prereq. 3604)

Instructor:Steve Paul
 Website: www.stevepaul.com
E-mail:  paul0607@umn.edu

Phone: 612-965-1816
 Office hours: by appt.

Meeting times:
Fridays, 10:10am – 2:15pm, Regis W121

Course description:
This course offers the student an introduction into the world of animation.  It will give the novice animation artist the basic skills to begin their work, the intermediate student the opportunity to enhance previously existing techniques, and the advanced student the chance to develop a completed animation. 

Objectives:
To further the students knowledge, skills and artistic achievement in animation. 

Outcomes:
Based on previous experience:
Gain a greater understanding of the art of animation.
This is a class for undergraduate, (3604) and graduate (5640) students of varied experience and skills.  

Texts (recommended):
“The Animator’s Survival Kit”, by Richard Williams
“After Effects Apprentice”, by Chris and Trish Meyer
“Motion Graphic Design & Fine Art Animation”, by Jon Krasner
“Understanding Animation”, Paul Wells

See attached text list for more.

Credits and Workload Expectations:
For the undergraduate courses, one credit is defined as equivalent to an average of
of learning effort per week (over a full semester) necessary for an average student
average grade in the course. Students taking a four credit Studio Art course that meets
4 hours a week would expect to spend 12 hours per week outside of the classroom.

DIGITAL STUDIOS INFORMATION:

Before reading further read the three items below.

1. PLEASE DO NOT RENDER A FILE OR BURN A DISK FROM THE SERVER!!!
These operations can only be performed with files on your computers hard drive.

2. Any files older that two weeks may be removed from the hard drive of the computer or from the server by the technical staff.

3. Each student is responsible to back up their work on to a DVD, CD or portable hard drive. Server and local hard drive space are temporary and can crash causing you to loose your work.

Equipment or software malfunctions:

Computer equipment and peripherals - Sonja Peterson sonja@umn.edu

Computers and software:
Platform: Apple Macintosh OSX.
Primary software: After Effects, Flash, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Frame By Frame.
Secondary software: SoundTrack
Computer User Information:
Computer Login: User “affiliate6”- Password: “render”.
Backup Server URL  - user: “affiliate6” – password: “render”
Web Server URL –
FTP:

Open Lab Hours:
•Please refer to the lab hours posted on the door.
• After hours passes (11:00 pm until 3:00 am) are available for two or more persons working
together in the same vicinity. Passes are obtained from the professor/instructor.
• The lab will be closed on Sundays and on official UMN holidays.

POLICIES

Participation:
1. In class participation is important and comprises 25% of the final course grade.
Everyone is expected to thoughtfully verbally participate in critiques and discussions.

2. All Projects are due completed at the beginning of class on due date and will not be critiqued if turned in late.

3. The intention of this course is to produce art and to foster open conversations about art and
ideas! There are no "DUMB" comments or questions. It is crucial to the intellectual and
artistic atmosphere of the class that each student participate vocally and add to the
knowledge pool of the class. Please feel free to engage your more reserved classmates in
discussions and also remember to give others a chance to talk!

4. Though it is not expected that every student is an art major, it is expected that students
explore ideas and process of making art.

5. Art majors are expected to draw conceptual relationships and connections between their
work and the ideas they are exploring in other art processes.

6. Please keep your focus on the class work at hand and respect the concentration of your classmates by not being disruptive or distracting in class.  This can include talking among yourselves when others (including the instructor) are addressing the class, and using classroom computers for activities other than class work for this class. 

Please keep your Facebook, etc. use during class to an absolute minimum.  And never check your status during lecture, discussion, or critique.

7.Communications:
All out of class communications (eg… cancelled classes, meetings, announcements) will be done
via EMAIL AT STUDENT’S UMN ADDRESS ONLY. NO other email address will be used. It is
recommended that you forward your UMN student account to your other account if you do not
use your student UMN account daily.

Attendance:
1. Attendance – 2 “free” misses without question

2. 3+ absences will affect your final grade by 1/3 grade point per missed class (eg… an A will
become an A-). A total of 5 missed class periods (including “free” misses) will constitute a
failing grade and the student will be asked to withdraw from the course.

3. Arriving more than 10 minutes late or leaving 10 minutes early is considered a missed class
period.

4. LECTURES AND DEMONSTRATIONS ARE NOT REPEATED - YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE TO MAKE UP CONTENT OF MISSED CLASSES.

5. “IN CLASS WORK” time is REQUIRED – all students are expected to have their work in class
and be working on class projects during these class periods.

University Grading Standards:
A: Achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet the course
requirements.
B: Achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet the course requirements.
C: Achievement that meets the course requirements.
D: achievement is worthy of credit even though it does not meet the course requirements.
S: Achievement that is satisfactory and equivalent to a C- or higher.
F/N: Represents failure (no credit) and signifies that the work was either (1) completed but at a
level of achievement that was not worthy of credit or (2) was not completed and there was no
agreement between the instructor and student that the student would be awarded an “I”.
“I”: Incomplete – assigned at the discretion of the instructor when due to extra-ordinary
circumstances, e.g. hospitalization, a student is prevented from completing the work on time.
Requires a written agreement between the instructor and the student.

Academic Dishonesty:
Academic dishonesty for any portion of the academic work for a course shall be grounds for
awarding a grade of F or N for the entire course.

Disruptive Conduct:
All activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the University of
Minnesota Student Conduct Code. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning
environment for others may be subject to disciplinary action under the Code. In addition,
students responsible for such behavior may be asked to cancel their registration (or have their
registration cancelled).

Class outline and schedule:
ARTS3604
ARTS5640