Intro to 3D Animation

1. Intro to 3D Animation Fall 2013

2. Overview • Attendance required – people who do not come to class tend to create not-very-good projects! • One assignment: a complete architectural scene • Indoor or outdoor • Complete • Elegant • Due dates • I will announce them on http://buzzking.me • Training videos • On http://3dbybuzz.com

3. Reaching me • buzzking@rocketship.com • Please do not use my CU email – it is overflowing • 303 437 7419 • We will work on projects in class

4. you will need • autodesk maya: students.autodesk.com (free!) • a video editor • a sound editor • an image editor

5. Importing content • you can import textures only • You can use content from the Maya “Visor” • But only for minor content

6. Important • you need a storyline • You need a modeling and story inspiration • Consider storyboards

7. equally important • No models inspired by any proprietary context whatsoever • no downloaded models • take on only what you can finish properly! • that is why i am here...

8. resources • 47 intro videos on http://3dbybuzz.com • the classroom and lab machines have • maya • premiere • final cut pro

9. The biggest stumbling block • Time for rendering your project! • Please keep in mind that a full, crisp rendering is required

10. Crafting an animated videoanimated video • setting up a story

11. Inspiration • A model • A scene • A message • Sounds

12. Reference images • Photographs • Stuffed animals • YouTube, Vimeo videos • Pieces of art • A audio recording

13. Choice of modeling technology • Polygon modeling for angular models • NURBS for organic modeling • But there are no firm rules at all!

14. Building a scene • Rough out the environment geometry - a cube or a sphere, or a ground and skyline • Put in placeholders, for characters, furniture • You may want to use the placeholders as the starting points for your models - turn a cube into a couch • Use the natural boundaries of organic and non organic models when creating a hierarchy • Consider painting on textures

15. Giving a scene a feeling • Lighting, shadows, materials • Fog, transparency, length and sharpness of shadows • A moving camera can reveal a scene incrementally or make us dizzy • Skyline (perhaps with an environment material)

16. Pay particular attention to.. • Building a model with materials and animation in mind • Outliner! • A model and movement that is the focus of the viewer’s attention and is engaging

17. Textures & materials • This makes or breaks a model • Budget time to do this right • No ugly tiling • No wrap-around seams • No uneven projections • Consider bump maps and layered materials

18. UV Texture Editor • Prep textures carefully • Consider the UV Texture Editor • Comparison • Normal texture - uses the object’s normals • Projection texture - uses texture’s normals • UV Texture Editor tools allow for careful assignment of materials

19. Consider • Soft and hard body dynamics • Cloth • Fluids and fluid containers • Motion cycles and the Graph Editor • The skeleton generator • Basing animation on deformers and/or blend shapes

20. Overriding goals • Create a scene you can finish completely and elegantly • Try to create a scene and models that are compelling • Don’t compromise on materials/textures, modeling details, fleshing out the surrounding scene, or rendering your scenes they way they look best

21. Reuse & scaling • Build out of components that are then put together in hierarchies - then the job of building a complex scene will scale more easily • Make the components reusable • Damage, dirt, aging of models can add a lot to believability - and hide obvious reuse