Pencils to Pixels Syllabus

8/8/2019 Pencils to Pixels Syllabus

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From Pencils to Pixels: Flash Cartoon Animation

Spring 2011, Tuesday and Thursday, 11:10 2:10 am, Trahern Computer Lab

Professor Kell Black Office - Trahern 421 (near the elevator) [email protected] 931-221-7358

Office hours - Tuesdays 2:15 3:15 pm; Fridays 1:15 2:15 pm

Course Description and Prerequisites:

This class is a thorough introduction to tradigital animation in Adobe Flash CS4 and CS5. That is,digital animation using the traditional techniques of cell animation.

More and more animation is being produced directly in Flash. Disneys latest show, Kick Buttinski,Suburban Daredevil, which premiered in late February 2010, is created completely in Flash, as areFosters Home for Imaginary Friends and Puffy Puffy Amiyumi. Flash is the new animationstudio.

The qualified student must have completedDrawing I, Drawing II and Electronic Imaging.

Course Objectives:

- To learn the principles of traditional animation and drawing for animation.

- To learn to draw using the Wacom tablet in Adobe Flash.

- To learn how to animate in Adobe Flash.

- To introduce the student to the complete process of animation production, from idea to finishedoutput.

- To create many exercises to implement the principles of traditional and Flash animation.

- To create a short, finished animated film in Adobe Flash.

Content Outline:

Film literacy how to watch a movie

History of animation - from 1898 to the present

Film production - idea, story, script, art direction, storyboard, soundtrack, animatic, animation,editing, output

Principles of Animation - squash and stretch, anticipation, staging, straight ahead and pose to pose,follow through and overlapping action, easing, arcs, timing, exaggeration, syncing

Working in Flash - drawing for animation, using layers, creating symbols and motion guides,understanding frame rate, managing file size, tweening vs. frame by frame


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Required Learning Resources:

Time: you will need plenty of it for working outside of class. Animation is incredibly time consuming.You will not be able to pass by working only during class itself.

Flash Cartoon Animationby Kevin Peaty and Glenn Kirkpatrick. This book covers in detail how to use

Flash for animation. Written by pros.

The Animators Survival Kitby Richard Williams. This is our essential guide to animation.

Sketchbook and pencils all movies begin with an idea made visible. You are to draw in yoursketchbook every single day to reach at least 105 pages, front and back, by the end of the semester.Buy a ring-bound sketchbook at least 8.5 x ll and get plenty of pencils and a Pink Pearl eraser.

Keep your pencils sharp or draw with mechanical pencils. The Papermate Sharpwriter #2 is a good,all round inexpensive mechanical pencil you can get nearly everywhere.

Personally I like to draw with a 9mm. Alvin Draftmatic mechanical pencil fitted with blue leads or a

.9 mm Papermate Pro Touch II mechanical pencil with blue leads. Mechanical pencils help youdevelop a light hand and you dont need to carry a sharpener with you. A good mechanical pencilwill cost upwards of $10 but will last for years and theyre always sharp. Be sure to purchasereplacement leads!

Loose-leaf binder and notebook paper I expect you to write things down. Take lots of notes. I hate torepeat myself. I prefer graph paper but thats a personal quirk.

A big flash drive or agood portable external hard drive - You probably already have a good flash drive. Ifyou use lots of PhotoShop, Illustrator and Flash, then LaCie makes a rugged drive perfect for thestudent. Image files can get big quick.

Stopwatch animation is timing, and precise timing requires a stopwatch. Get one cheap at WalMart

or K-Mart. A sports watch will work well, too, as long as it records fractions of seconds. My $10referees stopwatch came with a lanyard and a whistle!

Modelingclay Something like Permoplast or Play-Doh, a kind that doesnt harden.

Highly Recommended:

Animation 1; Learn to Animate Cartoons Step by Step by Preston Blair. The drawings are dated but theinformation is invaluable. Preston Blair is the Raphael of animation. This is inexpensive but worthits weight in gold.

A Laptop Computer necessary for every serious student. Expensive but worth every penny. Macs

are great but Dells work just as well for a fraction of the cost. Experience and research show that thebetter students have their own computers.

Adobe Flash, CS3 or later. Even better, buy the complete Adobe Student Suite if you are seriousabout animation and/or you are a graphic design student. Youll use it for years.

Wacom tablet such as the Bamboo essential for animators and digital illustrators.


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Course Requirements:

Students must complete all assignments on time. Late work is not accepted. Work is due ondropbox by 10:30 a.m. on the stated due date. No kidding. No exceptions.

Students must attend all critiques and students must be present for all demonstrations.

Sketchbook: students are requiredto draw daily in their sketchbooks. Start an animation sketchbookand use it for only for this class. Drawing is to animation what breathing is to living something youdo all the time, without thinking about it and without being asked to. Animators draw.

Quizzes:

There will be a number of announced and unannounced quizzes given on essential factualinformation such as key commands, definitions, charting, etc.

Basis and Methods for Grading:

F = late or missed work

D = poor; work that does not meet the minimum requirements as stated for the project

C = satisfactory; work that meets the basic requirements in terms of concept and execution

B = very good; work that exceeds the basics requirements in terms of concept and execution

A = excellent; work that far exceeds the basic requirements in terms of concept and execution

It is impossible to cram good animation. The best requires careful tweaking and polish.

The final grade consists of the following:

Animation exercises = 30%

Final movie = 30%

Sketchbook = 30%

Quizzes = 10%

Attendance Policy:

Attendance is required at all classes. The student may miss one week (two classes) without penalty.

After two absences the final grade will automatically be lowered one grade for every class missed.There are no excused absences. Its your responsibility to be here.

Disability Policy:

Any student who has a disability that may affect his/her academic performanceis encouraged to make anappointment to discuss this matter, or you may contact Disability Services; telephone 221-6230; tty 221-6278; fax221-7102.


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Policy on Minors:

Minors (any non-student under the age of 18) accompanyingstaff, faculty, students or visitors on campus are notpermittedin the classroom.

Academic Misconduct:

Students are expected to conduct themselves appropriately at all times. Academic and classroommisconduct will not be tolerated. Students must read the Code of Student Conduct in the newStudent Handbook for an understanding of what will be expected of them within the academicsetting. Also, see below.

Additional Policies:

Do not communicate with me regarding class work via facebook or your personal email account.Facebook is inappropriate, and your APSU address is the only one that will be allowed by my filter.

Personal correspondence is not allowed during class time. This includes making and receiving cell

phone calls, texting, emailing, social networking, etc. Keep your phones out of sight until breaktime. Class time is for class work. Violating these policies is considered academic misconduct andyou will be asked to leave class.

You may listen to your iPod or mp3 player onlyon those days when it is specifically allowed. Keepthe volume low so that your neighbor and I cannot hear it. However, it is best to work in silence.

Trust me on this.

You may bring a beverage to class, but food is not allowed. Eat before class or during break.

Sticky fingers + crumbs + Wacom tablets + keyboards = one big expensive mess.

Finally:

Animation requires discipline, patience, openness, a sense of play and wonder, and most of all -concentration, dedication and lots of work.

Ub Iwerks drew all of the images himself for the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, a short lasting only sixminutes, and he worked nearly non-stop for six straight weeks. It would have taken one person 38years to have created all the drawings for the first animated feature film, Snow White, and morethan 200 full time artists worked exclusively on the project for four years. Films that appear to havebeen created effortlessly are the result of the most careful planning and execution.

Animation is hard work. If you are lazy, half-hearted or are a procrastinator, animation is not foryou. Its that simple.

Keep drawing!


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Follow these rules:

Be on time. Class begins at 11:10 am and ends at 2:10. Youre late at 11:11.

Work hard. There are no lazy professional artists. The lazy ones are out of work.

Meet deadlines. No excuses. Life always intrudes.

Use your time wisely. Things always go wrong so leave time to fix them.

Be polite and considerate of your peers.

No whining. If you dont want to work hard then drop the course.

Dont freak out and remember to save often!

Use the Help feature. Theres great stuff in there.

Google it cause someone has written a tutorial about it.

Learn how to learn. That is your first job as a student.

Learn to take criticism. Dont defend the work. Listen and take notes.

Documents

Pencils to Pixels Syllabus