| Interface On the first day, you will dive right into the interface of the most popular animation packages in the film and game industries today. All CG software has common traits. This class will walk you through the basics of interacting with your CG software. Create basic objects, place them in your scene and lay out camera position. Hardware Modeling You'll jump right into building spaceships, robots, vehicles and interior sets. Just like we do in the film industry, we'll use reference like plastic model kits, toys and maquettes to build an exact replica in 3D using all the latest techniques. Texturing A spaceship isn't complete without the weathered look of combat. Learn how we get decals, dirt, grease and blaster marks with simple Photoshop tricks. We'll also be building bump and displacement images to give your models film resolution, photo real detail. |
QUARTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO MODELING
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QUARTER 2: INTRODUCTION TO ANIMATION
| Advanced Shot Composition This class takes you even further in depth with a shot-by-shot breakdown of several Hollywood movie sequences to explain exactly why they were shot that way and how to create your own film with emotion and intent. Organic Modeling Human or creature, learn to properly model organic shapes to match the concept art given by the Art Director. It might be a gruesome villain or a sexy heroine, either way you'll have it completed from head to toe with morph shapes for all the expression needed for animation. Advanced Texturing Teeth, skin and eyes all have to be surfaced and that means breaking into advanced methods like unwrapping geometry and laying out UVs. We'll break down several complicated methods so you can easily understand and accomplish your assignments. |
QUARTER 3: ADVANCED MODELING
QUARTER 4: ADVANCED ANIMATION
| Hardware Rigging Getting your new model ready to animate will take us into the initial aspects of rigging. Here, you'll learn how to setup pivot points that will do everything from bank flaps to rotate mounted weaponry. Shot Composition It's time for you to learn how to build your scene around the cg camera. Learn how we create drama and interest within the shot using camera angles and scene layout. We'll take a look at reference from feature films that our staff has worked on to break down exactly how this is done. Hardware Animation Here's where we get those ships flying, that car driving and those laser cannons blasting! We'll start putting together what we've learned about Composition and Rigging to give your shots dynamic impact. Learn to think about how your models are motivated so your animations will look clean and realistic. From space cruiser fly-bys to off-roading off-world vehicles, you'll learn how to create the animation that brings these scenes to life. Lighting and Rendering It all comes together in lighting. Lighting can make or break a shot. We'll teach you how to focus your audience onto the action with light and color. You'll learn how shadows, color and contrast are as important to a shot's composition as the actual layout. We'll explore mood lighting and atmospheric effects to give your scenes emotion and interest. Special FX From twisters to laser blasts, atomic explosions to tsunamis, you'll create your fx from dead scratch using cg dynamics and particle systems. Along with your soon-to-be acquired Compositing skills, you'll be adding your new FX animations right into our film plates to create the best Special FX this side of Hollywood. Compositing Compositing is right at the core of Special FX and you'll be learning it extensively. We'll pull mattes from green screens, drop in cg animation and modify original film footage to look exactly like what the Director wants. Learn the tricks used at the top VFX houses taught by the effects artists themselves. |
| Character Rigging In depth character rigging will allow you to have full control over your animation. Learn how to draw a complete skeleton within the character along a powerful system of constraints. We'll also teach you how to get clean joint deformations using weight maps that control every vertex point on your model. Character Animation To truly breath life into your new character, you need to know all of Disney's principles of animation. From squash and stretch to appeal, we'll take an in-depth look at each principle and how to apply it in the new world of Computer Graphics. No lifeless mocap will be able to compare to our incredible character animation. Advanced Lighting Here we're going to look at the kind of technical lighting situation that every major studio is striving to achieve. Ambient occlusion, sub-surface scattering and global illumination will rocket your images to the highest quality standards. |
| Learn CG animation at the Computer Graphics Learning Center in Charlotte, NC. |
Computer Graphics Learning Center - CG Animation Charlotte, NC