15-861(A) / 15-497 - COMPUTER ANIMATION
INSTRUCTOR: Jessica Hodgins
UNITS: 12

DESCRIPTION:
This course introduces techniques for computer animation such as keyframing, procedural methods, motion capture, and simulation. The course also includes a brief overview of story-boarding, scene composition, lighting and sound track generation. The second half of the course will explore current research topics in computer animation such as dynamic simulation of flexible and rigid objects, automatically generated control systems, and evolution of behaviors. The course should be appropriate for graduate students in all areas and for advanced undergraduates.

PREREQUISITES:
The prerequisite will be 15-462 or an equivalent undergraduate class in Computer Graphics.

TEXT:
Computer Animation : Algorithms and Techniques by Richard Parent Morgan Kaufmann Publishers; ISBN: 1558605797

Course notes and papers will also be distributed.

METHOD OF EVALUATION:
Grading will be based on a set of programming assignments and a class project.

TOPICS TO BE COVERED:

Keyframe Animation Algorithms
Motion Capture Technology and Processing
Simulation of Particles and Mass/Spring Systems
Simulation of Natural Phenomena
Control of Rigid Body Simulations for Animation
Optimization
Facial, Skin, and Hair Animation
Higher Level Behaviors
Story Boards
Scene Setup and Camera Placement
Editing
Current Research Topics in Computer Animation