Utrecht University

Computer Animation

  About

  Lectures

  Assignments

  Grading

Announcements and News

(29-06-2023) YouTube Playlist of the final project videos.

(28-06-2023) Movie project peer review FORM

(28-06-2023) Software project peer review FORM

(21-06-2023) The essay deadline is extended till 3rd July (Monday) 23:59.

(24-05-2023) Individual paper review submissions are being recorded. A confirmation will be sent only after receiving the 6th review.

(15-05-2023) Download Tips on writing the essay

(26-04-2023) Follow THIS link to get the Education License for Autodesk (Maya, MotionBuilder, 3dsMax etc).

(26-04-2023) We will have our first lecture today starting at 13:15 (Location: BBG 201).

(21-03-2023) No announcements yet.

About the course

Computer Animation (INFOMCANIM)

The course Computer Animation is given as part of the GMT Master programme at Utrecht University. The course consists of a number of lectures, as well as presentations by participants. Next to an introduction to basic animation techniques such as interpolation, blending, skeleton animation, facial animation, kinematics and motion synthesis, we will focus on a selection of relevant animation-oriented research papers. As part of the course, participants will make a short animation movie or write a program for 3D skeletal animation.

Lecture Schedule

Week Date Time Lecture By
Week 17 26th April 13:15-15:00 Introduction & Animation Basics (Linear Algebra supplementary material) Zerrin Yumak
Week 17 28th April 11:00-12:45 Interpolation, Blending & Skinning Zerrin Yumak
Week 18 3rd May 13:15-15:00 Motion Capture System (Tutorial) Kazi & Stefan
Week 18 5th May 11:00-12:45 No Lecture (Liberation Day)
Week 19 10th May 13:15-15:00 Facial Animation and Deep Learning Introduction Zerrin Yumak
Week 19 12th May 11:00-12:45 Advanced Facial Animation and Deep Learning Kazi Haque
Week 20 17th May 13:15-15:00 Paper 1,2; Project Intermediary Deadline (until 23:59)
Week 20 19th May 11:00-12:45 No Lecture (Ascension Day)
Week 21 24th May 13:15-15:00 Paper 3,4
Week 21 26th May 11:00-12:45 Paper 5,6
Week 22 31st May 13:15-15:00 Paper 7,8
Week 22 2nd June 11:00-12:45 Paper 9,10
Week 23 7th June 13:15-15:00 Paper 11, 12
Week 23 9th June 11:00-12:45 Paper 13,14
Week 24 14th June 13:15-15:00 Paper 15,16
Week 24 16th June 11:00-12:45 Paper 17,18
Week 25 21st June 13:15-15:00 Paper 19,20
Week 25 23rd June 11:00-12:45 Paper 21, 22
Week 26 28th June 13:15-16:00 Project Festival; Project Submission Deadline (until 23:59)
Week 26 30th June Essay Deadline (until 23:59)

Lectures

Here is how you will be graded in the course

Grading

During the course, you will read research papers and give a presentation in teams of three. You will also produce a short animation movie or develop a program for skeletal animation and skinning, in teams of five. Roughly halfway the course, you will send an intermediary planning report for your preferred project assignment. The final animation movies and demos of the programs will be shown at the last session. You will also write an essay on a topic within the animation research area.

You will get a grade for the research papers (R), project (P) and essay (E). R includes the paper presentation and the 6 paper reviews. You will get a grade for your presentation and this will be counted complete only if all 6 paper reviews are also delivered. Paper reviews and essay are to be done individually. Presentation and project are group assignments.

The final grade is then calculated as 0.3 * R + 0.3 * P + 0.4 * E. In order to complete the course, there is an additional restriction that E >= 5.

Retake essay: If you didn't get a sufficiently high grade, you may do a retake essay to still complete the course. Exactly the same rules as the regular essay apply. The grade you get for the retake essay will replace the (missing) grade of the regular essay. You may improve the essay you originally handed in, taking into account the feedback from the teacher, and hand in as the retake essay, or choose a new topic and write an essay about that. Note that you can only qualify for a retake essay if you have done all the parts of the course (give a presentation and deliver paper reviews, do project assignment, hand in the essay) and have a final grade of at least 4.


Attendance

Attendance overall is not mandatory. However, you are required to attend the paper presentations for the papers that you write a summary.

Course Instructors and Contact

Zerrin

Dr. Zerrin Yumak

Email: z.yumak@uu.nl

Kazi

Kazi Injamamul Haque

Email: k.i.haque@uu.nl

Stefan

Stefan Stan

Email: s.stan@uu.nl