CSE 682: Computer Animation - Grading

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Assignments10% Assignments are given to each student at the beginning of the quarter in order to aid and motivate learning about the programming enivornment to be used and include, for example,
  • individual animation projects
  • technical group reports,
  • individual scripting tasks.
Presentations15% As a Capstone Design course, oral communication skills are an important aspect of your performance in class. Presentations (progress reports during the quarter as well as the Final Presentation) will be graded for both the group (20% of the Presentation grade) and the individual (80% of the Presentation grade).

The group will be graded on preparation and organization (e.g., knowing what order everyone goes in, having a logical order and smooth transistions, covering all important aspects of the project, staying within time limits).

Individuals will be graded based on: on preparation (e.g., making sure your ppt and animation files are pre-loaded and work, being ready when it's your turn), effective material(e.g., well-organized, logical order, good coverage, right level, right amount), oral delivery (e.g., speak up, eliminate um's and ah's), and presentation mechanics (e.g., don't point at the computer screen, look at the audience, staying within time limits).

Documentation15% As a Capstone Design course, written documentation skills are an important aspect of your performance in class. Documentation of your project will be web-based. Grading of the project documentation will consider effectiveness of organization, ease of use, completeness, conciseness. The on-line documentation will be graded throughout the quarter, not just at the end of quarter; I will give you feedback on the documentation during the quarter. During the quarter, I will provide comments to you, either in person or via email, about the quality of your documentation so you know how you're doing. The grade will be a combination of a group grade (50% of the Documentation grade) as well as individual grade (50% of the Documentation grade). The main components of the documentation are
  1. group use of design storyboard, animatic, and 3D layout.
  2. group assets of model and animation examples that are used to guide your design,
  3. group task assignments, timeline and milestones,
  4. individual journal entries - keeping these up to date with example images, animations and code, as appropriate,
Project20% The Project will be graded on the effective use of procedural elements and the variety and complexity of animation techniques as well as other design aspects of the project. In the initial design phase, I will give you feedback on how I rate your project design.
Final Evaluation40% You will be graded on your contribution to the project as you represent your work in the Final Presentation (see below), the final version of the on-line documentation, and the final animation. In addition these, my final evaluation also considers my assessement of your work from my interaction with you and your group throughout the quarter - including the previous progress reports.

Your contribution includes your Individual Contribution as well as your Group Participation .

Individual Contribution  Your contribution consists of two facets: procedural elements and non-procedural contributions to the project. One of these may be stronger than the other, but both should be present. In evaluating your contribution, efforts that don't make it into the final, completed project are considered - but I have to know about them. These efforts should be included in your presentations. To get full credit for your contribution, you need to convince me that you've done 1/nth of the work on the project (where n is the number of members in your group).
Group Participation  An important component in any capstone design course is that it is based on a group project. Being an effective member of a group includes:
  • being available for, and attending, group meetings,
  • actively participating in group meetings, including participating in group decisions, offering your own opinion but being willing to bow to the concensus of the group,
  • maintaining open lines of communication with your group members throughout the life of the project,
  • being willing to take on a fair portion of the project
  • completing your individual part of the project in a timely manner, meeting milestones set by the group
  • being willing and enthusiastic in helping out whenever and wherever needed to get the project done on time,


Final Presentation

The class 'Final' will be your Final Presentation. The Final Presentation is your argument for the grade you should get. It should be presented as your formal presentation of your work on the project, both procedural and otherwise. It should summarize the entire quarter's work - not just your work since your last presentation. The Final Presentation is one of the main factors I use in your Final Evaluation.

At this time, each group needs to hand in to each instructor::

  1. a data DVD/CD containing:
    1. the finished animation in a movie file,
    2. the final version of the on-line documentation - this is to be a copy of what is on-line, not an update of it.
    3. for each group member, a folder with the procedural animation code that was written
  2. a playable DVD of the final animation

Members of the group will not recieve a grade until these DVDs are submitted and can be graded.