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CS24320
Assignment
My happy place!
WARNING! Read the complete handout before, during, and after you finalize your project,
to make sure you don’t miss any requirement. The same applies for the report template.
This assignment contributes 60% to the module mark. You need to submit the following:
• Report - to TuntItIn
• Video - uploaded to YouTube with a link to it in the report
• Project files - everything needed to produce your video in a zip file to Blackboard
The deadline to submit all the materials listed above is the 13th of May 2022.
1 INTRODUCTION
In this project you are going to tell us about "your happy place" in a 3D world you will create in
Blender. There are certain aspects that you need to complete yourself using GIMP and Blender,
and for other aspects you are free to use assets (3D models, textures, sounds, etc) that you have
acquired from elsewhere. You need to make it clear in the report which parts you have done
yourself, and for any 3rd party assets you must acknowledge the source (with a citation) and it
is your responsibility to ensure you have permission to use those assets.
There are 3 components to the submission:
• your animated video (to YouTube),
• your project files (to Blackboard), and
• a report (to TurnItIn).
These must all be submitted. The marking will be based on your report and by watching your
video, we will only check your project files to check that your report is accurate and honest. If
you fail to mention something in your report, or don’t make it clear what you have done, you
will not get marks for it.
As inspiration, have a look at a few videos produced last year. Those are only a few examples of
videos that excelled at one or more aspects. Note that the specifications for those videos were
not exactly the same as this year’s. These are just for inspiration. You can find the links on
Blackboard.
2 IMAGE PROCESSING(20%)
You will need to create an image that will later be integrated into your 3D scene. It should
be based on an image of your face, from which you should develop a piece of art that will be
included in your scene. The “artistic” version of the image should be an “Andy Warhol” style
version of you, with at least 4 repetitions of the original face image, each undergoing a different
Department of Computer Science Tiddeman/Miles/Han – 2021/2022
transformation using GIMP filters and colour space changes. The particular effects are up to
you, but you should use GIMP operations (cropping, moving, scaling, layers, filters, colour tools)
to create the image. An example is shown in Figure 1. You will need to explain what you have
done and why, in your report. Save your GIMP project file and export the image for use in
Blender. Remember to include your GIMP project in your submission.
Figure 1: My attempt at an “Andy Warhol” style rendering of me.
The assessment of the image processing (only) will consider the following:
Grade Mark Objectives
100%
First 70% + Demonstrating excellent use of GIMP to achieve the
desired effects, including use of advanced techniques or expert usage
(e.g. layers, masking, and blurring to achieve a fake depth of focus effect)
II(1) 60%-69% Demonstrates very good use of GIMP to achieve the
desired effects. May include some more advanced techniques, or
more basic techniques but used to very good effect.
II(2) 50%-59% Demonstrates generally good use of GIMP. May have some minor problems
or show lack of care in application.
III 40%-49% Demonstrates acceptable use of GIMP, but has several smaller problems
or a major problem
FAIL 30%-39% An attempt that hit some serious problems and was unsuccessful.
FAIL < 30% No attempt or a minimal attempt with serious problems.
3 3D GRAPHICS (modelling and animation) (40%)
Character modelling You are required to make a model of yourself using Blender modelling
tools. The model does not need to be photo realistic, e.g. it could be a low-poly character, but
it should be recognisably of you. You should also rig the character with an armature, ready for
CS24320 My happy place! Page 2 of 8
animation - see Figure 2 for an example. Adding constraints (e.g. on joint angles) and inverse
kinematics to your rig are optional, but will probably make the animation easier later on.
Figure 2: “Creepy me” showing vertex colours and with armature.
Scene building Create a scene for your animation. You must include the character created in
the previous step, and also the “Andy Warhol” style image should be used as a texture map on an
object and displayed prominently in your scene (e.g. as a portrait on the wall, on a t-shirt your
character is wearing, or on a billboard). Add any other items you wish to include - preferably
these should tell us something about your "happy place" e.g. a favourite hobby, activity or an
actual place. You don’t need to model these objects yourself, but you can if you wish, and
remember to acknowledge / cite any third party assets used in your report (failure to do so could
result in a UAP). Add suitable lamps and lighting to your scene.
Animation Create a set of short (totalling a minimum of 60 seconds and up to 2 minutes)
animated sequences using Blender to tell us something about your happy place - this could be
a real place or a more metaphysical interpretation, such as an activity or a state of mind. The
animations must include animation of the rigged character and could include animation of other
aspects such as camera motion, lighting changes, movement of other objects (including using
physics), etc.
Your animation must be in 3D and, therefore, cannot use tools such as the Grease Pencil.
You should create at least 3 animation clips in Blender, which you will later combine into a
single video using the video editing tools to produce your final animated story. The clips could
involve the same or different models, but should be distinct clips e.g. by including a change of
viewpoint, lighting or scene.
This animation must be shared on YouTube and a link to it provided (more details
later).
The assessment of the 3D graphics modelling and animation part (only) will consider the follow-
ing:
CS24320 My happy place! Page 3 of 8
Grade/
Mark
Modelling
15%
Scene
15%
Techniques for
Story 20%
Animation
20%
First
> 70%
Creation of
complex meshes,
expert use of
mesh editing tools
and advanced
modelling
techniques.
Expert use of
lamps, lighting,
materials, and
textures to
support the scene.
Expert use of
advanced
techniques (e.g.
physics, IK, Pose
library) to
contribute to the
story.
Rendered as a
video using
Blender;
demonstrating
smooth, complex,
and story-driven
animation of
scene objects.
II(1)
60− 69%
Creation of
complex meshes,
use of mesh
editing tools and
some advanced
modelling
techniques.
Excellent use of
lamps, lighting,
materials, and
textures to
support the scene.
Excellent use of
advanced
techniques (e.g.
physics, IK, Pose
library) to
contribute to the
story.
Rendered as a
video using
Blender;
demonstrating
smooth,
story-driven
animation of
scene objects.
II(2)
50− 59%
Creation of
meshes, basic use
of mesh editing
tools and a
variety of
modelling
techniques.
Considered use of
lamps, lighting,
materials, and
textures to
support the scene.
Good use of
techniques which
contribute to the
story.
Rendered as a
video using
Blender;
demonstrating an
animated story.
III
40− 49%
Creation of
primitive meshes;
basic use of mesh
editing tools.
Use of lamps,
materials,
textures.
Use of techniques
appropriate to
the story.
Rendered as a
video using
Blender.
FAIL
35− 39%
Flawed understanding of the project requirements, and/or very incomplete sub-
mission.
FAIL
< 35%
No animated sequence submitted, or very severely flawed understanding of the
project requirements.
The “modelling”, “scene”, “techniques” and “animation” items add up to 70%. The remaining
30% of the mark for this section will be based on ‘flair’, including some or all of the following:
• how polished and professional-looking the animation is;
• whether novel techniques were used;
• whether it is clear that a great deal of thought and care has gone into producing the output;
• whether the animation is particularly impressive in some way.
CS24320 My happy place! Page 4 of 8
4 VIDEO EDITING (20%)
Combine the video clips created in the previous part into a single a short video (1-3 minutes,
including the animation) by using the Blender Sequencer and/or Compositor. The video should
include at least 2 different transitions between your clips, and at least one video effect to illus-
trate your ability to use (some or all of) transitions (fades/wipes etc.), transforms (e.g. scaling),
chroma-keying, and compositing (the node editor) techniques demonstrated in lectures. The final
video could also include some live action elements if you wish (e.g. combined with the animation
using chroma-keying). You must also add titles and credits to your final video for a professional
look.
The assessment of the video (only) will consider the following:
Grade Mark Objectives
100%
First 70% + Well polished video sequence illustrating video sequencing and
appropriate transition effects. A novel use of the sequence editor
(this could include chroma-key or an overlay effect) to illustrate
a point.
II(1) 60%-69% A polished video illustrating video sequence with transition
effects. Effective use of the Blender video editor to add
some appropriate cuts, fades or other transition effects to video.
II(2) 50%-59% A reasonable sequence of videos. Evidence of use of transition
or other single effects.
III 40%-49% Ability to place more than one video/image in a single stream.
Demonstrate use of Blender sequence editor to place
videos/images in a stream.
FAIL 35%-39% A video sequence.
FAIL < 35% No video sequence.
For a first class grade you must demonstrate both an ability to use the techniques demonstrated
in class and an ability adapt these techniques to your own needs.
This video presentation must be shared on YouTube and a link to it provided (more
details below).
4.1 Details for videos’ submission
The final video will have to be uploaded to YouTube and must remain there for 1 year. If
any of the videos is removed before that time, your mark will be removed too.
In case you don’t want to make the video public, you can choose the option unlisted so that
only those with the link are able to see it. Be sure that the video is accessible to those that have
a link to it, by accessing it without being logged in with your Google account, or by asking a
friend to access to it from their own computer. Check if the uploaded result is exactly as you
expect, in terms of sequence, image and sound. In the report you must explicitly indicate
the link to the video.
Below you can see some specifications required for your final video:
CS24320 My happy place! Page 5 of 8
Property Value
Movie Width (pixels) 1,920
Movie Height (pixels) 1,080
Scaling 100%
File Format MPEG
Video Format H.264
Audio Format MP4
If you use any live video or audio, be careful to match the frame-rate of your animation to the
frame-rate of the video produced by the camera you’ll use to record parts of your presentation
video. As a suggestion, start by checking the frame-rate of your camera and, then, set your ani-
mation to that same frame-rate before animating your scene. If this is not done in advance, you’ll
need to convert between frame-rates, and you might encounter issues with voice synchronization.
IMPORTANT! Rendering an animation can take a long time, and uploading the videos may
take several hours. Therefore, try to have everything ready for rendering well before the submis-
sion deadline. Also, there is no penalty for using the reasonably quick Eevee renderer rather than
the computationally expensive Cycles renderer. Note that, since you’ll need to include the link
to the video in the report, you must upload the videos before finishing the report and submitting
it. Late submissions will be penalized by 100%. You have been warned!
5 REPORT (20%)
A report must be produced to support your work. It must clearly explain what your project
consists of, as well as the techniques involved in the development of your project.
Clearly identify the techniques used in creating the animation and video. Highlight and explain
new features that you have discovered on your own and decided to use in the project, and you
believe are relevant. Be as specific as possible when listing the techniques you have
used. Use screenshots of your project to illustrate the different stages of development and final
product.
Please provide a brief critical reflection on your assignment. Read the marking schema provided
and rate your own work on the appropriate scales. In addition you should cover aspects such as
how you think you did, and what you would do differently if you did it all again. Note that you
are required to mark your own project in this section as part of your self-analysis. Although your
proposed marks won’t have any direct weight on your final grade, your honesty and capacity of
self-analysis will. Present one mark for each of the 4 assessed components.
In the report you must include a link to the video, which will be uploaded to YouTube.
The report will have a maximum of 8 pages, with figures included. The file format of the
submitted report must be PDF. You must follow the provided template. The template
can be found in Blackboard and provides more details about each section of the report.
The assessment of the report will consider the following points:
CS24320 My happy place! Page 6 of 8
Grammatical errors; Spelling mistakes; Respects template;
Quality of writing (20%) Organization of report; Appropriate figures/diagrams;
Appropriate formatting; Clearness of text.
Story plot (20%) Originality; Level of engagement.
Description of methodology Level of detail of the explanation of the techniques;
(30%) How it demonstrates understanding of the topics.
Identification of the strengths of the project;
Self-analysis (30%) Identification of the weaknesses of the project;
Self-assigned marks for each requested component.