PORTFOLIOS, PUBLISHING, AND POLISH!

Congrats! You have (nearly) completed your first animation class!  At this point you only have one thing left to do, showcase your art!  Below is a list of steps to get you started showcasing your animation art via the web! For this you will need the following:

A: A blog (we made one earlier this semester)!

B: A youtube or vimeo account. (http://youtube.com or http://vimeo.com)

C: Your video files!

STEP 1: Prepare your video files!

If you have been keeping track of your animation files, this is already working! You need each of your video files arranged in a project folder ready to go!

If any of your video files stutter, you will need to compress your video files. Compression takes videos that are large in file size and makes them small enough to run on any device! Instructions below:

STEP 2: Compressing any video files:

The easiest way to do this is by opening MPEG Streamclip in the Applications Folder.

Click FILE -> OPEN FILES and search for your movie, or CLICK and DRAG your movie into the main window.

After hitting play to look through your movie, click FILE -> Export to MPEG 4.

Below are the settings you want. The frame size should match the size we are working with in class. The quality determines the quality of the image we export.  Lower quality equals smaller file sizes! (Every video on the internet goes through compression. This quality number defaults to 50, but select what works best for you!)

After that, click MAKE MP4.  You will be asked for a name for your new file. Save this one, and keep it!

After you do this: Next is uploading videos!

STEP 3: Uploading Videos!

Make a youtube account, and sign in to youtube! (automatically comes with a gmail account. If you make a new account, you will receive the following message below:

On youtube, once you’re signed in, click UPLOAD. If this is your first time uploading a video, you will receive the following message: It asks for whatever name you would like to go by as a content creator. Type the name you want, review their terms of service, and click Create Channel.

Next you will have a window that tells you to select videos to upload. You can either click on that window, or drag videos into the window.

You will get an uploading screen, much like this one! Give the video a name, a description, and any tags you want to attach to your video. Keep the link for your video!

Once done, click PUBLISH.

Your video is ready! Be advised, large file sizes may take a while to upload. If you ever upload anything that is 5 minutes or longer, expect about a 20 minute wait. Go get some food or something!

After that, you want to take the video and add them to your blogger page!

STEP 4: MAKING A PORTFOLIO

On the internet, you can make a portfolio with any blogging website if you’re smart about it! Below I have a sample blog page I made, with a simple layout. This way, when someone comes to check out my animation work, they can get straight to the videos! (Granted, showcase your work however you see fit.)  Take your blog, and follow the steps below to add your videos to your page!

In blogger: Click NEW POST.

Under post settings, name the post whatever you want this image in your video to be. You have two options: Divide each video into a separate post, or make ONE BIG POST that contains a lot of videos!

After this: you want to go back to your YOUTUBE VIDEO, and click the EMBED link:

A little window will come up with a line of text. This text will let you put your video into your blog post! Copy the text.

On your blog post, click the HTML BUTTON, HERE. When you do, you will get a huge window that you can paste information into. Past your code here. (this tells the blog you want to play something from youtube.)

When you’re done hit PUBLISH!

You now have the beginnings of a solid portfolio! To showcase your work in its entirety, upload every movie file for your projects into youtube! You can type a description below each one. Check the link to see my example!

http://mikemakescartoons.blogspot.com

Final Project!

For your Final Project, each student will produce a polished 10 second character action sequence! Within this sequence you are to use the following:

• No more than 2 characters.
• Create an environment for your scene!
• Create a polished model sheet!
• Create a polished environment design as well!
• Produce a rough storyboard of your scene in storyboard pro first! Storyboarding your scene first will make the timing of your shots much faster!
• Your project should take advantage of SIX(6) of the twelve principles of animation! Link to full list is here: http://the12principles.tumblr.com/

Your project should also demonstrate other skills we have learned throughout the semester, including proper cinematography, staging, performance, expression, and technical animation skills!

Each student will also turn in a copy of each of your projects from earlier this semester! We will produce a small portfolio utilizing the best of your assignments! (more on this Wednesday) This is your chance to make higher marks on your assignments, and have a higher overall grade than your midterm assignments.

Remember: You initially have 2 weeks to complete this assignment, so create an assignment you can complete within this time! Be aware that any projects requiring two characters will require twice the amount of effort to complete.

IN THE FINALS FOLDER ON THE SERVER: TURN IN THE FOLLOWING:

1. The ball bounce project.
2. The shape emotion project.
3. The research assignment.
4. Your Walk Cycle Project.
5. Scans of Your Observational Drawing Assignments! You should have the following:
6. 30 Drawings of people. (your initial 20, and 10 drawings done in the opposite context. If you did realism, work abstract, and vice versa.)
7. 5-10 environment drawings!
8. 5 quality animal sketches are extra credit!
9. Your Character Performance Project with cleaned up key drawings and breakdown drawings!
10. Your Storyboarding Project, including

• Environment and Character Designs, Refined, and Polished.
• A .pdf of your storyboards, exported into 3-panel horizontal layout
• The animatic of your storyboard project attached as a video.
• Your TWO storyboarding projects: where we storyboarded a 22 minute cartoon in class, and you storyboarded a 10-minute cartoon at home.

11. Your FINAL PROJECT: INCLUDING the FOLLOWING:

• Storyboards

• Character Design
• Environment Design
• Animatic
• Final Animation Video
• A link to your blogger portfolio: The following videos must be uploaded to your blogger at minimum:

1. BALL BOUNCE PROJECT

2. SHAPE EMOTION PROJECT.

3. RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT

4. WALK CYCLE PROJECT.

5. YOUR CHARACTER PERFORMANCE PROJECT

6. THE ANIMATIC FROM YOUR STORYBOARD PROJECT.

7. YOUR FINAL ANIMATION PROJECT.

I will grade based on the following:

A. Craftsmanship: Line-art quality.  Are your lines clean? Is your character the focal point of your animation, or are the rough lines the focal point?

B. Modeling: How consistent is your character between every frame of your animation?  Do limbs get too thin and then too thick?

C. Performance: Are we captivated by the actions on screen?  Is your animation about the character? Are the performances believable and relatable if we look at your animation as an actor and as the audience?

D. Clarity of storytelling:  What is the story of each animation?  Is the story coming across?

E. Technique:  Are you demonstrating the principles we've learned in class?
F. PORTFOLIO, and SERVER FINAL PROJECT ORGANIZATION:  ARE ALL OF YOUR PROJECTS ACCOUNTED FOR? NOTE: TURNING IN ALL PROJECTS IS REQUIRED FOR PASSING!