..::DMS 121B::..
..::Basic Digital Art::..
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Project Three: Animation

Purpose:  Get practice with tools for digital animation.

Task: Make a 30 second long animation using either Adobe After Effects or Macromedia Flash. You are encouraged to push the technology as far as you can, and remember that regardless of how complex or simple your piece is, you should have a concept you are working toward and an explanation for why you did what you did.

Requirements:

• A 30 second long animation.
• 320x240 pixel resolution
• Compressed for CD-ROM viewing (Sorenson 3 codec for video files)

You must turn in these files:

• Your After Effects project file (.aep) or Flash (.fla) file
• A compressed version of your animation in Quicktime format that can be viewed on CD-ROM or your Flash project exported to a projector or web page.

Remember, youre project must play from a CD-ROM. For Flash this is not so much of an issue -- the CD-ROM will always be faster than an Internet connection, so unless you use a lot of video in your Flash project it should be fine. For videos created in After Effects, you should be sure to set the settings in your Output Module (in the Render Queue window). Choose QuickTime Movie for Format. Then set the Format Options.

Click on Format Options under Video Output to set the video compression options.

Choose Sorenson Video 3, set the quality to HIGH, and limit the data rate to 1000 KBytes/sec.

Don't forget to check off the audio box in the Output Module box. If you want to resize your video, check the Stretch box and set the size you want (probably 320x240 for CD-ROM).

These files should be labeled appropriately and in the root directory of your CD according to the Format for Handing in Work.

Shawn Rider || Department of Media Study || University at Buffalo

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Last updated: Sunday August 24, 2003