SYLLABUS
Date Week Film
Jan 9-13 01 Excel plan due for each team (Thursday)
Jan 16-20 02
Jan 23-27 03 1/3 of film animated. Revised color script.
Jan 30-3 04 Environment textures finished/working.
Feb 6-10 05
Feb 13-17 06 1/3 of film animated. Lighting tests, the “look”.
Render composite time tests.
Feb 20-24 07 Midterm
Feb 27-2 08 Start of GDC
Mar 5-9 09 Spring Break/ GDC
Mar 12-16 10 1/3 of film animated. Final lighting done/working.
Mar 19-23 11 Must be rendering by now
Mar 26-30 12 Career Day
Apr 2-6 13
Apr 9-13 14 Final sound.
Apr 16-20 15
Apr 23-27 16 Finished Film. PDF of pages from Production
Bible. 2 portfolio pieces.
The red weeks represent graded milestones.
Week one will be submission of the Team plan using an excel spreadsheet.
Week 3, 6, and 10 have individual components, but are primarily animation
milestones. We have purposely allowed interpretation for what “1/3” of the film
means. …This could be you take 1/3 of the scenes to finish. Or, that you take
all the scenes in the film to Blocking Plus. This is up to the animators and their
process.
By week 10 you must have all the animation done. Which means, if you HAD to
ship, you could. Everything “works”. This will then allow you to polish and refine
the scenes to a higher level. The team will prioritize scenes either by
performance importance, or by render time issues.
Jan 9-13 01 Excel plan due for each team (Thursday)
Jan 16-20 02
Jan 23-27 03 1/3 of film animated. Revised color script.
Jan 30-3 04 Environment textures finished/working.
Feb 6-10 05
Feb 13-17 06 1/3 of film animated. Lighting tests, the “look”.
Render composite time tests.
Feb 20-24 07 Midterm
Feb 27-2 08 Start of GDC
Mar 5-9 09 Spring Break/ GDC
Mar 12-16 10 1/3 of film animated. Final lighting done/working.
Mar 19-23 11 Must be rendering by now
Mar 26-30 12 Career Day
Apr 2-6 13
Apr 9-13 14 Final sound.
Apr 16-20 15
Apr 23-27 16 Finished Film. PDF of pages from Production
Bible. 2 portfolio pieces.
The red weeks represent graded milestones.
Week one will be submission of the Team plan using an excel spreadsheet.
Week 3, 6, and 10 have individual components, but are primarily animation
milestones. We have purposely allowed interpretation for what “1/3” of the film
means. …This could be you take 1/3 of the scenes to finish. Or, that you take
all the scenes in the film to Blocking Plus. This is up to the animators and their
process.
By week 10 you must have all the animation done. Which means, if you HAD to
ship, you could. Everything “works”. This will then allow you to polish and refine
the scenes to a higher level. The team will prioritize scenes either by
performance importance, or by render time issues.
MILESTONE 1 - 1/12/12
1. Team Planning Spreadsheet
Submit an excel planning spreadsheet of each team member to describe what their roles are. Be sure to include the Milestones due dates. If there are any questions or needs for a specific part, please inform the professors so that there can be some modifications on the planning.
Submit an excel planning spreadsheet of each team member to describe what their roles are. Be sure to include the Milestones due dates. If there are any questions or needs for a specific part, please inform the professors so that there can be some modifications on the planning.
MILESTONE 2 - 1/23/12
1. 1/3 of the film animated
choose one of the options
- taken 1/3 of the scenes to polish. They are considered finished
or
- finished a "Blocking plus" of all scenes of the film
submit updated version of 3d animatic w/ new scenes
naming conversion: film_blocking3_animatic.mov
must be in 720p and can open in Quicktime (no flash files!)
2. Environment: Texture
the textures must be in its current final version so that it can be ready for lighting. do a render test with Light/Shaders/Materials.
Submit at least 5 key environment shots with texture
must be in 720p
naming conversion: film_shot#_texture_final.jpeg
note how long it takes to render a scene
3. Color Script: Final Revise
Make sure it is exactly what you want to see as far as lighting. this is the roadmap for your lighting. don't blow it off just because you did a version of this last semester. Really make sure this color script is truly the right look for the film. Tweak. Adjust. Refine. The film can live or die on the lighting. You must design the look of the lighting before you start lacing lights in CG. If you remember that Progression Reels blog, even the Pixar stuff looked so-so until the lighting pass. And then suddenly it came alive. Make sure you have a solid lighting plan.
4. SFX Design
Submit updated and revised tests of the key effects with lighting at the resolution of 720p. This is a good time to see if you will have long render times at final resolution.
naming conversion: sfxtest_object.mov
effectname_version2.mov
5. Personal Log
As usual
choose one of the options
- taken 1/3 of the scenes to polish. They are considered finished
or
- finished a "Blocking plus" of all scenes of the film
submit updated version of 3d animatic w/ new scenes
naming conversion: film_blocking3_animatic.mov
must be in 720p and can open in Quicktime (no flash files!)
2. Environment: Texture
the textures must be in its current final version so that it can be ready for lighting. do a render test with Light/Shaders/Materials.
Submit at least 5 key environment shots with texture
must be in 720p
naming conversion: film_shot#_texture_final.jpeg
note how long it takes to render a scene
3. Color Script: Final Revise
Make sure it is exactly what you want to see as far as lighting. this is the roadmap for your lighting. don't blow it off just because you did a version of this last semester. Really make sure this color script is truly the right look for the film. Tweak. Adjust. Refine. The film can live or die on the lighting. You must design the look of the lighting before you start lacing lights in CG. If you remember that Progression Reels blog, even the Pixar stuff looked so-so until the lighting pass. And then suddenly it came alive. Make sure you have a solid lighting plan.
4. SFX Design
Submit updated and revised tests of the key effects with lighting at the resolution of 720p. This is a good time to see if you will have long render times at final resolution.
naming conversion: sfxtest_object.mov
effectname_version2.mov
5. Personal Log
As usual
MILESTONE 2 GRADE
You should be test rendering as you texture- rendering time should not take that long!!!
Missing 2d elements
COLOR SCRIPT IS weak!- get help from Peter. You have made some improvements since submission. Keep iterating on the lighting plan. Make it stronger. Refer to Monster’s Inc. Get Peter’s help with the “normally” lit scenes, so they really look great in the color script stage.
WHERE ARE THE ENVIRONMENT renders?
ANIMATION: a lot of jerky movement in this pass. Make sure you address that quickly, so we can then move to polish. Max, watch your tangents. Make sure the silhouette of Timmy reads as clearly as possible.
Environment/Texture: F (screen shots not submitted)
Character Animation: C- (Tentancle: F) Overall Animation: D
You submitted late.
Missing 2d elements
COLOR SCRIPT IS weak!- get help from Peter. You have made some improvements since submission. Keep iterating on the lighting plan. Make it stronger. Refer to Monster’s Inc. Get Peter’s help with the “normally” lit scenes, so they really look great in the color script stage.
WHERE ARE THE ENVIRONMENT renders?
ANIMATION: a lot of jerky movement in this pass. Make sure you address that quickly, so we can then move to polish. Max, watch your tangents. Make sure the silhouette of Timmy reads as clearly as possible.
Environment/Texture: F (screen shots not submitted)
Character Animation: C- (Tentancle: F) Overall Animation: D
You submitted late.
MILESTONE 3 - 2/13/12
This Milestone will be a team presentation in front of the class.
1. 2/3 of the film animated
This can mean one of two things:
1. You have taken 2/3 of the scenes to polish. The scenes can be considered finished. (understanding that you will have the ability to do final tweaks later)
OR
2. You have done a full “blocking plus” pass on all the scenes of the film. All keys and major breakdowns.
Submit:
1. Updated version of the 3d animatic with new scenes.
2. Submit the individual scenes for ease of critique.
Please name animatic:
film_blocking3_animatic.mov
3d animatic must be at render resolution 720p
Please name individual scene preview renders or playblast:
Sc#_animatorfirstname.mov
3d preview animations and playblast must be at render resolution 720p
No Flash files! Must be playing back at 24fps and open in QuickTime.
2. Environment: Texture is Final. Lighting tests with Character for Final Look of scenes.
With instructor feedback, you will determine the key Master shots for your film to light for “Lighting Tests”. These will be shots you used for your color script. There will be a minimum of 3 scenes. This is the Final cinematic lighting design for your film. You will light these key scenes with character (textured) and render a frame at resolution. If your team is using After Effects to significantly create the look of your shot, you must include this in the final render. This must be the final look. You should be setting up your file organization so that if you are rendering in passes, you will have an idea how this will actually work. This will also help determine render composite times.
1. Submit key environment shots with character with finished lighting.
Sc#_masterlight.jpeg
Please submit renders at resolution 720p.
3. Personal Log
Each student must submit a personal log of what they did towards this milestone. At the top of the
log, include the date, the milestone number, and your name. Detail all the work you have done since
the last milestone. Include the approximate number of hours you have spent on the work. If you have
worked in tandem with another artist, be specific about your contribution. Submit the document to
Moodle.
1. 2/3 of the film animated
This can mean one of two things:
1. You have taken 2/3 of the scenes to polish. The scenes can be considered finished. (understanding that you will have the ability to do final tweaks later)
OR
2. You have done a full “blocking plus” pass on all the scenes of the film. All keys and major breakdowns.
Submit:
1. Updated version of the 3d animatic with new scenes.
2. Submit the individual scenes for ease of critique.
Please name animatic:
film_blocking3_animatic.mov
3d animatic must be at render resolution 720p
Please name individual scene preview renders or playblast:
Sc#_animatorfirstname.mov
3d preview animations and playblast must be at render resolution 720p
No Flash files! Must be playing back at 24fps and open in QuickTime.
2. Environment: Texture is Final. Lighting tests with Character for Final Look of scenes.
With instructor feedback, you will determine the key Master shots for your film to light for “Lighting Tests”. These will be shots you used for your color script. There will be a minimum of 3 scenes. This is the Final cinematic lighting design for your film. You will light these key scenes with character (textured) and render a frame at resolution. If your team is using After Effects to significantly create the look of your shot, you must include this in the final render. This must be the final look. You should be setting up your file organization so that if you are rendering in passes, you will have an idea how this will actually work. This will also help determine render composite times.
1. Submit key environment shots with character with finished lighting.
Sc#_masterlight.jpeg
Please submit renders at resolution 720p.
3. Personal Log
Each student must submit a personal log of what they did towards this milestone. At the top of the
log, include the date, the milestone number, and your name. Detail all the work you have done since
the last milestone. Include the approximate number of hours you have spent on the work. If you have
worked in tandem with another artist, be specific about your contribution. Submit the document to
Moodle.
MILESTONE 4 - 3/12/12
3/3 of film animated.
Final lighting done/working.
Final lighting done/working.
MILESTONE 5 - 4/23/12
Finished Film.
PDF of pages from Production Bible.
2 portfolio pieces.
PDF of pages from Production Bible.
2 portfolio pieces.