FINALS Checklist for AN200

Upcoming Dates:

Monday, December 3rd: Final Day of Class! Bring a completed version of your final animation to class for us to view! Below will be a listing of everything you will need at the end of the semester:

Sunday, December 9th @ 12:00 NOON: Final deadline for updates of any previous assignments.

FINAL PROJECT DESCRIPTION:  Short character action animation!
Runtime: 18-20 Seconds
Full Color

Description:  Using the skills you have learned this semester, produce a short animated sequence!  You will take what you understand abotu character action, cinematography, and production to build a short story about a character moving a heavy object.

Questions to answer: How does your character lift a heavy object? What elements of their personality can you use to tell the audience about your character's personality? Does your character succeed or fail?

We will carry this project from beginning to end, starting with Storyboards and animatics, Building Layouts on top of those storyboards, and finishing with the animated production at the end.

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On the server, in the Classes —> AN200 section, create a folder with your first and last name.  You should submit animated videos of your assignments labeled as such.

Ball Bouncing Project:

lastname_p1_ballbounce1, 

lastname_p1_ballbounce2, 

lastname_p1_ballbounce3

Shape: Emotion Project:

lastname_p2_shapeproject

Character Action Part 1:

lastname_p3_characteractionsequence

lastname_p3_jumpinganimation

Character Action Part 2:

lastname_p3_researchproject(or lastname_p3_floursack)

Walk Cycle:

lastname_p4_walkcycletest1

lastname_p4_walkcycletest2

lastname_p4_walkcycletest3

lastname_p4_walkcyclefinal

Character Turnaround Project:
lastname_p5_modelsheet.png (completed model sheet of your project with color)
lastname_p5_characterturnaround.mov (completed movie of your turnaround)

Character Action 2 Storyboards:
lastname_p6_3pHstoryboards (storyboards exported from toonboom storyboard with proper format)
lastname_p6_fullboards (storyboards exported in full page format)

Character Action Designs:
lastname_p7_modelsheets (png or jpg files of your character model sheet)
lastname_p7_environmentdesigns (png or jpg file of your environment)

FinalCharacterAnimation: (your final project)
lastname_p8_finalproject (a movie file of your final animation)

Extra Credit: (any additional content you produce for credit should go here!)( each improves one assignment by 1/3 of a letter grade... the difference between a C+ and a B-, or a B and a B+)
lastname_9_referencevideos (reference videos shot for your projects!)
lastname_10_othermovies (any small animated sequences you have made!)
lastname_11_movie with title and end card (add a title and end card to turn your animation into a fully fledged short film!) (adds a boost to your final project's grade)

Be sure to CONVERT ALL VIDEOS! 
Final grades will be determined by the following:

1: Clarity of Action and Storytelling (At a glance, do we understand the story of your sequence?)

2: Composition/Spacing/Staging of Action: (Are you using the camera frame to the best of its ability?)

3: Timing of Action: (Are your sequences well-paced?)

4: Craftsmanship: (Clean lines? Clear lineart?)
5: Attendance
6: Organization of your final files (you will receive a separate grade for cataloguing and organizing all of the projects you have created in class so far!

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FINAL ANIMATION PRODUCTION NOTES:

things to remember when you’re working on your own!

• Make lots of TINY cartoons! (4 or 6 seconds, a set number of drawings, etc.)
• gives you experience
• gives you wisdom!
• Schedule your detail later! Sketch action first!
• Animation is about STORY first! Ask yourself what the story or theme is and make decisions based on that!
• Animation is a MARATHON, not a SPRINT!
• give yourself a small amount of time to do a small amount of drawings that covers a large action or scene in your story!
• 4 seconds of animation: give 10-15 minutes to sketch 8 drawings.
• Alternate method: start with sketching 3 drawings as a “beginning, middle, and end.” add 2 more between those until the story and action is good!
• KEEP IT SIMPLE! 
• complexity comes later!
• Click this link to find student pricing for toon boom harmony and storyboard pro!
• Click this link to find student pricing for the adobe creative suite!

Notes from Monday: Nov 19th and Homework for this weekend:

CHECKING YOUR ANIMATIC:

• storytelling: Is the story clear/ clearly told?
• actions and presence: Can we clearly see what characters are doing and where they are going?
• avoid sequences that skip “too much” information
• Example: Character goes to fridge to open jar of jelly.
• Panel 1: Character at kitchen table.
• Panel 2: Character at fridge with jelly already in hand.
• What’s missing: Panel of character opening fridge to pull out jelly.
• Timing: ut or too slow?

Advice for Producing Longer Format Animation:

• Divide your sequence into small chunks!
• Set a small time limit for each part of your animation sequence.
• Small sequences are divided by actions.
• Setting small time limits helps you draw ONLY the MOST important drawings you need for that sequence.
• General average for fully complete 2-D animation:
• 6 seconds per week
• Always figure out timing first!
• Calendar and Homework:
• Nov 19-23: (Thanksgiving) Lineart Key and In-between animation.
• Nov 26-30: Color, Sound, and Title and End Cards (Treat this like a film! Figure out what you want the title and end card to look like)
• Dec 3: Watch Films 
• Dec 10: All academic work is due!

Notes from Monday, Nov 12

• Animating Small Sequences
• Storyboarding
• Animation Production Practices (Portfolios)
• Goal: Selecting Stories and Optimizing Storytelling
• We Divide the Animation Process into a PIPELINE:
• Our Animation Pipeline
• Pre-Production
• Thumbnails
• Sketches
• Storyboards
• Animatics
• Layouts
• Animation Production
• Post Production
• Sound Fx
• Compositing
• About Storyboards:
• think of them “as a sample of key drawings”
• together, they create a sketch of your animation
• we are able to see the film before the film is created!
• Questions to Ask Yourself When Developing A Story:
• Does the story resolve in an interesting way? 
• Does the story make sense to others? 
• Does the story’s content show a genuine struggle or problem to solve? Does it get resolved?
• What is the most interesting scenario to you? How can you make it more interesting?

Animation Preproduction Development:

• This does not have to be a complicated process.
• Thumbnails are selected and redrawn with respects to storytelling. This creates our STORYBOARDS.
• Our storyboards are set to time in a video-editing program. This creates our ANIMATIC.
• Our Animatic serves as a map for the final film. We develop LAYOUTS by creating drawings that show where and what the final artwork should look like. (and where the camera should go)
• From there, all the hard work is figured out, and we spend the rest of our time ANIMATING our idea!

 STORYBOARDING AND FILM NOTATION:

• Time Code:   Numbers that represent the current “run time” of your film.  (Ex:  00:00:01.12 = 1 second, and 12 frames.)
• TOON BOOM STORYBOARD HOTKEYS:

HOMEWORK:  Continue fleshing out your animatic!