Course requirements include four projects. Student will design and implement interactive systems for (1) subdivision surfaces, (2) key-frame animation, and (3) kinematics. The fourth and final project is left to the students' design. Each project is worth 20 points though additional credit is possible. The final project may be a technical project or an artistic one. The contribution to the class film is worth 10 points. Labs and class participation are also worth 10 points. Grades will be based on the following scale.
| Date | Topic | Lab | Assignment | Films (Tentative Schedule) | |
| Wed., Jan. 23 | Introduction | Maya 1: Intro & 2: Polygon Models | Humorous Phases of Funny Faces, Krazy Kat, Gertie, Goddess of Spring, Snow White, Luxo Jr. | ||
| Mon., Jan. 28 | Background: Graphics Pipeline, Affine spaces and operators, Barycenters | Maya 3: NURBS & 4: Animation | 2001: A Space Odyssey, Titan A.E. | ||
| Wed., Jan. 30 | Curves: Implicit and parametric representation, Splines, deCasteljau algorithm | Bezier Curves | |||
| Mon., Feb. 4 | Subdivision curves and surfaces | Maya 6: Rendering & 7.1: Particles | Project 1: Subdivision Surfaces | Red's Dream, Geri's Game | |
| Wed., Feb. 6 | B-splines, NURBS | Mickey Mouse, Snow White, Stella and Stanley, Gas Planet | |||
| Mon., Feb. 11 | Procedural Modeling | Independence Day | |||
| Wed., Feb 13 | Project work | ||||
| Mon., Feb. 18 | Movement: Motion along a curve, Rotations | Maya Spaceship | The Fifth Element | ||
| Wed., Feb. 20 | Quaternions | Star Wars | |||
| Mon, Feb. 25 | Deformations | Maya 5: Character Setup | |||
| Wed., Feb. 27 | Hierarchical Modeling, Project 2 description | Maya 7.2 | Project 2a: Keyframe Editor | ||
| Mon., Mar. 4 | class cancelled | Maya 9 | |||
| Wed., Mar. 6 | Inverse kinematics | Project 2b: Keyframe Animator | |||
| Mon., Mar. 11 | |||||
| Wed., Mar. 13 | |||||
| Mar. 18 & 20 | Spring Break | ||||
| Mon., Mar. 25 | Maya 10: MEL | Project 3 | |||
| Wed., Mar. 27 | |||||
| Mon., Apr. 1 | |||||
| Wed., Apr. 3 | Final Projects | ||||
| Mon., Apr. 8 | Final Project Proposal Draft | ||||
| Wed., Apr. 10 | |||||
| Mon., Apr. 17 | Final Project Proposal | ||||
| Wed., Apr. 19 | |||||
| Apr. 22 & 24 | Presentation Days | ||||
| Mon., Apr. 29 | Project work | TBD | |||
| Wed., May 1 | Project work | Final Project Presentations | TBD | ||
| Thurs., May 9 | Colloquium Presentation | ||||
| Mon., May 6 | Film Reviews | ||||
| Wed., May 8 | Film Reviews |