Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/457057
j a n u a r y . f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5 c g w 4 5 dents had to adapt to team posi- tions – director, cinematographer, editor, 3D artists, game-engine scripter, and so forth, and learn how to best communicate and time-manage these large, multi- stepped projects." S P E C I A L I N T E R E S T G R O U P S Once the project and theme were introduced, students were divided into teams. Given that some of the students were more interested in CG, VFX, or animation projects, while others were more interested in traditional live action or experimental art fi lms, the instructors segregated the teams along those lines. The goal was to give the students some creative fl exibility and a variety of production options that would demonstrate a range of outcomes. In the end, there were four teams that ranged in size from three to nine students. The previsualization team primarily comprised game de- sign students, who were more comfortable working in the Unity game engine as opposed to Autodesk MotionBuilder. Stu- dents created their animations using motion capture within the Xbox Kinect. The animations and camera work were then implemented into Unity using Cinema MoCap and the beta version of Cinema Director. The traditional live-action team (director, cinematogra- pher, editor) used contempo- rary live-action fi lm techniques to create a four- to six-minute short. Meanwhile, an experi- mental live-action team (direc- tor, cinematographer, editor) used contemporary live-action fi lm techniques for its four- to six-minute short. Students working on the live-action teams used Crystal Cave near Spring Valley, Wis- consin, as a fi lming location, a er fi rst considering the basement of a dorm that was to be demolished, as well as miniature and full-scale sets. Initially, the students thought they would acquire good refer- ence photos and textures for the CG team from a visit to the cave. However, cave owner Eric McMaster donated cave rental time for location fi lming – but students had to wait until spring when the cave's resident bats were fi nished hibernating. The CG team was a hybrid live-action CG and greenscreen group (director, cinematographer, editor, compositor, matte painter, character artists, environment artist, animators, and lighting de- signer) that created a trailer using Autodesk's Maya, Pixologic's ZBrush, The Foundry's Nuke, and Adobe's Creative Suite. FOUR STUDENT TEAMS CREATED VISUALS FOR THE ZORK GAME, INCLUDING A CG GROUP WHOSE WORK APPEARS ABOVE. S O M E O F T H E S T U D E N T S W O R E M U LT I P L E H A T S , C O V E R I N G A V A R I E T Y O F D U T I E S A N D E V E N S O M E T I M E S W O R K I N G F O R M U LT I P L E T E A M S A S A D D I T I O N A L P R O P S A N D C H A R A C T E R S W E R E A D D E D . E D U C A T I O N