The study of digital tools to represent moving objects in 2D space.
Final output may integrate additional media (sound, text, graphics, and video).
This is the most widely used technique for motion graphics on web pages,
and can also be used for other interactive multimedia projects, such as DVDs.
Hands-on use of leading animation software to build your portfolio.
Two hours lecture and three hours lab per week.
- Technical orientation.
- System software user interface.
- Recommended workflow practices.
- Distribution bandwidth and data compression requirements of 2D animation.
- Digital 2D animation orientation.
- Basic factors affecting the illusion of motion.
- Impact of digital techniques on the craft of film and video animation.
- Professional animation practices and job descriptions.
- Prevailing file format standards and other compatibility issues.
- History and future trends of computer animation applications in the visual arts.
- 2D animation application software interface.
- Default settings and user preferences.
- Document setup. Import and export formats.
- Document and timeline window features.
- Tools and commands palettes.
- Media-selection tools and techniques
- Asset-management features.
- 2D graphics-creation features.
- Underlying data type: raster, vector.
- Raster painting and/or import features.
- Vector shapes.
- Vector free-form and control-point placement tools.
- Features specific to the program in use
- 2D graphics editing features.
- Basic geometric transformations.
- Boolean operations on shapes.
- Object stroke attributes.
- Object fill attributes.
- Shading techniques (blends, gradients).
- Packaged effects (extensions, plug-ins).
- Features specific to the program in use.
- 2D animation frame-sequencing features.
- Straight-ahead animation.
- Key frames animation.
- Motion paths.
- Applying geometric transformations over time.
- Inbetweening options.
- Looping and palindrome motion.
- Features specific to the program in use.
- Multimedia and interactive features.
- Audio editing features.
- Incorporating 3D models and 3D renderings.
- Linking digital video.
- User interface building principles.
- User interface toolkit and interaction scripting.
- Embedding completed animations in web pages and other media containers.
- Features specific to the program in use.
- Motion pictures for visual communications.
- Typology of sound/image relationships.
- Exaggerated action to enhance the perception of motion.
- Constructing meaning in narrative and documentary animations.
- Shot, scene, and sequence assembly.
- Interplay with other Internet-based media and resources,
- Application area case studies.
Students successful in this class will:
- Complete assigned projects, creating illusionistic representations of objects in space.
- Analyze visual and verbal shot descriptions, arriving at an understanding of the action taking place within the scene.
- Fulfill shot requirements by devising appropriate combinations of image motion, text effects, and audio timing.
- Discriminate between motion representations suited to different expressive goals.
- Produce perspective renderings for a variety of applications, evaluating the benefits and challenges of using 2D computer graphics techniques as artistic devices.
- Schedule their work to fit time and equipment constraints, establishing an effective workflow.
- Appraise the pictorial outcomes of each software feature presented in class, identifying the ones to incorporate in their personal stylistic repertoire.
- Evaluate hardware and software suitable for creating and displaying 2D animations--identifying trends in the market and in the development of standards.
