General information


Subject type: Mandatory

Coordinator: Adso Fernández Baena

Trimester: First term

Credits: 6

Teaching staff: 

Henry Sant Marqués
Javier Caimel Moreno 

Skills


Specific skills
  • E11. Design and develop 3D animation by applying the techniques and processes that lead to the production of linear animation video games and short films.

Description


The subject of 3D animation focuses entirely on the production of design and creation of games, the goal is to achieve the knowledge to develop all kinds of 3d animation that a game may need, so we will work on different types of animation, from animating rigid objects, to animation with good or morpher targets. The classes consist of theoretical sessions with examples that the student will work on the act, followed by practices, among which the student will animate from a rigid object such as a spaceship to a complete character, which the student will present as deliveries. These deliveries will be averaged with a final exam which will consist of a practical exam in class.

This subject has methodological and digital resources to make possible its continuity in non-contact mode in the case of being necessary for reasons related to the Covid-19. In this way, the achievement of the same knowledge and skills that are specified in this teaching plan will be ensured.

Learning outcomes


At the end of the course, the student must be able to:

E11.1. Describe the basics of 3D animation and animation methodologies.
E11.2. Design the 3D animation of characters and objects in a video game.
E11.3. Animate 3D characters and objects in a realistic and / or coherent way with the designed virtual world.

Working methodology


The subject uses the following work methodologies:
Master class, presentations, video capsules, case study, collaborative learning, problem solving and question-based learning.

Contents


Topic 1. Introduction to 3D animation

1.1. What is animation
1.2. History of animation
1.3. Animation in the media
1.4. Animation in video games
1.5. Technical description of the animation
1.6. Technical description of the 3D animation
1.7. Principles of animation
1.8. Keyframes, interspersed and curved
1.9. Animation of rigid objects

Topic 2. Animation with bones: Rig i Skin

2.1. What is the rigging
2.2. What is theskinning
2.3. Different types of controllers and systems to animate bones, relatives, IK, constraints, look at ...
2.4. Relationship between model and skeleton. (Rigging must respond to the needs of the model and its role in the game.)

Topic 3. Animating a rig.

3.1.Animating an idle, creating loops, editing curves
3.2.Animating a walk
3.3.Animating a run

Subject 4. Objectives of the animation

4.1.Animation styles
4.2.Analyze and create animations according to the demand of the game. (streetfighter, starcraft, tombraider, Supermario)
4.3.Animation as a key element to give personality to the characters. (acting, weight, speed)
4.4.Animation as a visual response to player commands (command response timings, feedback, simulation vs arcade)
4.5. Animation as a reward or motivating impulse. (analysis of the use of animations such as wow effect, reward, etc .. Candycrush vs god of war)

Topic 5. Motion capture

5.1.Introduction to the concept of motion capture
5.2.Tooling tools
5.3.Cleaning of the animation and implementation to the characters

Item 6. Motor implementation.

6.1.Mechanism of unity
6.2.Creation of animation tree
6.3.Blending of animations
6.4.Testing animations

Learning activities


In order to gather evidence of the achievement of the expected learning outcomes, the following evaluative activities will be carried out.

A1. Exercises in class: (Evidence of learning outcome E11.1)

performing various exercises in class, animating rigid objects such as rigged objects and morph targets

A2. Practice 1: Animating an object with good ones. (Evidence of learning outcome E11.2, E11.3)

In this exercise we will work on a basic set-up of bonuses and skinning.

A3. Practice 2: Animation in a complete character cycle. (Evidence of learning outcome E11.3.)

One or more cyclic animations of an entire character must be made.

A4. Final exam: Tasks of the animator (Evidence of learning outcome E10.3, E11.1, E11.2, E11.3)

The exam will consist of performing various tasks related to 3D animation to end up making one or more animations in a limited time by a character that the teacher will provide.

 

General criteria of the activities:

-The teacher will present a statement for each activity and the evaluation and / or rubric criteria.

-The teacher will inform of the dates and format of the delivery of the activity.

Evaluation system


The grade of each student will be calculated according to the following percentages:

A1. Exercises in class: 20%

A2. Practice 1: (Object animation with vouchers) 20%

A3. Practice 2 (Full character animation): 30%

A4. Final exam: (Cyclic animation) 30%

Nfinal = 0,2 NExercises + 0,2 NPractice1 + 0,30 NPractice2 + 0,30 NExFinal

Considerations:

  • The final exam will be held at the final exam schedule set by the head of studies within the exam weeks.
  • Internships and exercises must be submitted by the deadlines set for each activity. An activity delivered out of time and without justification (court summons or medical matter) will not be accepted by the teacher and will be listed as a 0 in order to calculate the average final grade.
  • The notes of these practices will not be able to recover.
  • If, at the end of the course, a student does not have a final grade equal to or higher than five, he / she will be able to retake the subject either with the presentation or of an additional work or with a final exam on the dates determined by the head of studies. it will be either online or in person.
  • It is the student's responsibility to prevent plagiarism in all its forms. In the case of detecting plagiarism, regardless of its scope, in some activity it will correspond to have a note of 0. in addition, the professor will communicate to the Head of studies the situation to so that applicable measures in the matter of sanctioning regime are taken.
  • Students must bring laptop to both lab classes and theory classes. Students must have the 2019 version of 3DStudio Max Edition installed that can be downloaded from Autodesk.com.
  • Throughout the course they will be indicated more programs that will have to be installed.

Recovery:

  • The recovery will be of the whole subject.
  • It is necessary to obtain a mark higher than 5 in the final exam / equivalent test of recovery to pass the subject.
  • The maximum grade that can be obtained in recovery is 5,5 out of 10.

REFERENCES


Basic

Halas, John; Whitaker, Harold; site, tom Timing for animation. Focal Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0240521602

 

Johnston, O .; Thomas, F. Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. New York: Abbeville Pr, 1984. ISBN 978-0896594982

 

Williams, Richard. The Animator's Survival Kit: a manual of methods, principles and formulas for classical, computer, games, stop motion and internet animators. 2nd ed. London: Faber and Faber, 2012. ISBN 978-0865478978.

Jones, Stewart. Digital Creature Rigging. New York: Focal Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-240-82379-9 (pbk).

Raju, Purushothaman. Character Rigging and Advanced Animation. Bangalore, Karnataka, India. ISBN 978-1484250372.

Blair, Preston. Cartoon animation. ISBN. 978-1560100843

Gilland, Joseph. Elemental Magic I. CRC Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0240811635

Parry, Kevin (2017). 100 ways to walk. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEoUhlesN9E

Complementary

Floyd, Daniel. (2018). New Frame Plus. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxO_ya-RmAXCXJCU54AxYFw

AlanBeckerTutorials (2017). 12 Principles of Animation. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDqjIdI4bF4&t