ATEC 4437	Assignment 4: Final Project
Description	Option 1: Reaction to news. Produce a wireframe animation of a character reacting to news that comes in a form of a letter (see below for more details). Option 2: Open project. You may choose this option ONLY IF all the conditions below are met: you already have a storyboard and/or animatic for the animation, you have completed modeling and rigging your character(s) for your animation, if it is a character animation. Requirements for Option 2: The focus must be placed on animating (i.e., animating a scene or scenes in your animation), not on modeling, texturing, rigging, lighting, or rendering. A one-page proposal with a very specific description of what you plan to animate as the final project for this class is required for this option. Meeting with the instructor in office hours to have an approval on your project. Bring your storyboard/animatic and the 3D model(s) that you will be animating..
Process book research (25%)	Option 1. 1. Create a character by describing every attribute in a character development exercise. 2. Write a letter to the character you’ve just developed. The letter should evoke a strong emotional reaction in the character, (i.e., the character would remember the letter for the rest of his/her life.) 3. Describe the following: What time of day s/he reads the letter. What s/he has been done before reading the letter since s/he woke up. His/her emotional state one hour before reading the letter. Where s/he is when s/he reads the letter. His/her emotional state and gesture immediately before reading the letter. His/her emotional state and gesture during reading the letter. His/her emotional state and gesture immediately after reading the letter. His/her emotional state one hour after reading the letter. What s/he is doing one hour after reading the letter. What s/he does for the rest of the day. 4. Create a thumbnail storyboard. 5. Produce video references. Option 2. 1. Create a process book with any supporting documents: a script, a treatment, storyboard, model sheet, layout design, animatic, etc. 2. Write a one-page proposal that describes what you specifically plan to animate as the final project for this class 3. Have the instructor's approval on your project. 4. Produce video references. Submission: In your local area (e.g., a hard disc drive of your home computer or a flash memory connected to a computer in an ATEC lab), create a process book page for Assignment 4 in the html format. You can use Microsoft Word, DreamWeaver, or any application you like. The main page should be named as processbook.htm. Your process book should contain all the elements for the process book research specified above. Create a new folder in \\Atec01\Midori\Drop Box\4337\your_last_name and rename it as A4. Copy your process book's main page, processbook.htm, and any other files that are linked to the main page into your folder A4. Make sure that the links are made among the files that have been copied into the folder, i.e., no hyperlinks should point back to your local area. Important note: Your process book must be accessible from your name (link) in "student_works.htm" in \\Atec01\Drop Box\4337.
Due date	10/27/09
Animation (75%)	Option 1. Produce a wireframe animation of a character reacting to a news using the video reference. Use the rigged character and props in character2.mb. The controls of the character are identical to that of the character for A3. No facial animation is allowed. The character's emotion should be expressed by its gesture. Option 2. Produce a wireframe animation for your animation project. The focus should be placed on animation (not on modeling, rigging, texturing, or lighting). Use 30 seconds per frame (see hardware rendering). Options 1 & 2. The length of the animation should be no less than 450 frames. The frame size must be 320 x 240. Add a title, credits, and sound to your animation. The frames for the title or credits are not included in the specified length of animation. Come up with a unique/descriptive/creative title for your animation, instead of naming it just "Assignment 4". Submission: Submit the following files in your A4 folder in the class's submission folder \\Atec01\Midori\Drop Box\4337\your_last_name\A4 Scene file (Maya binary file). AVI animation (10 mb or less). And create links from your process book's main page to files above. Notes: If you strongly wish to do so, you can render your animation using software renderer; however, this assignment is about animation and you must focus on animating. You must not let the quality of your animation suffer from the time you spend on the elements that are not focuses of this assignment, such as modeling, rigging, texturing, lighting, or rendering. There will be three dates for work in progress presentations for this assignment. On each date, add the work in progress's scene files and AVI animations in the process book before the class starts. Have the final version of scene files, screen captures, and AVI animations in the process book before the class starts on the assignment due date. Do not replace the work in progress's scene file and AVI animation with the final version's but add the final version's scene file and AVI animation to your process book. Do not save any files other than the ones you are required to submit in the class's submission folder. \\Atec01\Midori\Drop Box\4337 is not a work space. Transfer your files to the specified folder, and make sure the links work and the animation file is playable before the class starts on the due date.
Due date	11/10/09 - Work in progress presentation in class. You should have started animating. This is a good day to ask any technical problems that you are having. 11/17/09 - Work in progress presentation in class. Your animation should be approximately half done. This is a good day to ask any technical problems that you are having. 11/24/09 - Work in progress presentation in class. Your entire animation should be roughly animated and ready for fine tuning. 12/1/09 - Presentation in class