Course Outline
The goal of this course is to teach general animation principles and production techniques using Autodesk Maya through a series of animation projects. The following is a sample of the projects from the course.
Project 1: Over the course of 2 weeks build a study of the way 2 different balls bounce. For example, students could study and animate a tennis ball and a beach ball. Students should storyboard each ball bouncing. Each study should have its own video for evaluation. Students should focus on the following animation principles:
Arcs
Slow in and slow out
Squash and stretch
Watch the Weeks 1 & 2 Lecture here for step-by-step development instructions.
Project 2: Over the course of 2 weeks storyboard and build an animation using the Pendulum rig overcoming a short Obstacle course. Students should focus on the following animation principles:
Secondary animation
Follow through and overlapping animation
Project 3: For Weeks 5 & 6 Students focus on developing the Ball with Tail Project. This is the first project that contains an organic character. The big focus here is the ball's movement; the tail is a huge part of this effort. Students should put a lot of effort into their key poses; for example the tail should always be transitioning from and to the "S-Curve". The following animation principles are necessities in this project:
Secondary animation
Squash and stretch
Slow in and Slow Out
Follow Through and Overlapping animation
Timing
Appeal
