The following is the list of the possible assignments you can do in ANM421. Over the 15 week term you will pick any 2 of these assignments. Try to select something you've never done before, or feel you need for your demo reel: Challenge yourself. You will have 7 weeks to complete each assignment. Please stay within time length limits. 8 sec min 20 sec. maximum. Careful planning and steady progress over the entire time are critical to producing good results on these assignments.
1. Character Acting/Dialogue Shot. 8-20 sec. long with 2 (or more) characters. Could just be silent acting. Keep both characters visible in the scene the entire time and remember that the character not speaking is still acting. The interaction between the two characters is a big part of this assignment.
2. Animation for Games. A basic video-game character set: Idle, Run, Idle2Run, Run2Idle, 3Strike Attack and Running Jump. A character description is required as part of your planning process. Idle: 8 sec long with 2 character “gestures”. Run: 18-24 frames long. Idle2Run and Run2Idle: 1-3 sec each. 3Strike Attack: start/end in idle pose, 3 strikes (armed or unarmed) with each blow more powerful and some forward movement throughout. Running Jump: start/end with start of Run Cycle.
3. Dance/Paired Animation. 8-20 sec. long with 2 (or more) characters with close physical interaction and synchronized choreography, though not necessarily touching. Could be dance (set to music), melee fighting or grappling. Careful reference is critical here. Some fight notes and webinars HERE:
4. Gymnastics/Obstacle Course/Parkour. 8-20 sec. long. One character moving through an environment, engaging in broader, more physical movement. A good sense of physics and mechanics of movement will help here.
5. Creature/Non-Humanoid. 8-15 sec. long. 4 (or more) legged creature. Acting and moving around in an environment. Careful reference is imperative, and a layered approach to animation will likely be more manageable.
Remember that 20 sec is the maximum time limit, suitable for simpler scenes, and 8 sec is the minimum time, appropriate for more complex scenarios. 10-12 sec is a good length to allow for nice variety while keeping the workload manageable. A smaller amount of quality polished work is better than a large unfinished piece.
Parameters for play-blasting your work for hand-in or feedback:
- 960x540 resolution or approx ( ideal aspect ratio is 16:9)
- Nothing but the character mesh visible (no nurb controls, joints etc.)
- Quicktime movie format, H.265 Compression. NO AVIs
- Fill the camera with your subject: remember staging!
- Place your file at the top of your folder for hand-in
- Named <Last>_<First>_1.mov (or "2" for 2nd assignment). eg: Latour_David_1.mov.
- For the AFG Assignment; each movement as an individual movie file. Place them in folder named as above. Name each animation file as laid out on the assignment tab.
Remember to have fun!
-Dave
