Our personal and learning circumstances may be different than they were prior to the Covid-19 epidemic. While we face challenges as an educational community, the goal is to continue to learn and grow while adjusting for unexpected events. The class is committed to maintaining a healthy and equitable environment for all of us by respecting and making room for differences in how we approach learning. While these goals may seem hard to realize in a course not specifcally based on health and equity, one strategy is to encourage moviemaking projects that give more license to students. The objective is to be motivated by what interests you and from which we can all learn together.

Your health and well-being are also a priority. Please take the time to care for yourself. The university asks that if you are ill or expect that you have been exposed to COVID-19, please stay home, notify the primary course instructor, and contact the Student Health and Wellness Center (434-924-5362) so that you can receive appropriate care. 

Individual Support: UVA is attempting to further expand its teaching to embrace the reality that students bring many diverse experiences to the classroom that contribute to the general education of all. Many factors such as social identities, visible and invisible disabilities, family circumstances, physical location, mental health and access to the internet, influence the experiences that you may have. One way to meet this challenge is to create an environment that supports each individual's learning needs and to encourage each individual to communicate and explore your ideas. For example, the choice of an animation subject in this class is not limted to a restricted or approved list. On the one hand it will need to satisfy some criterion based upon general attributes of movies the lend themselves effectively to the exercises in the class. For example, exercises explore the treatment of time, light and story. Still, theyneed not be limited in terms of cultural or national topic or geographical setting. The course instructor, SIA and students as a whole willl all benefit from indidividual perspective if your curiousity is heightened by your less limited selection of a subject. The class is committed to your freedom to pursue your ideas in animation subjects and to make everyone learn from your discoveries through the creative process.

There are also newly recognized challenges to educators to more completely respond to the different personal histories students bring to the classroom. We recognize that there are many complex factors that include social identities, disabilities, family circumstances, physical location, mental health, and access to the Internet that influence performance. To support your learning, you are invited to help the SIA and the course instructor be more responsive to any unique situations you may be experiencing.

The University admits undocumented students, students from mixed-status families, and students with Temporary Protected Status. All students at UVA, including students of all immigration statuses, are welcomed in this class. If your personal situation is impacting your success in the course, please come see me to discuss your concerns so that I can accommodate you.

Technology Support: If you need assistance using any of the tools for our class, the SIA and I happy to work with you. You can also find resources for each below:

• ITS (Technical Support) for live classroom support.
  
• If you are not in an online class, contact the ITS Help Desk (chat, email, online).
  
• Zoom Support
  
• Collab Student Support
  
• School of Architecture IT Request form (e.g, virtual workstation, classes server, internal resources).

SCHEDULE

The schedule below is subject to modification.

Note: The required text/tutorial and addtional reading as well as the linda.com tutorials are available on-line through the UVA Virgo System.  

Required Text:

Maya 8 for Windows & Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide) by Morgan Robinson, and Nathaniel Stein, Peachpit Press, 2007 ± § -see on-line version of this textbook

Recommended Readings:

Animation: 

Introducing Autodesk Maya 2016  by Dariush Derakhsshani, Autodesk Official Press, 2015° § - see on-line version of this textbook
Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016 by John Palamar, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2016 A° § - see on-line version of this textbook
Maya Visual Effects: The Innovators Guide by Eric Keller, Autodesk Official Press, 2013 +  § - see on-line version of this textbook
Creating Visual Effects in Maya: Fire, Water, Debris, Destruction by Lee Lanier, Focal Press, 2014 + § - see on-line version of this textbook
MEL Scripting for Maya Animations, Second Edition,  by Mark R. Wilkins and Chris Kazmier, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2005 + § - see on-line version of this textbook
Maya Programming with Python Cookbook by Adrian Herbez, Packt Publishing, 2016 + § - see on-line version of this textbook
Maya Secrets of the Pros 2nd ed. / John Kundert-Gibbs, Dariush Derakhshani et. al. Sybex Inc., 2006. +  § - see on-line version of this textbook
* linked in video tutorials (formerly linda.com) are available in internal to uva either on grounds or the VPN access. See specific links in schedule above. Use is optional.

Moviemaking:

Arnheim, Rudolf, Film as Art. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1957.*
Cocteau, Jean, Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film. New York: Dover Publications, 1972.
Greene, Graham, The Third Man and The Fallen Idol, Penguin Books Ltd., 1977.
Murch, Walter, In the Blink of An Eye, A Perspective on Film Editing, Silman-James Press, 1995.

Philosophy and Perception:

Arnheim, Rudolf, Art and Visual Perception. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1974.
Goodman, Nelson, Languages of Art. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company Inc., 1976.
Sacks, Oliver, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1987.
Putnam, Hillary, Representation and Reality. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press, 1988.
Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sarte, Edited by Walter Kaufmann, The World Publishing Company, 1956 (Rainer Maria Rilke, "The Notes of Malte Laurids Brigge", 1910)

Notes:± This is the primary text with paced readings and straightforward tutorials tied to the syllabus and a week to week developmental progression of the class. It is also available online at no cost to members of the University of Virginia community.
§ An online version of these books are available to members of the University of Virginia community only. See also Maya on-line textbook links. 
A° This is a more up-to-date introduction though less compact than the Robinson and Stein text.
+ These texts include greater focus on more on specialized topics. Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016  has over 800 pages, covers significantly more features and special effects than the primary text we will be using in the class.