3D Animation and Maya

My fascination with computer graphics and animation goes back to the early 1990s. Whilst at Aberdeen I did an MSc in Remote Sensing that covered image processing, programming and geographical information systems. Coupled with my huge amount of time in the computer labs I wanted more. So at Teesside I learned Softimage and 3D graphics programming. My experience with 3D animation blossomed with the project to simulate comet Hale Bopp. It was frustrating getting to a full lab with very little tutor support. To cap it all I could not get the particle system to generate the tail and my flyby suffered from bouncing planet syndrome.

For the following few years my 3D skills were applied to the Arc/Info GIS and to 3D graphics programming. I so regret not doing the artificial life project with the college at Teesside for I was later stung by a rejection at Salford for lack of AI knowledge. Recently I have played with 3D Studio Max 6 and now have access to Maya at Onteca. The tutor Steve is great and we did a hand in the last session. It is easier then you think once you understand the menus and the process. I did have to ask for heal several times and most people found the class too fast.

Now all I need to do is find time before the next session to get some more tutorials done and it may even save my degree. If I can learn enough Maya in the next month then I may resurrect an old project idea or two and get a degree. A job would be nice too. We will see.