Sunday, December 5, 2010

Module 3 Submission

I apologize but I am assuming most of you have noticed that there has not been a place to submit module 3 (Week 10 and 11). The class will remain open until Monday at midnight. Please submit your projects to the module by midnight tomorrow night. Thank you.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Deleting History and Freezing Transformations

I was recently informed that there are some things you might have missed. When finishing your scenes, keep in mind that Freeze Transformations and Deleting History are only intended for your models when they are created. Animations do not work the same way. If you delete the history on an animated object, it will break everything that you have done. Freezing the Transforms will almost always be instantly noticeable but should also not be done to animations.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Final Project

There appears to be some confusion on the final project. On November 7th, I posted an announcement reminding the class of what the final project was about. The dragon is located on the Design3 website. The subscription to Design3 was required. If you completed module 3, you already have the dragon, all you have to do is animate it to match your storyboard you created at the beginning of the class. If you have any more questions please feel free to email me.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Final Due Date

In this class, we will be finalizing grades on December 6th or 7th. This means that your final (and module 3) is due on December 5th. Please be on time. No late assignments will be accepted.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Week 11 available (ONLINE ONLY)

Due to some unexpected issues with the Dragon resource available on the Design 3 website week 11 has not been opened until now. The dragon model provided to us was broken and I have been working with the company to get this fixed. When you download the resource you will need to be sure to open the Maya 2011 version to work with. Feel free to open the other version to see what was happening to the model when it was opened in 2011. There are other things such as rigging, IK and FK, and basic character animation that we will not be able to cover. I will be providing these resources shortly as an optional reference so that you can learn these things on your own time. I want you to spend the rest of the semester finishing anything you may have missed in Module 3 and completing your Final Project. I will open the submission folder for your final soon. If you remember, your final will consist of a 10 second animation you created a storyboard for at the end of module 1. Thank you for all of your patience and good luck on your final.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Module 3

I apologize for not posting an announcement earlier. Something happened to the earlier post. The dragon that you were supposed to be animating was broken. I have been working with design 3 to resolve this issue and it has been resolved. Your assignments for the rest of the class will be posted today. I will also be posting some optional assignments if you are interested in rigging and getting a better understanding of controllers (used in animating the dragon).

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Module 3 is open

I hope everyone had a great fall break and I look forward to seeing your work from the previous module. Module 3 is open and ready to start. We are finally getting into the Animation portion and I want you to keep in mind that a lot of things you learned in the previous modules can be animated. In other words, you can animated a deformation you have made to an object or animate the scale, rotation, and position of any object. PLEASE read all assignments carefully to be sure that you understand the limitations. Good luck and have fun!!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Week 6

Week 6 tutorials are now available. I apologize for the delay be the technical issues were unavoidable. The big thing to keep in mind for week 6 assignment is that you need to follow along with the Modeling a Lamp tutorials to complete your assignment.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Week 6

Due to some technical issues I was unable to post this weeks work on Saturday night as I had intended. It will be posted no later than Monday night.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Issue Resolved

The links now work.

Broken Links

For an unknown reason, the video links below Seamless modeling are not working. I am working to fix this issue and will post an announcement when it has been corrected. I apologize for any inconvienience.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

MODULE 2

Module 1 is now CLOSED. Module 2 is now OPEN. Week 5 is the only week currenlty available. Week 6 - 8 will be available sometime this week. Grading for Module 1 will be completed no later than Sunday. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Storyboard Program

Hi Guys,
In week 4 under the video resources, I have added a video called "Celtx - Storyboarding". This is a program that will allow you to arrange your storyboard slides in a very simple way. Using this program is free. It is also optional that you do so. I am only showing you the easiest way to do it. Make sure that you create 6 slides. Each slide should represent the key moments of your final animation. So an example would be as follows:

Your animation: A dragon comes from out of the clouds and flies underneath a bridge and then flies off into the distance. A couple seconds later, the bridge collapses into the water.

Your Storyboard: Slide 1 - A dragon approaching from the north. Slide 2 - The dragon is approaching the bridge. Slide 3 - The dragon flies under the bridge. Slide 4 - The dragon is flying away. Slide 5 - The dragon is flying back through the clouds to the south. Slide 6 - The bridge collapses into the water.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Withdrawal Dates

The last day to withdraw from the course (for future reference I hope none of you will need) is below.

Last Day To Withdraw: September 24th, 2010.

Syllabus

Please review the syllabus. I mistake was made and the wrong syllabus was posted.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Access to Design 3 Video Tutorials

Hi Guys. Below is the link you need to access your video tutorials for later in the class. You can purchase a $59.00 4 month license. This will be more than enough to get you through the semester.

Just click on the banner below.

design3 student membership form

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Welcome

Welcome to 3D Animation. My name is Marc Tucker. I am your instructor. This course provides a knowledge of the 3D Animation Process. In this class we will using a program called Maya by Autodesk. All students in the SGD department are given 13 month licenses for free to use on a lot of Autodesk products including Maya 2011. To download your trail version please follow the steps below. Good Luck with the class and I look forward to seeing your work.

TO ACCESS MAYA's 13 MONTH TRIAL

1. Go to www.autodesk.com
2. Mouse over the tab at the top of the page that says "Communities"
3. Select "Students & Educators" from the drop down.
4. Click on "Get Software" across the top
5. Follow the Registration Steps on this page. NOTE: you must use your CPCC student email address. Usually your sign in ID@email.cpcc.edu. For example: mtucker0@email.cpcc.edu.
6. After completing your registration and you are signed in, click on Autodesk Maya in the Download section.
7. Use the drop down menu and select your Operating System to start the download.
8. Be sure to note the serial number and product key so you can use it during installation.
9. If you don't write this down you can always follow the steps 6 - 8 to find it again.


COURSE NAVIGATION

This course has been designed to be as easy to navigate as possible. If at any time during the semester you have questions about course material or concerns about your progress, please contact me by using our student email address and adding the course and section number in the subject line. I check my email several times a day and reply promptly. Failure to email me with the proper subject line may result in my being unable to respond to your emails. You may also come and see me during my office hours. My office is located on CPCC’s Central Campus – fifth floor, room 5118. Please click on the INSTRUCTOR button on the left side of the screen for information regarding my office hours.

Course Info

Please check Announcements frequently. I will post important information, updates and reminders on the Announcements blog throughout the semester.

Assignments

The ASSIGNMENTS button (located on the left side of the main page) is the most important tool bar in this site. Click on Assignments to learn about the modules (units of study) we'll be covering in this course, as well as specific assignments for each module.

Course Calendar

Click on the COURSE CALENDAR button (located on the left side of the main page) to learn which modules will be covered when. Information concerning exams and assignment due dates may also be included in the course calendar. To be successful in this course, you'll need to follow the course calendar and be careful not to fall behind.

Discussion Board

Click on the DISCUSSION BOARD button (located on the left side of the main page) to access the Discussion Board. The Discussion Board will provide opportunities for you to discuss topics related to the course and to receive feedback from your fellow students and your instructor.

I hope you will enjoy this course and have a great semester. I look forward to seeing you in class and seeing your work.

Marc