This is the most creative and fun part of the course:
making your own digital special effects video!
Past Projects
This is the most creative and fun part of the course: making your own digital special effects video! Past Projects |
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| >> Showcase Projects >> 2004 Projects, 2005 Projects, 2007 Projects, 2008 Projects, 2009 Projects, 2010 Projects |
| Project Teams |
| You will form project teams of 2 to 3 students each. This should be done as early as possible. After forming a project team, you will propose your project by coming up with the title, storyline, and main effect of the video. Then, you will work on your special effects project. |
| Project Deliverables |
| >> Special effect video of 1 to 1.5 minutes. >> Narrated "The Making Of ..." video of 2 to 3 minutes. >> Videos should be in MPEG or AVI format, with MPEG-2, DVD, or higher resolution. >> AVI videos should be coded with standard codec such as Microsoft codec or DivX codec. |
| Important Notes on Effects Video |
| >> Your effect video should focus on one major special effect instead of many mediocre or decorative effects. >> Your effect video should include an interesting storyline. >> Your effect video must include real-life scenes and/or objects. It must not be entirely computer animation. >> Computer animation, if any, must interact with real-life objects seamlessly and realistically. >> Audio effects, music, dialog, etc. are not required, but you may include them to make the effect more captivating. This will make a good project example in your portfolio. |
| Project Ideas |
| Digital special effects don't always require CG characters and animation. Here are some interesting examples. On the other hand, some effects are not novel. Don't repeat them unless you can do better than previous students. |
| Caution |
| Your video should not depict deliberate violence, sexual content, racist content, and other anti-social themes. |
| Important Notes on "The Making Of..." Video |
| >> "The Making Of ..." video should be narrated. Record your narration and dub it into the video. >> Briefly but clearly describe how the main effect is achieved. >> Plan your live shooting sessions such that you can shoot both the effect and "The Making Of ..." video at the same time. This will save you precious time. |
| Project Proposal |
| Your project proposal should include the following: 1. Title of effect video 2. Project team members 3. The Effect > A 1-line description of the effect to be achieved. You should focus on doing one major effect instead of many mediocre or decorative effects. > Describe the novelty of the effect. 4. The Story > Synopsis: A 1-paragraph description of the story that makes the effect interesting and captivating. 5. The Storyboard > A storyboard of the storyline and the effect. > The storyboard should include information about camera moves and shots. 6. Production ideas > Describe the visual elements needed to achieve the effect. > Describe how to create the visual elements. > Describe how to put the visual elements together to achieve the effect. 7. Roles of team members > Each team member must be responsible for doing one or more technical tasks. > Describe the technical tasks assigned to each team member. Distribute the tasks evenly among team members. > Each team member must demonstrate significant technical achievements in the tasks assigned. > Each member will be assessed on his/her technical achievements towards the final production. 8. Production plan/schedule > Preproduction plan: selection of live scenes, construction of props, etc. > Production plan: shooting live action footages, including footages for "The Making Of..." video. > Postproduction plan: CG animation (if any), video effects, matchmoving, matching appearnace, compositing, sound effect, editing, etc. Submit your Project Proposal in a PDF file. |
| Project Progress Update 1 |
| Your Project Progress Update 1 should highlight the following: > Changes and update of project plan, if any. If you need to change the main effect, do it as early as possible and inform the instructor. Otherwise, you may not have enough time to complete your project. > Tasks completed: sample live shots/footages, initial trial animation, animatics, previsualization, etc. > Tasks performed by each team member. > Difficulties encountered, and how you plan to overcome the difficulties. > Remaining work. Submit your Project Progress Update 1 in a PDF file. Live footages, trial animations, animatics, and previsualization should be submitted as video files in MPEG or AVI format. |
| Project Progress Update 2 |
| Your Project Progress Update 2 should include the following: > Preview of the final production. > Tasks completed, and tasks performed by each team member. > Remaining work. Submit your Project Progress Update 2 in a PDF file. Preview of the final production should be submitted as a video file in MPEG or AVI format. |
| Evaluation Criteria |
| 1. Artistic Creativity Artistic creativity includes novel effects, interesting storyline, creative camera work. The effect should be as novel as possible. Don't reproduce commonplace effects in movies unless you can do it very well. The storyline should be interesting, and should end with a climax. Explore creative use of camera shots, shot change, camera motion. 2. Technical Achievements Technical achievements include visual realism of the effects, technical difficulties of the effects, innovative use of software, development of algorithms to complete the effect. The special effects should look realistic and believable. Pay attention to physical details. CG characters and objects, if any, should be properly textured and rendered to look real. They should be look like cartoon. Technically difficult effects that are well accomplished are given higher grades. 3. "The Making Of..." Video "The Making Of..." video should be narrated. It should clearly describe how the different parts of the effect video are accomplished, and how they work together to achieve the effect. Do not simply screen capture mouse motion and key strokes. That's very boring to watch, especially when the resolution of the screen capture is poor. Notes To obtain an 'A' grade for your project, there must be no obvious flaws in your effect video: > good keying and compositing > good texuring and rendering of CG objects, if CG objects are used > close interaction between CG objects and real objects, if CG objects are used |
| Video Presentation |
A video presentation session will be arranged during the 13th week of the semester. It will be opened to all to witness. |