Facial Animation Based on Anatomy
By: Michael Aviles

As an animator you need to know how to create believable motions, especially when it comes to animating a character’s face. I have dedicated the last six months studying facial anatomy and its affects on animation. I studied a variety of human and animal references to develop an understanding of muscle groups and structure and their affect on facial appearance. I then used this information to begin developing a custom-built facial animation rig. more >

Next Generation Character Creation Pipeline
By: Mark Brady

This thesis documents the factors of character design and the process of taking a character intended for next generation video games from concept to final product. The study looks at current examples of character design from different genres of games to find out what design elements are most important when designing a character for next generation application. more >

Modular Asset Design and Creation
By: Nathan Bolt

This project examines the growing demand for assets with the advent and subsequent popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online Games, specifically those of the RPG genre. Modular assets solve many of the problems generated by this increased demand by increasing the productivity of artists along with the reusability of the assets those artists generate, allowing a small number of modules to be used to generate a very large number of final assets. more >

The Depiction of Emotion through Character Animation To Intensify Player Immersion
By: Mark Flieg Jr.

This project examines the use of facial expressions, camera composition, and dynamic versus passive actions to better engage players through games. These techniques provide critical feedback to players in regards to their surroundings, and demonstrate their power to illicit emotion. The use of facial animation emphasizes how to help players respond to their environment. A variety of dynamic and passive actions demonstrate when and how to best utilize movement to demonstrate emotion. more >

How Environments Affect Mood and Perception
By: Marisa Garza

My project shows how the environments affect the viewer’s mood and perception. An environmental artist has control over the environment that they create. It is important for them to understand that they have the power to manipulate that environment, to express what they desire. I wanted to show through out this project and in my field review, how important environments are. more >

Creating Equipment Weight Dependent Animations
By: Matt Higgins

This project examines the process for creating animations that exhibits the effect of weapon weight on a character’s movement. Showing the heft of the player’s equipment enhances the player’s immersion in the game and enhances gameplay. Showing the varying weights of weapons through the animations provides players more visual feedback about their equipment as well as more information about the equipment of a potential opponent. more >

Applying Environmental Animation to Improve Immersion
By: Louise Jennings

This project was designed to study the application of animation to environmental objects in order to improve player immersion and create visually interesting environments. Specifically, this project addresses animations that do not inform the player that an object is interactive. The goal in this situation is to address animations whose only purpose is to
improve the player experience by adding to the depth of the game world.  more >

The Improvement of Player Immersion in Pre-Existing Game Worlds Through Advanced Modeling, Texturing, and Lighting Techniques
By: Mike Jones

This project examines the use of current generation modeling, texturing, and lighting techniques to improve player immersion in game worlds that were limited due to the hardware and software technology available at the time. The advancements of normal mapping and support for larger, more complex geometry and texture maps has allowed an unprecedented improvement in the detail of game environments, affording players worlds that they can easily become immersed in.  more >

Environmental Art Creation Theories and Methodologies
By: Steven Khor

Successful environmental creation is an important aspect of 3D art creation. A good environment requires an understanding of various theories and methodologies, which I investigated and then documented. The goal of this project was to utilize each theory and methodology by creating three separate environments. more >

Comparison of Parallax and Relief Mapping
By: Joo-Won Kim

This project demonstrates the difference between Relief and Parallax Mapping in real-time environments. Today’s video games demand higher graphics and better engine performance. The ability to match these requirements became a bottleneck until next generation technology became available. Normal, Parallax, and Relief Mapping helped bridge the gap in modern video games by mimicking high polygon geometry on model surfaces. more >

Building Realistic Game Environments with Unreal 3 Technology
By: Graden McCool

This project will focus on the principles and techniques used to create a highly detailed, realistic environment for video games. The appeal of a believable space in games comes from the increased immersion players feel in environments that are not far removed from reality. The assets created for this project will mimic objects from the real world that would populate an environment which has been neglected and fallen into disarray. more >

Rigging and Animation of Quadrupeds
By: John Morris

Animation in games is a constantly evolving field in which each new generation of technology brings increased realism and subtlety to the movements of digital characters. Advanced tools such as biped, motion capture, and Euphoria have greatly increased the realism of human characters in games. more >

Body Armor Study: Modeling and Normal Mapping Techniques
By: Dane Munkholm

The goal of this project was to demonstrate a solid understanding of low poly object modeling in addition to showcasing a strong ability to generate detailed normal maps through the use of various techniques. My interest in character modeling influenced my decision to model selected items from four different styles of armor. more >

Choosing the Look: Art Paradigms and the Factors That Define Visual Styles in Video Games
By: David Nam

The first impact a game has is in its presentation. It is here where the majority of players will base their future decisions on, so the desire to make the best first impression is increasing the complexity of creating impressive visuals. The first decision an art director must make is to identify what style will be used to create the aesthetics of the game. more >

Character Design with Variety and Purpose
By: Amy Pickens

For my project-in-lieu-of-thesis, I explored three aspects of character design: the technical process, fine art principles like variety and silhouette, and marketability. I created three characters with a unified theme that, as a group, are well-made, well-designed, and appealing to the target demographic of women aged 18 to 35. more >

Unreal 3 Lighting
By: Sarai Smallwood

Lighting is growing in importance because there is such an emphasis on how a game looks; this is evidenced through the very nature of video games itself. The driving force behind games is emergent technology. This technology demands that there is an increased importance on lighting. more >

The Depiction of Emotion through Character Animation To Intensify Player Immersion
By: Andrew Strickland

This project examines the way that traditional, cartoon animation techniques can be reproduced within a 3D Studio Max environment to create characters with specific personalities for a modern game engine. It is vital to study how successful animation is produced, so that a game world may be created where the player understands character emotion and motivation. more >

Artistically Implied Narrative
By: Trisha Swanson

This master’s project studies viewer interpretation of the narrative of a static image.  This study provides incite into how story can be implied in a game setting without having to use text, voice-overs, or cut-scenes.  Story often gets pushed to the background to leave more room for gameplay and players often aren’t interested or patient enough to listen to a story anyhow.  Learning to imply the story through characters, environments, lighting, and mood can lead way to having the best of both worlds. more >

Motion Capture, Key-framed, and Simulated Animation Techniques
By: Benjamin Wagley

This project represents my motivations and interests over the past several months in the area of animation with a specific study in the techniques of several types of animation creation. These types of animation include Motion Capture, Key-framed, and Simulated Animation. I was also interested in learning the different software packages and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each. more >

Creating Custom Rigs in 3DS Max
By: Christopher Wood

This project explores processes for creating custom rigs. A rig is a series of objects that when bound to a model allows an animator to work more easily. A rig acts as both the skeleton and the puppeteer’s strings in regards to animation. There are a number of humanoid rigs available, but the number of non-human rigs is very small. more >