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High School Students Learn Carrara

msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
edited February 2013 in Carrara Discussion

Hello everyone,

I have been hired to teach Carrara at Shaw High School for the 2nd year. The 1st project was so successful the superintendent of the school system called us back. The students all 11th graders. Our project this time is to build Shaw a home.
Last year I was the main modeler/compositor/animator. My composer created the score along with the school band. The kids wrote the script, did the research, did some photoshop work, video, and still photography. They also scheduled all the shoot times and models. It was a fast and furious 3 months.

This time I have 6 months. We will focus on modeling, lighting, texturing, and animation. My composer will create the score. I will be the primary animator. Just to get the kids up beat I created a 1min animation of Shaw Cardinal. Like last year, we will focus on team work.

Daz has been a great help by donating Carrara 8 to the school. (very Cool ) So far the kids are crazy about Carrara. They are amazed at how fast they can create really cool stuff. Bare in mind, none of them had ever touched a 3D app before this class.

I will keep you guys in the loop as we progress toward Shaw Cardinals new home. Presently we are working on the basics of modeling and texturing. I have been teaching 2 weeks to date.


Shaw needs a home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Pm1WhLZLQ

The Mighty Cardinal ( last years project)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-UUJebBYZ8

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Post edited by msolomon on

Comments

  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    MSolomon said:
    Hello everyone,

    I have been hired to teach Carrara at Shaw High School for the 2nd year. The 1st project was so successful the superintendent of the school system called us back. The students all 11th graders. Our project this time is to build Shaw a home.
    Last year I was the main modeler/compositor/animator. My composer created the score along with the school band. The kids wrote the script, did the research, did some photoshop work, video, and still photography. They also scheduled all the shoot times and models. It was a fast and furious 3 months.

    This time I have 6 months. We will focus on modeling, lighting, texturing, and animation. My composer will create the score. I will be the primary animator. Just to get the kids up beat I created a 1min animation of Shaw Cardinal. Like last year, we will focus on team work.

    Daz has been a great help by donating Carrara 8 to the school. (very Cool ) So far the kids are crazy about Carrara. They are amazed at how fast they can create really cool stuff. Bare in mind, none of them had ever touched a 3D app before this class.

    I will keep you guys in the loop as we progress toward Shaw Cardinals new home. Presently we are working on the basics of modeling and texturing. I have been teaching 2 weeks to date.


    Shaw needs a home
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Pm1WhLZLQ

    The Mighty Cardinal ( last years project)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-UUJebBYZ8

    good luck to all !

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    Thanks Bigh,

    So far so good.

  • Design AcrobatDesign Acrobat Posts: 459
    edited December 1969

    Outstanding!

    I've seen your work and positive attitude. This goes a long way in teaching students. Best of luck and keep in touch, we all want to hear how this class progresses.

  • GarstorGarstor Posts: 1,411
    edited December 1969

    That is very cool. I'm looking forward to updates to this thread.

    Back in the day, my final math class in college was "Math For Computer Graphics." We barely scratched the surface of the topic but it definitely piqued my interest.

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    Design Acrobat said:
    Outstanding!

    I've seen your work and positive attitude. This goes a long way in teaching students. Best of luck and keep in touch, we all want to hear how this class progresses.

    Thanks Design Acrobat,
    Needless to say, they have their moments of chaos but we are having a lot of fun. I will post some student work this week.

  • scottidog2scottidog2 Posts: 319
    edited December 1969

    Best of luck. Your positive enthusiasm will inspire the kids.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,574
    edited December 1969

    Man... I love this! What a great thing.

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    So subscribed to this thread...about time we had a feel good thread around here.

    londonmarlo nevermind the students hell I am getting inspired. :)

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    londonmarlo said:
    Best of luck. Your positive enthusiasm will inspire the kids.

    Thanks, so far it seems to be working.

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    Dartanbeck said:
    Man... I love this! What a great thing.

    It's a lot of fun with occasional moments of teen age confusion.

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    Szark said:
    So subscribed to this thread...about time we had a feel good thread around here.

    londonmarlo nevermind the students hell I am getting inspired. :)

    LOL, thanks Szark.

    Subscribing to this thread would be a good idea. I plan on adding to it as the project progresses. Infact, I think this thread would be a good candidate for a sticky? How does that work?

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    To get a thread stickied or is that stuckied humm, is to ask one of the Forum Mods..some mods will see this and probably respond explaining what and can be stickied better than I.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Actually we have a debate about it, as some people don't like too many stickies at the top of forums.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,574
    edited December 1969

    We put a link to this thread in the already "Stickied" Carrara info thread. It'll be incorporated into a "Community Favorite Threads" page, which will make it easier to find using the Table of Contents at the beginning.

  • miladyderyni_173d399f47miladyderyni_173d399f47 Posts: 1,761
    edited December 1969

    This is so cool!
    My son's high school (Robinson in Little Rock, Arkansas) offers EAST Initiative, where students use technology, including computer graphics, to work on various service projects. He is in his second year with the class & has been working with SoftImage all that time & loves it. He's probably better with SoftImage than I am with either Cararra 8 or Daz3Advanced, in fact. Her certainly had a better learning curve.
    I would love to hear more about how you got your class set up with Carrara, so I can suggest it to the EAST facilitator.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,574
    edited February 2013

    Did you know that, if you're going to school for 3D Graphic Design, you could earn A $1,000 Scholarship from Daz3d?
    Pretty sweet are we at Daz3d!!!

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    Actually we have a debate about it, as some people don't like too many stickies at the top of forums.

    I don't want to add to a problem. I just thought a high school focusing on Carrara would be pretty uplifting to a lot of folks.

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    Dartanbeck said:
    We put a link to this thread in the already "Stickied" Carrara info thread. It'll be incorporated into a "Community Favorite Threads" page, which will make it easier to find using the Table of Contents at the beginning.

    Sounds good, thanks Dartanbeck.

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    Dartanbeck said:
    Did you know that, if you're going to school for 3D Graphic Design, you could earn A $1,000 Scholarship from Daz3d?
    Pretty sweet are we at Daz3d!!!

    This sounds really encouraging. I will tell some of the seniors I taught last year.

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    LadyZRissa said:
    This is so cool!
    My son's high school (Robinson in Little Rock, Arkansas) offers EAST Initiative, where students use technology, including computer graphics, to work on various service projects. He is in his second year with the class & has been working with SoftImage all that time & loves it. He's probably better with SoftImage than I am with either Cararra 8 or Daz3Advanced, in fact. Her certainly had a better learning curve.
    I would love to hear more about how you got your class set up with Carrara, so I can suggest it to the EAST facilitator.

    Sounds like a great program. My strategy is simple. My focus is industry standard 3D basics using Carrara as a vehicle to that end. I want my students to retain knowledge that can easily transfer to other programs. Carrara's approachable learning curve makes this objective possible. I'll be posting some student work this week.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,574
    edited December 1969

    MSolomon said:

    I don't want to add to a problem. I just thought a high school focusing on Carrara would be pretty uplifting to a lot of folks.No problem at all. This is some really important stuff. If you remember the way this forum was just before the new one, there were so many stickies that not a lot of fresh threads shown up at all... which verifies Pam's point, perfectly.

    With the "Carrara Information" sticky, we should be able to access all the threads we want within. I started a "Community Favorite Thread Links" Page. You made the top of the list! Hope that helps some.
    My strategy is simple. My focus is industry standard 3D basics using Carrara as a vehicle to that end. I want my students to retain knowledge that can easily transfer to other programs. Carrara's approachable learning curve makes this objective possible. I'll be posting some student work this week.

    And teaching them Carrara, as opposed to 3ds max, maya, or even Lightwave or Modo, they can actually afford the software at home should they want - and I'm sure many will want to. Could you come here and talk to our schools about incorporating such classes? (Kidding, of course!) If I get the time, I'd love to see about some Carrara outreach around here. I wouldn't be able to find time to actually conduct the class, but perhaps I could find another, who could.

    This is awesome! Or... like I say at work all the time...
    "Awesome Sauce, Boss!"

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    “Carrara Information” and “Community Favorite Thread Links” is a big help.

    If I taught industry standard apps this 6 month class would be long enough. Also Carrara increases the chance of the students continuing with 3D art after school.

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited February 2013

    Hello everyone,

    The class is going pretty well. The students seem to be taking to the 3D concept. Of course there are a couple of teens that seem to have all the knowledge of the universe but evan they are coming along. My plan is to teach them 3D basics before we start on the actual project.
    ( Building Shaw Cardinal a House )
    I am teaching them to build a standard, ordinary coffee cup. I want to keep them in a creative box in order to build discipline with the concepts and tools. So they can't go crazy and create alien pottery or a completely different model. ( Not yet )

    This is a list of what they are learning via the cup lessons:
    • Vertex modeling
    • Assembly room
    • Simple rendering
    • 3 point lighting
    • Texture Room

    I attached some stills from one of the students.

    The next pre-project will be an abstract 3D object. This time, they will be free to do anything they want but it must be a neat, clean mesh.

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    Post edited by msolomon on
  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    MSolomon said:
    Hello everyone,

    The class is going pretty well. The students seem to be taking to the 3D concept. Of course there are a couple of teens that seem to have all the knowledge of the universe but evan they are coming along. My plan is to teach them 3D basics before we start on the actual project.
    ( Building Shaw Cardinal a House )
    I am teaching them to build a standard, ordinary coffee cup. I want to keep them in a creative box in order to build discipline with the concepts and tools. So they can't go crazy and create alien pottery or a completely different model. ( Not yet )

    This is a list of what they are learning via the cup lessons:
    • Vertex modeling
    • Assembly room
    • Simple rendering
    • 3 point lighting
    • Texture Room

    I attached some stills from one of the students.

    The next pre-project will be an abstract 3D object. This time, they will be free to do anything they want but it must be a neat, clean mesh.

    keep them coming !

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    I don't know your full curriculum, but Carrara also has the Spline modeler and the Meta-Ball modeler. I've found both of them extremely useful.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,574
    edited December 1969

    Very very nice work. You must be proud.

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    evilproducer said:
    I don't know your full curriculum, but Carrara also has the Spline modeler and the Meta-Ball modeler. I've found both of them extremely useful.

    Very true but my strategy is to focus on the vertex modler. Trying to teach them more than one modeler could couse a revolt.

    Personal Note: Carrara's Meda-ball Modeler is very well designed but I like the Bryce Meda-ball system much better.

  • msolomonmsolomon Posts: 209
    edited December 1969

    Dartanbeck said:
    Very very nice work. You must be proud.

    Thanks, they seem to be catching on.

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