A more complete posting about the class will be coming soon, but things you might want to know:
Instructor: Mike Gleicher
Textbook: None
There will be plenty of readings (expect to read a lot). Most of them will be papers or book chapters provided via the web.
Class Meetings: M/W/F 9:30-10:45
Note: the class is "overscheduled." While we have scheduled the class for 225 minutes each week, we will only meet for 150 minutes per week on average. Some weeks we’ll meet more, and some weeks we won’t meet at all.
Attendance and Participation: required
You are required to come to class and participate. We will keep score. There will be various things, like written assignments, to help us make sure you’re keeping up.
A key piece of this class is learning together. You need to do your part, since everyone will be helping everyone else. There’s too much stuff for any one person to read/learn. So we’ll all help each other get through it.
If you are going to miss class (because you are sick, or have a job interview, or …), please send email to the Professor before class (if possible).
Communication: via this web site
You are responsible for everything that gets posted to this site. In general, all announcements will be made by posting (not by email).
Kinds of Things We’ll Do: varied
Generally, there will be a lot of reading to do. You’ll be expected to write about what you’ve read, and to discuss it in class.
There will be a few programming assignments, and a major project.
We will not have exams – so its up to you to convince me that you’ve learned the material.
Overall Goal:
You might think this is as simple as "learn about computer animation". But its more than that.
First, this is a class about the technical methods in animation. Its not about how to become an animator – its about how we create tools for producing animation. That said, in order to appreciate the tools, we need to have some appreciation for the art (so we’ll learn some about that as well).
Second, this class has a focus on research. We’ll be looking a lot at the research in computer animation. We’ll still need to learn about the practice (since that’s where research hopefully ends up, and also some practice is required to do research). Learning about research things is useful (even if you become a practitioner) since learning how to assess how people solve problems (and understand and choose from solutions) is useful. These skills transcend Computer Animation. In a sense, we’ll be using animation as a way to practice our skills.
Why is there no Syllabus?
Be patient – more information is coming. But, don’t expect to have the whole semester planned out ahead of time. We’ll make it up as we go along, so we can adjust things to people’s interests.