Hey, Glad to hear your in. As far as webcams go AM recommends you get the logitech pro 9000 or if your on a mac the logitech Quickcam vision pro. For a teblet it might be nice to get one though it’s not a necessity. Since yu’ll be spending so much time on the computer it is sometimes nice to have a change by using the tablet instead of a mouse. And it does make drawing a lot easier although I really prefer the feel of drawing with a pencil on paper. There are also lots of good programs, such as flipbook, that can be used for planning animation or doing 2d animation that are almost impossible to use without a tablet. So if you have the money to spend then go for it. I can’t help you out with the loan thing as I have no experience with that. I look forward to seeing you around AM in the future.
Www.animationmentor.com
RobertLavigne thanks for the advice i appreciate it very much! Yes hope to see you around the campus soon:]…if i have the money i’ll def consider the tablet, wouldn’t hurt to familiarize myself with both a mouse and tablet:]
So, as a Winter student, in simple terms, what do I need to do right now to best prepare myself until the first week of school? I’m on lynda.com going over the Maya tutorials that have to do with animation: graph editors, playblasts etc. Should I keep doing walk cycles or life drawing?
I assume the orientation e-mail gives you the low down on all the supplies you need, and how you should prepare…?
sorta.
Most of the orientation was about policies and getting around campus and how to make the most of it. The only supplies they require are Maya, a webcam & a headset, Quicktime Pro, and the 2 textbooks (I think). They also give you some helpful tips on managing your time, submitting your work early, etc.
They have a list of recommended books and what not. I have had the 2 required texts for a while and have read some of the other books; I think the required texts are some of the best books out there as far as the principles of animation go, if you want to read ahead a little.
Good luck. I’m sure you’re looking forward to it. I know I am.
Oh and congrats pstrick30.
Pstrick30,
Personally, I prefer a mouse over a tablet when working with Maya or 3DS Max. But, like Robert said, it is invaluable if you’re doing any kind of drawing, texturing, or Zbrush or Mudbox. I guess you just have to see which you like better for Maya. Sorry, I know that doesn’t help you much. 
Good luck, and again, congrats.
Hi Guys,
Do you think if i had the 2009 version of maya it would be ok? Reason i asked, im not sure if they are using 2010.
Yup 2009 will be fine. 2010 doesn’t add much in the way of animation. Only issues you might find will be if you share your maya files with someone using 2010. If you use 2009, you won’t be able to open scenes saved in 2010 unless you either have the person export it to an older version, or if you edit the file in notepad. We used to do it when using Maya 8 to 8.5.
In any case, don’t worry, you’ll be fine. I’m sure even Maya 2008 would do.
Your isight will work, but the Logitech 9000 pro is portable and can be taken around the work area so if you’re shooting some self reference, you have more leeway to do as you wish. Personally I’ll be using both that and my HD Camera for all my reference. For full body shots, you’ll probably need to go outside At least I will be :bounce:
The big down sides of the isight is it’s low resolution and it only shoots at 16fps. While this is all you need for web chatting, if you plan to use it for recording reference footage and taking pictures of thumbnail drawings and sketches it’s not going to do a very good job. When I talked with Victoria about it she said most mac users start off with the isight and many end up switching to a logitech or something similar. So if you want to, give it a try, and see if it meets your needs.
Thanks KangtheMad! haha…well it’s nice to hear your preference as well every little bit helps:] But yup i guess i’ll just have to see for myself. i’ve used the tablet before and i did prefer the mouse then…we’ll see, we’ll see!
Oh and I know about the two required readings…could you list just a few more that they encourage as well?? please and thanks
If your interested in somemore reading materials take a look at pages 12-15 of this ebook from animation mentor. It should be enough to keep you busy for a long time.
http://www.animationmentor.com/landing/BecomeAnimator/eBook.html
sure. the AM campus is down this week for maintenance, and I can’t remember most of them off the top of my head, but I think I saw these 2.
i hope these help.
Carlos Baena also has a massive list of books he recommends. I’ve gotten quite a few from here. http://www.carlosbaena.com/resource/resource_books.html
You might also want to look at the Walt Stanchfield Lectures which are now available on Amazon. They’re recently edited into 2 books by Don Hahn.
Thanks for all your advice so far guys.
I was also wondering im getting a new Macbook Pro 15inch. Do you think it would be ok to Run Maya?
these are the specs:
2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor
4 GB DDR3 RAM
500 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperDrive
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Operating System
NVIDIA Geforce 9400M + 9600M GT Graphics, 15.4 inch LED Display
Running Snow Leopard
thanks in advance for your help.
Yup it will work fine and if you get the autodesk education suite from studica, you’ll get both pc and mac versions of maya 2010 http://www.studica.com/products/product_detail.cfm?productid=60465&p_name=Autodesk-Education-Suite-for-Entertainment-Creation-2010
And if worse ever comes to worse, you could always bootcamp and use windows
Thanks Redspective.
but with the Autodesk Education Suite for Entertainment Creation 2010 from Studica. Do i need to be signed up for school first then show them some form of Id saying i am attending school?
I think so… but i’m not 100% sure. CG Girl might know… I think she got hers before we had our orientation. Hopefully she checks in and can answer this better.
Have you already paid AM? or at least the first semester? maybe proof of payment to the school might be good enough?
Havent gotten in yet. Still waiting on them to get back too me.
But even if i don’t i’m still going to continue to learn on my own until i do.
But if she checks this i hope she can help me out with an answer
I keep blowing on my Refresh Key waiting on an email from them. Is it weird to be this excited? :bounce: