Gonna be teaching, got a question for you all

Hey hey guys. I had a question for all of you.

I am going to be teaching introduction to 3d modeling and animation at a local college here in MN. basic intro to maya stuff where we will cover (in general) modeling, a bit of texturing, a bit of rigging and basics of animating and using the graph editor etc. Its an intro class.

Basically we have a work book we are following and using the lessons in that book. The class structure is set up, more or less but I was wondering if there was anything you wished had been taught to you when you were a fresh start. if you were to go back, be that green student never knowing what maya was or anything like that, what shortcuts would you have liked to know off the bat. what little tricks and tips to help you work better. Im not talking advanced 3d stuff but just things you wished "gosh, why didnt anyone tell me that when I was in school!!!"

I have a few thoughts of my own, but i was wondering what the SimplyCG crowd had to say.

Thanks ahead of time, folks.
Rob

I think the best thing you can tell a beginner is to "start simple" and to finish all your projects.
~Mechis

allright man, I think you and I may or may not have had this conversation before... But one thing i'd have liked to learn in the beginning is what I can't get away with. I'd have liked to learn about the importance of clean topology, and to be introduced to an overview of the principles as opposed to just making a fish out of splines the first day. I think you could spend the first couple of classes going over examples of good topology and bad topology, I've got a drive full of bad examples if you want. I think that the important thing that they walk away with is not so much a technical understanding of how to select a polygon properly or whatever, but more of an idea of what kinds of topology are important for what, where to put detail, and keeping it simple as was said earlier.

-Z

Both Mechis and Zachm hit it on the head man no question. I cant even count how many of my classmates had huge plans and never came close to finishing and others that went simple but really bombed quality wise. Basically if you show them starting small is ok and show them what actually makes something good it will help tons. Something I always tell friends that are having trouble modeling or animating and are real frustrated is that they have to realize its only the 2d, 5th, 10th time (however many it may be) thats nothing compared to how many times they have sketched a person (in theory) and they are still learning, basically keep working!

Sorry kinda went on a tangent but ... yea mechis and Zachm got it on the nose!

Tell them to do tons of personal non-school related projects at home.

And to not listen to Steve Paul. That should just about do it.

Good luck!

yeah, the course is set up so they really cant go that far off tangent. the program is just kinda' getting off of its feet and taking off. I think i have a class of 5-10 people (i havnt heard the final number yet) and good ideas with the good and bad topo, zach. I was going to really emphisize that in general, but showing them bad examples would work out great and if you want, feel free to send em my way.

and clay, its not at AI, its at Northwestern College. I dont think they know who steve paul is. and come on... he isnt such a bad guy!

I never said he was a bad guy...

That's pretty sweet having such a small class size. When do you start? And what is the program exactly?

One thing I can think of right now that might help them, which is part of the good topo/bad topo deal, is that not everything has to be modeled in one piece, especially machinery and the like. That's something I didn't realize at first, I thought everything had to be modeled from one object, and spent hours trying to get good topology and all the details and everything, extruding tons, when just making a part out of a new object and sticking it on top worked much better.

the 15th of january is my first day of class. Its pretty much just an intro to maya class. if they like me, next semester I will probably teach that and intermediate stuff. More or less right now its just an art degree with a few animation classes in it. i think there are maybe 6 or so animation classes. so its just to give people a taste of it. I think eventually they want to have an animation degree, but right now i just dont know all that much about it. I should be gettin more info soon.

all this and more you would know if you hopped on AIM and talked to me once in a while. . . it makes me blue when you are not around

hows things at flurry?

I have a couple suggestions, and a couple suggestions of what NOT to do. I took a $1200 'Intro to Maya' class and there was some things about it that drove me nuts. The first thing was that we only learned how to model with NURBS. We spent 12 weeks without touching polygons at all, which really bugged me. I made some decent looking things in that class but when I learned I couldn't ever animate them without rebuilding it in poly's (which I didn't know how to use) I was pissed!

We then spent several weeks learning how to use the lamest things like light glow and light fog and crap like that. At the time I was like ooooooh neat, this is fun! Then we had a substitute one day and he was like, "why the HELL are you learning this stuff? This was useful in like 1993, you're NEVER going to use this in a studio, and if you do you'll be laughed at, so forget everything he taught you and start playing with mental ray." Perhaps you could show them quickly what things do, but then say "this is what this does, but it's obsolete with today's technology, so let's play with it quick and then I'll show you a better way to do it." When I learned we'd spent 3 weeks working on things we weren't ever going to use I was irked.

Lastly, perhaps showing examples of quality work for inspiration during the projects would have been neat. I remember sometimes we'd finish a project and someone would show what they made and the instructor would be like, "cool man you used the tools so you get an A" He'd never point out the fact that his final project looks like a render test done in 1986. I mean obviously you wouldn't want to say "hey your project looks bad", but you're going to help the guy a heck of a lot more if he understands that you can still produce a quality piece with a simple concept and basic tools, and on top of that he has an idea at least of a quality example. Maybe before each project you could make one yourself and only use the specific tools you're learning. Then say, "Okay, this is what I made using only the tools I've taught you so far, now give it a try." We just had NO examples to go by and really were just shooting in the dark.

Good luck man, I hope that helps a little.

I've been self teaching for years, but I still have to do the introduction course at uni (which I don't mind because i'm having to learn a new package for it.) One thing my tutor is really good at is explaining the theory. Most of the class has never even heard the word "extrude" hehe. What he tends to do its build really quick but cool models that showcase what the tools can achieve, in about 10 mins or someting. Then people tend to get the jist. I'm sure you'll do just fine !

to me, what's most important, it that you make shure they understand that 3d software is just a tool, the real creativity is up in their heads, and they should use it! make them draw!!!
i wish i would have understood this way earlyer!

then maybe introduce them without the software, and show them what is what, what's modelling, what's rigging, etc... then it could be an idea the work on a little project, make them model somthing simple, make them texture it, rig it, make them create an enviroment, and animate what you have, could be somthing as simple as a ball bouncing in a street or something.... that way, you help them while they learn and have fun.

it's also very important that you make them beleive that you feel very confident with a group! teaching a class is like being on stage, you body gesture, the tone in your voice is very important, you have to catch their attention! how many time did you guys had a teacher that knows what he is doing, but you just can't follow,

try remembering teachers you had when you were younger (in school) and remember which ones you liked or not and why you felt that way about them, that way you'll know what and what not to do!

hope this helps!

Thats a very good point. I always knew that CG was just a tool (I went into it from modelmaking, so I looked at the same way I looked at my toolbox!) however, no one explained the relationship between the tool and my creativity. Its different way of thinking to "real world" stuff I think. Had I been told how to look at the things I imagined and drew or sculpted etc, in order to get them from my head to a screen, I would have progressed faster and with better skill.