1. The final assignment.
- 2 Characters.
- Fixed Camera.
- 10 seconds max
- topic: pass a box from one character to another in the scene.
My instinct is to give you a set, 2 characters and a box, but please comment if you feel strongly about using a custom rig. One thing I don't want is a week to go by, and you've modded out your character at the expense of animation. Oh, and no wrap deformers. I'll let you know tomorrow the exact parameters.
2. Playblast your music pieces for tomorrow and friday's class with the following parameters.
- 800x450, quicktime h.264, maximum quality
- show polygons only in the playblast window
- name your shot "Shot#_name" so we can put them together and see how they look.
3. Tips from you guys
I took a look at the teacher reviews, which had some pretty low scores in both sections. As we're in the home stretch, I'm putting it back to you guys as to what you feel would help you get what you feel you need out of this class. The ones that concerned me were
Does the instructor teach the skills and content listed on the syllabus?
Does the instructor clearly explain the main points of each demonstration?
Does the instructor create a class environment that makes you feel he or she is actively engaged in the class?
These were areas that had ratings of 1/5. It is a challenge to teach this many students in a 3hr session, and it seems many of you feel you aren't getting what you need. I actually structured this syllabus so that each exercise fed into the next. cycles to get character movement. the turnaround, to get weight. moving hold to get a sense of characters being alive in space, then onto a music piece to use what we've learned to explore hitting the important beats of a scene, then wrapping up with a pantomime acting piece, using what we've learning about emphasizing key moments, combined with good weight to make for an entertaining final piece.
So, I'm kicking it back to you guys...how can I make the remains of the semester more effective? Which areas of the syllabus do you feel I haven't taught, or could be more effective with. What would make you feel more engaged in the class? Any help you can provide me to be a more effective teacher would be really welcome.
(sorry for the awfully long comment)
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff! I think you're a great teacher! Particularly because you're patient and give very specific feedback (instead of just saying "It doesn't work".) The very fact that you're asking us for feedback shows your concern and that you're down to earth. So first, Thanks!
It's great that you modified the syllabus so it was more structured and helpful, but since it unfolds each week (instead of listed before class registration) - it sometimes gets difficult for us to plan our degree with specific content that we have to grab within the 3 years.
To make the most of our limited time in school and in this country (as international student, limited visa), many of us prefer to take up classes that not only help in learning the concepts, but also conclude with atleast one demoreel worthy piece. Unfortunately there is no breathing space to do it on our own or after graduation. Which is why many of us end up with Animation mentor or some other animation workshops, even after spending a lot of time and money at the Academy!
I guess is it's more about the overall situation - we all don't come from animation undergrads, some students are more experienced than others, some have limited visa time, some are just lazy - and there is no perfect plan or syllabus that will suit everyone, unless there was a fair pre-requisite to get into each class. If we're still not too great with the basic exercises in this class, I wonder how we all got through Character 1. I wonder more, what I did to the last three years?
You have more experience and knowledge - you decide what's best for us! At this point, I'll just take your advise and work.
Well I think the syllabus is great! More so because I am having fun! :) And when it comes to demo reels, I think it is not justified to be depending on classes and if we do then we should make sure that we animate well enough to put it on a reel. The demo reel should be collection of your best work at that point of time. So forcing ourselves to do a dialog piece in class (just because we can't do otherwise) when we have nothing working well in it, will also do no good to the demo reel. For demo reels it is best to find the time ourselves rather than blaming it on classes.
ReplyDeleteGist of the story - I have no complaints! :)
Agreed, Saberi. Which is why I'm giving my best to whatever is being asked to do. Plus, education doesn't stop here - I'm doing other workshops and studying on my own too. Learning goes on. I don't blame the classes, but honesty can be more helpful than diplomacy sometimes, especially when you genuinely love your school ;-)
ReplyDelete....Jeff, I'm ok with final assignment without custom characters (sorry for the bad idea of using custom rigs, or any other ideas that seemed weird). I understand the challenges everyone can face with custom rigs, it might become an excuse for crappy animation.
ReplyDeleteIt is still quite open ended as to the personality of characters/premise of the box-passing, so it should be fun :)
Jeff, I am very happy the way you are going with the teaching process. Honestly I learnt a lot. I liked your way of giving us assignments with some conditions which I think is really good and I suppose thats how we will be facing the actual world out there. Nobody is going to create or rig the characters as per the animators comfort.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the class, I personally feel that in the process of critiquing each and everybody's work I might be missing your lecture on animations. I loved whenever you gave demos on animations.
For the next assignment I have a suggestion that everyone should get a video done of themselves for the final reference instead of finding something on internet. When we shoot ourselves we know how our body moved. Just an idea. What do you say?
Overall you are a good teacher and I am happy that I am a part of your class. Even though I am little weak in animation, I am having fun :)
Can't say much except WHERE WERE U LAST YEAR??? hehe.. 1st semester i get to LEARN AND SO MUCH from the right exercises and exact/right on the spot/gr8 critics!! iv never been so eager to animate and animate and animate!!
ReplyDeleteSchool's got to get more of u! That's what shud be done!
Thanks for for sharing ur knowledge on animation!
ask and you shall receive....I'm going to give 2 more demos before term ends.
ReplyDeleteOne on breakdowns, and one on shot polish.
I think you just have a different kind of teaching style which is not a negative thing at all. You kind of take students work and turn it into demos and by watching you work, there is a lot to be learned. I know I get a lot out of watching you think through solutions, I always leave class with at least 2 or 3 pages of notes.
ReplyDeleteThis might be difficult for people because each lesson isn't specifically structured as in "Today we're going to do this" I think at this stage it is difficult to structure a class like that since everything is a lot more organic and we're all refining ourselves as opposed to learning specific techniques. I am very happy with the way things are going.
That said, I think we could benefit from maybe a slower play-by-play of how you use some of the scripts that you use so frequently in class.
Also I think it needs to be taken into account that not everybody pays attention. Sitting in the back I see a lot of movie trailers (especially when it's not their work being reviewed) going on, and this may contribute to some students' "lack of understanding"
Just because it's not a particular students' work up there doesn't mean there's nothing to be learned from it and I think that responsibility falls on the students.
I know this was a bit long winded, but I really enjoy the class, it gets me excited to work.
Oh and in regard to using a set scene and set models for the final project, I think that is is great and it allows us to focus on the animation instead of making a crazy character. I'd like to keep going with that.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Sonia and Caroline.
ReplyDeleteYOu are a great teacher Jeff. I've been learning a lot from this class. I think AAu needs more teachers like you.
In reagarding to using a set scene and set models, I appreciate it. Actually before, I used to spend too much time with modifying norman. I don't think that's wrong but as a animation student, I need to focus on more animation. That's much more effective. And your teaching style helped me realize that.
I agree with you. We have a lot of students in each class. To teach everyone in 3hours is really hard work. That's not your fault , that not everyone is feeling that they are getting what they need from this class. I think max 10 students are ideal for 3 hours class.
Anyway, I thinks there is nothing wrong with syllabus, I appreciate each assignment and I learned a lot from each assignment. I think as for now, It's hard to start put my works on demoreel, because my skill is not good enough yet. It's not impossible but the quality of my works is not good enough to compare to others yet. so I'm trying to develope the quality of my works. But I think this stage is very important. I heard from my friend who is a good animator that if you do not understand completely about the basic or physics of animation in your early learning stage, you can't make a believable animation later. This sounded very strict for me when I heard that first time. But now after almost one semester of struggle, I know what he said is true.
My work speed is really slow like snail. I almost geve up animating because of that. But I still love animation. So, I'll just keep trying to overcome this time. Nobody can be a professional in no time. It takes time. We just need to be more patient and keep tying hard. And I think your syllabus makes perfect sense and really good. It is designed greatly for student to learn basics and physics of animation. It has been good apportunities that I can do these assignment. walkcycle, pendulum, turnaround, pose to pose, and animating with Jazz music.. There are a lot of foundations in each assignment that I can apply for our future animation or reels anytime.
Oh no.. Simply put, we're in Masters. I just wish I could be in the last couple classes if I didn't get injured.. :(
ReplyDelete