Computer Animation I W/ Blender

Class Description

Interested in making computer animation? You’ve come to the right place! This class, for teenagers who’d like to study computer animation in depth, will jump-start your animation journey with the same scope and sequence of a college Animation I course! Using his experience as a successful College Animation Instructor, Conor MacFinn covers the principles of animation, computer modeling, rigging and articulation and rendering. Students complete the course with a small animated film they designed, strong foundational skills and the ability to move ahead more quickly in this artistic field. In the first class, students learn how to open the animation software and use it, and receive an assignment to work on for the following week. Each assignment educates them about a different topic in computer animation, such as keys, squash and stretch, subsurface modeling, and lighting and rendering. At the beginning of every following class, students will show their assignments and receive feedback to strengthen their skills. Then Conor demonstrates and explains the techniques for the next new topic, which students will work on in class and that week’s work at home. There is always time for students' questions. Students are supported in understanding what they have done well and what they need to work on, but grades are not given: animation is an art, and appreciating a work of art is subjective. Students will need a relatively up-to-date computer (within the past five years) that is capable of running Blender. *** Blender runs only on PCs and Macs and cannot run on mobile devices or Chrome Books. *** A detailed list of requirements can be found here: https://www.blender.org/download/requirements/ Please be logged in from the same device as the student will be working on so I can assist them via screen-share. The animation software can be downloaded for free at Blender.org and should be installed before the first class. A google drive account is recommended to hand in homework.