See how a Course Works: Intro to Online Learning
Description
Gatlin International animation courses are designed to give you the hands-on experience you need to succeed in the challenging and rewarding field of computer animation.
Ready to put your creativity in motion? Learn how to apply the classic principles of character animation to 3D models using Autodesk Maya. In six hands-on lessons, character animation phenom Cristin McKee guides you through 14 principles of animation ranging from squash and stretch and anticipated movement to the expression of personality and thought.
Maya is the chosen software of most animation courses and real-world animators alike. Using Maya's high-level animation tools, you'll gain insight into the professional animator's approach, learning to work with hierarchical characters, create effective poses, properly time your shots, develop advanced walk cycles, and even make your characters think.
Whether you're interested in character animation for game cutscenes, cinematics, in-game animations, or other applications, our animation courses will give you all the tools you need to get started. Each challenging lesson and exercise addresses professional-level techniques that will put you on the fast track to producing high-quality 3D character animations.
Outline
LESSON 1 Principles of Animation
Lesson One launches the course with an overview of how to animate in Maya and an exploration of tried-and-true techniques including squash and stretch, anticipation, follow through, and overlapping. You'll learn how to work with a skeleton hierarchy as you animate in Maya and use the Graph Editor and Dope Sheet to refine your animations. You'll apply these techniques in the lesson's exercise, animating a basic character with a tail.
LESSON 2 Animating Hierarchical Characters
Just like a real human, a 3D character needs a skeleton to move naturally. In this lesson, you'll learn how to manipulate and pose a "rigged" characterÑone designed with a skeleton and joints. You'll explore how to create overlapping actions and secondary actions to impart grace and realism to your character and examine the challenge of animating a character's jump. In the exercise, you'll create a scene of your own in which a hierarchical character interacts with a prop.
LESSON 3 Lights! Camera! Acting!
It's every director's dream... actors who are emotional, punctual, and obedient. (And geometrically perfect, but needing direction). Lesson Three explores some ways to add drama in animating your characters and hold the attention of your audience. You'll learn how to exaggerate motion to give a character feeling, and edit the timing in your animation, including holds to allow your audience to digest the action and feel immersed in the character's world. Exercise Three challenges you to create an expressive scene in which simple characters interact and make decisions.
LESSON 4 Playing with People: Basic Human Motion
Lesson Four begins with a look at the two principal methods of animating character joints: forward kinematics and inverse kinematics. You'll learn how to edit FK and IK settings in Maya and learn the pros and cons of each approach. Then you'll focus on two important aspects of natural human motion: arcs and weight. The emphasis will be on how to create fluid, organic arc motions and apply realistic weight shifts to a character. In the exercise, you'll try your hand at making a character wave and animate your own weight shift.
LESSON 5 Playing with People: Advanced Human Motion
What makes an animated character interesting? Sometimes it's all in the pose: the perspective on the character seen by the audience in camera view. In Lesson Five, you'll learn techniques for creating poses that are compelling and read well onscreen. Topics include how to compose good character silhouettes, avoid twinning, and create effective hand gestures. The remainder of the lesson focuses on how to begin creating the different animated cycles used in game animations. In the exercise, you'll give your character a looping game cycle such as a swim, attack, or jump.
LESSON 6 Acting with Humanoids
By Lesson Six, you're prepared to create effective, engaging character animations that incorporate many important principles of animation. The final lesson focuses on ways to finesse your work, by making your characters "think" through head movement and eye contact. You'll then get an indepth insight into creating a walk cycle, examining the basic poses involved and methods of adding personality to a walk. Your final exercise will take on the challenge of a walk cycle with the personality of your choice.
Additional Info
- Languages
- English
- Course Length
- 60.00 hours
- Duration of Access
Enrolled students have access to the class for six months. During this period, questions or assignments may be submitted at any time to the instructor. Each course lesson requires an average of 10 hours of study time.
- Instructor
Our animation training differs from other animation courses in a number of ways. Foremost among them is oru exceptional instructor, Greg Marlow. Mr. Marlow is an animator and digital artist who currently works at Firaxis Games. When he isn't breathing life into pixels and polygons Greg likes to sleep. When he wakes up he often enjoys reading, writing, playing music, listening to music, learning things he didn't know, and doing things his wife asks him to do. Greg has a certificate from Animation Mentor and a Master's of Science in Digital Media from East Tennessee State University.
- Prerequisites/Audience
Courses are designed for adult learners interested in building skills and portfolio for a design career. To take the course, students simply require a computer (PC or Mac), an Internet connection (56 Kbps modem or faster), and any required software. For courses with software requirements, computers must meet software manufacturers' system requirements.
- Requirements/Materials Included
To take this course you'll need Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop, a computer that meets Autodesk Maya system requirements and basic experience in Maya and Photoshop. Three button mouse required for PC users, recommended for Mac users.
- Certification
Sessions College is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). Certificate programs are accredited by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools.
