Introduction to 2D RTF 351C Instructor: Ben Bays Class time: TTH 3:30pm- 5:00pm Class Location: CMB B4.114 Optional Lab Times: TBD ​

The lab will only be open when a proctor is present. I will give you a schedule of these times as soon as it is available.

Office Hours: (TBA) Thursday 6-? Office Location: CMB B4.114 e-mail address: [email protected]

A NOTE ON THE LABS/OFFICE HOURS: I hold my office hours during and in a computer lab, typically our classroom during off hours.. While you are not required to do your assignments during lab times, but I highly encourage you to come take advantage of this time to work on your projects while we are available to help you.

The computer lab itself will be available for you to work in anytime that no other class is using it (and during other classes there should be a computer available in the control room to work on). Of course you may also come to my office hours for extra help. The software utilized in this class (and access to the class servers) will be available in the DML as well.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This is a production course. It is an introduction to the art of 2-D animation using lectures, in-class exercises, screenings, weekly assignments and projects. You will gain an introductory knowledge of the forms of 2-D animation and iits history, as well as producing your own animated pieces. Primarily we will focus on digital animation using the programs Adobe Flash and Adobe Photoshop.

In addition to class participation, there are weekly animation assignments or exercises. Many of these exercises will involve using the computers. If you feel that you lack the necessary computer skills to do this, please talk to me. I will be happy to work with you during office hours, but you will be responsible for putting in the extra work that is necessary for you to become comfortable using the computers in this room. Regardless of computer abilities or previous animation experience, all students will be required to complete weekly exercises and assignments.

Remember this is a production course and will require many hours of work outside of class. Animation requires a substantial amount of time to craft and refine.

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

Something to draw with. Something to draw upon.

COURSE EVALUATION:

You will have (at least) 1 exercise per week to complete. If a project is to take multiple weeks, you will be graded each week on your progress.

These exercises are graded on a 10-point scale--10 being equivalent to 100% or “A+”, 9 being a 90%, etc.

I will subtract 1 point for each day the assignment is late. Don’t be late. ​ ​

I will subtract a point for each requirement not met (e.g. The assignment requires sound and ​ ​ you turn one in without sound). Follow the instructions.

INDEPENDENT INQUIRY FLAG

This course carries the Independent Inquiry flag. Independent Inquiry courses are designed to engage you in the process of inquiry over the course of a semester, providing you with the opportunity for independent investigation of a question, problem, or project related to your major. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from the independent investigation and presentation of your own work.

NOTE ON ASSIGNMENT FORMATS:

There are so many different ways you can output a project from Flash, Photoshop or from After Effects. This is one of their strengths, but this also creates an impossible mess for anyone (namely me) trying to grade and assemble the projects at the end of the semester. So, you will be learning a valuable lesson about delivery this semester. I will give you detailed instructions about the format your assignments must be in. THEY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED UNLESS THEY ARE IN THE PROPER FORMAT and IN THE PROPER FOLDERS!!

You will be given access to the class server for this class. Within this class folder, I will create subfolders in which you may turn in your assignments.

Specifics of assignments will be detailed in class.

THE COURSE SCHEDULE:

Week 1: Introductions Course Overview. Go over Syllabus. ● Assignment : Flip-book.

Week 2: Drawing Gesture drawing, Field Trip Thursday. Bring drawing supplies! ● assignment: drawings

Week 3: Metamorphosis Animating on Paper DragonFrame ● Assignment : Morph (class project)

Week 4: Performance for Animation in class: Acting for Animation Video reference

Week 5: Rotoscope Lecture : Rotoscope Drawing in Flash assignment: Rotoscope

Week 6: Mass Reaction, Squash and Stretch ● Assignment : Mass animation

Week 7: FX Animation ● Assignment : Substance in Movement

Week 8: After Effects: Layout and Camera 3D and parallax. ● assignment: rendered shot with animation, FX with moving camera

Week 10: Concept and Character assignment: model sheets, environmental design, color, style and collaboration

Week 11: Building a , swappable parts and cycling flash/photoshop//etc. assignment: build articulated, usable character.

Week 12: Storyboard and Sound in class: table reads off storyboards assignment: Final Sound with sound effects, music. EVERYTHING.

Week 13: Layout and assignment: timeline of entire animation with stand ins for all elements in the piece

Week 14: Extremes and Keys

Week 15/16: Finish?

OR

Week 1 Course Overview. Introductions. Go over Adobe Animate (Flash). create a list of 5 animated shorts that inspire you Week 2 History of 2D animation Abstraction / Perspective drawing Assignment : perspective environment Week 3 Character design using shapes Assignment : character model sheets In-class critique of all assignments thus far Week 4 Animating in Flash: symbols, tweening, layers Assignment: 30-frame animation 12 principles of animation Week 5 In-class critique of Flash exercises Morph exercise Assignment: class morph project Week 6 Lecture: and Ball Bounce Assignment : Ball Bounce Lecture: Secondary Motion Assignment: secondary motion on bouncing ball Week 7 In-class critique of Bouncing Balls Lecture: Walk Cycle assignment: Walk Cycle Week 8 In-class critique of Walk Cycle Lecture: Animating a character assignment: simple object with character traits Week 9 In-class critique of Lecture: Lip sync assignment: lip sync exercise Week 10 Lecture: creating a puppet in Flash assignment: create a puppet and use it for lip sync Lecture: animated short process Week 11 In-class critique of Lecture: Storyboards assignment: create animatic for final project Week 12 Lecture: Premiere, Flash, and audio In-class critique of animatics Week 13 Lecture: Acting for animation Lecture: VFX animation Week 14 Lecture: vs live action reference Week 15 Lecture: Animation as an Artform Lecture: Charts Week 16(?) Screening and critique of final projects

Of course any part of this syllabus may change at any time..

GENERAL UNIVERSITY INFO

The University of Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-6441 TTY

The University of Texas Honor Code The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the University is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.

Scholastic Dishonesty The University defines academic dishonesty as cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, falsifying academic records, and any act designed to avoid participating honestly in the learning process. Scholastic dishonesty also includes, but is not limited to, providing false or misleading information to receive a postponement or an extension on a test, quiz, or other assignment, and submission of essentially the same written assignment for two courses without the prior permission of the instructor. By accepting this syllabus, you have agreed to these guidelines and must adhere to them. Scholastic dishonest damages both the student’s learning experience and readiness for the future demands of a work-career. Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. For more information on scholastic dishonesty, please visit the Student Judicial services Web site at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs

Services For Students With Disabilities The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.

Religious Holidays Religious holy days sometimes conflict with class and examination schedules. If you miss a work assignment or other project due to the observance of a religious holy day you will be given an opportunity to complete the work missed within a reasonable time after the absence. It is the policy of the University of Texas at Austin that you must notify each of your instructors at least fourteen days prior to the classes scheduled on dates you will be absent to observe a religious holy day.

University Electronic Mail Notification Policy All students should become familiar with the University’s official e-mail student notification policy. It is the student’s responsibility to keep the University informed as to changes in his or her e-mail address. Students are expected to check e-mail on a frequent and regular basis in order to stay current with University-related communications, recognizing that certain communications may be time-critical. It is recommended that e-mail be checked daily, but at a minimum, twice per week. The complete text of this policy and instructions for updating your e-mail address are available at http://www.utexas.edu/its/policies/emailnotify.html. (Optional: In this course e-mail will be used as a means of communication with students. You will be responsible for checking your e-mail regularly for class work and announcements.)

Use of Canvas If this course uses Canvas, it is a Web-based course management system in which a password-protected site is created for each course.

Copyright and Fair Use: You may find the need to use copyrighted material this semester: music, photographs, movie clips, or any other expression. For many of your uses, you need to find the copyright holder and negotiate a license. You own the copyright to the work you produce in this class. As a copyright holder yourself, you understand the importance of copyright ownership. It is your responsibility to secure music and archival footage licenses as well as artwork, location and personal releases. You will find release templates on the RTF website.

For some uses, however, neither you nor anyone else needs to license copyrighted material. This is because copyright law exists to encourage and support creativity. Copyright law recognizes that creativity doesn’t arise in a vacuum. As creators, we all stand on the shoulders of giants. New works of art (such as films, books, poems, paintings) all make use of what has gone before. Thus, copyright law not only protects authors with a copyright that lets them decide who can use their works, but also offers exemptions from the author’s control. For filmmakers, the most important exemption is the doctrine of fair use. You can rely on fair use, where appropriate, in the film and media projects you undertake for this course. If you are making a documentary film, consult the influential Documentary Filmmakers Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/files/pdf/fair_use_final.pdf which was created by a group of national filmmaker organizations, has been endorsed by the University Film and Video Association, and is now relied on by film festivals, insurers, cablecasters, distributors and public broadcasters. Fair use also applies in the fiction film environment, but not necessarily to the same extent or in the same way.

As always, the central question is whether the new use is "transformative" -- i.e., whether it adds significant value by modifying or recontextualizing the original. For more understanding, including information on when you can use works for free http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/files/pdf/free_use.pdf without even using fair use, why you (mostly) don’t need to worry about trademarks http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/files/pdf/free_use.pdf what is in the public domain http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/rock/backgrounddocs/copyrightterm.pdf how fair use lawsuits http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/videos/sets/fair_use_case_studies have been settled, and on how fair use has been employed successfully http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/videos/sets/fair_use_case_studies in documentary film, visit centerforsocialmedia.org/fairuse