3D Digital Literacy Reflection

My introduction to Maya came with the 3D Digital literacy module this semester. Before Christmas, I hadn't touched the software at all, so it was quite daunting at first. However, over the weeks, with the help of Alec's guidance, I learned about the program. 

Our first task was to create a bouncing ball. Seemingly simple at a first glance, this was the first project most of us had been given in Maya. As a beginner it was challenging, however the result was very rewarding. It was exciting to see my first animation in Maya complete.

The Floating City project was very exciting as we had the chance to work collaboratively on a 3D animation. This allowed us a bigger 'budget' to work with time-wise and produce a better quality animation, rather than working individually. I thoroughly enjoyed this project and learned a lot about rendering, animating and modeling from it. 

This task's purpose was to learn about shaders and texturing. Alec introduced us to Arnold shaders and how to adjust the settings to our liking. We followed his tutorial in an attempt to create a realistic looking skin on a head model. I liked how the translucent ear caught the light from behind It was a successful result.

These are some examples of projects we undertook for the 3D Digital Literacy module. As a whole, I found this module to be vital in my development throughout the second half of the year. It was a great learning opportunity to have and allowed me to explore Maya at a gradual, steady pace. We started completely from scratch, learning all the basics, and built our way up to where we are now.