Finals: All work is due on December 5th @ 9:00 AM

1. Complete your final project.
2. Update any of your older projects for improved grades.
3. Export and compress all movies.
4. Gather all conceptual art you have created the semester.
5. Place all of your work in the FINALS folder on the server.
6. Upload your work to youtube and create a blog to showcase your art! Refer to the previous post for instructions.  My example for you:  
7. Complete your Extra Credit Assignment.


On the day of finals, we will start class by screening everyone's final project. In addition to this, you will have all of your work posted in the FINALS folder on the server, with the same format as I have indicated. Refer to my sample folder, labeled "shaw_michael" for review.  You have 8 projects in the 16 weeks you have been in class, with your organization and presentation of your blog as your final project.

In addition to this, remember to compress your video files for submission AHEAD of time. I repeat: AHEAD of time. You will not be able to finish uploading and submitting work if you start 30 minutes before class.

That day, we will screen everyone's work, and then have a group discussion to review, and the semesters.  Your participation in this discussion will be part of your grade!

PLEASE BE ADVISED. ATTENDING THE FINAL CLASS OF THE SEMESTER IS MANDATORY. We will also make time for you to fill out your course survey in the last 20 minutes of class.

Between now and then, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me!

Good luck! =D

Readme: 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 !

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

Preparation for your Final Project

Over the semester we have worked on a number of projects dealing with acting, weight, flexibility, character interaction, drawing, craftsmanship, acting, and the like. Our next goal is to put all of the skills we have been working on together into making some polished animated of which we can all be proud!

For this reason, we have been working on your storyboarding and animatic skills. Now we will do the following:

Final Project Part 1:

Ultimate goal: Produce a 10 - 20 second animation that encompasses everything you have learned this semester and tells a compelling story!

As a student, you have 2 choices:

• Take the animatic you have been working on so far and carry it to a finished production, or
• Use what you have learned about storyboarding to create a new final project.

With this project, we will finally talk color for animation, as well as strategies for tying your skills together.  Your animation needs to demonstrate the following:

• Believable Weight
• Flexibility in Character Action
• Spatial Recognition in Camera Choice
• Convincing Perspective
• Clear anatomy and definition
• Design approaches and craftsmanship that demonstrates the progress you have made in your animation.
• A character ( or characters) that grab the audience’s attention.

You must also submit cleaned-up versions of the following projects (these projects must also demonstrate :

• Your walk cycle
• Your Character Action Project

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Your homework for Monday, Nov 14th:

Create a schedule for yourself that allows you to deliver a finished final project to the class on Monday, December 5th!

This gives you almost an entire month to take the work you have to a completed state.  Think about what you want to do for your final project, how long it would take, and come up with a reasonable schedule that takes into consideration the following:

• 
  
• Sketches
• Lineart for Key Drawings, BreakDown Drawings, and In-betweens
• Color
• Time to revise your old projects if you have not already.

The trick here is to create something that can be completed, not something that it perfect. Perfection is an unattainable goal in art. Instead, we should strive to communicate clearly, and use our artwork to project our voice to the world!

Today we will talk a few techniques to help you produce your projects!