Introducing 3D Modeling and Animation into the
Course Curriculum
In today’s world of special effects, more and more students are eager to
learn about how they are produced.
· Challenges to teaching the class
o It was the
first time such a course was offered
§ No
precedents to review
§ Much time
and research required
· Text books
· Software
§ Department
wanted to test the class before committing to it
· Financially
– what software to choose
o Freeware package on the web, “Anim8or”
§ Some limitations to software (main student complaint)
§ This year – Maya software to be used
o Freeware package called “L-System 4” to illustrate L-Systems to the class
§ http://www.geocities.com/tperz/L4Home.htm
§ Teaching the class in a software independent way
o The class had a wide
range of appeal
§ Students taking the
course ranged from entry level Freshmen, to
non-majors, to Senior level CS majors.
· To cope with the challenges:
o Very complete website (notes, definitions, terms)
§ BENEFIT: Students from other
major areas brought many interesting aspects to the class.
§ REQUIRMENT: Have fun.
· I attempted to make
the class “fun,” with illustrations and movie clips from the field, outside
articles, and a crossword puzzle of terms, with definitions as the hints to the
solution.
This class was set up as follows:
· The grading system for the class consisted of the following percentages:
i.
10% Homework, Assignments, and Quizzes
ii.
10% Labs – graded on a pass fail basis
iii.
25% Test – three tests given through the term
1. History
and Modeling
2. Rendering
3. Animation
iv.
5% Participation
v.
50% Term Project
1. 25% Animation Itself (and the requirements thereof
2. 5% Presentation of the animation
3. 20% Paper describing the creation of the animation and the techniques
used.
· Term
Project Requirements
1.
Students were required to submit a 3 to 5 minute computer
generated animation and a paper summarizing their work. In order to create and render such a project,
the students had to put in many hours outside of class. Because this would be a very time consuming
aspect of the class, I allowed the students to work in teams of 1 to 3 members,
which allowed the “independent” to work on their own and others to be able to
divide the work load a bit. Throughout
the term, we discussed various modeling, rendering, and animation techniques
used by the experts in the field. I
supplemented the freeware chosen as I could with other software packages that I
brought into the class. There were
several milestones that the students had to reach throughout the term. While each milestone was not graded, the
students received my feedback as to their progress.
§
The first milestone for the groups was to submit a
complete storyboard of their intended animation. Students could submit this as hand drawings,
a film of clay characters going through the actions, or even a power point
slide show.
§
The second milestone was for the students to submit
a copy of the models they had created or downloaded (though some model creation
was a requirement) for their project.
§
Finally, there were three milestones in which the
students submitted portions of their animations. This helped the students to see the time
involved in rendering (which was much more than they anticipated) and we were
able to talk about any problems they were having along the way.
2. At the end of the term, the class presented their work in a public
forum. Most teams chose to show the
entire animation first, without interruption. Then, the student’s would show it
again, freezing it as they pointed out portions they were particularly proud
of. The nine teams presented in a little
under 3 hours, which was incorporated in their last
lab time of the term. No student
complained about the extra hour that last day and willingly gave it. At the presentations, students had invited
friends and parents, who came and had very nice comments. Professors from the CS and Math departments
also came to watch.
· Setting up
the Class
· Extensive website
i.
class notes
i.
handouts
ii.
links to information sites
iii.
lab materials (and the student’s work)
iv.
quiz answers, etc.
· Introduced concepts from several texts and websites
i.
Required text “The Art of 3-D Computer
Animation and Imaging,” 2nd edition – I.V. Kerlow.
ii.
Supplemented it with details from other
texts, including graphics texts, modeling texts, and animation texts. I also brought in on-line links to
information when I found a good source available.
iii.
Some of the references used for the
class include:
1. “Principles of Three-Dimensional Computer Animation.” Third Edition. Michael O-Rourke. (This book was my second choice for the class
text.)
2. “Digital Character Animation – Volume 1 Essential Techniques.” George Maestri.
3. “Digital Character Animation – Volume 2 Advanced Techniques.” George Maestri.
4. “Acting for Animators.” Ed Hooks
5. “Advanced Renderman – Creating CGI for Motion Pictures.”
Anthony A. Apodaca, Larry Gritz.
6. “Visualization of Natural Phenomena.” Robert S. Wolff, Larry Yaeger.
7. “Computer Graphics, Principles and Practice.” Second Edition. Foley, vanDam, Feiner, and Hughes
8. “Computer Graphics.” Second Edition. Donald Hearn, M. Pauline Baker.
9. “Radiosity and Realistic Image Synthesis.”
Michael F. Cohen, John R. Wallace.
10.
“Interactive Computer Graphics.” Edward
Angel.
11.
Several journal and magazine articles –
copies available upon request.
12.
Websites:
· http://cs.furman.edu/~pmeeker/cs95
(created for the class)
· http://www.amazing3d.com/modfree.html
· http://www.red3d.com/cwr/boids/
· http://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/toc.htm
· http://cgw.pennnet.com/home.cfm
· http://www.math.okstate.edu/mathdept/dynamics/lecnotes/node12.html
· http://www.geocities.com/tperz/L4Home.htm
· http://freespace.virgin.net/hugo.elias/radiosity/radiosity.htm
· http://bunny.blueskystudios.com/bunny_home.html
· http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/5323/history.htm
· http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/CSCI_240/state/modules/module1/mod1-1.html
· Outside sources of information and projects.
i.
Creating their characters
1. Hand Drawing
2. Clay Statues (Sculpey)
3. Direct Computer Modeling
ii.
I brought in several film clips and
videos to illustrate various techniques and interviews with experts in the
field. I also brought in “Making of”
videos, which allowed the class to see the trials and triumphs of the experts
and learn from their experience and advice.
1. Films Shown (No particular order)
·
“Beauty and the
Beast” (Ballroom Scene)
·
“Aladdin” (
·
Pixar (Many of
these have a small clip available at Pixar's site)
o
“The Adventures
of Andre and Wally B.”
o
“Luxo Jr.”
o
“Red's Dream”
o
“Tin Toy”
o
“Knickknack”
o
“Geri's Game”
(Subdivision Surfaces, Cloth Movement)
o
“For the Birds” (Feathers
- used a Particle System)
·
Making of “Toy
Story”
·
Making of “A
Bug’s Life”
·
Making of
“Monster’s Inc”
·
(Part of) Making
of the Lion King
o
“Lion King”
(Wildebeest Stampede)
·
Genesis Effect
(“Star Trek II, Wrath of Khan”)
·
History Video
from website (clips from various sources) - particularly those mentioned in the
history aspect of the class
·
“Stanley and
Stella (Breaking the Ice)”
·
“Particle Dreams”
·
“Anything is
Possible Now”
·
“Locomotion”
·
“Babe” (Animal
Mouth Movement)
·
“Men in Black”
(Head Growing Back)
·
Moxie,
"Sheep," "Descending into the Depths," "Vegetable Head
Guy" (Digitizing human movement)
·
Bunny
·
Making of “
·
Making of
“Forrest Gump”
·
Parts of “Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”
·
“Finding Nemo” (Teasers available on Pixar’s
website)
iii.
During the animation aspect of the
class, I had student volunteers come to the front of the class to illustrate
natural movement in various situations.
It was a type of “educated charades” in which the class had to understand
the concept and perception the volunteer was attempting to portray. As a reward for
“acting” in front of their peers, I would give the students toys – something
every animator has an abundance of – which was obtained from a local party
store. It always amazes me what college
level students will do for a key chain or porcupine ball that they will not do
for “free.”
· I had the aid of a student worker through the Furman Advantage program in
developing some of the labs given to the class.
· At the end of the term, the students presented their work to an audience
consisting of their classmates, invited friends, professors from the CS and
Math departments, and some parents.
Summary:
Because of the wide
appeal of the class, the class had to be catered to teach those entering with little
or no experience and not loose those entering who had already created
animations of their own and were seeking a more formal learning
experience. Allowing teams for the
project and creating detailed labs helped the class to work together, sharing experiences
as necessary. The website and text also
aided those new to this area of learning to review topics on their own, outside
of class.
This class asked for a huge time commitment from the students and myself, but the results were well worth it. As a gesture of how much they enjoyed the
class, the students got together and created a DVD of all their animations and
presented it to me. The student who championed this effort, then gained permission
to create DVD’s for the entire class and the CS department to keep as a
record. The ideas and creation of the
animations took a lot of time and I was very pleased with the efforts put in by
the students. Many reported to me that they
were proud of their work. One of the
students in the class has gone on to the Master’s program in Digital Production
Arts offered by
For more information, please see the class website at: http://cs.furman.edu/~pmeeker/cs95/
Also, to download two of the animations created in the class (there were 9 total animations), click below: