First, complete any of the modules that you didn't have time to finish during class. Feel free to re-visit any of the materials for a second pass (you always get more out of it the second time around). Then, Choose ~one~ out of the following list of exercises to complete the homework requirement for this section of the course.
Maya comes with some built in tutorials to
introduce the student to issues in rigging
characters for animation. Locate and complete
the following tutorials:
1. Character Setup: Lesson 1 Skeletons and
Kinematics
2. Character Setup: Lesson 2 Smooth Skinning
Once you complete these tutorials, Pose the
character you've rigged and take a "snapshot"
(i.e., use maya to render an image of the
character). Then post the image to your
blog and e-mail the link to your entry to:
nagelh@bc.edu
CC professor Walsh and A. Mendoza as well to
insure you receive full credit for the
assignment. Please make sure to write the
phrase: "Exploring 3D Character Development"
in the subject field of your e-mail.
Create a chararcter of your own. If you have
had some ideas about a character that you'd
like to create, take this opportunity to put
them to the test. Bring your character to life
using the techniques covered in this class.
Feel free to research and experiment with other
techniques as well, but keep in mind the time-
constraints within which you have to work.
A very rough first-pass 3D character "sketch"
rigged for animation is perfectly acceptable
to fulfill this homework requirement.
Once you've completed your model and rigged it
for animation, pose your character and take
a "snapshot" (i.e., use maya to render an
image of your character) and post it to your
blog. Then e-mail the link to your blog
entry to:
nagelh@bc.edu
CC professor Walsh and A. Mendoza as well to
insure you receive full credit for the
assignment. Please make sure to write the
phrase: "Exploring 3D Character Development"
in the subject field of your e-mail.
Create a 3D character model of Fr. Woods
(Dean of BC's College of Advancing Studies).
To complete this exercise, you might want to
obtain images of Fr. Woods to use as guides
and to help you visualize a target for your
model that you might like to achieve. A set
of images that you can use for your character
study is available at the following URL...
http://www2.bc.edu/~nagelh/exploring.3D.character.
development/FrWoodsCharStudy.html
Use these images as guides throughout your
modelling process. We did not cover how to
set up image panes in Maya to guide your
modelling efforts, so you either will have
to be familiar with this technique or you
will have to do some additional research and
experimentation to complete this exercise.
Toward that end, I have included a set of
links that you can use as resources to take
you outside of the scope of this initial
class session (See the "further resources"
section of these course materials).
If you opt for this exercise then simply
get as far as you can over the course of
the week on your Father Woods character
model (expect to put in a minimum of 6 hours
and probably more). At some point ~prior~ to
the next schedules class meeting, take some
"snapshots" of your work (i.e., use Maya to
render a set of images of your model) and
post them to your blog. Then e-mail the link
to your blog entry to:
nagelh@bc.edu
CC professor Walsh and A. Mendoza as well to
insure you receive full credit for the
assignment. Please make sure to write the
phrase: "Exploring 3D Character Development"
in the subject field of your e-mail.