This piece will give you a chance to really develop your sense of character. You can work with either one or two characters. Begin by developing a short story that has two features:
For instance, a confident character may try to pick up a heavy object, fail and become embarrassed. The total story should be in the 15-30 second range. You can think more in terms of a long scene than a full story. The focus of the assignment is on quality character acting, so do not worry about completing a full story arc, but make sure that your acting is strong. You should use the pre-rigged characters, Generi-Rig and/or Hogan. You may add additional details to the models as you wish (e.g. hats, scars, textures, etc.) to help create the character you are interested in. Don’t worry about building complicated sets or props. Focus on the acting.
Start by writing a one paragraph description of your character. We will work with these in class. Then create a storyboard for your scene. Make sure you have answered the four W’s about the scene (who, what, where and why). The story board should include images of the key points in your piece and also give some indication of how you plan to communicate the emotional qualities. You will use the story board to pitch your piece in class. After your successful pitch, plan the camera shots and create the animation.
You may use facial animation, but this is not required. The focus is on quality body movement. A piece with great facial animation, but poor body movement will receive a low grade. Conversely, a piece with great body movement but no facial animation will do well.
Specific grading criteria:
- Sense of weight
- Effective use of overlapping action (e.g. the “wave theory” or succession)
- Effectiveness of the characterization
- Quality of the timing of the motion, including placement of keys and adjustment of tangents
- How well is the story conveyed?
- Quality of the acting
- Overall quality and appeal of piece
Storyboard and Character Sketch
- the character sketch should be brought with you to the “Presentation of characters and storyboards” class and also submitted with the final piece
- the storyboard should also be submitted before the start of the “Presentation of Storyboards” class and included with your final submission. Name it “SBYourName” and use one of the following formats:
o a single PowerPoint file that includes each story board as a single slide (preferred)
o a folder that contains a sequence of numbered jpeg images
- You will be presenting your storyboard to the class, so come prepared to talk through it.
What to submit for the final project:
- rendered movie of the final animation
- your complete Maya project folder
- one paragraph character description for each of your characters and the storyboard
- readme file
The basic submission procedure is the same as for all assignments.
- You will be submitting your entire Maya project folder. All additional files (e.g. the readme.txt and image files) should be in the root of that folder.
- N.B. Name your project folder as “A5YourName”, where “YourName” is your first and last name. This is how we will identify your submission.
- Include a brief readme file that identifies how you have met each of the requirements. You can also include any problems you could not resolve or particular features you would like us to notice. The file should be called “readme.txt” and included in the main project directory of your Maya files. Include your full name and student number in this file. This file should be brief (< 1 page).
- Be sure to include all the items listed above!
- Submit by following the instructions below. If you need to update the submission, just copy another folder and update your name with v2, v3, etc. We will only mark the last submission.
1. Connect to the TCS Server. In the finder window, there will be a list of machines you can connect to on the left. Select “all” and then look for “TCS Server” and connect to it. You will need to use your personal log-in.
2. Once connected, open the classes folder and open"TCS 131".
3. Drag and drop your assignment into the "Submissions" folder. Make sure
it is named correctly, as described above.