Fisher-Price makes programming toy to teach  computer programming to 3 to 6-year-olds


Their new toy, called the caterpillar, teaches coding basics to preschoolers. The company will debut its $50 Think & Learn Code-a-Pillar tonight at Pepcom's Digital Experience, a pre-CES media event, though the toy won't be available to buy until this summer. Instead of getting not-yet-potty-trained kids to code with a screen and keyboard, this plastic caterpillar uses more subtle tactics: it teaches the basics of coding, like sequencing and programming, with segments of the caterpillar's body. Each of these eight segments is labeled with different symbols and colors. Kids put them together, attach them to the caterpillar's smiling, blinky-eyed, motorized head, and press a button to get the whole toy to move.


From my past three years experience I truly believe this will work. I'm actually trying to see if I can start teaching students as young as third-grade how to program, do 3D animation, and also design and programmed their own video games. This includes the basic skills needed, going to advanced skills in computer programming.


And I use the animation and videogame to motivate them to learn how to program and improve their skills each week. If not then their video game will not play they went the way they want it to


http://www.computergraphics.com/


http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/5/10716994/fisher-price-thing-and-learn-code-a-pillar-toy-ces-2016

 Seventh- Eight-grade students building their own video game from start to scratch

After teaching my 3D animation and video game design and programming class for two years I decided this year the part of my class the students are really interested in is making their own video games.  While they enjoy making 3D animation and models you can only play so many animations and do things with them.

On the other hand if you make a video game you can play it and send it to others.   And I've spent about 500 hours working on my video game packages. So now my students in the last two weeks are making their own 3D model of a room in Autodesk Maya 2016, extruding it, bring it into Unity3D, adding physics to it, and then making their own video game

And this last week I figured out how they can then publish and send their game to other people, and then also we are going to add a shooter gun and start making her own shooter games this next week.

The images below show the sequence we followed and making our own room and then making a game you could walk and run through in it.

Next week we start writing our own programs to make our shooter perform. So we will be learning computer programming also

Teaching 3D Animation to Middle School Students using Autodesk Maya 2016

My seventh and they could teach students have been doing some amazing work this semester and we have been using the new Autodesk Maya 2016. 

This is the third year for my 3-D animation program and this year I have my laptops plugged in when I don't have to use a cart.   So my students can be working as soon as they had to the classroom. We also have extra memory is some of our laptops.

We are starting to create 3D animations from of our models and some of the students are working on a traffic safety animation for our school district.  This is a great opportunity for the students to be given a project and then using their own vision and design create their own 3D animation that will meet the specifications of what the district needs,

These are the tasks they till be doing when they get a job so it is great practice to start with it now.   They are getting practice with creating and bringing in models, setting up the correct lighting, and then creating a smooth animation to show the correct way to cross the street

Using Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset 

I just got the Oculus Rift Headset Installed on my MacBook ProAnd working for my class!  It is absolutely amazing. It virtually lets you walk into the game as if you were inside the game.

The students were blown away and they all lined up to try once or twice.  Now this will further motivate them to learn to computer program so that they can build their own their own unity base video game.

We are using Autodesk Maya to build 3-D models, and then bring them into Unity3D to build video games.  We will be using the C# programming to get started and to develop our skills.

Help me bring 3D Animation and Video Game Design to all students worldwide

Please fund my kickstarter project to bring 3D Animation and Video Game Design and programming to all students and classrooms worldwide.  

Read more at

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2096879612/bring-3d-animation-video-game-design-to-students-w?ref=email

USC has added  "Game Development" track within their computer science program

The last year and a half I have been blessed to have a student come in from GCC and work with me and my middle school students at Roosevelt middle school in Glendale. His name is Richard Dean

He originally came in to help with math but he was also an expert in 3D animation and Maya. In addition he was the one who got me to go into video game design and see the unlimited job opportunities for doing that as a career.

He just told me this week that he is trying to get into the USC computer science program and their new video game development track. This is one of the hottest tracks in the world today and look at some of the classes that are required.

I'm hoping that other school districts are making plans for putting in AP computer science and animation tracks.

I have included the classes required from USC for that track below, and you can see they also require Advanced math skills


MAJOR REQUIREMENTS (84 UNITS)

UNITS


CSCI 103L

Introduction to Programming 3


CSCI 104L

Data Structures and Object-Oriented Design 4


CSCI 109

Introduction to Computing 3


CSCI 170

Discrete Methods in Computer Science 4


CSCI 201L

Principles of Software Development 4


CSCI 270

Introduction to Algorithms and Theory of Computing 4


CSCI 350

Introduction to Operating Systems 4


CSCI 353

Introduction to Internetworking 4


CSCI 360

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence4


CSCI 420

Computer Graphics 4

CSCI 423

Native Console Multiplayer Game Development 4


CSCI 424

Game Engine Tool Development 4


CSCI 425

Immersive Game Design 4


EE 352L

Computer Organization and Architecture 4


GAME DEVELOPMENT (31 UNITS)

UNITS


CTIN 190

Introduction to Interactive Entertainment 4


CSCI 281

Pipelines for Games and Interactives 3


CSCI 491abL

Final Game Project (4-2) 6


CTAN 452

Introduction to 3-D Computer Animation 2


CTIN 484L

Intermediate Game Development 2


CTIN 488

Game Design Workshop 4


CTIN 489

Intermediate Game Design Workshop 3


ITP 380

Video Game Programming 4


ITP 485

Programming Game Engine 4


Total units 128

Eighth grade middle school 3D animation models

This is Kimberly's work on a futuristic outerspace planet

Great Review of my 3D Animation Class in Digital Media World 

Autodesk put me in touch with the reporter from Australia about doing a online article about my class.   My program is really growing and I'm having to turn students away this last quarter

http://www.digitalmedia-world.com/Training/growing-up-smarter-with-3d-computer-graphics-animation-maya

Teaching computer programming using Unity 3-D video game software

I am now starting to teach my seventh grade and eighth grade students how to program in C sharp.  We are going to be using the unity 3D program to do so.

This is an excellent way to get students motivated to learn computer programming.   They are able to apply their program to a model in the Unity3D software and then watch as the model does what their program says. And if they make a mistake it will give them an error message and they must go back and analyze their Code

Unity3d comes with its own compiler- Monodevelop  which makes for an excellent software program do you use to teach programming.  They can use Maya to create and bring in 3D models and objects, and then going to the Monodevelop program and write the code to manipulate them,  and then come back to Unity3D program to see what happens

Plus they're getting invaluable skills and designing a 3D video game. This is a huge market and a great opportunity to develop future job skills . Plus designing a video game requires them to sketch out and visualize how the game will look, how they will put it together, line of sight, etc. It's a project-based project for them to work on

All of these exercises will provide invaluable experience for the future job skills they will need to be successful in a highly technical world . Plus the video game market is one the fastest growing in the world. and so to be acquiring skills in designing, modeling and programming for 3D games is a great opportunity.

The students of today have been born into and are in the midst of the the computer age. They do not get frustrated when dealing with new hardware software, they have the patience and ability to solve and conquer almost any problem.

How to create a spinning logo that's
on fire in Autodesk Maya

I created this spinning logo yesterday using Autodesk Maya. I use their :

• Text
• Rotation
• And dynamics – gravity - Active objects
• And fire

My seventh-grade students will be working on spinning logos this next week to finish up our 10 weeks of school.  They have done incredible work in their 3D models and also 3D animations, and have shown that students in middle school can be learning and mastering high-end computer packages.  

They are well on their way preparing themselves for the high thing exciting jobs in 3-D animation and modeling in soon video game programming and also computer science.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXThag16rqmYchqU1FauOUA

Using Unity 3D to teach Computer Programming 

I I am starting to teach my students how do you program in C# using unity 3D video game design package.

My students will be creating 3D objects in Autodesk Maya and then bringing them in to Unity3D.  We will then on how to apply computer programming to make these objects move, rotate, scale them, and have them start to learn how to create a videogame.

So I will be using the video game itself to motivate them to learn computer programming which of course they can use for many more applications other than video game design and creation. 

This my Youtube channel where I have all of my video lessons

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXThag16rqmYchqU1FauOUA/featured

Create Comets crashing on Fire using
Autodesk Maya

This took me only a couple hours to create using Autodesk Maya and bump maps, dynamics commands such as gravity at active rigid bodies, etc. 

My seventh and eighth graders will be creating their own 3D animations following my Youtube online video lesson.  Then they can do their own project using the commands that they just learned.

This is a link to the animation and then another link to the actual video lesson on how to create it.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXThag16rqmYchqU1FauOUA

My classes are now starting to program in C# using Unity video game engine 

This last week we wrote our first two lines of code using the Unity video game engine to make a cube rotate.  I hope to really expand this over the rest of the semester, and through the full next semester in 2015.

By having them build a 3-D model in Maya, and then bring it into Unity 3D program and then program the different features you want to apply to the model will be excellent way to teach my students computer programming.

Microsoft, Minecraft and Mojang: Here's How to Make Sense of Microsoft's $2.5B Purchase

Janine "I

ris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style


After some speculation, it's official: Microsoft has purchased voxel-based sandbox game Minecraft for $2.5 billion. Maybe that makes perfect sense to you and maybe it doesn't. This past weekend as we discussed the massive purchase, my mother asked my why on earth Microsoft would want to buy Minecraft for anything approaching that much money. My answer? That it might be better to think of it in terms of why a company might want to buy Barbie or Lego. They're monolithic brands; highly recognizable, widely available and beloved by huge swathes of customers, both young and old. There are already teenagers who look at Minecraft with nostalgia right alongside people experiencing it for the very first time. It's a cultural touchstone.


But there's more to it than that. If you break this purchase down into its most basic economic terms, as analyst Michael Pachter did at GamesBeat 2014, it makes perfect sense. Polygon's Owen Good has picked the juiciest bits out of Pachter's comments on Microsoft's acquisition of Minecraft, and summarizes the issue succinctly:







Essentially, Microsoft expects to make more money from Minecraft than it would make if that $2.5 billion sat in the bank for a year and generated $25 million in interest. And yes, given the sales of the game — which just launched on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 — not to mention the merchandise licensing that Minecraft has seen to date, $25 million sounds like a very, very doable number.


For more, be sure to read Good's full piece on Polygon, or go straight to the source andwatch the archive of Pachter's GamesBeat talk over on Twitch.

3D Models Created by my 7th - 8th grade class using Autodesk Maya

We are still Using computers with only two gigs of RAM where is we should have at least four GB.  But even with just two gigs my students are creating some amazing animations and models.

There are collaborating together, helping each other out, and they are working from the start of the bell to the end and many are doing work at home also.  We are using and Edmodo so that the class can talk to each other, post files and images, and show what they are doing as they work on their projects, 

We are only about four weeks in my class is creating some amazing models and now starting to do the same with their animations.

Microsoft pays $2.5bn for Minecraft maker Mojang

This is why I am teaching 3D Animation and Video Game Design starting in Middle School 

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29204518

Using Autodesk Maya to create 3D animations in grades sixth through eighth

I started my summer camp last week at my middle school. We had two class sessions for an hour went over the basics, the software to download and then the second session we went through some of the programs and they had about 15 minutes to experiment and use the computer

I had to take 10 minutes to get them out of the classroom they were so engaged in the software program they were not paying attention to anything else.  This is one of the first times I've ever seen this happen.

I put up five new lessons on my website so the students can practice on their own.  Because these are students in middle school I made my own video lessons starting with the basics. I kept the video short, only dealt with water to commands, and had them build something while learning the commands. I believe this is the formula for success with younger children

I've been received the image above from one of those students on Friday of that week. He had downloaded the newest version of the Maya software so it took me a few times to get it in on my version. 

He stated that my video lessons and help him to create his 3-D model, butI had not show them how to paint on projects so he learned this on his own. Plus he stated he was not going to really start animating. So in other words I need to speed up my lessons to keep up with him

Oh we are off to a great start. I will be adding more complex lessons this week for both my and unity therefore my students cannot only learning class you can learn on their own

Here is the link to my online video lessons that they are using.

http://computergraphics.com/online%20video%20lessons.htm

Pixar Revamps RenderMan, Offers Free Non-Commercial License - 

By Bryant Frazer   /   May 30, 2014

Pixar Animation Studios has announced a "generational shift" in RenderMan, which will debut a new framework, the RenderMan Integrator System (RIS), in the latest version scheduled for release at SIGGRAPH. Pixar described RIS as a "modular rendering architecture" that optimizes lighting simulation and allows new rendering technology to be deployed as Disney develops it — such as the Principled BRDF shader, a physically based shading technique that will be included in the new RenderMan.

Other features to be included in the forthcoming RenderMan release include an advanced Unidirectional Path Tracer and a Bidirectional Path Tracer with Progressive Photon Mapping (sometimes referred to as vertex connection and merging, or VCM), meaning RenderMan will offer the ability to switch rendering modes for different scenes in a single system, the company said.

"For certain types of shots such as exteriors, the unidirectional path tracer excels," Pixar said in an FAQ detailing some of the additions. "However, while [it is] a common method of light transport, path tracing suffers limitations when rendering other types of scenes, such as dimly lit interiors and caustic effects. For cases like this, RenderMan provides another more advanced method of light transport called VCM, which is able to integrate bidirectional path tracing with photon techniques to produce results of higher quality than either method can alone. With RIS, you can choose the most appropriate method of light transport for any given scene."

In addition, Pixar said that, with the next release, RenderMan licenses will be free for non-commercial use by students, institutions, researchers, developers, and other individuals. (Interested users can register in advance on the RenderMan website to receive a free license when the new version is released.) Pixar also dropped the price of the current version of RenderMan to $495 per license for commercial use, with customized "peak render" packages available. The new release will combine RenderMan Pro Server and RenderMan Studio in a single "flexible license," Pixar said, suggesting those licenses will be easily scalable to fit different stages of production.

In a prepared statement, MPC's global head of lighting, David Hirst, offered a testimonial to the capabilities of the new version of RenderMan. "We … were completely blown away by the speed and how interactively we could preview and render these assets," he said. "The RIS based integrator is going to change the way we work with more scalable rendering and faster results."

Pixar RenderMan: renderman.pixar.com

PDF: Physically Based Shading at Disney

- See more at: http://www.studiodaily.com/2014/05/pixar-revamps-renderman-offers-free-non-commercial-license/?hq_e=el&hq_m=2890733&hq_l=5&hq_v=c0e95a667f#sthash.yiXReuMp.dpuf

Autodesk will now be providing schools and colleges free access to their incredible software! And as you read the article you will see my school and I got a great plug in their press release 

Autodesk Transforms Education Business Model to Help Advance 21st Century Skills in the United States and Canada

3D Design Software Leader Delivers on Commitment to Prepare an Industry-ready Workforce by Removing Barriers to Software Access

Category:

Autodesk Consumer Group and Education

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 9:00 am EDT

Dateline:

SAN FRANCISCO

EmailPDFPrintRSS

Public Company Information:

NASDAQ:

ADSK

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK), a leader in 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, today announced that it will offer schools in the United States and Canada free access to its professional 3D design software and creativity applications.

This represents the next step in the continued transformation of Autodesk’s education business model in order to fulfill its mission of helping students and educators imagine, design and create a better world. Autodesk’s pledge is valued at over $460 million, and empowers educators at more than 35,000 middle schools, high schools, and higher education institutions in the United States and Canada.

“Advances in accessible 3D design and fabrication technology are disrupting design, engineering and entertainment professions as we know them. The rise in mobile and cloud technology also means that it is possible to design anywhere, at any time. Nearly anyone with an idea can turn concepts into reality overnight, and we believe that today’s students will shape tomorrow’s industries,” said Tom Joseph, senior director of education, Autodesk.

“This is the second pledge we have made in North America in less than six months, and we are not stopping here. There is still work that lies ahead of us as we join forces with governments, institutions, and partners to prepare an industry-ready workforce around the world by removing the barriers to software access,” Joseph added.

Autodesk’s 3D design software, creativity applications, and learning resources are being used across the education continuum to advance learning outcomes, including:

• Building proficiency with young learners from middle schools and up to support science, technology, engineering, digital arts, or mathematics (STEAM) related subjects to solve real world challenges.
• Imparting industry-relevant knowledge and 3D design skills to give students a competitive edge to achieve their personal goals today, and career success in the future.
• Helping educators to inspire creativity and innovation through a project-based curriculum and a multidisciplinary approach to education; facilitating collaboration and hands-on problem-solving skills that reflect today’s business realities.

“At RIT, we are grooming our students for successful careers in industrial design, and teaching them to leverage advanced technologies to address global design challenges is integral. Having free access to advanced, professional design tools like Autodesk Fusion 360™ has empowered our students and taught them how to navigate changes in a fast paced industry. The cloud component of the product also teaches them how to collaborate with one another and communicate their ideas with other disciplines, which are critical skills that they will need when they graduate,” said Alex Lobos, assistant professor of Industrial Design, Rochester Institute of Technology.

In February, Autodesk pledged support for President Obama’s ConnectEd initiative by expanding its Design the Future program in the U.S. to advance STEAM education and support the demand for related careers. Students and educators have also had free access to individual licenses of Autodesk software via the Autodesk Education Community since 2006.

“We have seen firsthand how students have become more engaged in core subjects like math and science when they can experiment, model and animate in 3D with Autodesk^® 123D^® Design and Autodesk^® Maya^®. The new focus of the national Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards are based on getting our students both college and career ready. By teaching them skills like 3D modeling and 3D animation using professional Autodesk products, we are giving both students and educators a real advantage," said Kent Ganevsky, an educator at Theodore Roosevelt Middle School and Design the Future program adopter.

To request free access to Autodesk software for schools, please visit www.autodesk.com/academic.

About Autodesk

Autodesk helps people imagine, design and create a better world. Everyone—from design professionals, engineers and architects to digital artists, students and hobbyists—uses Autodesk software to unlock their creativity and solve important challenges. For more information visit autodesk.com or follow @autodesk.

Autodesk, Fusion 360, 123D, and Maya are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

© 2014 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Free Autodesk software and/or cloud-based services may only be used for educational purposes and are subject to acceptance of and compliance with the terms and conditions of the software license agreement or terms of service. Details and restrictions available at http://usa.autodesk.com/legal-notices-trademarks.

Contact:

Autodesk, Inc.
Noah Cole, +1 415-580-3535
noah.cole@autodesk.com
Rebecca Wong, +65 9841 9766
rebecca.wong@autodesk.com

- See more at: http://news.autodesk.com/press-release/autodesk-consumer-group-and-education/autodesk-transforms-education-business-model-hel#sthash.oR1IRr83.dpuf

Teaching Autodesk Maya in the classroom

I was one of the first Autodesk 3D Studio Max dealers in the world about 20 years ago.  There were a group of three of us who either flu or drove up to Sausalito California to go through training and becoming authorized dealer.

It was a pivotal part of my life for it put me in the direction into computer graphics and digital editing.   I started my teaching career about 10 years ago. And for the last for five years I've been trying to bring this product's into my classroom and into my school. 

I started my own digital arts – computer science club this year. We have been working with Autodesk one 123-D design, Maya, and now Fusion 360,  and it looks like I will not be teaching my first Computer graphics - Digital arts class starting in September, 

We now have our Maker bot replicator to printer going and we have printed over 40 students designs in our classroom.  

The key to teaching your students Autodesk Maya is to start an early age as possible for them to acquire the basics.  Do not get hung up on how hard the product looks or how hard the interface appears to be. Just like math we do not start students at calculus,  it takes them five years and five different subjects to get to calculus.

That is the same philosophy to teach Maya or any other high-end computer graphics software package. And I guarantee you since I have doing this for almost 30 years younger students will pick up this package much faster than any adults will.

The key to this, but any other task in life, is the take the first step and get started. The first few steps may be hard but it will get easier as you keep pushing forward