Registration for the spring term at the Gnomon School, which runs April 4 through June 12, is in full swing. You can register online at www.gnomon3d.com/registernow.html, in person, via mail or by fax. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. You can also call 323/466-6663 to make an appointment.
New instructors for the spring term include: Jack Cheng, Lance Powell and John Elezovic. Cheng, technical animator, Sony Pictures Imageworks, will teach this terms Character Skinning class. With seven years of industry experience covering video games, print, TV productions, commercials and feature films, Chengs credits include: Lead Rigger for the Nike Gamebreaker ad campaign, HP Change and GE at Digital Domain.
Powell joins the Gnomon teaching staff as the Texture Mapping 2 Instructor. Having recently joined Zoic, he was previously the sequence lead on SHREK 2. He also found himself in middle earth, working as texture lead on both LORD OF THE RINGS sequels for Weta.
The Texture Mapping 2 course assumes a familiarity with basic texture parameters and techniques, and focuses on the development of advanced shading networks and techniques to push realism, flexibility and speed for artists. Topics covered in class include expanding the palate of rendering tools through the technical setup for nodes, replication of 2D imagery into 3D representations and vice-versa, controlling texture placement on complex surfaces and converting rendered descriptions of surfaces into speed-optimized textures.
Elezovic will teach this terms Surface Modeling class. He is previously an account executive at Alias, a graduate of the Art Center College of Design and is currently working at DesignWorks.
Schedule for spring one-week classes:
* Intro to ZBrush April 4 - 8* Intro to Maya April 11 - 15* Surface Modeling April 18 22* Polygon Modeling April 25 29* Texture Mapping May 2 - 6* Lighting and Rendering May 9 - 13* Animation and Visual Effects May 16 - 20* Character Kinematics May 23 - 27* Character Skinning May 30 June 3* Particles and Dynamics I June 6 10
Gnomon School of Visual Effects is a professional institute specializing in training for visual effects for film, television and games. Located in the heart of Hollywood, it offers a full curriculum for individuals wanting careers in 3D, professionals in need of specialized training and custom training for production studios. Founded by Alex Alvarez in 1997, Gnomon is located at 1015 North Cahuenga Blvd., Suite 5430i, Hollywood, California, 90038.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
