April 3, 2023

Image above is by  Sicheng Zhou, 3rd Exercise, Computer Animation & Storytelling, University  of Virginia, Spring,  2018

ARCH 423/523: Computer Animation And Storytelling
Due: In-class screening April 17, 2023

Exercise 1: Chain Reaction

Create an animation of up to 30 seconds using simple objects and a short chain reaction or cause and effect theme. This could be an imaginative recreation of one object impacting several others as in a Rube Goldberg machine *, or a precision mechanical contraption or a relatively abstract series of interactions that perhaps offers more than one interpretive reading.

1. Use simple nurbs and polygon primitives and basic keyframing techniques.
2. Create one or several separate sequences at the same resolution.
3. Work with one or more objects.
4. Render your work in minimal raytrace quality in Maya Software or Maya Hardware 2.0 renderer.
5. Record your work to a jpeg or png animation sequence(s) and compile the resulting animation in OpenShot, Adobe Premiere or Quicktime.
6. Place your work in you class submit folder on the course server for ARCH 423\523 as will be demonstrated in class and email a short 1 to 2 paragraph description to emark@uoregon.edu. (As a backup plan, you can also put your movie file on a flash drive and bring it to class). For this exercise, go to the “ARCH423_523_36868_SPRING2023\Student_Data” subfolder, and then go to the sub folder with your computer ID (e.g., “emark”). Next, create  a subfolder named “Exercise1” and place the submit movie file under it.

* For inspiration see this popular example based upon real objects that set a high bar.

Placing your work on the course server:

Note: The procedure for accessing a course server depends upon whether you are using a Windows or Mac OS Operating System. In addition, if you are attempting to access the course server from outside the UO network (e.g., from your home if it is not on the network), then you will need to use UO’s VPN service to login to the network before using this method. There’s a help telephone number if you have difficulty. Or, if  this proves difficult to follow, place your submission on a flash drive,  simply wait until you are on campus and you can bypass the VPN system. Similarly, you can also bring the flash drive into class and walk through the process with more direct support.

The College of Design provides instructions for accessing the course server on this web page. However, Please also note that the course server address has now changed to smb://files.uoregon.edu/courses (macOS) or \\files.uoregon.edu\courses (Windows). Therefore, the instructions from the web page are modified with the new server address here:

For macOS:

• In the Finder, click Go, then click Connect to Server
• In the Connect to Server box, type smb://files.uoregon.edu/courses
• Enter your Duck ID and password
• Click Connect
• In the next window, select the folder to which you wish to connect
• Click OK
• The folder should open in a new window in your foreground