VIZA 627 - Design Communication III

Summer 2007 Industry Course

with

Reel FX Studio

Architecture C414, 3 credits
Last Update - 5/30/2007

Tentative Meeting Times:

Instructors:  Frederic I. Parke and Wei Yan

Parke: A134, phone: 5-6596, email: parke@viz.tamu.edu
Office hours: Open door or by appointment

Yan:  A318, phone: 5-0584, email: wyan@archmail.tamu.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:00AM - 11:30AM or by appointment

Story Concepts

Students

Production Teams

Production Tasks

Visiting Artists (all from Reel FX Studio)

Beginning May 29th, representatives from Reel FX  will be on campus approximately six of the ten semester weeks to provide instruction and insight in these areas, according to the following schedule:

week

 

m

 

t

 

w

 

r

 

f

 

1

28-May

 

29-May

brandono/dap

30-May

booker/whiting

31-May

booker/whiting

1-Jun

booker/whiting

 

2

4-Jun

brandon b

5-Jun

brandon b

6-Jun

brandon b

7-Jun

peterson/bb

8-Jun

peterson/bb

 

3

11-Jun

troy

12-Jun

troy

13-Jun

model/layout

14-Jun

model/layout

15-Jun

model/layout

 

4

18-Jun

model/layout

19-Jun

model/layout

20-Jun

sp/anderholm

21-Jun

anderholm

22-Jun

anderholm

 

5

25-Jun

anderholm

26-Jun

rigging

27-Jun

rigging

28-Jun

rigging

29-Jun

rigging

 

6

2-Jul

rigging

3-Jul

rigging

4-Jul

 

5-Jul

anim

6-Jul

anim

 

7

9-Jul

justinb

10-Jul

justinb

11-Jul

justinb

12-Jul

justinb

13-Jul

justinb

 

8

16-Jul

anim

17-Jul

anim

18-Jul

anim

19-Jul

anim

20-Jul

anim

 

9

23-Jul

dale

24-Jul

dale

25-Jul

dale

26-Jul

light

27-Jul

light

 

10

30-Jul

light

31-Jul

light

1-Aug

color

2-Aug

color

3-Aug

color

 

11

6-Aug

SIGGRAPH

7-Aug

SIGGRAPH

8-Aug

SIGGRAPH

9-Aug

SIGGRAPH

10-Aug

SIGGRAPH

 

12

13-Aug

wrap up

14-Aug

wrap up

15-Aug

post

16-Aug

post

17-Aug

wrap up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(by David Parrish and Sean Jensen from Reel FX)

brandon oldenburg story tbd@reelfx.com
david parrish
 consult david.parrish@reelfx.com
brad booker
 story tbd@reelfx.com
mark whiting
 story tbd@reelfx.com
brandon bruce
 modeling tbd@reelfx.com
scott peterson
 mod/texturing tbd@reelfx.com
troy griffin
 layout tbd@reelfx.com
john anderholm
 rigging/TD tbd@reelfx.com
karthik swaminathan
 rigging/TD tbd@reelfx.com
justin barrett
 animation tbd@reelfx.com
dale carman
 light/comp/color/sound tbd@reelfx.com
frank salazar
 audio/post
 tbd@reelfx.com
mike roy
 post
 tbd@reelfx.com
brian bayley
 post tbd@reelfx.com

Course Description

This course is designed to offer insight into the process, techniques and skills used within a storytelling CG  production environment. As a prerequisite, the students must have a good understanding of the basic technical and aesthetic concepts and issues of visualization and a strong working knowledge of the software to be used. The course will be intense and the daily expectations high. Each day will involve a review and critique of the previous day's work. The intent of this course is to clearly relate the teachings of the academic environment with the expectations of a professional CG production studio.

The assignments for this course will concentrate on the use of three-dimensional computer animation as a storytelling media.   It may involve the integration of CG images with live action images. Focus will be on efficient and effective production. The skills involved include the following production tasks:

Story Development and Pre-Production
Modeling and UV setup
Layout
Character Rigging
Character Animation
Visual Special Effects
Lighting and Rendering
Compositing and Editing

The students registered for this class will form a group of collaborative production teams.  These teams will collectively produce a short, very high quality piece which integrates CG animation and visual effects (and perhaps real images).  Individual teams/students will be assigned a set of specific coordinated  production tasks.  The assigned tasks will directly contribute to the completion of the class project.   The completion of the project depends on each student contributing both individually and as a member of the team.  Each student will be involved in a  number of the production processes outlined above.

Prerequisite

Good understanding of the basic technical and aesthetic concepts and issues of visualization and a strong working knowledge of the appropriate visualization software.  Generally this means having completed the first year of the M.S. Visualization Sciences program.

Grading

Grading will be based on informed participation,  quality and timely contributions to the class project  as assigned.   Each student starts the course with a B.  This grade goes up or down based on performance. Project assignment grading will be based on the production process used, quality of the intermediate and final assignment elements produced, and timely completion of assigned tasks.   The faculty instructors and the visiting artists will provide evaluations used in determining final grades.  Continual in-class reviews, critics and discussion will be used to gauge student comprehension of the material presented. The overall class participation grade will be the instructor's and visiting artists' qualitative judgment of the student's participation, and will include such factors as attendance, preparation, and informed participation in discussion.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy Statement

The following ADA Policy Statement (part of the Policy on Individual Disabling Conditions) was submitted to the University Curriculum Committee by the Department of Student Life. The policy statement was forwarded to the Faculty Senate for information.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities, in Cain Hall or call 845-1637.

Academic Integrity Statements

AGGIE HONOR CODE

An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do.

Upon accepting admission to Texas A&M University, a student immediately assumes a commitment to uphold the Honor Code, to accept responsibility for learning, and to follow the philosophy and rules of the Honor System. Students will be required to state their commitment on examinations, research papers, and other academic work. Ignorance of the rules does not exclude any member of the TAMU community from the requirements or the processes of the Honor System.

For additional information please visit: http://www.tamu.edu/dof/faculty/www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor/

Plagiarism

In this course, we want to encourage collaboration and the free interchange of ideas among students and in particular the discussion of homework assignments, approaches to solving them, etc. However, we do not allow plagiarism, which, as commonly defined, consists of passing off as one's own the ideas, words, writings, etc., which belong to another. In accordance with this definition, you are committing plagiarism if you copy the work of another person and turn it in as your own, even if you should have the permission of that person. Plagiarism is one of the worst academic sins, for the plagiarist destroys the trust among colleagues without which research cannot be safely communicated.
If you have any questions regarding plagiarism, please consult the latest issue of the Texas A&M University Student Rules, under the section on Scholastic Dishonesty.