Class #2
Hi Everybody,
Here are a few items from Class #2.


AND THE WINNERS ARE...

I want to recognize Oliver and Fan who tied for first place in the contest to speed-model a random 3D shape that I tossed out on the table. Each of them made a GMAX model of this shape (left)... in under 60 seconds! Way to go!

Cindy came in second place. Way to go Cindy! You guys are truly movie-making 3D-model-creating GMAX gurus!

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

• Lesson 4 - Editing Vertices
• Lesson 5 - Twisting and Bending
• Lesson 6 - Intro to Animation

GMAX DEMONSTRATION FILES FROM CLASS #2:

Here are the GMAX files that we played with in class. The first one is the animation that I showed you of the bending/twisting cylinders.

• Dancing Cylinders
  Here is the demonstration of the 'Bend Modifier' and the 'Twist Modifer' that we discussed in class and in the Lesson 5 PDF download file (above).
  
  

• Dog Animation
  The 'Dog Animation' download file is the bend/twist demonstration that I showed you in class using a 3D model of a dog. We used the bend modifier to "wag" the dog's tail. And we used the twist modifier to make the dog shake his head.


CREDIT:
This 3D Model was borrowed from the book-CD of the book that we are using in this class: "The GMAX Bible" by Murdock.





• Butterfly Animation
  I didn't get a chance to show you this one. It's an animation of a 50 foot Butterfly sitting on the Brooklyn Bridge :-D I made the wings using the extrude modifier discussed in the Lesson 3 PDF download file from Class #1. Play with it if you have time. See if you can understand how I made the different parts. I'll show you everything about it in the next class.











• Solar System
  This file is for the next class. You may want to download and play with it for now. It shows how to rotate objects around another object (like the planets around the sun).
  
  The Sun
  Oh...The sun in a mass
  of incandescent gas,
  a giant nuclear furnace,
  converting Helium
  into Hydrogen
  at a temperature of millions of degrees. Author Unknown
  
  
• Spiky Thingy
  Ummm... OK. So, it's a spiky thingy.
  Oliver was making objects like these, so I just put this up there for fun to show you what you could do my dragging vertices and surfaces away from a sphere.
  

WHAT WE WILL DO IN CLASS #3:
In the next class we will learn how to use the material editor to "paint" textures and colors onto your models. I'll show you some really cool animation tricks to make your models look and move more real. Also, we will install the free 3DS Max 30-day demo program. And, I'll demonstrate how to render your animation to a movie file so you can make a movie of your animated model. And, we'll begin discussing what you want to do for the class project. (We have to use the demo program to render to movies because the free GMAX program can't render. So, sad... but, hey, it's free!)

I'll see you next week!
Russ DeWitt

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

Learn Photo-Realistic 3D Computer Animation!
Doing 3D animation and video special effects is so amazing and fun. Our last animation class was a blast! Everyone pitched in to put a short animated film on the web. Check it out! http://3drobots.blogspot.com/

Download this flyer to read more about the class.

In the next class, we're going to learn how to make photo-realistic 3d animations and how to composit your animation with live video using a video editor. I'll show you some camera matching and tracking tricks. And we'll make some pretty amazing movies that you can share with your friends. This is really fun, hands-on class. Don't let the technical stuff scare you away. The class has been designed so that it will be enjoyable for beginners, and challenging enough for more advanced folks. Here's the schedule for the next classes that I'm teaching:

New Class Schedule:

Class #1: 3D Animation for Movies
Learn to create your own 3D animated short-movies using free 3D software for the PC. Software will be provided for free. No experience required. Please bring your own laptop. (PC only)
Fee: Free class. Optional $15.00 charge for book.
Session 1: 9/11 – 10/16 (6 classes) Thur 6PM-8PM

Class #2: 3D Animation for Games
Learn to create your own 3D game mods for video game engines using free 3D software for PC or MAC. Software will be provided for free. No experience required. Please bring your own PC or Mac laptop.
Fee: Free class. Optional $20.00 charge for book. Software will be provided free. (6 classes) Session 2: 10/23 – 12/4 Thur 6PM-8PM

Register!
Both classes are free. But you must register. You can register by calling the City of Duluth Parks & Recreation at (770)814-6981. Classes meet once a week for 2 hours on Thursday nights. Classes run for 6 weeks each.

Any age is welcome to join the class. I encourage parents to acompany youger kids. We will focus on doing 3d animation projects. My goal in each class is to teach in depth 3D Animation topics, and keep the class very hands-on and fun. So, I have prepared a mini-project for each week that can be done by younger students and more advanced students.