Category: Education and Training

Softimage announced details of its newly expanded 2008 Education Program. This program offers specialized curriculums for training facilities and instructors mentoring the next generation of 3D artists and animators. Softimage also unveiled the Softimage Graduate Program -- awarding students with a free one-year commercial license of SOFTIMAGE|XSI Essentials software valued at $2,995 when they complete their degree or diploma from a recognized Softimage Education Partner.

fxphd.com is offering 30 courses in the new January08 term (with classes beginning Jan. 14), including 11 new courses.

fxphd continues its production stream with courses on RED camera workflow and digital photography for vfx. They also have a new focus on motion graphics design this term, with three new mograph-centric courses. But they haven't abandoned their vfx/post roots and have new courses in Maya, Flame 2008 and Shake.

Highlights include:

Digital-Tutors has released CREATING CARTOON SETS IN MAYA, INTRODUCTION TO MAYA NCLOTH, INTRODUCTION TO DYNAMICS IN MAYA and PYTHON SCRIPTING IN MAYA. Developed for both students and professionals interested in film, games and television, the new releases provide a combined total of more than 17 hours of self-paced training and offer a multitude of intuitive projects.

On the heels of the release of Massive on Windows, Massive Software has initiated Massive educational programs adopted by a host of higher learning institutions, including Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Savannah College of Art and Design, Ringling College of Art and Design, the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the Institute of Animation at the Film Akademie. Massive-developed courses and curriculum at these institutions will be integrated into the foundation of the schools' respective animation and 3D programs.

Artbeats announced its new training DVD at the 10th annual Government Video & Technology Expo (GVExpo). Featuring expert instruction from Steve Holmes, creative director of Energi Design, the new training DVD demonstrates how to combine Artbeats' clips with 3D motion tracked text and playful animation techniques to create a truly memorable advertisement. Artbeats will also give away free royalty-free footage valued at $900 during GVExpo. For more information please visit Artbeats during the show at booth #920.

TOFU, THE VEGAN ZOMBIE, an animated student short made at The Dave School (Digital Animation & Visual Effects) at Universal Studios, Florida, was aided by NVIDIA Quadro graphics boards to accelerate the production process. Modeling and rendering for TOFU was done with LightWave 3D and compositing was done with Digital Fusion, both OpenGL applications that make heavy use of the NVIDIA graphics boards.