3D

There are several major parts and processes to 3d animation but unfortunately we only have 8 days so be prepared for a fast paced but exciting 3d experience. Pay close attention and do the readings!
It's important to understand what 3d means so click here if you want to read about how the 3 dimensions are created digitally and how our brains process it on a 2d screen.

What is Autodesk Maya? CLICK HERE TO LEARN MAYA! KEEP THIS PAGE OPEN FOR FUTURE REFERNCE!!
Use the "Maya User Guide" and click on the plus signs to open & read what you need using the link below.
DOWNLOAD THIS FILE!
Below are examples to give you ideas.

We'll cover much of the Basics in Maya as a class, but you will want to look up
specific tools or techniques at some point so keep in mind the above link and the HELP feature on the menubar within Maya.
Using hotkeys is very helpful in terms of a smooth workflow. Memorize & use the hotkeys!

Hotkeys to use in class:	Alt + left click - Tumble tool
	Alt + middle click - Track tool
Practice	Alt + right click - Dolly tool
using	Q - Select Tool
these	W - Move tool
hotkeys!	E - Rotate tool
	R - Scale tool
They	T - Manipulator tool
will	Spacebar - hotbox
make	F - Zoom to selection
it	1- Rough quality display setting
much	2 - Medium quality display setting
easier	3 - Smooth quality display setting
to	4 - Shading > Wireframe
model!	5 - Shaded display
	6 - Shaded and Textured display
	7 - Lighting > Use All Lights
	Cmd+D - duplicate selection D+V or D- move pivot point

3d programs are 100% VECTOR. They consists of polygons & NURBS. Polygons have 3 parts (vertices, edges, faces). They consist of meshes and the objects aren't perfectly smooth
but can be subdivided into smaller faces to make smoother. Nurbs are organic in nature and consists of true smooth curves but require more computer processing power
so generally are used for professional productions mostly.

More Modeling - Day 2

CG workflow order is Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, Animating, and Rendering.

Modeling Toolkit

Splitting Polygons

Mirroring Cut

Duplicating
Cmd + D then move it
Duplicate Special

Combining Meshes

Merging Meshes

Bending

Polygon Component Mode

Symmetrical Polygons

Soft Selection

Edit Mesh - Extrude

Extruding a face, edge, or vertex

Duplicating Polygon Faces

Filling Gaps or Bridging

Curving Polygons Tutorial

Materials, Texturing, Mudbox, Painting Effects, & Visor - Day 3

Surface Materials
right click object & Assign Material

Send Polygons to Mudbox

Mudbox Sculpting

Mudbox Painting

Mudbox Paint with STENCILS

Mudbox Paint with STAMPS

Sending to Mudbox Error

UV Mapping

Paint Effects Brush Settings

PAINT EFFECTS

3D Paint Effects

VISOR
Use Visor to add plants, clouds, fire, food, etc.
On menu bar go to Window, General Editor, Visor.

Layering, Lighting, Cameras, & Animating Cam - Day 4

Animating - Day 5

Animation Overview

Animation Basics

Animate along a motion path

Graph Editor

Adding Audio

Animate a camera rotation around your model using the tutorial above.

Character Animation

Character Setup
Creating character rig video tutorial playlist below.

Rigging a character prepares them for animating by adding joints & bones. Next you "skin" it which means to combine the mesh with the rig.
Read more using the links below.

Dynamics - Day 6
Dynamics

nDynamics

nCloth

Fluid Effects & Colliding Fluids

Rendering - Day 7

Playblast your animation!

Hi-res Rendering option

Extras & Rendering - Day 8

Lipsyncing

Here's a link to numerous websites with free 3D content for various programs.

Criteria

Create a vehicle, character, or terrain
10 or more polygons
Add materials (color)
Paint with Visor or Paint Effects tool
Sculpted polygon (subdivided & Sculpt Geometry tool)
Animate in some way
publish Playblast as .mov
save as .ma file
submit .ma & .mov files

Animation II students can use this site to find tutorials for Independent projects.

If you were absent or aren't successful with Autodesk Maya you can use another program that's called Google Sketchup. Learn about it here.

Here's some examples created by Connor Hughes, Ryan Richter, Sarai Albert, and Lindy Schweitzer.
If you want to view an actual Sketchup project (if it's installed on your computer) click here.

Sketchup has several types of tutorials that will help. Use them to create your building. You should create your company store or a museum in which you can hang pictures or photographs of your work from this year.
You need to design the interior and exterior thoroughly. Design the inside with detail and landscape the exterior completely. The more the better.
Pay attention to the scale of your building and all objects. They should be scaled appropriately for real life size humans.

The basic criteria if using Google SketchUP:

Exterior - street, sidewalk, grass, shrubbery or trees, parking lot, lights, textures, and sign created in Photoshop or Illustrator and added to front of building.
Interior - basic furnishings, painted or textured walls, flooring, lights, windows, doors, and four or more of your personally created images on the walls as posters.

The last step of this assignment is to export an animation video of your building. You can animate a fly through around your building or a walk through it.

If you enjoy using 3d software after finishing the above assignment research various types of software and determine which one you want to use
at home such as: Blender, Poser, Vue 7, Pov Ray, Doga, Anim8or, WorldBuilder, Webmaker, Terragen, or another. Many of the mentioned software is open source (free)!

Motion capture technology is emerging as a major art form that many animation companies are implementing as their main technique in 3D productions.

3D

You have options for this project. Choose one below or combine for extra points! You are expected to model and animate at least one of the following: Character, Vehicle, Scene

More Modeling - Day 2

CG workflow order is Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, Animating, and Rendering. Modeling Toolkit