Lightwave 3D 5.5
Wrap-up of Hands-on Workshops in Las Vegas
January 27 - February 5, 1998
The first series of 1998 LightWave 3D hands-on training workshops on the road were a big success. The Las Vegas workshops drew participants ranging from a 20 year old college student to a 77 year old retired aircraft designer.
Participants came from the following states:
Class sizes suited the participants very well:
| LightWave 3D Essentials | 13 students |
| Advanced LightWave 3D Techniques | 12 students |
| Organic Modeling & Character Animation Essentials | 6 students |
| Intermediate Organic Modeling & Character Animation | 6 students |
Evaluations for each workshop asked the following question:
To what extent did this workshop meet your expectations overall?
| Results: | Low | 0% |
| About what I expected | 4% | |
| Exceeded my expectations | 96% |
Some comments from the LightWave 3D Essentials workshop:
"The whole thing was outstanding. Bob's help was above and beyond the call of duty." - WDA, Retired, Tucson, AZ
"Very well done - well organized." - TM, Network Administrator, Salt Lake City, UT
"Thoroughly enjoyed the class."
"Impressed with knowledge, style of instructing, and willingness to share knowledge & assist the students. Great instructor." - JK, Training Director, Tucson, AZ
"Cool! I liked covering tools then giving real examples to try them out." - AC, Animator, Washington DC
"Bob is great! Much much better than I ever thought." - SMG, Video Producer, Asheville, NC
"I liked Bob sharing his recipes for creating clouds, fire, etc."
Some comments from the Advanced LightWave 3D Techniques workshop:
"I liked the hands-on experience and interactive help and lab time."
"I liked the small amount of students."
"I really thought Bob was a good teacher and he kept interest."
"Very informative. I liked the in-depth explanations of all processes." - TM, Network Administrator, Salt Lake City, UT
"I liked the complete coverage in logical order." - SMG, Video Producer, Asheville, NC
Some comments from the Intermediate Organic Modeling & Character Animation workshop:
"Bob will make a complicated animation procedure very easy to understand." - JJS, Animation & Multimedia Artist, Las Vegas
"Bob Anderson is radical." - RG, Student, Sacramento, CA
Of course, these bright students had constructive suggestions for future classes as well. Although the new three day format for LightWave 3D Essentials and Advanced LightWave 3D Techniques allowed for a more manageable class pace, some participants found that the Organic Modeling & Character Animation workshops still moved too quickly. A few students suggested improving handouts by providing written "recipes" or "cheat sheets" for some of the more difficult techniques covered in each workshop. One student suggested sending out the syllabus for the class ahead of time, which has been done electronically with links to the detailed syllabi from each workshop's web page.
Bob will continue to take student suggestions seriously in further improving instruction during the remaining workshops in 1998.