The Academy of Interactive Entertainment 2013 Advanced Diploma of Screen - 3D Animation and VFX (10343NAT) Subject Listing Online Campus 0 Page
Contents 3D Art Pipeline...2 Modelling, Texturing and Game engines...2 Modelling for Anatomy...2 Animation Principles...2 Digital Lighting and Compositing...3 Animated Video Production...3 Digital Visual Effects and Compositing...3 Character Animation...4 Script & Storyboard...4 Film Production Teams...4 Pre-production...5 Mini production...5 Capstone Project...5 1 P age
3D Art Pipeline This subject will introduce you to a broad range of areas in operating a 3D animation package. You will cover areas including: navigating in 3D space, object creation, basic modelling, animation, materials, textures and rendering. This subject is your introduction to the 3D art pipeline using the powerful Autodesk Maya software The subject is designed to give you an extensive overview of how 3D models are designed constructed, textured, rigged, animated, lit and rendered. You'll learn this pipeline through practical project based training. Upon completion of this subject you'll understand the entire 3D art pipeline. You'll have a basic 3D artist skill set and will be comfortable with Autodesk Maya 3D art software. Modelling, Texturing and Game engines In this subject, you ll learn the skills to design and create a real time environment containing complex digital art work. You ll work in teams. You ll be given a lot of creative control and flexibility (within brief boundaries). You will concept, create and develop a quality real-time environment that will be game ready. You will learn how to construct detailed scope documents in order to strengthen your planning skills for future projects. You will also learn how to present digital portfolio work and begin your personal portfolio. You will learn industry techniques and learn an industry quality engine. This subject will increase your skills and understanding of how 3D models are created and imported into game engines. The subject is designed to teach you how to design, model and texture 3D objects. You'll learn how to import art assets into game engines. You'll learn these skills through teacher lead practical projects. Upon completion of this subject you'll have a greater understanding of how to use Autodesk Maya to model and texture objects. You'll be able to begin making compelling environment art assets for games. Modelling for Anatomy This subject is designed to build your understanding of the process of developing and creating organic character models. You ll use a variety of the latest software applications and workflows to design, build and sculpt your model. You will learn about unwrapping and texturing your model. This will include creating specular, normal and diffuse maps. Upon finishing building your model, you ll learn about rigging, staging, posing and rendering multiple layers to create an outstanding image. This subject will increase your skills and understanding of how to model anatomy. The subject is designed to teach you how to create 3D models of human anatomy. You'll learn how to design characters and model them correctly. You'll also begin to learn how rigging can be used to make characters move. You'll learn this through teacher directed practical projects. Upon completion of this subject you will have a greater understanding of how to use Autodesk Maya. You'll be confident enough to create game characters and rig them for basic animation. Animation Principles In this subject you will learn the methods and techniques of animating within 3D software. You ll specifically learn the Principles of Animation and how to apply them to computer animation. You will identify and clarify your tasks, then design, develop, animate and render a set of animations in accordance with the instructions given to you by your teacher. In this subject your objective is to improve your animation skills so you can create high quality character animation. You will need to demonstrate an understanding of conveying weight, expressing human emotions and lip syncing. You will need to be able to clearly understand the requirements, take and give direction, seek and make use of feedback, 2 P age
develop an animation from concept, through storyboards, referencing, animating, lighting and rendering, to end up with a quality animation sequence. In this subject you will learn the art of creating appealing animation using 3D software. The subject is designed to teach you the guiding principles that make animation compelling and appealing to watch. You ll learn the art of making things move. You'll learn the art of animation through teacher led practical 3D animation projects. Upon completion of this subject have a greater understanding of how to use Autodesk Maya to animate. You'll be able to make even simple animations compelling. You'll be able to bring 3D characters to life, making them think, emote and move. Digital Lighting and Compositing In this subject you ll begin to learn how to use specialist compositing software to composite 3D objects into photographic background plates. You ll learn how to analyse the lighting and shadow properties in a background plate and replicate those properties in your 3D software application. You ll then composite 3D models into the background plate and adjust them to look realistic and convincing. This subject is your introduction to creating special visual effects. The subject is designed to focus on three related areas. It will give you an introduction to combining visual elements together through digital compositing, it will build your understanding of light and lighting in digital art and introduce you to the principals of design and screen language. Upon completion of this subject you'll have a strong background to construct compelling visual images. You'll understand how to use compositing software. You'll understand how to apply this knowledge to computer games, still images or video productions using a variety of software applications Animated Video Production Develop the production plan for a project, in teams, to be produced for a client in the form of a short film or a level for a game. You ll need to produce scripts, storyboards, concept art, animatics and the art assets necessary for the production of the animated video. In this subject you will work with in a team to produce a short animated movie. You ll need to work effectively with your team in a professional manner in a simulated work place environment. You ll be required to take on some management responsibilities as well as art tasks during the production. This subject will advance and expand your knowledge of the 3D art pipeline. The subject is designed to give you an extensive understanding of how to create 3D animated video such as game cut scenes, trailers or short animated movies. You ll learn the process from pre-production through to post production. You'll learn to design and create 3D animated videos through teacher led practical projects. Upon completion of this subject you'll be very experienced in using a variety of 3D software applications. You'll be experienced in planning, preparing, producing and completing 3D animated videos for a variety of applications. Digital Visual Effects and Compositing This subject is about the creation of 1-3 Visual Effects (VFX) shots with a running time between thirty and sixty seconds maximum. Utilizing your Maya skills and new found Nuke skills in compositing you will be working to the highest possible standards. A high level of creative conceptualisation is required in this assessment. You ll conceive, design, shoot, create and composite finished digital visual effects shots. Through team work you should be able to attain a higher standard of finished work in the available time by concentrated effort in specific job roles. 3 P age
You will be researching, learning and mastering new software and techniques throughout. Working collaboratively with teams of six to seven people you will conceive, concept, and create a digital VFX scene using Maya, Nuke and other ancillary pieces of software. This subject will maximise your skill set in compositing finished digital visual effects shots. You'll use advanced compositing software as part of your production process. Upon completion of this subject you will have the skills set to demonstrate the integration of CGI characters and elements against live action background plates and elements. Character Animation This subject is designed to create a memorable piece of animation for your show reel as well as further developing your skills and competencies in key areas. Style, look and feel, and mood can vary from a quirky, cartoon, stylised scene through to a dramatic and more realistic scene. Naturally one of the objectives of this subject is to create a quality piece of animation that conveys a strong animated performance. This will involve research into animation styles, from realism to non-realism, preproduction planning, timing charts, dope sheets and the like. You may use full body movement, or you may concentrate on close-ups with more facial animation. You may include lip synch or the character may be mute. Script & Storyboard In this subject you will work in a team to develop a story reel for a short film. You will develop a synopsis for a short film and present this alongside a suitable log line. Several of the synopses will be chosen for further development. As a team you will create a treatment, a script, story boards and finally a story reel. Your film is to be intended for entry into a recognised film festival such as MIAF or Tropfest. As a team you will source information regarding submission requirements, award categories, narrative trends and identity of your target audience. You will collate this information into a client focus document. Throughout this process you will be continually involved in discussions and short presentations with your class, your team and your teacher. You will need to demonstrate to your teacher that you seek and embrace change, new ideas, critical feedback and direction. This means you will be working in a development cycle creating iterations of scripts, style guides, storyboards and the story reel itself. Communication skills, working with others and delivering on time are all key to achieving success in this subject. This is team collaborative work, with all members required to make measurable contributions. You need to create reels and boards with a clear sense of staging, continuity, shot timing, composition, action, lighting strategies and lensing. Core subjects Film Production Teams Working with students from different disciplines you will learn how production teams work. The subject will begin team building and preproduction. The goal is to get organised in to a production team and think about the scope and challenge of making films together. This subject is designed to give you a strong understanding of how to organise and plan a production for a team. The first focus will be in getting organised and working in teams. You'll get a clear understanding of how the different disciplines of VFX artist, game artist, game designer and game programmer work and how they work together in the context of creating films. You'll learn what tools they use, what they each produce and what they contribute to the team. 4 P age
The second focus will be on conceiving ideas that are practical, achievable and worthy of further production. You will learn about filtering, refining, recording and pitching ideas. Upon completion of this subject you'll have a strong understanding of how teams produce films and games and what they can achieve. You'll also have a collection of strong clear ideas that have been planned and are ready to be produced. Pre-production Working with artists, programmers and designers this will be your first taste of a project run under proper production conditions. You will be writing design documentation, setting schedules, testing products reports and contributing to design discussions. This subject is designed to get teams of programmers, artists and designers working together on projects. You ll undertake multiple small video projects. You ll get a clear understanding of how a team produces a video production. You ll have a firsthand understanding the challenges and difficulties involved in video production. You ll gain a firsthand realistic understanding of how the scope of a video project can be balanced with the time and resources available to produce it. Mini production You ll be working with artists, programmers and designers and you will all be tasked with the construction of a prototype to prove a game play idea, business model and production plan. Students from this course will specifically creating characters and cut screens and other video and special effects material. This subject is focused on choosing an idea worthy of development You be introduced to business models and financing opportunities You ll present your prototype and ideas to professional game developers seeking advice and feedback You ll conceive, develop and test a plan for the major game and video production Capstone Project This subject culminates all the learning from all stream and core subjects into a large 3D production designed, managed and produced in a teacher mentored environment. You will have a choice of gathering a team to produce an animated short film or working with artists, designers and programmers to produce the video content for a full game product, ranging from cuts scenes, trailers and video promotional material. You ll then be an independent video producer with a product, a team and a plan. 5 P age