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.

Create my own to terrain in Unity3D-  for my middle school students two now do the same

We are now going to start using Unity3D to create our own video games.   it is incredibly easy and powerful as you can see from the pictures. It only took about 12 minutes to create this island with mountains, trees, grass.

I have also figured out how to bring our 3D models made in Maya so we can really start to design and build I would video games

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.

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.

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

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

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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

Using 3D Animation -3D modeling in the classroom with Autodesk 123 D Design and MakerBot printer

These are examples of what my students have done using other does one to 3D design.  They virtually taught themselves how to use this software package and the laptops we used only had two gigs of RAM and we're not really built for 3D applications. Plus often they had to wait for school systems network to allow them to access the images they had on the cloud.

Yet they were able to create some really incredible 3-D models. The thing about the younger generation is they are not intimidated or get frustrated by using computers to to create things. They have been using computers, cell phones etc. since a very young age and so they can easily adapt to any program there given.

We are now going to print these models on our makerbot 3D printer. This was an application we did not have we started using one to 3-D design at the start of the school year.  With this application hasn't created some incredible desire to learn how to use the 3-D modeling with any of the Autodesk software packages we are now using.

This will allow me to now incorporate higher and 3D packages such as Autodesk Maya into my classroom for the interest is already been generated by using the one to 3-D applications. I want to incorporate STEAM into all of my classes and also use common core applications to get my students college ready and job ready.

By mastering 3-D modeling and animation this will give my students a possible career path as they go through both high school and college. The job applications in business for these two subjects will be endless

Makerbot 3D Printer 

Well we spent all day re-leveling the printer, trying different  plastics etc.  But once we set the plate up to a higher level we were then able to get the printer to work correctly

So next we are going to start to print 3D models that we will design using

123design

123make

3D Studio Max

Maya

And see what my students can do   They all now want to design and make different 3D models and everyone is super excited.

This 3D printer will motivate Middle School, Junior High School, and High School students to study 3D modeling,  engineering and math related subjects to be able to design and print 3D models

My Computer Science Classes Being Formed 

I am going to start the following subjects in my classes next week

Alice 2.4  a 3D Jave based Computer Programming  Site

Code,org -  computer programming

Autodesk Maya - 3D modeling 

Windows Live Video Editor

Microsoft Powerpoint

All math classes will use these software packages to work on projects and to make presentations. 

We will then watch them in our classes and evaluate how they were done and then presented too

We will be using 3D Studio Max to work on Game Design and and animation in our classes.   We will also be using the Unity Game Engine