Digital 3D Animation

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Elizabethtown Area School District

Digital 3D Animation

Course Number: 753 Length of Course: 1 semester – 18 weeks Grade Level: 11-12 Elective Total Clock Hours: 120 hours

Length of Period: 80 minutes Date Written: March 2011 Periods per Week/Cycle: 5 periods / week Written By: Kevin Hufnagl

Credits (if app): 1.0

Pathway: Engineering, Science and Technology

Placement Criteria: Television Production or Digital Multimedia Design – highly recommended

Course Description:

This course is designed to be a culmination of the communication systems design and production concepts. Students will work both collaboratively and individually to produce three-dimensional objects and environments for a variety of media outputs. The content of the course focuses on 3D modeling, 3D environments, animation, basic game design and the production process. Projects will be objective based challenges, progressively building upon skills and knowledge learned in class. Ultimately, students will understand and experience the process that professionals follow to produce 3D animated movies, commercials, graphics and games. This class is recommended for students who are strongly interested in animation, graphic design, video and game making.

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I. Overall Course/Grade Level Standards

Students will KNOW and be able TO DO the following as a result of taking this course.

A) Identify the various ways in which 3D animation and models affect different

industries.

B) Generate 3D media for a variety of outputs and applications.

C) Develop communication and teamwork skills during partner and class project

collaborations.

D) Develop 3D models by controlling various characteristics of a wire mesh.

E) Manipulate objects in a 3D environment using orthographic views and camera

perspectives.

F) Illuminate 3D objects using both natural and artificial lighting sources.

G) Create 3D environments with physical constraints and a variety of materials and

textures.

H) Identify careers in animation for the web, advertising, entertainment and other

industries.

I) Implement animation controls and constraints on objects, text, characters,

cameras and lighting.

J) Define the historical significance of animation and how it has changed media

both as an entertainment and communication tool.

K) Utilize nurbs and modifiers to change the visual representation and effects of

objects.

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II. Content

Major Areas of Study

List all units of study below:

Unit Estimated Time Materials

1. Introduction to 3D Media 15 hrs. Communicating through 3D media, Careers in Animation and 3D Design, Coordinates and Orthographic Views, Setting up Workspace Assignment 2. 3D Modeling 20 hrs. Modeling Introduction Presentation,

Modeling Vocabulary, Modeling Lighthouse Assignment, Creating 3D Character from 2D Drawing, Modeling Real-World Object Project

3. 3D Environments 15 hrs. Creating Shoreline Assignment, Creating a World Image Assignment, Applying Materials and Textures Exercise, Materials Database 4. Animation 35 hrs. Animation Exploration Guide,

Animation Presentation, Animation Vocabulary, Creating a Robotic Arm, Character Animation Assignment, Animating a Simple Machine Project (Gears, Wheels and Physics)

5. Game Design 35 hrs. Game Research Assignment, Smash an Object Through a Wall Assignment, Basic Interactive Game Project (Team Collaboration)

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Name of Course: Digital 3D Animation

Name of Unit:

Introduction to 3D Media

Essential Question: Why is 3D animation important to visual media?

Unit Objectives/Key Question Priority

Aligned to Course Standard

Aligned to PA Standard

1. How does 3D media help communicate? E A, J 3.4.12.A3

3.4.10.E4 2.4.12.E4 2. How does industry benefit from 3D animation? E A, H 3.4.12.A3 3.4.12.B2 3.4.10.E4 2.4.12.E4 3. What careers are available utilizing 3D models or

animation?

E A, H 3.4.10.A2

3.4.12.D2 4. What is the production process used by 3D

modelers and animators? E O 3.4.12.A2 3.4.10.C1

4. What are Cartesian coordinates? E E 3.4.10.C1

5. What are orthographic views? E E 3.4.10.C1

6. What applications are used for 3D media production?

E B 3.4.10.A3

7. How are objects manipulated in a 3D environment?

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Name of Course: Digital 3D Animation

Name of Unit:

3D Modeling

Essential Question: How do I create 3D objects?

Aligned to PA Standard 1. How do vectors, lines and faces create a mesh

object?

E D, E 3.4.10.C1

2. How can we morph an object using extrusion? E D, E, K 3.4.10.C1 3. What advantage does a 3D model have over 2D

graphics?

E A 3.4.10.B4

4. What is 3D rendering? E B 3.4.10.C1

5. What are NURBS? E K 3.4.10.C1

6. How does lighting affect a rendered 3D object? E D, F 3.4.10.C1 7. How do I create different lighting effects using a

variety of digital lamps? E F 3.4.10.C1 3.4.12.C2

8. What is the difference between 3-point lighting

and natural light? E F 3.4.10.C1

9. How do I use a virtual camera to view a rendered

image from multiple perspectives? E E, F 3.4.10.C1

10. How do I model a 3D character from a 2D drawing?

E D, E 3.4.10.C1

3.4.12.C2

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Name of Course: Digital 3D Animation

Name of Unit:

3D Environments

Essential Question: How do I create a 3D world?

1. What is a plane? E D, E

2. How do I create natural looking terrain? E G, E 3.4.10.C1 3.4.12.C2 3. What are materials and textures and how are they

applied to objects?

E G 3.4.10.C1

4. How do I create a world image? E G 3.4.10.C1

5. How do I create mirrored and translucent surfaces?

E G 3.4.10.C1

6. What is ray tracing? E G 3.4.10.C1

7. How can different types of lamps be used to create shadows?

E F 3.4.10.C1

8. What is mapping? E G 3.4.10.C1

9. How do I create stars, mist and clouds? E G 3.4.10.C1

10. How do I change render settings for different outputs?

E B 3.4.10.C1

3.4.10.C2 3.4.10.D1

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Name of Course: Digital 3D Animation

Name of Unit:

Animation

Essential Question: How do we create a fully animated clip, event or scene?

Aligned to PA Standard 1. What types of things can be digitally animated? E I 3.4.10.C1

2. What are keyframes? E E, I 3.4.10.C1

3. What is interpolation? E I 3.4.10.C1

4. What is the difference between constant, linear

and Bezier waveforms? E I 3.4.10.C1

5. How do I create animated particle systems? E I 3.4.10.C1

6. What are armitures? E D, I 3.4.10.C1

7. What is a child-parent relationship? E D, I 3.4.10.C1 8. How do you animate individual parts of an

object?

E D, I 3.4.10.C1

9. What are rigid bodies and soft bodies? E I, L 3.4.10.C1 10. How can I use animation to make objects deform? E D, I 3.4.10.C1 11. How do objects change size, rotate and move

using interpolation?

E D, I 3.4.10.C1

12. What are meta shapes? E I 3.4.10.C1

13. How do I animate an object to follow a path or curve?

E E, I 3.4.10.C1

14. How has animation developed historically? E J 3.4.12.A1 3.4.10.B3 3.4.10.B4

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Name of Course: Digital 3D Animation

Name of Unit:

Game Design

Essential Question: How are computer games created using live animation?

1. What is live animation? E N 3.4.10.C1

2. How does logic define interactive behavior? E M, N 3.4.10.C1 3. How can an object or action be controlled through

user input commands? E N 3.4.10.C1

4. How do I set up the physics engine? E L 3.4.10.C1

5. How are logic blocks used? E M 3.4.10.C1

6. How is game physics used in conjunction with

animation? E L, M 3.4.10.C1 3.4.12.C3

7. What impacts have interactive games had on society?

E A 3.4.10.A1

3.4.10.A2 3.4.10.B3 8. How does a gaming company work as a team

with various departments?

E A, C, H 3.4.12.A2

3.4.12.C3 3.4.10.D1

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III. Course Assessments

Check types of assessments to be used in the teaching of the course and provide examples of each type.

Objective Tests/Quizzes

Response Journals

Constructed Responses

Logs

Essays

Computer Simulations

Reports

Research Papers

Projects

Class Participation

Portfolios

Note Taking

Presentations

Daily Assignments

Performance Tasks

Writing Samples

Provide copies of common assessments that will be utilized for all students taking this course. Overall course/grade level standards will be measured by a common course assessment. Unit objectives will be measured on an ongoing basis as needed by the classroom teacher to assess learning and plan for instruction. List common assessments below and recommend date/time frame for administration (at least quarterly).

Name of Common Assessment When given?

1. Tests/Quizzes End of Each Unit

2. Projects/Rubrics During Each Unit

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IV. Expected levels of achievement

Current grading scale

92-100 A 83-91 B 74-82 C 65-73 D 64-below F PA Proficiency Levels Advanced Proficient Basic Below Basic