Computer Animation Arts

This is a message for all our hard-working final year students... As of today, you have seven days remaining until your Minor hand-in.  I flag this up, not to dial up your stress sadistically, but just to remind you to stay vigilant; be sure to save your work often and back everything up in multiple places.  At times like these, students sometimes forget to take their foot off the pedal long enough to save what they're doing and take good care of all their hard work.  Save your work and don't take any unnecessary risks. Be sure to update your blogs; not only is this another means to 'save your stuff', it is also an opportunity to solicit the sort of feedback we don't want to be writing on your assessment proformas. Often, students submit character turnarounds that are badly-lit or poorly-composed; they submit turnarounds in which on-screen text is spelled incorrectly, or the type-face is 'off-brand' and ill-suited.  Sometimes the turnaround is turni...

Year 3: Maya 2018.4 Update / Student access Please be aware: Maya is going to be updated on the University computers on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th December (next week). We're going to update Maya in two stages. The first update will be on Monday in the Red room, DM5, and the Blue room . That means on Monday the Baseroom computers will be available for use. There are nine computers in the baseroom, if we need more we will divide the Blue Room in half. On Tuesday we'll test the update and if all is well we'll move on to updating the Baseroom , allowing you to use the updated rooms. 

A message for our hard-working final year students... as of today, you have 31 days (or just 1 month) until your Minor hand-in...  Eagle-eyed students might look at this number and think I can't count, but Alan and I have decided to push your hand-in back one day to Friday 11th January , so you have the full first week of the new term to get your submissions 100% ship-shape! I know... we're lovely. PS :if you're not doing it already, could you please update your blogs with your intended 'Art Of' formats etc for feedback and discussion.  We're very keen that your project documentation is exemplary for the Minor submission - not least because if you establish a strong, 'on-brand' design language for your films at this half-way stage, your Major project documentation becomes very straightforward.  Upload some sample pages to include typeface etc and we'll get things moving. We're asking all final year students to move from Scrib...

A few students have emailed asking whens the best time to get help/support this week . Here are the days and times I will be free. Tuesday: 9.30am - 5pm Wednesday: 11.30am - 6.30pm (2pm to 4.30pm - 3rd year Maya class) * Thursday: 10a m - 1pm (2pm to 5pm - 2nd year Critique) Friday: 9.30am - 5pm (2pm to 5pm - 3rd year tutorials) * Third year Maya class: Please bring your project work. This weeks class is for help only. There will be no new tutorials or demonstrations.  Note: Please arrive as early as possible. Solving Maya problems often involves several stages. Arriving early means that I can help you throughout the day. It is however, unlikely that I can help you if you arrive at 5pm. - Good luck. - Alan.

Please be aware that due to a series of course commitments this weeks timetable will change too... Year 3:  Wednesday's Maya Class will now start at 10am (to 12.30) instead of 2pm. In addition, anyone wishing to speak to Justin please read below (year 2). I will also be available all day Tuesday if anyone needs help with their project. Please inform anyone you feel may not see this post. Year 2: To confirm - The Character Design class will take place on Thursday from 10am. There will be no lecture/film or Maya class this week. However I will be available all day Tuesday if you need help with your Collaboration projects. Please inform anyone you feel may not see this post. Year 2 and 3: Please note, a new tutorial has been uploaded to the tutorial blog. It covers how to playblast using Viewport 2.0 to create Post-Visualisation shots. You can find it here - Thanks Alan

This is a shout-out to all our final year students.  As of Thursday (November 22nd), you have only forty-nine days until the submission of your Minor projects.   Forty-nine days = seven weeks.  Seven weeks is a short time in CGI terms, as I'm sure you understand.  If we factor out Christmas (where your access to tutors and the campus will reduce), you're probably looking at just five solid weeks - and maybe a little less (because we all know what Christmas is actually like in terms of being back at home and watching crap television in your Rudolph onesies...).  You say you're going to do lots of work...  I chatted with a few third years today, and the sense I'm getting is that you're not feeling much urgency yet.  Some of you are still 'fiddling at the edges' of your projects and faffing around.  I spoke to one student who very honestly admitted they were giving their Minor project only 40% of their time and energy.  As I said...

Firstly, I wanted to congratulate you all on uploading your project schedules and submission inventories.  I hope you found the process of forecasting the future of your film projects to be useful and it has stopped things from feeling too 'floaty'. Floatiness is the arch-enemy of all year 3 projects! I now have another goal/milestone/deadline for you in our shared quest for graduation greatness! We'd like you to submit your '2nd Pass Animatics' to your blogs on Friday 9th November .  Many of you had '1st Pass Animatics' as part of your original Premise submissions, but lots of things will have changed since then - tweaks, revisions, problems found, problems solved and so on - and we're all keen to know your stories are being as told as effectively, dynamically and creatively as possible. Your 2nd Pass Animatic should be your very best effort to commit to the nitty-gritty of your storytelling.  If there's a structural problem in your fi...

It's already the beginning of week 3 of the Autumn term.  As of tomorrow - Tuesday, October 2nd - you have 100 days until the submission of your Minor project - Thursday, January 10th. 100 Days = 14.2 Weeks = 3.2 months This isn't a long time in CGI terms, but it is a transformative amount of time in terms of future-proofing your Major project and thus ensuring your final animation is industry-standard and festival-ready (or put more simply still - bloody amazing! ). You're now required to do two things: 1) Devise and publish to your blog your Minor Project Schedule - a week-by-week breakdown of the next 100 days as it relates to your project's workflow.  Your schedule should be as detailed as possible, with activities, outcomes and deadlines very clearly indicated  Your schedule should be a professionalised document and your best attempt to timetable your Minor project from start to finish. Your Minor Project Schedule will be available...

Year 2: End of year 'exit' tutorials  Tuesday 22nd May. To help you to prepare for your third year you are asked to attend a final 'exit' tutorial. In this tutorial we will discuss your progress during your second year, how your Premise project can become your Minor project, and how you can improve further in year three.  The tutorials will take place after all of your work has been assessed on Tuesday 22nd May. Morning:  Jen 10.00am / Jess 10.15am / Laura 10.30am / Krissy 10.45am / Michael 11.00am / Ruth 11.15am / Michaela 11.30am / Alexis 11.45am / Rhia 12.00pm / Graeme 12.15pm / Almu 12.30pm / Aureo 12.45pm. Afternoon: Noah 2.00pm / Polly 2.15pm / Rachael 2.30pm / Paris 2.45pm / Greta 3.00pm / Alex 3.15pm / Ellie 3.30pm / Jack 3.45pm / Anabel 4.00pm / Douy 4.15pm  / Anastasija 4.30pm / Karolina 4.45pm / Joe 5.00pm. Note: If anyone is unable to attend their time slot (for a valid reason) please see me to rearrang...

I'm off to Lyon, France, for another live screening of Red & The Kingdom Of Sound on Saturday, March 3rd and I'm now returning on Monday 5th, March - which means I won't be available for third year tutorials.  Apologies for the short notice - but what I suggest is you pay me a visit tomorrow morning instead (Monday 26th February) - before the Alumni talk.   Alternatively, we can agree some time on the morning of Tuesday 6th March.  I think it would be good for us to catch-up together sooner-rather-than-later to ensure the wheels of your projects are turning, so how about you email me to arrange a time either tomorrow morning or on the morning of Tuesday 6th and then I'll know to expect you. The other thing I'd like you to do is update your blogs with your progress-to-date (if you're not doing so already) so I can have a good nose around and feel suitably reassured. Again - apologies for the disruption - blame Red and his popularity with concert-goin...

Just letting you know your Minor proformas are at your UCA email accounts. Do take the time to read the feedback and reflect on it. There's a lot there and we took our time to articulate our views as clearly and as supportively as possible.  Do resist the urge to email right away if you have any questions or there's stuff in there you'd like clarifying.  We can discuss next week.  Just live with your feedback for the weekend and take an objective look at your own minor submission and those of your classmates too - and be sure to reflect on the actual assessment criteria too.    Next week - the Major Project timeline begins in earnest.  There's a lot of very promising work out there, ladies and gentlemen - let's get it done!

Alan and I have now completed our assessments of your minor projects and I will be emailing out your proformas on Friday afternoon.   Your assessments are double-marked, meaning Alan and I assess your submissions separately without discussion, before coming together to moderate our marks and determine an overall grade.  As you know, Alan and I often look at projects in different ways - I hope you agree that's a strength - and you may be reassured to learn our respective grades varied by only 1 or 2 percent.  It's not always like that (as Alan and Phil reach for their duelling pistols!) but this year we were in near total agreement. We know that, really, you are all waiting for proformas before your thoughts can turn to the terrain of your major projects.  Alan and I have written loads of feedback on your forms - some of which relates to your submission, and some of which relates to the goals, emphases and challenges of your major project. My suggestion i...

Just a reminder your interim crit kicks-off at 9.30am tomorrow in Lecture Theatre 1 - it's an early start, I know - especially for those coming in from further away - it's an issue of bookings and availability of rooms.  We'll be randomising the register order and seeking to keep each presentation to 10 mins - including any feedback - so be ready to nail your presentations and keep things upbeat and lively.  One of the most important aspects of your interim crit is your determination of the scope of minor project submission - i.e. what you'll submit and expect be assessed on after Christmas.  In outlining these elements, you'll need to be very specific.  I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

Okay, so I've had a chat with a few third years now as to expectations in regard to your forthcoming minor project interim crits and I hope I've been helpful.  I haven't had the chance or opportunity to speak with everyone, so I thought I'd put some if it down here for your guidance before I disappear off to France for the YPGTTO premiere on Thursday.   The truth is I want all of you to have a positive experience of your interim crits and the way to make that happen is to ensure you're suitably prepared.  I'm going to put together a suggested checklist of content for your interim presentations, and while not everything I write here may relate to your specific pipeline 100%, you should be able to shape your presentations accordingly. At this stage in your relationship to the course we're not expecting any 'used car salesman' style presentations (we've all sat through those before and we know they annoy you as much as they annoy us) - ...

It's time to get ready, folks.   You have a Minor Project interim crit on Friday 24th November at 9.30am in Lecture Theatre 1 .  We will be announcing specific presentation requirements soon, but we will be looking for 100% reassurance that your projects are locked down conceptually, creatively and technically.  No fuzzy thinking.  No imprecise pipelines.  Just the facts.  Watch this space for more information.  In the meantime, congrats on submitting your draft dissertations - it's an achievement - but we suggest you use your Reading Week to accelerate your creative projects accordingly.  Onwards!

In my ongoing attempts to awaken you softly to the reality of your imminent return to undergraduate study - and some of the biggest creative challenges of your lives thus far! - I'd like you all to put a blogpost together outlining your idea(s) for your minor project (and major project obviously, if you're considering a year long adventure in CGI).  Some of you have clear ideas about your year three projects, as they build on your Adaptation submissions - but nonetheless, I'd like to see your proposals - however 'half-built' or under-construction - way in advance of the start of term.  Create a proposal post - ensure it's specific, in so much as it includes visual reference - and when you're done, email me at pgomm@ucreative.ac.uk to tell me you've got something ready.  I look forward to your proposals! Oh - and get them ready by Monday at the latest please :)

“Tonight’s December thirty-first, Something is about to burst. The clock is crouching, dark and small, Like a time bomb in the hall. Hark, it's midnight, children dear. Duck! Here comes another year!” Ogden Nash, 1929 Like a time bomb in the hall...   2017 does a feel a bit like that, doesn't it? Who knows what's coming next in these newly uncertain times.  2016 has been both absurd and a bit terrifying - a clown with a shotgun. I won't be alone tonight in my sense of satisfaction at showing it the door.  I don't know about you, but the whole Carrie Fisher thing was pretty much the last straw. How lucky I am to work within a community of young, aspiring artists whose ambition and creativity always make the future seem bright and a place worth visiting.  It's New Year's Eve and what better way to usher in 2017 than with an all-new pristine edition of the Computer Animation Arts Post With The Most and our monthly celebration of ta...