CAP 203 - Computer Animation III

Assignments

The basic assignment for each week is to complete the lesson for the week, and to turn in answers to the questions about the lesson posted in the notes for that lesson. (Lessons are in your text, notes and questions are on this web site.) As a courtesy, assignments also appear below.

Week 1

Assignment #1:

    1. Read the list of ten qualities on page 34 in The Art of Game Design.
    2. Think of a game you have played that you liked.
    3. Write a paper about the game in terms of the ten qualities. There should be a short paragraph for each quality, giving an example of how it does or does not exist in the game.
Week 2

Assignment #2:

  1. Read the anecdote about Mission Space in the notes for chapter 4 of The Art of Game Design.
  2. Think of the four elements of this "game".
  3. Use the Lens of Holographic Design on this experience. Ask me questions if you need to, but make a suggestion or two about what Disney should have done when analyzing this moment of the experience. Propose what could be done to one or more elements to make the experience better. (Three ideas occur to me as I write this.)

Assignment #3:

  1. Propose a tutorial from the internet that addresses some feature or features from chapter 27 of The 3DS Max 9 Bible.
  2. In your typed proposal, include a URL to the material, and a short list of reasons you recommend the tutorial.

Assignment #4:

  1. Review the description of The Inner Light, provided in the notes for chapters 4 and 5 of The Art of Game Design.
  2. Use the Lens of Problem Statement on this game problem. Make a problem statement that would have worked for the probe designer, using elements of the tetrad in the statement.
  3. Consider whether the problem could be solved with a computer game. Write a paragraph for or against it.
Week 3

Assignment #5:

  1. Form groups for a project assignment if you have not already done so.
  2. Report the group membership to me.
  3. Plan a game design, using the Lenses discussed so far.
  4. Turn in a proposal for your design showcasing it through each Lens.

Assignment #6:

  1. The 3DS Max Bible text offers a short tutorial with a hotplate to demonstrate the Light Tracing feature. (I know, they said sunlight, and they show us a glowing hotplate.)
  2. The demonstration is not clear until you combine the Viewing color bleeding tutorial with the Excluding objects from light tracing tutorial. Carry out the steps on page 675, then the steps that start on page 676.
  3. Try several different values for Bounce. Describe the difference it makes.

Assignment #7:

  1. Propose a tutorial from the internet that addresses some feature or features from chapter 28 of The 3DS Max 9 Bible.
  2. In your typed proposal, include a URL to the material, and a short list of reasons you recommend the tutorial

Assignment #8:

  1. Form groups for a project assignment if you have not already done so.
  2. Examine a game of your choice, using Lenses 21-24.
  3. Turn in a proposal for improving the game using the Lenses above.

 

Week 4
  • Complete the take home test that has been posted to the web site. Turn in your typed responses at the start of Week 5.
Week 5

Assignment #9: Rotating a windmill's blades

  1. It has been a few weeks since we had an animation assignment. Perform the tutorial on page 693.
  2. Try something different with the tutorial. Suggestions: animate the vanes in some interesting way, have the propeller speed up and take off somewhere, or think of something else to make it unique.

Assignment #10: Making an airplane follow a looping path

  1. We saw the use of trajectory paths briefly in the Essentials text.
  2. Run through the tutorial on pages 699 and 700, including the use of the Follow/Bank utility.
  3. Add the Show Ghosting material on page 701 to the tutorial. Ghosting allows you to see an object in multiple positions in a scene at the same time.

Assignment #11:

  1. Propose a tutorial from the internet that addresses some feature or features from chapter 29 from the 3DS Max Bible.
  2. In your typed proposal, include a URL to the material, and a short list of reasons you recommend the tutorial.
Week 6

Assignment #12: Morphing facial expressions

  1. Load the file spcified on page 723 in 3DS Max.
  2. Follow the instructions to morph the character head.

Assignment #13: Making a flag wave

  1. Load the file indicated on page 727. Note the objects used: a plane with a mesh modifier and a flex modifier, and a wind space warp.
  2. Carry out the steps, and experiment with the properties,
  3. Discuss the settings you find useful with other class members and determine settings for moderate and high wind simulation.

Assignment #14: Write your own

  1. Experiment with the PathDeform modifier as described on page 730.
  2. Write a short set of steps to explain using this modifier. It should be similar to other tutorials in the text.
Week 7

Assignment #15: Lens of the World

  1. Lens of the World to analyze a transmedia world.
  2. Use at least four of the bulleted points above, giving examples from the world in question that show how it fits this lens.

Assignment #16: Pick a New Lens

  1. Pick one of the lenses we have not discussed in class.
  2. Prepare an analysis of a transmedia world (or some other work, if you can't think of one) using that lens.
  3. Turn in a typed paper, identifying your chosen lens and your chosen subject, and presenting your analysis of the subject.
  4. Be prepared to lead a discussion in class of your example and your chosen lens based on this assignment.

Assignment #17: Henry's Flag

  1. Carry out the steps in Henry Mbata's flag tutorial. These steps are avaiable from his video, and are transcribed on the lesson page for this class.