Category: Education and Training

The Animation Club at The Art Institute of California --San Francisco (www.aicasf.aii.edu) has made its mark on the computer graphics and animation world by forming California's first student chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH, the world's largest organization of computer graphics professionals.

Hollywood-based Video Symphony has launched two new classes in DVD production: the DVD Certificate and DVD Bootcamp programs. The classes cover DVD authoring and design, from basic skills to advanced techniques. The curriculum emphasizes "hands-on" learning with Sonic Scenarist, Sonic DVD Creator and Apple DVD Studio Pro systems. The DVD Certificate program will focus more on the Sonic software, while the DVD Bootcamp will focus on Apple DVD Studio Pro. The specific courses will include: Intro to Sonic DVD Creator, Intro to DVD Studio Pro, Intro to Sonic Scenarist, Designing DVD Menu Graphics with After Effects, Encoding Audio & Video for DVD and Advanced DVD Authoring.

Classes will be taught by Barry Braverman, a Certified DVD author for the Sonic DVD Creator system. Along with more than 20 years of experience as a DP and cameraman, Braverman has also authored more than 50 DVD titles and is a regular contributing writer to Video Systems Magazine.

Discreet, a division of Autodesk, Inc., is offering one-day workshops for professional animators to check out the animation, modeling, texturing, character animation and rendering techniques of 3ds max and receive a free 30-day trail of the 3D software. Classes are being offered throughout North America for $99. Advance registration is required. To register, get locations and times in your area and other information call (800) 869-3504, e-mail events@discreet.com or go to www.discreet.com/events/shiftgears.

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Anzovin Studio, a leading publisher of training materials for Hash's Animation:Master 3D animation software, has released a new instructional CD-ROM, SECRETS OF ANIMATION:MASTER 2003. Anzovin's Raf Anzovin and Bill Young take viewers step by step through some of the newest and least understood features of A:M 2003 (version 10/10.5). It features more than two hours of pristine, 800 x 600 QuickTime video and all associated project files, models and rotoscopes.

TELETOON, Canada's all-animation channel, is holding its TELETOON Animation Scholarship Award Competition 2003, recognizing the efforts and financial needs of young Canadian art students. A total of C$30,000 will be divided between 12 talented students with the prize amounts ranging from $1,000 to $4,000. The scholarship is separated into four categories: Entrance Scholarship (for high school students moving on to an animation program), Continuing Education Scholarship (for students pursuing their animation studies), Most Promising Student Scholarship (for students graduating from an animation program) and Mature Student (for an arts graduate pursuing further studies or career development in animation). The three finalists in each category will be announced at the closing ceremonies of the Student Animation Festival of Ottawa in October. The winners' work will also be showcased on TELETOON'S Website, and on both English and French networks. The submitted portfolios and reels will be judged by an advisory committee comprised of Canadian animation educators and industry professionals. The submission deadline is 5 p.m., Friday, May 16, 2003. For additional information or to obtain an entry form and regulations go to www.teletoon.com/corp or e-mail scholarship@teletoon.com. Since the launch of the scholarship five years ago, almost C$150,000 has been awarded to students in Canada.

Oregon3D Inc., The Center for Visualization Technologies, is offering a four-week Maya Camp May 5-30, 2003 to provide a comprehensive look at the process of creating 3D animation and storytelling. Designed for new and beginning users of Maya, the class begins with a theory course on character and story development, transitions into learning the basic Maya interface, moves on to character rigging and animation, then finishes with a week of project development and a light overview of rendering. Extended evening and weekend lab time will be available at Oregon3D's training facility in Portland, Oregon. For additional information on Maya Camp, which costs $2,500, and class registration, visit the Oregon3D Website at www.oregon3d.com or contact Oregon3D. To register at a special discount for two or three sections of the Maya Camp, call Oregon3D toll-free in the U.S. at (866) 626-9100.

Lost Pencil Animation Studios, Inc. is offering a new training CD in the "Just Animate" Lightwave series, which focuses on Character Animation for games and game creation. Using Lightwave 7.5, the CD shows users how to create a number of character game loops (walk, run, jump, stand and death), and export the Lightwave model and animations into the GameStudio game engine, where a small game level is created.