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Go at your own pace
5 Sessions / 11 hours of work per session
Price
Premium membership $20/month (Preview session 1 free)
Credit Eligible ($300 USD)
Included w/ premium membership ($20/month)
Skill Level
Beginner
Video Transcripts
English, Spanish; Castilian, Chinese, Portuguese
Topics
Design, Gaming, Storytelling, Animation, Maya, Autodesk

Not available for purchase in India

Open for Enrollment

3D Modeling and Animation Course with Maya: Tradition Meets Technology

Open for Enrollment
You can also start immediately after joining!

Would you like to enroll?

Enrollment for this course has closed. But you can enroll in a future offering (please select)

Enrollment has closed

Go at your own pace
5 Sessions / 11 hours of work per session
Price
Premium membership $20/month (Preview session 1 free)
Credit Eligible ($300 USD)
Included w/ premium membership ($20/month)
Skill Level
Beginner
Video Transcripts
English, Spanish; Castilian, Chinese, Portuguese
Topics
Design, Gaming, Storytelling, Animation, Maya, Autodesk

Not available for purchase in India

Course Description
3D modeling and animation have transformed numerous fields, including filmmaking, computer games, architecture and product design. Yet the underlying basis of high-quality 3D production originates in traditional design and animation methodologies. This course provides an introduction to the exciting world of 3D content creation, while emphasizing its connection to the creative thought process. Students will learn an overview of the artist workflow as it relates to modeling, texturing, animation, lighting and rendering. This course offers a new dimension to the process of filmmaking and design.
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schedule

This course is in adaptive mode and is open for enrollment. Learn more about adaptive courses here.

Session 1: Modeling as Virtual Sculpture: Designing Expressive 3D Shapes (December 24, 2024)
In this session we will gain familiarity with the Maya interface and Maya polygonal modeling tools. We will also discuss the purpose and "story" behind objects that we choose to model.
10 lessons
1. Introduction
2. Intro to Object Creation
3. Shaping Faces, Edges, and Vertices
4. Camera Views, Keyboard Numbers, Smooth Mesh Previews
5. Saving Your Work and Setting Up a New Project in Maya
6. Modeling Toolkit, Soft Selection, And Extruding
7. Modeling a Vase Using the Extrude Tool
8. Extruding, Bevel Tool, and Booleans
9. Using Image Reference
10. Outro
Session 2: Adding Materiality: Color, Surface and Texture (December 31, 2024)
We will introduce Maya material and texturing tools and different texturing resources as well as approaches (e.g. scanning paintings, using photo images, public domain libraries, seamless images, image transparency).
7 lessons
1. Introduction (Premium Exclusive)
2. Adding Materials and Color (Premium Exclusive)
3. Texture Maps (Premium Exclusive)
4. Positioning and Tiling of Textures (Premium Exclusive)
5. Transparency and Bump Maps (Premium Exclusive)
6. Applying Textures to Faces & Grouping Objects (Premium Exclusive)
7. Outro (Premium Exclusive)
Session 3: The Principles of Animation Applied to 3D (January 7, 2025)
In this session we will learn about applying the principles of traditional animation to the 3D environment, and become familiar with Maya's keyframe animation tools.
7 lessons
1. Introduction (Premium Exclusive)
2. Setting Keyframes (Premium Exclusive)
3. Adjusting Tangents in the Graph Editors (Premium Exclusive)
4. Bouncing Ball, Part 1 (Premium Exclusive)
5. Bouncing Ball, Part 2 (Premium Exclusive)
6. Animating Objects (Premium Exclusive)
7. Outro (Premium Exclusive)
Session 4: Lighting For Mood (January 14, 2025)
This session introduces light types in Maya, and discusses developing an art direction approach for the lighting of a 3D scene.
7 lessons
1. Introduction (Premium Exclusive)
2. Creating Lights (Premium Exclusive)
3. Light Positioning (Premium Exclusive)
4. Light Attributes (Premium Exclusive)
5. 3 Point Lighting (Premium Exclusive)
6. Additional Lighting and Shading Tips (Premium Exclusive)
7. Outro (Premium Exclusive)
Session 5: Final Output: Camera, Rendering and Post-Production (January 21, 2025)
In this session we will review the basic camera and rendering options in Maya, as well as the basics of compositing and movie output in After Effects.
5 lessons
1. Introduction (Premium Exclusive)
2. Setting Up a Camera (Premium Exclusive)
3. Render Settings (Premium Exclusive)
4. Compiling Rendered Images into a Movie File (Premium Exclusive)
5. Course Outro (Premium Exclusive)
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Learning Outcomes

Below you will find an overview of the Learning Outcomes you will achieve as you complete this course.

Instructors And Guests
What You Need to Take This Course

Equipment: Access to a computer

Software: Autodesk Maya

Additional Information

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