Lightwave 3D 5.5
Wrap-up of Hands-on Workshops in San Francisco
February 21 - March 6, 1998
The second series of hands-on LightWave 3D training workshops was longer than the Las Vegas workshops and included two brand new classes -- "Advanced Lighting & Camera Techniques" and "Advanced Surfacing Techniques."
Participants came from the following states:
Class sizes suited the participants very well:
| LightWave 3D Essentials | 7 students |
| Advanced LightWave 3D Techniques | 8 students |
| Advanced Lighting & Camera Techniques | 3 students |
| Advanced Surfacing Techniques | 6 students |
| Organic Modeling & Character Animation Essentials | 8 students |
| Intermediate Organic Modeling & Character Animation | 4 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 | 32% | |
| Exceeded my expectations | 68% |
Some comments from the LightWave 3D Essentials workshop:
"I liked the instruction from a knowledgeable teacher who can explain complicated functions in plain English."
"Bob has a good teaching technique which held my attention throughout the class."
"Great class! Great instructor! I learned a lot and will probably be signing up next year for other classes."
"I came away far ahead of where I was both in LW and in animation in general." - WDW, San Jose, CA
"Bob's real world experience provided valuable insight and understanding to the class." - KF, Multimedia Specialist, Madison, WI
Some comments from the Advanced LightWave 3D Techniques workshop:
"It was great. Bob's enthusiasm is infectious." - WCW, Visual Artist, San Francisco, CA
"I liked having the time to try out stuff."
"Great! Great! Great!"
"This was an excellent 3 days."
"Covered most of my needs. Simplified some very elaborate concepts." - KA, Video Producer, San Francisco, CA
"My brain is about to explode! (but that's a good thing)."
"Plenty of information. Everything was well explained."
"I liked Bob's thorough presentation. He answers questions sometimes before they're asked."
Some comments from the Organic Modeling & Character Animation Essentials workshop:
"I liked the interactive format. Very good sessions - I found them informative."
"IK setup information was particularly useful."
"The workshop was very informative and was well organized." - HN, Animator/Graphic Artist, San Jose, CA
"I'm much forther along than I would ever have been after 6 months on my own." - WDW, San Jose, CA
Some comments from the Intermediate Organic Modeling & Character Animation workshop:
"The classes were so good that halfway through I signed up for another class." - WDW, San Jose, CA
Of course, these hard-working animators had constructive suggestions for future classes as well. A few students suggested that we create a disk or CD with images and scenes to give students a faster start in doing hands-on exercises. We will try to do this in time for the Washington DC/Baltimore workshops in late April and early May. Students who had taken Advanced LightWave 3D Techniques in Las Vegas noted that quite a bit of the surfacing class was review. Bob went out of his way in Las Vegas to include more surfacing than usual in the Advanced LightWave 3D Techniques class, mostly in response to student questions and interest. We strongly recommend that if you take Lighting & Camera or Surfacing, take both of these back-to-back to tie the aesthetics together. It will also be helpful to take both of the Organic Modeling and Character Animation workshops back-to-back to maximize your learning in a more integrated experience.
Bob will continue to take student suggestions seriously in further improving instruction during the remaining workshops in 1998.