Day 2 - 3D Basics

GAME OF THE DAY:

http://www.eyezmaze.com/grow/cube/

QUESTIONS:

- What is the Social Metaphor of the game?

- Describe your experience playing the game.

- If you could, what would you change or add to this game?

For Today:

First off, lets recognize the basics of 3D:

The X-Y-Z coordinate plane:

X - is always on a horizontal plane

Y - is always on a vertical plane

Z - always represents depth (space)

Cinema 4D interface:

Primitives: 

Basic Geometric figures to get you started in building assets (Located in the "command palette")

Basic modeling tools:

Vertices/Points: where two points meet at an angle or a corner of a polygon. In Cinema 4D, you can push and pull these to manipulate your primitives.

Edges/lines: the line between two vertices

Faces/Polygons: What is created when you connect lines/edges and vertices.

Basic Movement tools:

Move: Moves your geometry on the X-Y-Z plane

Scale: Scales your geometry (i.e. makes it proportionally larger/smaller)

Rotate: Rotates your geometry

Material Managers:

Manages the textures that you can use to place on your models.

You can go to "Shader" and get a full menu of proprietary textures from the hard drive,

or go to "new material" and import your own textures from outside sources (i.e. web images)

After we get up to speed on all of this, lets try a quick 360 animation:

- Check out the Animation pallet; Notice that we are currently set up for 90 frames of animation.

- Place a new ball primitive on your canvas, and create a keyframe on frame 0 on your animation timeline, by hitting the "key" icon.

- Next, with your ball still selected, scrub to frame 90 and go to the attributes manager, then to r.b., and change the value from 0 to 360; now stamp a keyframe down by hitting the red outlined circle.

Welcome to Digital Pathways 3D Animation and Gaming class

Welcome to our first day of class together!
Every day you will need to check out this blog for current lectures and assignments.

Class Objectives:

Our goal is to learn how to create basic 3-D assets in

Cinema 4D and implement them into our 3D gaming engine Unity.

Class rules:

1. I need everyone to focus on assignments and other required work.

2. No one will be allowed to use Facebook, Myspace, text or personal email etc. during class time.

3.You all must maintain mature behavior at all times; this is a shared space with other students in other programs along with employees outside our class room that work in the building.

4. No bad language or verbal threats to other students

5. Everyone must respect the equipment, no drink or food allowed near the computers and please clean up after your self.

6. No drug use and no smoking inside the class or outside the building

7. Last but not least: you must be on time for class. Your attendance will be monitored and will have an effect on your final stipend at the end of the program.

We will be learning two very complicated programs with very similar interfaces. We will be learning them simultaneously so be prepared to come to class with major focus and a creative mind. You all have the potential to carve out your niche in the future of games, so let's go!

For Today:

You need to create a brand new Gmail account. We will be using this account to contact you, and send you files via Google Docs. The naming scheme we're using is:

[first initial][last name].bavc@gmail.com

example: snorris.bavc@gmail.com

Next, go to http://docs.google.com/ and log in using your new account. Now go to 'New', and select 'Document'. Even if you haven't used Google Docs before, you may still find the interface familiar, as it works quite similarly to Microsoft Word. Save the file, and title it 'Game Journal'.
please email me after you are done: cartoonliteralism@gmail.com




Then fill out this on-line survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=AGRH_2fopztZnt2aaEwb6gnA_3d_3d

Game Of The Day:

Every class we will have a game featured here on the blog, which you will play and write about in your game journal. Today's game: http://questfortherest.com/

Questions: (answer in your game journal document)

- What did you think of it? Describe your experience playing the game.

- Was it challenging? How did you figure out what to do in the game?

- What were some themes or messages you thought the game conveyed?


Definitions for the day:
Producer: Manages a single game project and ensures the project delivers within the given budget. The producer is also in charge of quality control, and has final say on everything in the game.


Associate producer: Supports the producer and documents the development process (by creating milestones); also organizes activities such as play testing and marketing.


Lead game designer: The 'visionary' - This is the game's creator - this person must be technically savvy and be able to communicate and present ideas; Usually tests the balance and parameters of the game.


Programmer: The person who writes the computer software (code) that makes the game run. 
One of the most popular programming languages for game development is c++.


Art director: The person responsible for the look of the game, and is in charge of all the production artists.


Publisher: Like EA or Ubisoft, this is the company that finances, markets and sells the game to retailers and the public.