3470 - Digital 3D Animation
Junior Course
Design studio that develops student’s concept of digital 3D modeling as applied to animation and
special effects.
Objectives:
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Acquire, use, and apply basic 3D animation tools & techniques to create digital 3D models with rigging.
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Apply the 12 principles of animation to pre-rigged digital 3D models to develop time-based projects
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Critically analyze and critique peers' work and your own artistic development through the lens of arts and design principles, applying problem-solving skills to make revisions and craft thoughtful, respectful responses
Modeling, Rigging, and Animating a Character in Autodesk Maya
Project Overview: In this project, students will design, model, and rig a fully functional character or creature in Maya. The primary objective is to create a character that is ready for animation, using industry-standard rigging techniques. The project will include the development of the 3D model, the creation of a skeleton with proper joint placement, and the implementation of key rigging features such as aim constraints, IK handles, and FK controls. Students will also create a short animation to showcase the rig's capabilities, demonstrating the character's range of motion and responsiveness to the rig controls.
Project Objectives:
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Character/Creature Design: Design a unique character or creature with clear anatomical features suitable for rigging and animation.
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3D Model Creation: Build a clean, riggable 3D model in Maya, ensuring the topology supports smooth deformations.
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Rigging: Implement essential rigging components including a skeleton, aim constraints for eyes, IK handles for limbs, FK controls, and waist and head controls for dynamic movement.
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Skinning and Weight Painting: Properly bind the 3D model to the skeleton and apply effective skinning techniques to ensure realistic deformations.
Max - Lip Syncing to Dialogue
Project Overview: This lip sync animation assignment guides students through the process of animating a character’s mouth, head, and shoulders to match a provided audio clip. The focus is on syncing speech with accurate mouth shapes and adding subtle gestures to convey emotion.
Project Objectives:
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Audio Analysis: Teach students to analyze dialogue for beats, tone, and key sounds to ensure precise mouth movements.
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Viseme Planning: Help students break down audio into phonemes and translate them into accurate mouth shapes (visemes) for natural speech synchronization.
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Blocking & Refinement: Guide students through blocking main mouth shapes and subtle head and shoulder movements to enhance character expression without over-animating.
Students are using the Max Maya model as Modeled by Peter Starostin & Rigged with AdvancedSkeleton
Max - Syncing Character Motion with Dialogue
Project Overview: Students animate a character's full/partial body and facial expressions to bring the dialogue to life. Building on prior lip sync skills, this project emphasizes synchronizing speech with expressive body language and subtle gestures to convey a realistic, emotionally driven performance. By completing this, students will enhance their understanding of character animation, focusing on the seamless integration of facial and body movements.
Project Objectives:
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Audio Analysis & Emotional Planning: Teach students to analyze dialogue for emotional beats, planning how body language can reinforce the character’s intent and mood.
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Gesture & Movement Design: Guide students in creating gestures that include expressive body movements, posture adjustments, and secondary actions to add depth to the character’s personality.
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Key Poses & Secondary Motion: Emphasize blocking primary poses to synchronize with dialogue while layering secondary movements to enhance realism and emphasize emotional beats.
Students are using the Max Maya model as Modeled by Peter Starostin & Rigged with AdvancedSkeleton