An exercise that I like giving students is interpreting a 2D sprite animation into 3D. Focuses a lot on fundamentals, technical proficiency and workflow. Move courtesy of Blaze Blue from @Fighters_Gen http://www.fightersgeneration.com/np5/blaz-cs/sprites/2/3/4/ragna-double.gif …pic.twitter.com/phxsCSmuyn
Maya but a lot of the assignments can be replicated in any software package as long as you have a capable rig