Sharjah24: 3D animation expert Thomas Kutschera, who heads the Emmy Award-winning team at Pixomondo which designed the special effects and dragons for the hugely popular television series Game of Thrones, has been giving students from Manipal University, Dubai, a crash course on creating realistic and powerful characters onscreen through intensive workshops being organised by FUNN – Sharjah Media Arts for Children and Youth.
Part of a five-day programme being held every Friday, the three-hour sessions aim to introduce participants to rigging, animation, and simulation tools in the Maya 3D visual effects software and unlock the secrets of creating powerful CGI (computer generated imagery) characters.
Participants were introduced to user interface navigation in Maya, working with primitives, and the use of image planes as references for modelling on the first day. On Day 2, they gained skills in modelling, working with polygons, and freeform modelling among others. The session on Day 3 focused on various aspects of shading, texturing and 3D painting.
On Day 4, attendees worked on the intricacies of lighting while animating their characters. On the concluding day of the programme, they learnt how to use Maya to get a rendered image and present a model in sequence. They will receive documentation as well as sample scenes.
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