Courses

Students gain a thorough understanding of all of the components of Maya’s animation process and the state-of-the-art 3D computer graphics technology of its animation system

For every topic covered by the lecture, there are corresponding in-class demonstrations to ensure that students actually learn to undertake the work on their own. Three projects are designed to mark the learning stages accomplished, as students are required to utilize class learning in their projects.

In this course, students study the human figure as an expression and reflection of nature. Formal analysis, in terms of visual and structural constructs of the human figure, is presented as well as the images used as media for projection and expression of human consciousness. Traditional drawing techniques of human figures in motion are especially emphasized in order to develop understanding of underneath human skeleton and motion mechanisms. The course is required as the essential foundation of character computer animation with which students will be involved later.

This is an advanced animation course designed for students who are experienced animators well versed in animation concepts and technical basics. The course challenges students to embark on animation projects that allow them more discretion regarding theme, topic, tools and techniques employed. Class discussions focus more on trouble-shooting – while applying advanced techniques – than on lecturing about traditional animation methods. The course studies culminate in a short animated piece that embodies advanced animation designs and techniques.
Students should enter the class with a solid understanding of animation concepts and a good grasp of basic skills for creative animation design. To accommodate the students’ desire to further their skills, the course introduces more sophisticated techniques at every stage of animation development and guides students to incorporate them into their course projects. Included in these advanced techniques are hierarchical animation, time curves and motion paths, color and light animation, advanced rendering techniques, audio/visual synchronization, and procedural descriptions of natural phenomena, etc. Students are required to complete a full-blown animated piece employing one or more such advanced techniques.

All of the above three are core components of Maya. The course will acquaint students with the advanced features of Maya modeling and animation. Through step-by-step instructor-led tutorial, students are directed to master essential advanced Maya modeling and animation skills through hands-on experiments.

The class combines lectures with tutorials to demonstrate the mechanism of advanced Maya character modeling (Nurbs, polygon, subdiv) and advanced Deformers, Rigging, and animation including Character Setup Features, Skeletons, Constraints, Character Sets, Animating Character Sets and more… Students are directed to put the concept to work immediately in class activities, and then apply them to their projects. Term grades are based more on the animation level achieved in the project than on testing for knowledge of concepts.

Four major concentrations of this course are Maya Dynamics Particle Systems, Paint Effects, Maya Cloth and Maya Fur. The course covers all aspects within the areas from basics to advanced features.

The class combines lectures with tutorials to demonstrate the mechanism of Maya Dynamics Particle System, Paint Effects, Maya Cloth and Maya Fur. Students explore beyond 3D paint effects into advanced dynamic particle effects to produce complex images. The class experiments also include dynamic animation using the particle system to create realistic motion. The class directs students to employ Maya Cloth and Maya Fur to create realistic animated cloth and fur within the Maya environment. Through participating in class activities, students gain the ability to model garments for any animated 3D figures and to create self-shadowing fur and short hair on multi-surface NURBS models. Students also learn to create many other types of cloth animation, including sheets, bedding, drapery, flags, and fabrics of all kinds.

Students complete the course with film, video and commercial projects that apply major animation techniques learned during the course.

This course introduces students to Maya MEL (MEL stands for Maya Embedded Language). The course helps students attain a head start in the use of MEL commands and scripts. Once students grasp the essentials of MEL, this course continues to guide them to maximize their control of the commands, macros, scripts, and custom interface elements that can be created with MEL. Furthermore, students can use MEL commands to bypass Maya's user interface, quickly create shortcuts, and access advanced features. With workshop experiments, students learn to enter exact values for attributes, to circumvent any restrictions to precision that the interface imposes, to customize it for specific scenes and also to customize default settings to suit a particular project.

This course provides an overview of the development of computer graphics both as a design tool and a medium for artistic expression. The field’s evolution is examined in depth, from the dawn of the computer age in the 1950s until the most recent advances of the early twenty-first century. Topics covered include the computer’s role within the traditional fine arts, the development of stylistic groups among computer artists, the relationship of advances in hardware and software to artistic expression, and the impact of computer graphics on the evolution of contemporary design. Recent examples of computer graphics are analyzed in the context of contemporary art styles and movements, multi-media and design. Field trips to galleries and production houses complement the lecture classes.

This course provides a solid technical and esthetic foundation for animation video production and post-production with Maya. It concentrates on the issues of shot succession, timing, action, and sound/image relations as an aid to general post-production skills and revisualization of computer animation. The course will cover the essential elements of linear and non-linear systems, as well as the general ecology of production and post-production in this rapidly changing field. Students should preferably have some experience with video editing systems before entering the class.
With a focus on advanced animation production, the course examines the use of Maya’s digital technologies in the creation of 3D animation end products: full screen video, TV commercials and movies. The class covers the process of computerized animation design and production through all phases of the production cycle: from layout, lighting, editing, and composition to digital file video recording, etc. Other advanced features introduced include the development of environment effects, special F/X, use of Maya and After Effects between media, and the fine-tuning of final compositions.

This course is designed to direct students engaged in research and planning for their thesis: a project involving production of a major animation project using Maya and a complementary paper. Thesis Research is the prerequisite for the graduate thesis production courses (Masters Thesis I and II).

Offering an overview of Maya 3D computer modeling and animation technology, extensive guided examination of some representative animation works, and class discussions of various topics in art theory and criticism, the course directs students to research and plan their own graduate thesis projects. Class discussions and individual meetings with the professor build student research skills for the initiation of the thesis paper and final animation project. Students must produce a term paper presenting their detailed, step-by-step plan for the developmental phases of their animation artwork. The paper’s goal is to anticipate technical challenges and solutions to be sought, resulting, effectively, in the blueprint for the graduate thesis animation production. This preliminary paper also serves as the outline of the graduate thesis paper. Students build some foundation work for the thesis project, such as storyboards and theme outlines.

The course examines the diversity of processes and concepts in computer graphic art and 3D animation art in particular. Students are expected to recognize and critique artistic themes and ethical statements conveyed through computer animation works. Weekly group and individual critiques are mandatory.

Through careful review and evaluation of a cutting edge, international award-winning animation collection, this course broadens students' horizons regarding the latest achievements and developments in the computer animation industry and in computer artistry itself. Case studies and company profiles of the most prominent firms guide students to a closer look at some of animation’s masterpieces, and the techniques and visions of their creators. Each student learns to analyze and evaluate an animated production for its aesthetic and technical merits. With deeper critical and empirical understanding of the important achievements undertaken thus far, students empower themselves to develop their own contributions to the animation field.

A series of snapshots of representative animated works, tracing the evolution of animation from its cradle in the silent era in the early 1900’s to contemporary advances in the 1990’s, illustrates the class lectures. From shorts to features, commercials to computer animation movies, the class examines technological, aesthetic, and sociological milestones in the development of animation. A partial list of animators reviewed includes Cohl, Fleischer, Richter, Jones, Avery and Pitt. Students are encouraged to critically examine the role the animation industry plays in today’s society, the historical influences on its stages of development, and possible directions for its future.

Master Thesis Master Thesis II and I combined is the summation of graduate studies in computer animation. Master Thesis I focuses on the initial phase of the thesis project – modeling and basic animation. Students are required to have completed ‘Graduate Theory and Criticism' and ‘Thesis Research’ courses before taking this course or they may take them concurrently. In Masters Thesis I, students build on the planning paper developed from the Thesis Research course.

The class guides students through the first phases of thesis animation production to develop a state-of-the-art production and accompanying paper in a graduate thesis project that reflects the student's mastering of high-level animation techniques with Maya and other software. The course helps students solve technical problems they encounter during their thesis project development. A formal written proposal is required, involving research, writing of an original script, production planning and detailing of technical issues. Successful completion of the course involves a positive full faculty review and a graduate committee review measured against defined benchmarks for the graduate program.

As motion capture is leaving behind all controversies and becoming an increasingly practical tool for the generation of animation, this innovative course introduces students to this unique method of "creation of a 3D representation of a live performance”, in contrast to the more conventional animation approaches that entail 'by hand' creations through a process known as keyframing.
The course offers students hands-on experience with software tools for working with motion-captured data such as Kaydara Filmbox. Students are guided to utilize the tool as the means to edit and blend takes from multiple capture sessions and then mix and match them with keyframed animation techniques. Through the course, students gain the capability of exercising great control of style and quality of the final animation output for images that evidence motion ranging from realistic to 'cartoony'.

The history of the discipline known as “art” is explored extensively. Students will read numerous outstanding historical and critical writings exemplifying differing approaches to the field including: connoisseurship and criticism, iconography and contextual studies. Each student will develop a bibliography on a particular historical approach to the study of art. Class discussion will use historical examples to examine the standards for art historical writing and will address current issues in the field. Graduate level reading and writing skills are developed through the analysis of the historiography of art theory and methodology: skills that are of high demand in the leading animation companies as well as in academia.

Master Thesis I and Master Thesis II combined are the summation of graduate studies in computer animation.

Master Thesis II focuses on the second phase of thesis project building – advanced animation production and special effects. Students must have successfully completed Master Thesis I before taking this course or take it concurrently.

Undergirding the final effort in the thesis project, this course covers various post-production issues including video/film editing, final product presentation and thesis defense strategies. The class constitutes a resource rich support to students as they work their way through the final phases of thesis animation production, post-production editing and composition. Individual meetings with the professor and class demonstrations of projects in progress ensure that every final product constitutes a state-of-the-art animation piece that reflects the student's mastering of cutting-edge animation, editing and composition techniques with Maya live, After Effects, AdobePremiere5 and other software. Students learn the optimal way to deliver and defend the final project in the professional arena.

Students should complete the thesis project with the approval of the directing professor, and must successfully pass faculty review at the course’s conclusion. The graduate committee members’ unanimous approval of the thesis project is also necessary for the completion of this course.