|
|
|
Autumn 2003 |
FINAL
Project, - The Mousetrap
Assigned: Tuesday, Novr 25
Models Due: Tuesday, Dec 02
In Class Critiques:
Dec 02 Tue –
Pitches and Planning Sheets,
Dec 04 Thu – Objects and Rough Ins,
[ OBJECTS TO SCALE: 1 Maya unit = 1 inch ]
Dec 05 Fri – Mouse Trap Set Due,
Dec 09 Tue – Full Rough In
Dec 11 Thu – Help Session
Final Project Critique: Friday, December 12.
Final Turnin: Wednesday, December 17
_______________________________________________
Overview
The final project this quarter is team based and it designed to encourage
you to work collaboratively. Collaborative skills will be crucial for you to
master both for your work in this class and for work in the animation
industry.
Our final project will be based on the board game Mousetrap. The board game
is currently in the lab and should remain in the lab at all times so that
all members of the class can use it as reference.
Each student has been assigned a partner. The team assignments can be
found here under Final Project Groups.
One member of the team will be
working on motion and the other will be doing the shading lighting, visual
effects and rendering of the shot. The staff will refer to the motion person
as the Animator and the "everything else" person as the Technical
Director.
Both members of the team will plan/design/execute the work for the shot and
both will present the shot "pitch".
References
Images
of the board
_______________________________________________
Steps
FIRST: Each group will receive a modeling assignment. The assignment
consists of one or more game pieces or a game board. Each team must model
these objects immediately. When the individual objects are modeled, we
will be able to construct the game. These objects are to be modeled
accurately and quickly - as EVERYONE in the class will be waiting for
their completion in order to continue the project. The randomly assigned
objects can be found on the Final Project Groups page. Feel free to get a
head start on modeling these whenever you can as there's only a very short
turn around time for this part of the project. The Thanksgiving holiday
forces us to hold the review of these modeled objects in class on Tuesday.
Place the finished models in the MouseTrapModels
folder in the _Shared folder.
ONE file for each model ONLY!!
SECOND: All of the objects except three ( the
characters that you will
add later) will be placed in the scene provided to you. The constructed
scene will duplicate, as closely as possible, the physical board game. One
group has been assigned the job of pulling the objects together and
constructing the replica. This scene will be used by each one of the teams. If
the team
assigned to construct the scene chooses to, they can make efforts to get
other class members to help them. However, it will ultimately be that team's
responsibility to get the board game constructed and prepared for each team to
use.
THIRD: Each team will develop a story about the Moustrap
"process". Who
starts the crank and why? What dramatic event is unfolding? What happens as a
result? What happened before the dramatic event occurred and why should the
audience (your class) care? You will be adding THREE CHARACTERS to the
game -- whoever starts the game (moves
the crank) whoever makes the final mousetrap fall (the green man in the
original game)
and whoever is IN the mousetrap. You will need to write down your story.
It should be one or two paragraphs. Then, think very carefully about HOW you
will best illustrate
your story. A good story can be much much better if
it is acted and timed
and shot in the best possible manner. This means considering the acting and
the design of the shot. You can design whatever story and whatever
characters you like. You MUST use the game board
though and the story has to happen while the game is in play. For
characters, you can (1) model your own, (2) use existing
models from
previous years (remember that these will take time to learn how to use),
and/or (3) use models/objects you find elsewhere. Whatever option you
choose, be sure to be careful that the models can MOVE in the ways you
want them to.
Again:
The first character is the one who is turning the crank (i.e., YOU in
the original game) that starts the mousetrap in motion.
The second character is the "little green man" who gets (i.e., in the
original game) launched off the see-saw into the bucket.
The third character is the mouse (i.e., in the original game) who
gets trapped.
THESE characters can be anything from - a mouse, "character", human -- to a
plasma cloud, or force of nature. Be creative, but remember things must make
sense in your story. Your story must clear enough so that the audience can
understand it -- please include some suspense and resolve it in some manner or
other.
MAKE SURE that at the beginning, your board looks like the physical game
board in our lab. .You must start your animation using the game pieces
exactly as you find them in your initial scene. However, you may decide to
modify them
with blend shapes, deformers, animated geometry, etc..
as the shot progresses.
FOURTH: You'll "pitch" your idea to the class. This will be good
practice
for you. Just imagine that you are pitching a television sitcom or feature
film :)
The staff and your colleagues will give you feedback. The staff will
be considering whether your intended project is doable in the amount of time
you have, If we feel that it might be too overwhelming
or even if it is NOT
challenging enough, we'll make sure to tell you.
FIFTH: Each group will implement their story with their unique set of
characters. In approaching the tasks, team members can share their work
but we will be expecting that you split the workload according to motion
and then shading/lighting/render. IN your critique analysis, be sure to
outline what you accomplished, what your teammate accomplished and what you did
together.
Remember to consider design principles (composition, color, and all of the
other contrasts, etc) and animation principles (anticipation, squash and
stretch, etc) Think carefully about how to support
visual storytelling as
part of the design of your shot. Consider cinematographic elements.
Design whatever you need to construct your story. Determine what you want
your viewer to "get" from your shot.
SIXTH: Your last step will probably involve using Premier and/or After Effects
to put your shot together. While this can be very straightforward, it can also
get
complex depending on your plan. There will be demos of Premier so that you
can approach your work with confidence. Decide early on what kind
of compositing ideas you may want to use.
You may want to use different transitions or multiple layers of partially
transparent images to support the split screen look. This is all up to you.
We will be working with you individually in order to help you determine how
best to implement your ideas. Premier and After Effects are VERY powerful
programs. You can find a way to implement your idea.
SEVENTH: The staff would like to end up with an Anijam
based on your work.
We'll discuss this further during class. We encourage you to think carefully
about TIME management. It will be a real challenge for each team.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE TIME NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR
WORK.
This is an ambitious project but very "doable". The fact that you
will be working TOGETHER may present some scheduling challenges but will also
allow you to accomplish more if you plan
well. Everyone has different schedules and finding times to meet will be
very very important.
RENDERING is also a HUGE time management challenge. Rendering shots can take
days. Please factor this into your schedule. Take advantage of open
computer
time by sending off renders whenever you leave at night. Its
better to have
something in your shot, even though it is not your most stellar work, than
to have nothing to show for your work. It's an iterative process..
This is why it is important to set aside enough time to address the
rendering issues that will, undoubtedly crop up.
_______________________________________________
What we're looking for
1. Your very best work
Quality rather than quantity -- don't try to do too many things.
Do what you do really well.
2. A story
Include well integrated characters and motion. Be careful not to get too
carried away with tricks. You will need to spend some significant amount of
time planning.
Remember that you can use VERY simple objects for your
characters and keep your animation to a minimum if you really want to.
The overall effect and story are more important than a long animated
sequence and/or some complicated models. We are giving you simple objects to
start
with so that you can concentrate on the story
Your performance on this project will help us decide who will be placed on
certain teams--and who will lead them-- in the Winter and Spring, so put your
best foot forward..
_______________________________________________
Turn in
Turn in may vary depending on your final project, but for all projects
include binary files used and the final composited,
rendered sequence. You
should include enough information for us to be able to evaluate what you
did.
All turnin files should be placed in:
//gfilesrv2.cs.washington.edu/student_data/cse458_au03/<username>/TURN_IN/finalprojet/ by
_______________________________________________
Cse458 mailing list
Cse458@cs.washington.edu