CMPT 466: Animation / CMPT 985: Computer Animation

(Fall 2019)

Introduction
Prerequisite
Course Staff
Resources
Course Schedule

Introduction
Topics and techniques in computer animation, including: The history of animation, traditional animation, animation production pipeline, 3D model representation, kinematic animation, motion capture, particle systems, physics-based animation, character animation, soft objects and deformation.

Prerequisite

Must-have: CMPT 361 Intro to Computer Graphics, and MACM 316 Numerical Analysis I.
Good-to-have background: Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Ordinary Differential Equations, Data Structures and Algorithms, Fundamental Physics.
Good-to-have skills: strong in programming; comfortable with math.

Course Staff

Principal Instructor: KangKang Yin
Guest Lecturers:
Teaching Assistant:

Resources
Recommended Textbook: "Computer Animation: Algorithms and Techniques (third edition)", Rick Parent. Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN 9780124158429. The first edition of this book is available online here.
The movie and game industry has strong presence in Vancouver:
Electronic Arts Atmosphere Sony Imageworks
Publication venues for animation research:
Siggraph Eurographics SCA Motion in Games CHI Pacific Graphics I3D
Some cool confereces you wanna check out:
GDC GTC

Course Schedule (tentative, subject to changes, check regularly)

The classes will be held on Wednesday @ 13:30 - 14:20 and Fridays @ 12:30 - 14:20 in WMC3210. Instructor's office hours Wednesdays 11:00-noon (TASC1 8015). TA's office hours Fridays 2:30-3:30pm (ASB9808).
The Maya Labs will be in CSIL 9840. Most machines should have Maya installed. Alternatively you can bring your own laptop, but make sure to install a free strudent version of Maya prior to the classes.
There is no mid-term exam for this course. The final exam for undergraduate students is scheduled on TBD. The graduate students need to do an individual term project.
Lecture notes will be available before classes. Please do not circulate the notes electronically, however, as I don't have time to contact the original authors for all the images and videos I use. We need to follow the fair use principles.
Evaluation and Grading: Class Participation: 5%; Programming Assignment: 45% (C++ and Python); Animation Assignments: 10% (Maya); Final Exam or term project: 40% (open book).

*Week*	*Wednesday (13:30-14:20)*	*Friday (12:30-14:20)*
1	Sep 4 Introduction to Animation Siggraph on YouTube Graphics Papers on the Web Graphics Gems The 5 Types of Animation	Sep 6 Animation Production; Review: Coordinates and Transformations Dreamworks Animation Pipeline Chapter 1.3 (before 1.3.1) Chapter 1.4 and 1.4.1; Chapter 4.1 Chapter 2.1.2-2.1.4 Appendix B.3.1 and B.3.2
2	Sep 11 Principles of Traditional Animation Chapter 1.3.1 Principles of traditional animation The cartoon animation filter 12 Principles of Animation 12 Principles of Animation in Games	Sep 13 Interpolation and Smoothing; 3D Object Representations Chapter 3.1; Chapter 3.4.3 NURBS vs. Polygon in Maya Chapter 12.1 and 12.1.1 Chapter 12.3
3	Sep 18 Maya Basics (CSIL 9840) Maya Interface Tour	Sep 20 3D Rotations Chapter 2.1.5 and 2.2 Appendix B.3.3 and B.3.4
4	Sep 25 Building a Character in Maya (CSIL 9840) Maya Basics - Shaping and Positioning Objects Maya Basics - Building Your First Model	Sep 27 Skeletal Animation and Forward Kinematics Programming Assignment I Out Chapter 5.1; Chapter 5.2
5	Oct 2 Curves and Splines Appendix B.5	Oct 4 Motion Capture Chapter 6
6	Oct 9 Interpolation of 3D Rotations Chapter 3.3; Chapter 2.2.3 Maya Gimbal Lock Explained	Oct 11 Inverse Kinematics Programming Assignment I Due Programming Assignment II Out Chapter 5.3 Damped Least Squares Method
7	Oct 16 Maya Assignment (CSIL 9840) Maya Assignment Out Maya FK and IK	Oct 18 Physics-based Animation Intro; Particle Dynamics and Particle Systems Chapter 7.1; Appendix B.7 Chapter 7.3; Appendix B.8 Differential Equation Basics Particle System Dynamics
8	Oct 23 Particle Systems in Maya (CSIL 9840) Creating Passive Colliders in Maya Fluid simulation with nParticles	Oct 25 Rigid Body Dynamics; Articulated Rigid Body Systems; Chapter 7.4
9	Oct 30 Physics-based Character Animation Programming Assignment II Due Chapter 9.3.3; Chapter 9.3.4 SIMBICON	Nov 1 Physics-based Character Animation Continued; Rigging and Skinning; Project Proposal Due (for graduate students) Chapter 9.1
10	Nov 6 Maya Skinning (CSIL 9840) Painting Skin Weights in Maya Maya Assignment Due	Nov 8 Introduction to Deep Learning; DL-based Animation Methods Deep Learning: A Crash Course The Theory of Everything
11	Nov 13 PyTorch Tutorial (CSIL 9840) Structure of MNIST Training of MNIST Programming Assignment III Out	Nov 15 Introduction to Deep Reinforcement Learning; DRL-based Animation Methods CS285 at UC Berkeley
12	Nov 20 PyBullet Tutorial (CSIL 9840)	Nov 22 Review and Discussion Deformation Chapter 4.3; Chapter 4.5
13	Nov 27 Class cancelled due to transit strike	Nov 29 Final Exam in class (for undergraduate students)
14	Dec 3 Programming Assignment III Due; Final Project Due Dec 4 Project Presentation @ T8003 (TASC I)(for graduate students)	Dec 6