Class #1

Hi Everybody,
I hope you all enjoyed the class!
Here are some additional downloads for you.

INSTALLING GMAX:
Here's the link to install the GMAX software to install on your computer: http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax. Just click on the "Download GMAX" green button on that web page. Install the program, and answer the questions. It should give you your own license key to type into GMAX. Cindy just installed in on her computer without any problems. During the installation, it prompted her to enter some information about herself, and then it displayed a Serial Key value to type into the GMAX program. This seems to be the easiest method to install. Let me know if you have any problems with it.

UFO LANDING ANIMATION:
Here's the completed UFO Landing animation that we created in class. I composited our animation with live video. And, I added a title and some minor video effects to blend things in.

Play the movie above, or download one of these higher resolution versions:

• Download Quicktime movie format (640x480, 6MB)
• Download Windows video format, 720x480, 21MB)

Here's the same video above with animation-only.

And, here's the same video without the animation.
It's my back yard. I added "realism" to the video using a red light-bulb and a hair dryer :-D

Click the "Comments" link below and let me know what you think!

LESSON HANDOUTS:
Here are links to the 3 lesson handouts from our first class.

• Lesson 1
• Lesson 2
• Lesson 3

WHAT WE WILL DO IN THE NEXT 5 CLASSES:
Here's a summary of what we will cover in the next 5 classes.

• CLASS#1: INTRO TO GMAX & ALL MODELING TECHNIQUES
• CLASS#2: ADV MODELING AND INTRO ANIMATION
  - Practice more modeling techniques
  - Learn animation techniques and how to animate a character
  - Do a really cool class project: Create a character animation and render it to a video.
• CLASS#3: MATERIALS, LIGHTS, RENDERING, RAY-TRACING USING 3D STUDIO MAX (DEMO)
• CLASS#4: INTRO TO VIDEO EDITOR & COMPOSITING (i.e. mixing live video with your computer animation)
• CLASS#5: CLASS PROJECT
• CLASS#6: CLASS PROJECT

I'm really looking forward to this class. This class is all about having fun and doing something that you will love doing. We will do a class project for the last 2 sessions. So, be thinking about some short film ideas that you would like to do.

Russ