Syllabus

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Contents

Frame By Frame: Creation and manipulation of the moving image

Code Examples Repository- http://fxf-fall08.com/svn
After Effects Examples Repository-http://fxf-fall08.com/svn/FxF_After_Effects/

Week 1: Introductions and an Intro to After Effects

Student intro.
Intro of my work and background.
Discuss the ideas that the class is going to explore. How can we manipulate and re-appropriate images into new meaning? How is our work going to fit within the visual dialogue that is constantly around us? How are are going to define “animation” within the context of this class?

Intro to After Effects- We’ll work through a simple animation using only stills.

  • Introduce the comp window, the timeline, and keyframes.
  • Introduce basic transform options.
  • Introduce basic masking.
  • Talk about different image format options.
  • Render out a simple animation.

Compare these attributes and effects to algorithms in Processing / Flash. Notice that After Effects’ terminology is based on how computers process data and compute coordinates.

Homework:
Create a simple animation or image that takes at least one photo and recontextualizes its meaning. The assignment can be done in any medium ( After Effects, Java, Flash, Photoshop... ).

Reading:

SECTION 1: Recontextualization

Images are power, and everyday we are bombarded with images that try to influence our point of view. Traditionally the average citizen could do little to respond to these images, because response took money, skill, and access to public space. In this section of the class we will subvert the original intention of images, and resample its power to create meaning that is an alternate viewpoint to the original creator.

Week 2: “Workflow for After Effects and Eclipse”

  • Go through homework
  • Talk about reading

After Effects tutorial- The not-so-fun stuff. How to organize your project bin, how to understand the palettes, and general strategies for managing your work-flow. Also talk about the other options and switches on the timeline (collapse, Shy, motion blur, etc.).

On the Programming side- Setting up Eclipse to work with Processing and other libraries.
Demo- talk through a simple bouncing ball animation in Eclipse.

Reading:
“Creating Motion Graphics…” Chapters 3-5.

Homework:
Get a simple “animation” running in Eclipse.
Come up with an idea and a plan of execution for an animation that will be due in 3 weeks (week 5). It can be about any theme you like, but it should primarily use recontextualized media. Groups are encouraged, but not required. Please limit the length to 5 minutes.

Week 3: Animation techniques

  • Talk about projects
  • Keyframe attributes- Ease In, Ease Out. Hold, interpolated.
  • Bezier Paths
  • Auto Orient
  • Animation strategy
  • Nesting Comps / Parenting
  • Walk through some code snippets that show the logic behind keyframe speed, auto orientation, and path traversal.

Homework:
Keep working on your project.

Reading:
“Creating Motion Graphics…” Chapters 6-12.

Week 4: Making Pictures Move

  • Basic 3D tutorial
  • Show "The Kid Stays in the Picture" effect
  • Demo After Effects' "Puppet" tools
  • working with 3D in Programming

Homework:
Keep working on your project.

Reading:
“Creating Motion Graphics…” Chapters 13-15, 33
Chris and Trish Meyer, Tips for adding 3D to pictures

Week 5: Review of Section 1 animations.

  • Let’s see ‘em.
  • Guest critic and discussion- Alex Rivera, Director of "Sleep Dealer".
  • Homework- Refamiliarize yourself with Final Cut Pro. Successfully shoot some footage and digitize it into a quicktime. (I’ll post some online guidance)

SECTION 2: Making Images, Reading Images

In this section we will look at why people make images, and how they are perceived by the viewer. We will dive further into how to make meaningful animations, but we will also discuss why we feel compelled to make the effort in the first place. In particular, we will discuss how digital video has become an important tool for animations.

Week 6: “Video and Digital: a shotgun wedding”

  • A brief history of video and how to make it play nice with After Effects.
  • Discuss interlacing, pulldown, framerate, Pixel Aspect Ratio, and CCIR-601 color space.
  • Talk about compression, specifically DV.
  • Introduce time-remapping.

Reading:

  • “Creating Motion Graphics…” Chapters 27-29

Homework:
Come up with an idea and plan of execution for your second project. The theme can be whatever you want, but it should integrate video (either live or pre-recorded) into the final projet. It can be pre-rendered or interactive. The second project will be considered your midterm.

Week 7: “Motion Tracking”

  • Show motion tracker and stabilizer.
    • “Handheld camera” effect
    • Motion Tracking code demo
  • Talk about video mirrors / interactive video art.
  • In-Class Screening: a primer on the history of video / film art, specifically pieces that comment on the world around us. Craig Baldwin, Stan Brakhage, Martha Rosler, William Wegman, Joan Braderman, Bruce Nauman, Peter Kubelka (Arnulf Reiner), etc.

Reading:

  • “Ways of Seeing” chapter 1

Homework:
Prepare to talk about your second project in class over the next couple of weeks.

Week 8: “Hey, this is called After EFFECTS?!”

  • Half of the class presents their ideas for midterms.

Effects.

  • Run through the most useful effects, including levels, hue-saturation, the blurs, Posterize Time, and CC Toner.
  • Talk about motion design and type animation.
  • Adjustment layers and track mattes.
  • Go over rendering order of transforms, masks, and effects.
  • Show the algorithms behind many of the effects plug-ins in After Effects.
  • Demo- blur algorithms, color algoriths.
  • In-Class Screenings: Man with a Movie Camera (Excerpt). Kyle Cooper title sequences. Some of Brand New School’s work.

Reading:
“Creating Motion Graphics…” Chapters 20-24 Homework:
Keep working on your projects.

Week 9: “It’s not easy keying green”

  • Second half of the class presents their works in progress for midterms.

Introduction to AE keyers. Discuss pros/cons to each.

  • Talk more about DV compression and why it is the enemy of keying.
  • Talk about chroma blur, garbage matting, light wrap, edge blur, and other techniques for successful keying.
  • Deconstruct a scene in After Effects that uses green screen compositing.
  • Reading “Creating Motion Graphics…” Chapters 25-26
  • Show how keying actually works by looking at some code snippets.

Demo- Color Removal algorithm, light wrap algorithm.

Week 10: Midterms

  • Let’s see ‘em.
  • Guest Critic- Guest TBD.

SECTION 3: Contemporary Myths And Legends

Animation can turn ideas and beliefs into powerful symbols. These symbols can become myths that permeate throughout a culture and can create real influence within that culture. In this section, we will identify contempory myths and legends, and explore ways that we can create our own mythologies.

Week 11: “Express Yourself”

  • Writing Expressions and custom exporters with the AE scripting language.
  • Demo- After Effects comps to Processing / Java.

Reading:

Homework:
Come up with a final project idea. Like the previous projects, it can have any theme and can either be pre-rendered or real-time / interactive. You are encouraged to work in groups, but it is not mandatory.

Week 12: Works in Progress, Week 1, and More After Effects Coding
The next two weeks will be about talking through student’s final projects. The first week’s groups will present ideas today.

  • Show how to write your own plugin effects with Adobe Pixel Bender
  • Screening and discussion: Barry Purves- “Screen Play”, Tehching Hsieh- “Year Long Performance”, YouTube “one frame a day” phenomenon.
  • Walk through some code that does video frame grabs based on motion or other criteria.

Reading:
“Creating Motion Graphics…” Chapters 13-19

Homework:
Keep working on your final projects.

Week 13: Works in Progress, Week 2, and Physics simulations.

  • Second group presents works in progress.
  • Adding basic physics algorithms to your animations

Week 14: Final Projects Presentations

  • Each individual or group will have about 10 minutes to present their project.

Class Guidelines

Reading:
There are two required books for this class:

  • “Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects”- Trish and Chris Meyer
  • “Ways of Seeing”- John Berger

If you haven’t taken “Methods of Motion” then I strongly recommend buying the following books, as I will reference them often in the class:

  • “The Animation Book”- Kit Laybourne
  • “Understanding Comics”- Scott McCloud

Optional reading:

Grading:
There will be no “Incompletes”. In order to pass this class you must meet the following criteria:
Assignments:

  • You are expected to finish all assignments for the class by the due date.

Class Participation and Attendance:

  • Please contribute to class discussion. Your comments are valuable and should be shared.
  • Attendance is mandatory. Unexcused absences could be grounds for failure.

Personal Progress:

  • Your success is based on your own personal progress in the class. You are not judged against the progress of your fellow classmates.

Laptops:

  • Laptop screens down while other students are presenting. Laptops may be used for note taking or class related work during lectures.
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