mawilson

Mark (just what we need, another 'Mark' in this thread) Possibly the best path for your 8th grader is to work through the The Art of Animation: Master (TaoA:M) exercises. They start really simple and get more complex as the animator's skills grow. Basically you work through the manual which eventually hits all the major functions in A:M. That in turn addresses a wide variety of animation topics, too. Rodney and the others in the TaoA:M are very good about giving constructive feedback in a nurturing way. Mark

Cameras work pretty much like anything else. Select it. Translate it. Rotate it. Etc. Select it then go to the camera view and you can adjust pitch and yaw using the handle in the center of the screen.

Okay, I guess it's introduction time... I've spent the last 25 years (yeah, I'm an old guy) engineering simulators nominally as a software engineer. Those of us who build simulators are, by nature, generalists. Over the years I've had experinece in just about every related field though most of my work was in graphics and video until I moved into mangement. I saw A:M at Siggraph back in 2001 and again in 2002 and 2003. Did some lurking. Checked out the films - Hairy Monster is definitely my favorite. Decided I would bite the bullet and bought A:M at Siggraph this year (33% show discount helped). Had some nice conversations with Marshall Hash as well. Two things spurred my decision. Well, okay, three things. One, my daughter decided to study digital graphics and animation is part of her course of study. Two, I want to start creating some media content for worship services. I've got live action covered with Avid Express Pro. I've got simple amimations covered with Flash and Swish. A:M fills in the 3d animation roll (also gonna be a 3d title generator). Of course reason three: 33% show discount! I suppose I'll do the certification thing, not because I want the certificate, but just to keep me honest while I work through the tutorials.