Sunday, January 30, 2011
FAO CGAA Year 1: Reminder - Materials for Unit 5/Animation

You'll want to already be familiar with these books before Unit 5 begins and you commence your workshops with Meg. Do yourself a favour and get stuck into this stuff nice and early.
Please note - last year there was a delay in students getting their materials in time for the beginning of the unit. Please order your materials today!
Question for Alan or Phil
Friday, January 28, 2011
myuca - weight lifting tutorial
In part 2 - Chunk 2.zip is missing. Don't get me wrong, we have movie reference and I can do by my own, but I just want that everything will be correct. And I want complete collection of tutorials :).
Maybe this is some kind of a plan :), but if its not, please add chunk 2 :).
Thanks.
Good reading for us 1st Years!
This book was on our suggested reading list in the pack we got pre-start. It's awesome, full of theoretical, artisitc and pratical advice on editing, camera moves/positions and story-boarding techniques. It features some copies of story boards to key films such as Hitchcock's The Birds and Orwell's Citizen Kane. I'm sure I've seen a copy in the library and it's pretty darn cheap on Amazon. I've also got a copy if anyone wants to peek at it!
CGAA One-A-Day: Exodus.

I think I may have uploaded this before, sorry if I have. What can I say, its a great animation.
I thought this would be great for us 2nd years getting started on transcription...
Shortly after NOISIA released their debut Album "Split the Atom" Alexanders animation premiered exclusively on Sony Computer Entertainments vidzone.
Synopsis: When the impatient Warmachine designed by mankind to murder the likes of him sets off to destroy itself in a ballet of annihilation hopefully something beautiful and intelligent will remain.
Blog
Website
Updated Blog address
Thanks Godwin
:D
http://godwinoppong.blogspot.com/
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Year 2 - Transcription Question (Phil/Alan)
Hope you're having a reading week to remember - I'm just curious if the timetable is correct;
Research Framing Practice - Monday - 31st January 1pm
Is that correct? Usually lectures/seminars start around 10am.
Thanks
-Dan.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
A Message For Our 3rd Years...

Blendshape problems.
Thanks.
CGAA One-A-Day: Sensology


Sensology was handdrawn (painted) with a Wacom tablet at first, and later, a Cintiq, using Adobe Photoshop. The drawings and frames were then composited and manipulated in a 2D software called Animo. There is no vector animation at any point in the film..." Michel Gagne
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
What is Time Machine?
FAO 2nd years mainly...but useful for anyone doing research!
I just wanted to show quickly, how research doesn't just come from a 'reading list', but how you have to keep your eyes open, read the papers, magazines etc and start to keep notes or a file of stuff that might be useful. So, just from yesterdays paper, I found an article on product placement, which would be useful if you were discussing advertising, subliminal influencing of viewers, or the integrity of British TV....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1349936/Simon-Cowells-American-Idol-Coca-Cola-product-placement-transform-UK-TV.html
...and an artcle on the dangers of social networking sites, which you could discuss in relation to reality, changes in the way we communicate, and our relationships with others.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1349778/Facebook-Twitter-make-human-isolate-real-world.html
From this one article, I was able to get some names to check out - for example, Professor Sherry Turkle, which led me to her book, Alone Together - Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, which discusses how technology in our modern lives leaves us, 'less connected with people and more connected to simulations of them.'(www.google.co.uk/books)
So you see, once you get started, it's all about following the clues, from one source to another...
Well, there you go...Hope that might be useful to someone!
Monday, January 24, 2011
CGAA One-A-Day: The Art Of Drowning

The Art of Drowning from Diego Maclean on Vimeo.
The Art Of Drowning by Billy Collins
I wonder how it all got started, this business
about seeing your life flash before your eyes
while you drown, as if panic, or the act of submergence,
could startle time into such compression, crushing
decades in the vice of your desperate, final seconds.
After falling off a steamship or being swept away
in a rush of floodwaters, wouldn't you hope
for a more leisurely review, an invisible hand
turning the pages of an album of photographs-
you up on a pony or blowing out candles in a conic hat.
How about a short animated film, a slide presentation?
Your life expressed in an essay, or in one model photograph?
Wouldn't any form be better than this sudden flash?
Your whole existence going off in your face
in an eyebrow-singeing explosion of biography-
nothing like the three large volumes you envisioned.
Survivors would have us believe in a brilliance
here, some bolt of truth forking across the water,
an ultimate Light before all the lights go out,
dawning on you with all its megalithic tonnage.
But if something does flash before your eyes
as you go under, it will probably be a fish,
a quick blur of curved silver darting away,
having nothing to do with your life or your death.
The tide will take you, or the lake will accept it all
as you sink toward the weedy disarray of the bottom,
leaving behind what you have already forgotten,
the surface, now overrun with the high travel of clouds.
Attack Of The 50ft Alien From Toyland Trailer
So where can we see the trailers that 2nd years made?
2nd years worked alot on these projects and it's really interesting what they made.
Rigging and Skinning
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Maya Error and fix found
Inputs List:
Quit Maya
In scripts/others/detachHistoryTable.mel
change
tokenize( $all, $list );
$n = size( $list );
tokenize( $all, $list );
string $items2remove[] = {"SEPARATOR"};
$list = stringArrayRemove($items2remove, $list);
$n = size( $list );
restart Maya.
Please note that you make changes to Maya’s mel scripts at your own risk. If you’re not comfortable making such changes, and if you do not understand what the above does, then please don’t do it. I have only briefly tested this fix; there may be situations where it does not work."
Source:
http://area.autodesk.com/forum/autodesk-maya/rigging/major-problem-deformation-order/page-last/
No Brief?
Saturday, January 22, 2011
1st Years! This might be helpful!
http://celtx.com/#/desktop/nav-overview
This is a free software for both PC and MAC. This is a story script writing software that i used in film course a few years back. It's more easy and fluent to write a script in than a normal text editor.
FAO/CGAA Yr 1 : A 'Reading Week' Message from John 'Toy Story' Lasseter
- evolved from dice to digital sets
- evolved from digital daubs to matte paintings
- written 6,000 words (approx) of degree-level essay (that's three quarters of a dissertation!)
- experienced 21 important films & written 21 degree-level reviews
- an improving cg artist
- an improving 2d artist
- an improving writer
- an improving researcher
- an improving critic
- increasingly literate
- increasingly confident
- increasingly credible
- and 15 academic weeks from your 2nd year...



Maya Submission question
FAO CGAA Yr 1: Unit 4/Story-Telling - Your Writing Partners Revealed

- Chris + Paul-Arthur
- Adam + Molly
- Oliver + Sasha
- Dmitrij + Naomi
- Sean D-R + Domantas
- Jonathan S + Max
- Jonathan P + Paul L
- Conor + Oriskolade
- Sam + Nat
- Dayle + Kay D
- Ryan + Katy
- Andriana + Michael H
- Roy + Alex Z-P
- Lyn-Dae + Dan
- Justin + Sean B + Aidan
Keeping Up Momentum...
Friday, January 21, 2011
Maya Backwards Compatibility
2nd & 3rd Year Timetables

Timetables are now available for download from MyUCA.
Year 2: Transcription \ Unit Materials
Year 3: Major Project \ Unit Materials
Chinese Fest!!

Thursday, January 20, 2011
A Bad Sign?
help
Guy faints after watching Blob movie!
I TOLD YOU NOT TO WATCH IT IN 3D BHARATHI
All 1st Year Students: New Groups

PHIL
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
@ Jon or Alan Tree UV grid trouble
Keep Going...the end is in sight!!
Rubber
RUBBER is the story of Robert, an inanimate tire that has been abandoned in the desert, and suddenly and inexplicably comes to life. As Robert roams the bleak landscape, he discovers that he possesses terrifying telepathic powers that give him the ability to destroy anything he wishes without having to move. At first content to prey on small desert creatures and various discarded objects, his attention soon turns to humans, especially a beautiful and mysterious woman who crosses his path. Leaving a swath of destruction across the desert landscape, Robert becomes a chaotic force to be reckoned with, and truly a movie villain for the ages. Directed by legendary electro musician Quentin Dupieux (Steak, Nonfilm), aka Mr. Oizo, RUBBER is a smart, funny and wholly original tribute to the cinematic concept of no reason.
Needless to say, this should be on everyone's must watch list for 2011.
Batch Render Scripts
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Simple Fog?
No computers available!! :(
Monday, January 17, 2011
Narrative Final Critique: Retro-Fest

Thursday 20th January in Lecture Theartre 1
Death of the Author
When a studio submits a piece of work to a competition it becomes disconnected from its creators and therefore any further explanation. It's purpose is to be the best that it can be in the eyes of the judges. In essence the work speaks for itself. Therefore the Narrative Critique will run as follows...
The Critique & Order of Events
9 am: File Transfer
- All studios to meet in Lecture theatre 1.
- Work transferred onto the main computer (Make sure your final trailer is clearly labelled and plays).
9.45am: Leave the Room
- All studios to leave lecture theatre 1
10 am: Review
- Phil & Alan to review work in private.
11am – 1pm: Studio Presentations
- All studios to return, present work, and peer assess.
Friday 21st January: Upload
- All Studios to upload their final trailers to their Group blogs.
Reading Week: Judging Panel
- A panel of judges will convene, review the work, & present awards.
Notes on studio presentations:
1) Play the trailer first
- Start by showing the completed work to let people see the end result.
2) Keep it brief. Your blogs have been followed throughout the 15 weeks and therefore staff and colleagues are aware of your work.
3) Summarise and show your pre-production
- Show your best concept art, character designs, story boards, or pre-viz for example. Let people see some of the magic behind the scenes.
4) Don’t all speak at once or speak one by one in turn
- Keep the presentation fluid. If this means electing a spokes person do so.
5) Be organised
- No last minute finding of files or bouncing between topics. Be prepared & remember your audience.
6) Don’t be boring, show off, or blag.
- Keep it professional, informative, and clear.
Textures missing?
New in Maya 2011: Create Render Node Window
When creating a render node, such as a file (for textures) make sure to right click on the button and choose 'Create Texture' (See Image). This is a slightly hidden variation on previous versions which featured three radial buttons in plain sight.

UV Grids and texturing and whats what?
Question: why do eyebrows leave the head?
When I smooth my models head , eyebrows disappear from the surface:
And end up being here
notably far away from the character himself :/ Just a note to void canvas studio members, I'm rerendering one scene because no expressions can be seen as the face doesnt have the eybrows...
It hapens only when I smooth the head. How to fix it?
Sunday, January 16, 2011
The Post With The Most 16/01/2011

- B3D Studios - 'Attack Of The Invisible Cannibals From Beyond The Stars'
- Gremlin Box Productions - 'The Biker From The Black Lagoon'
- KLED Animations - 'The Day Of The Chainsaw-Wielding Baby'
- Inspire Studios - 'Revenge Of The Radioactive Bunny From Hell'
- Void Canvas Studio - 'Attack Of The 50ft Alien From Toyland'
- Lucid Studios - 'Night Of The Invisible Blob From Mars'
- Creature Studios - 'Attack Of The Cheerleaders From Beyond The Stars'
Saturday, January 15, 2011
A Message To All CGAA Students: Keep Calm and Carry On






- http://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.com/2010/12/fao-cgaa-year-1-unit-3environment-essay.html
- http://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.com/2011/01/fao-cgaa-yr-1-unit-3environment-crit.html
- http://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.com/2011/01/fao-cgaa-yr-1-unit-3environment-crit_12.html