Project 4:

Overview:

Apply skeleton in Maya to geometry to create a final animated short or series of shorts. Perform motion editing/blending. Compare and contrast Maya Trax editor with Motionbuilder for blending purposes. All images, movies, and data (motion as well as animation) should be burned on a CD and handed in to the instructor. Last day of class will be a show and tell for each group.

Software:

MotionBuilder and Maya

Assignment:

You will need to use Maya's Trax editor to edit some of your motion. Once finished, all motions to complete your storyboards need to be rendered out. Extra motion editing can be done at this stage as well, but according to the motion, this may have been done in the prior weeks. Compare the Trax editor motion edits with the motion edits you were able to get in MotionBuilder. For your final piece, use whatever looks the best to you, but I want an analysis of what Trax editor was able to do versus Motionbuilder, how complicated each was, etc.

All of your motions need to be pulled into Maya, applied to geometry, and then rendered out. Rendered images should be raster images at 640x480 at 30 Hz. The images should be pulled together to make a Quicktime movie. I am looking for motion and geometry binding quality. Everyone is responsible for rendering out their individual images, but the group is responsible for rendering out the blended motion.

Instructor:

If any one has trouble or questions, feel free to talk to me about them. You will be evaluated by your ability to pull together the final piece. This is a team project, so each person needs to experience a little bit of what goes into making the final piece. Abstractions are welcome, but if you want cloth streamers coming off all the joints, please remember that there are also time constraints. The blended motion is also a large part of this. The blend may have to be performed several times with small changes until it looks correct. I am looking for the blend and all of the motion edits to be in here as well.

Hints: Rigid binding is by far the easiest, but a smooth binding will look better if you have the time. Grades are not dependant on which you use, just how acceptable the outcome is.