CA515: Facial Animation Studies This course focuses on analysis of the animation cycle, traditional animation techniques, and the study of motion and experimental animation. Students will focus on facial animation and gesture techniques. Specifically, students will build self-portraits, record audio, and perform animation tests with rigged busts of their own heads. |
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Week 1: Generating Reference Photos and Video, editing audio. Introduction to Facial Topology. Building a Model for Likeness.    |
Project 1: Modeling of Base Head with proper gridflow for animation toplogy due at the start of class in week 2. 20 Points |
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Week 2: UVing the Head, Exporting to Zbrush, GoZ, base Zbrush Sculpting   |
Project 2: UV the self-portrait base head. Then, import the base head into Zbrush to create a rough sculpt. Use the projection texturing tools to create a color map. Create an alpha mask from the color map and inflate tertiary details to bake for a normal and displacement map. Additionally create SSS and Specularity maps. Color, Normal, Specularity, Displacement, and SSS maps, as well as sculpted and UV'd head due in week 5 at the start of class.
20 Points |
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Week 3: Introduction to Projection Painting with Zbrush (Image Plane, Zapplink, Spotlight) |
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Week 4: Inflating Detail for a sculpt pass. Creating additional Maps. |
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Week 5: Materials and Render Passes. Compositing using After Effects.  |
Project 3: Creating Materials, Hair, Lighting and Rendering. All elements are due at the start of class in week 7.
20 Points |
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Week 6: How to create hair with Maya Hair, Paint effects, Textured Alpha Planes, and Fur. Modeling the interior of the mouth. |
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Week 7: Skeletal Rig, Eye Rig with clusters, Painting weights, Sliderbox controls with SDK |
Project 4: Create a fully rigged face using bones, blendshapes, clusters, and an SDK controlled sliderboard for easy animation. Rigged face due at start of class in week 9.
20 Points |
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Week 9: Lip Sync using Voice-o-Matic. Blocking Pass of Expressions |
Project 5: Animated Speech Sync and Performance Match due at the start of class in week 11 for final critique, rendered out at 1280x720 or larger with composited passes, and all elements listed above.
20 Points |
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Week 10: Animation Cleanup, Rendering  |
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Week 11: Final Critique. Rendered Video of Speech Sync Animation due at start of class | Your Final Grade will be as such: |
