SYLLABUS
ARCH 5422: COMPUTERANIMATION:DESIGNINMOTION
Summer 2017

INSTRUCTOR: Earl Mark ejmark@virginia.edu
Office: 322 Campbell Hall / 418 Campbell Hall (June - July 2017)

Note: Due to 3rd floor renovations during the summer I will be keeping office hours in 418 Campbell. Times will be announed after surveying students in the class.

Description:

Computer Animation: Design in Motion is a hands-on subject that involves moviemaking through techniques in three-dimensional computer animation, composite video editing, as well as sound editing and capture. The class will periodically screen short and feature length animations as well as ongoing student work. Discussion of these works will be an integral part of the subject. There will also be a few readings in film theory and cognitive science. The links between perception, representation, storytelling and digital animation will be examined within both a historical and a contemporary critical framework. Tutorials include methods of constructing computer models of the built and natural environment, the dynamic simulation of light, air, wind, water, fabric, hair, springs, hinges and other physical phenomenon. They include character rigging and animation as well as related inverse kinematics techniques for controlling movement. An inertial motion capture body suit will be used to enhance the simulation and exploration of character movement. Scripting in a java-like language to animate and generate forms will be incorporated into some exercises.

Four animation assignments accumulate towards the production of a short (from 1 to 5 minutes) movie/animation by the end of the class. The project themes may vary according to individual student interest. These may include character based visual narratives, explicit reconstructions of buildings and landscapes, or more abstract compositions exploring materiality, light, three-dimensional forms and spatial geometry, or physical processes.

It is anticipated that an interdisciplinary group of students admitted to the course will bring perspectives from across the fine arts and design, and may also include those with an interest in computer science, media studies, physical simulation, educational instructional technology or forensics.

Resources:

The primary technology will be Autodesk Maya*, Autodesk MotionBuilder, Apple Quicktime Pro, iMovieHD, OpenShot, andMakeHuman. There are no purchasing requirements. Autodesk software is free to the educational community for academic use (see autodesk.com for details). OpenShot and MakeHuman are public domain and available at no cost or a voluntary donation. The primary workshop venue will be Campbell Room 105, a computer equipped facility with all relevant software licenses provided. Additional facilities in the School of Architecture are available for working in the course after hours.

* We will work with the most recent version of the sofware installed in our computing classrooms and Robertson DML.

Grading:

Each of the first three projects counts towards 15% of the grade. The final project counts towards 45% of the grade and class attendance counts towards 10% of the grade. Due to the sequential building block nature of the topics covered, full attendance is expected.

SCHEDULE

Note: As will be further explained in class, the required text/tutorial reading is 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 Texts

Animation: 

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 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.