RESOURCES

ECI resources

• Library
• Library catalogue
• Sound effects library
• Writing Centre 

ITS (Internet Technology Services)

• IT Services main page
• Report a problem with a lab computer
• On-line booking form

COURSE NOTES & HANDOUTS

FILE MANAGEMENT

• Map the Network Drive in the Animation studios
• FTP (file transfer protocol) to your ECI network space from home. You can do this with Modzilla Firefox and a Firefox "add-on" called FireFTP.

Digital camera stands in the animation studios

• Capture stations in Rooms 288b & 242
• Canon A520 features:
  • Canon A520 resolution settings & aspect ratios
  • Canon A520 resolution settings (PDF)
  • Canon A520 aspect ratios (PDF)

DigiCel FlipBook

• Basic operation for line-testing
• Exporting "stand-alone" movie files (AVI files)

paperless digital-drawn animation

• Creating digital animation with Photoshop using Video Layers
• Using Photoshop to render animation flimsies and make "digital cels"
• Using the Epson scanning software in room 288B
• Batch processing with Photoshop
• Old School: Digital-drawn animation with Photoshop (without Video Layers)
• Digital-drawn animation with Flash

2D Animation

• Exposure sheets:
  • 24 frames per second
  • 30 frames per second
  • 24 fps "timeline" (similar to a Flash or After Effects timeline)
• 2D Animation Exposure Sheets, by Emru Townshend at the the AWN Student Corner

WEB PAGES

• Dreamweaver notes
• QuickTime compression notes (from Wikipedia)
• How to add or embed a QuickTime movie to a web page
• How to insert a Flash (SWF) movie to a web page

Colour Space

• An example of 3D colour space and hue, saturation, and value (HSV)
• From Wikipedia:
  • Pixels and megapixels
  • Color space
  • HSV color space (hue, saturation and value)
  • HSL color space (hue, saturation and lightness)

Resolution

• Common 4:3 & 16:9 formats and dimensions
• Megapixel converter <web.forret.com>
• From Wikipedia:
  • Pixels and megapixels
  • Standard-definition television
  • High-definition television

Frame Rates

• An explanation of drop-frame versus non-drop frame timecode (a PDF document)
• From Wikipedia:
  • 24 fps and 3:2 pull-down (from Wikipedia)

ADOBE Photoshop

• Creating digital animation with Photoshop using Video Layers
• Using Photoshop to render animation flimsies and make "digital cels"
• Exporting a QuickTime movie from Photoshop

Flash

• Flash notes
• Digital straight-ahead animation (paperless animation and a new kind of light-table)
• Symbols
• Importing a drawing or photograph into Flash
• How to insert a Flash (SWF) movie to a web page
• Exporting QuickTime movies from Flash:
  • Low-resolution web movies
  • Standard-resolution digital video movies

scanning & image capture

• Using the Epson scanning software in room 288B
• The document includes notes on how to:
  • Scan an image sequence
  • Use Adobe Photoshop to change file dimensions or resolution
  • Change the canvas size or add pixels to the overall layout of an image file
  • Rotate images once they have been scanned
  • Make tonal adjustments with Photoshop's Levels command
• Batch processing with Photoshop

Using the Windows Media Player to Rip audio in rooms 288B & 288F

• Click here for notes

Alpha channels

• Assigning alpha channels using Photoshop

After Effects notes

• Keyboard shortcuts
• Project settings
• To make a new composition
• RAM Preview
• Importing images and image sequences:

• To import still images (and set the duration of images before importing them)
• To import an image sequence
• To interpret footage
• To create an image sequence from multiple images
• To sequence layers
• To loop footage and make a phrase into a repeating cycle

• To add a "solid" to a composition
• Assigning alpha channels (or matte channels) with Photoshop
• Chroma-key notes
• Keyframe animation:
  • To set keyframes
  • Toggle hold keyframe & manual frame-by-frame animation
• Time stretch and remapping
• Exporting movie files:
  • Notes on exporting web movies
  • How to use the Render Queue to export movie files

Adobe Premiere Pro

• General Premiere Pro notes
• Exporting web movies from Premiere Pro
• Exporting digital video movies from Premiere Pro, and dubbing DV movies to Mini-DV cassette

Walking Motion

• Human figure proportions

Sound

• ECI sound effects library

Research and development

• Notes on the storyboard process

Cutout animation

• The Forbis hinge

equipment & software for your home studio

• A design for a simple animation stand
• Animation software -- Macintosh:
  • iStopmotion
  • Dragon Stop Motion
  • FrameThief
  • QuickTime Pro (Macintosh & Windows)
• Animation software -- Windows:
  • Plastic Animation Paper
  • Animator DV
  • Stop Motion Pro
  • QuickTime Pro (Macintosh & Windows)
• Sound:
  • Audacity "The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor"
• Internet:
• Firefox web browser
• FireFTP "... a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers."

MORE COURSE NOTES & HANDOUTS

Istopmotion (foundation animation software)

• iStopmotion notes