Complete 3D Animation Masterclass: Create Animated Shorts

From Beginner to Advanced: Maya, Photoshop, After Effects & Audacity

What you'll learn

Master Maya's user interface and navigation tools for an efficient workflow.

Learn about different Maya file types and their significance in 3D projects.

Create 3D objects using primitive modeling and understand grouping and duplication techniques.

Gain proficiency in applying materials to your models for a realistic look.

Develop a strong foundation in 3D modeling using polygons.

Understand subdivision and smooth preview techniques for realistic shapes.

Explore modeling workflows for organic and hard-surface objects.

Master UV layouts and projections for accurate texturing.

Source and utilize photo-based textures for realism.

Create render-based textures compatible with Arnold for top-notch results.

Master glass and transparent material effects for captivating scenes.

Build a reference board for cohesive and aesthetically pleasing textures.

Master hierarchy-based rigging techniques to animate characters seamlessly.

Utilize constraints for object interactions and smooth animation.

Learn the 12 principles of animation to bring your characters to life.

Produce polished animations with playblasts and post-production effects.

Learn joint placement and orientation for efficient rigging.

Create a proxy rig and set up FK and IK systems for smooth animation.

Master weight painting techniques to achieve realistic character movement.

Finalize the rig for a seamless and versatile animation workflow.

Animate character walk cycles with essential key poses.

Storyboard the shot and assemble the scene for effective animation.

Utilize blocking, breakdowns, and in-betweens for refined character movement.

Polish animations and create compelling playblasts for feedback.

Understand the core pillars of the 3D pipeline and its significance in 3D production.

Explore Photoshop's role in texturing and compositing within the 3D pipeline.

Create Maya project folders and manage files for effective organization.

Learn about specular materials and workflows to achieve realistic surfaces.

Conceptualize lighting setups for mood and aesthetics.

Set up AOVs and render layers for post-processing control.

Compose scenes and apply post-processing effects for stunning visuals.

Source and create sound effects, and integrate them into your animation for a complete experience.

Set up your computer with essential software like Maya, Photoshop, After Effects, and Audacity.

Understand hardware requirements and optional peripherals for optimal 3D creation.

Explore various licensing options for Maya to find the best fit for your needs.

Get familiar with Adobe products and their roles in the 3D creation process.

Build an impressive portfolio showcasing your 3D creations.

Understand different pathways for your 3D career and choose the best fit.

Implement the assets and techniques learned to excel in your 3D journey.

Explore further courses to enhance your skills and stay updated in the industry.

Requirements

No Prior Experience Required: This course is suitable for complete beginners in the field of 3D animation. No prior experience is necessary, and the course will take learners from foundational concepts to advanced techniques.

Basic Computer Literacy: Learners should have a fundamental understanding of using a computer, including navigating the operating system, using a keyboard and mouse, managing files and folders, and basic internet browsing

Language Proficiency: Learners should have a basic understanding of English, as the course content and instructions are primarily presented in English.

Personal Computer: Learners should have access to a personal computer or laptop that meets the minimum system requirements for running the software effectively. This typically includes a decent processor, sufficient RAM, and a dedicated graphics card.

Software Familiarity: Prior experience with software applications like Maya, Photoshop, and After Effects is helpful. While the course covers software setup and usage basics, having some familiarity with similar tools will accelerate the learning process.

Access to Software: Learners who do not already have access to Maya, Photoshop, After Effects, and Audacity can use trial versions or explore free alternatives during the course.

Artistic Flair: A creative mindset and artistic inclination will enhance the learning experience. While not mandatory, having an eye for aesthetics and design will help learners produce visually appealing 3D creations.

Creative Drive: An eagerness to explore new ideas and experiment with different animation styles will enhance the learner's experience and lead to more innovative creations.

Passion for 3D: Enthusiasm and a genuine interest in 3D art and animation will drive learners to excel in the course. A passion for the subject matter will keep them engaged and motivated throughout the learning journey.

Willingness to Learn: This course is designed for individuals who are eager to learn and invest time and effort in improving their 3D skills. A positive attitude towards learning and growth is essential for success.

Openness to Feedback: Learners should be open to receiving constructive feedback on their projects, as it is an essential part of the learning and improvement process.

Description

Welcome to the Complete 3D Animation Masterclass: Create Animated Shorts! Whether you're a complete beginner or an aspiring animator looking to enhance your skills, this comprehensive course is designed to take you on an exciting journey from the fundamentals of 3D animation to advanced techniques. By the end of this course, you'll be equipped to confidently create your very own animated shorts from scratch!Throughout this masterclass, we will dive deep into the world of 3D animation using industry-leading software tools such as Autodesk Maya, Photoshop, After Effects, and Audacity. Starting with the basics of Autodesk Maya, we'll explore various 3D concepts and techniques, including the powerful Hardware 2.0 and the renowned Arnold Renderer.But that's not all – we'll also harness the potential of Photoshop for 3D texture creation, After Effects for seamless compositing, and Audacity for precise sound editing and recording. This integrative approach ensures you gain hands-on experience with the essential tools used in the animation industry today.To make your learning experience engaging and rewarding, we've structured this course around an iterative project-based curriculum. From the inception of your 3D journey, you'll learn how to construct captivating worlds using geometric primitives. As you progress, you'll unlock the secrets of advanced 3D tools, enabling you to build realistic and visually stunning environments.As your instructor, I'm passionate about sharing my expertise and industry insights to guide you on this creative adventure. You can trust that this course is packed with practical knowledge, allowing you to turn your imagination into captivating animations.Join us today and embark on a transformative learning experience! By enrolling in this masterclass, you're taking the first step towards becoming a skilled 3D animator, equipped with the ability to bring your ideas to life through animated shorts.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Required Materials

Lecture 2 Introduction to Maya & Maya Installation

Lecture 3 Introduction to Adobe Products

Lecture 4 Audacity

Lecture 5 Installing Maya

Section 2: Introduction To Maya (Forest Project)

Lecture 6 Forest Project Overview

Lecture 7 Maya UI Overview

Lecture 8 Navigating Maya & Understanding 3D Space

Lecture 9 Transform Tools

Lecture 10 Saving & Maya File Types

Lecture 11 Maya Project Folders

Lecture 12 Movement Spaces

Lecture 13 Primitive Modeling

Lecture 14 Groups

Lecture 15 Material Basics

Lecture 16 Set Construction

Lecture 17 Locking the Shot Cam

Lecture 18 Maya Lighting Basics

Lecture 19 Rendering Basics

Section 3: : Introduction to the 3D Pipeline (Ball project)

Lecture 20 Ball Project Overview

Lecture 21 3D Pipeline Overview

Lecture 22 Introduction to Photoshop

Lecture 23 Maya Project Folder Set Up

Lecture 24 Texturing Basics

Lecture 25 Bump Maps

Lecture 26 Specular Maps

Lecture 27 Gloss (Eccentricity)

Lecture 28 Animation Basics

Lecture 29 Rigging Basics: Pivot Points & Hierarchies

Lecture 30 Rigging Basics: Set Driven Key (SDK)

Lecture 31 Display Layers

Lecture 32 References & Test Animations

Lecture 33 Animation Graph Editor

Lecture 34 12 Principles of Animation Overview

Lecture 35 Animation Shot Set Up

Lecture 36 Pose to Pose - Extremes & Key Frames

Lecture 37 Pose to Pose - Breakdowns

Lecture 38 Animation Curve Refinement

Lecture 39 Creating a Playblast

Lecture 40 Lighting & Batch Rendering

Lecture 41 After Effects Basics & Project Set Up

Lecture 42 Working with Audio

Lecture 43 Rendering with Adobe Media Encoder

Section 4: Introduction to Hierarchy Animation (Robot Project)

Lecture 44 Robot Project Overview

Lecture 45 Project Directory Set Up

Lecture 46 Basic Character Modeling for Animation

Lecture 47 Modeling for Rigging

Lecture 48 Rendering with Arnold Basics

Lecture 49 Renderer Specific Lights

Lecture 50 PBR Material Basics

Lecture 51 Arnold Render Quality

Lecture 52 Laying out UVs

Lecture 53 Reference Board Creation

Lecture 54 Color Block-In

Lecture 55 Metalness Map

Lecture 56 Roughness Map

Lecture 57 Color Detail Pass

Lecture 58 Texture Clamping & Texture Adjustments

Lecture 59 Integrating Grunge Details

Lecture 60 Bump Map Creation

Lecture 61 Normal Maps

Lecture 62 Emissive Map Creation

Lecture 63 Turn Table Set Up

Lecture 64 Rendering Arnold Image Sequences

Lecture 65 Modeling Scene Clean Up

Lecture 66 Gem Creation

Lecture 67 Tileable Texture Creation

Lecture 68 Blocking In The Shot

Lecture 69 Geometric Components

Lecture 70 Soft Select

Lecture 71 Set Optimization

Lecture 72 Animation Hierarchies

Lecture 73 Creating Branching Hierarchies

Lecture 74 Parent Constraints

Lecture 75 Control Curve Placement

Lecture 76 Control Rig Set Up

Lecture 77 Global Scale

Lecture 78 Rig Display Layers

Lecture 79 Rig Color Coding

Lecture 80 Restricting the Controls

Lecture 81 Prop Rig

Lecture 82 Rig Test Animation

Lecture 83 Story Boarding

Lecture 84 Staging the Shot

Lecture 85 Key Frame Identification

Lecture 86 Animation Block In Pass

Lecture 87 Breakdowns and Inbetweens

Lecture 88 Animation Curve Refinement

Lecture 89 Moving Holds

Lecture 90 Animation Offsets Overview

Lecture 91 Animation Offsets Application

Lecture 92 Playblast Review

Lecture 93 AOV Set Up

Lecture 94 Custom AOV Set Up

Lecture 95 Working With Multipass EXP

Lecture 96 Multipass EXR Render Sequence

Lecture 97 Checking The Image Sequence

Lecture 98 Post Production

Lecture 99 Blooming

Lecture 100 Atmospheric Depth Of Field

Lecture 101 Depth Of Field (DOF)

Lecture 102 Light Wrap

Lecture 103 Exploring Color Grading Effects

Lecture 104 Motion Blur

Lecture 105 Progress Break Down

Lecture 106 Audio Creation (Foley)

Lecture 107 Audio Implementation & Mastering

Lecture 108 Animating Audio & Final Mastering

Lecture 109 Final Rendering

Section 5: Introduction to 3D Modeling

Lecture 110 Final Project Overview

Lecture 111 3D Modeling Methods & Project Folder Creation

Lecture 112 Basic Components of Geometric Objects

Lecture 113 Sub Division (Smooth Preview)

Lecture 114 Edge Loop

Lecture 115 Extrude Tool

Lecture 116 Modeling Process (Jar)

Lecture 117 Desk Modeling Process: Image Planes Set Up

Lecture 118 Desk Modeling Process: Block In

Lecture 119 Bevel Tool

Lecture 120 Adding Holding Edges

Lecture 121 Scene Clean Up

Lecture 122 Incubator Model Block In

Lecture 123 Duplicate Special: Radial Duplication-

Lecture 124 Incubator Bed

Lecture 125 Adding Holding Edges With Bevels

Lecture 126 Incubator Scene Clean Up & Finished Touches

Lecture 127 Topology For Deformation

Lecture 128 Character Image Plane Set Up

Lecture 129 Modeling The Egg Shape

Lecture 130 Modeling The Tail

Lecture 131 Leg Topology Overview & Planning

Lecture 132 Modeling The Leg: Foot Base

Lecture 133 Modeling The Leg: Toes

Lecture 134 Connecting The Toes: Target Weld

Lecture 135 Modeling The Leg: Claws

Lecture 136 Modeling The Leg: Leg

Lecture 137 Mirroring & File Cleanup

Section 6: Introduction to UV

Lecture 138 UV Tool Overview

Lecture 139 Methods For Unwrapping Geometric Shapes

Lecture 140 Jar UV Creation

Lecture 141 Desk UV Creation

Lecture 142 UV Transfering

Lecture 143 Desk Door & Handle UVs

Lecture 144 Checking UV Grain Direction

Lecture 145 Incubator UV

Lecture 146 Incubator Glass UV

Lecture 147 Incubator Interior UV Creation

Lecture 148 Character UVs

Section 7: Introduction To Texturing

Lecture 149 Texture Reference Board Creation

Lecture 150 HDRI & IBL For Texture Previewing

Lecture 151 Desk: Base Color

Lecture 152 Desk: Height Map & Normals

Lecture 153 Desk: Roughness

Lecture 154 Desk: Integrating Photo Textures

Lecture 155 Desk: Grunge Pass

Lecture 156 Desk: File Clean Up

Lecture 157 Incubator: Base Texture

Lecture 158 Incubator: Sourcing Base Materials

Lecture 159 Incubator: Emissive Map

Lecture 160 Incubator: Helper Maps

Lecture 161 Incubator: Edge Wear

Lecture 162 Incubator: Grunge Pass

Lecture 163 Incubator: Look Development

Lecture 164 Egg Character: UV Seams

Lecture 165 Egg Character: Utility Map Creation

Lecture 166 Egg Character: Seamless Texture Creation Skin

Lecture 167 Egg Character: Seamless Texture Creation Egg

Lecture 168 Egg Character: ID Map

Lecture 169 Egg Character: Texture Document Set Up

Lecture 170 Egg Character: Base Color

Lecture 171 Egg Character: Egg Crack Creation

Lecture 172 Egg Character: Normal Map

Lecture 173 Egg Character: Roughness Map

Lecture 174 Egg Character: Additional Color Information

Lecture 175 Egg Character: Render Check & Scene Clean Up

Lecture 176 Egg Character: Unhatched Texture Set

Lecture 177 Jar Materials

Lecture 178 Floor & Wall Materials

Section 8: Introduction to Character Rigging

Lecture 179 Project Rig Overview: Egg Character Rig

Lecture 180 Joint Placement

Lecture 181 Joint Orientation

Lecture 182 Joint Mirroring

Lecture 183 Proxy Rig

Lecture 184 Control Curve Collection

Lecture 185 Control Placement

Lecture 186 Forward Kinematic Systems (FK)

Lecture 187 Character FK Control Set Up

Lecture 188 Root & Hip Controls

Lecture 189 Inverse Kinematic Systems (IK)

Lecture 190 IK Leg Set Up

Lecture 191 IK Stabilizers

Lecture 192 IK Pole Vectors

Lecture 193 Toe Controls

Lecture 194 Reverse Foot Set Up

Lecture 195 Reverse Foot Custom Attributes

Lecture 196 Foot Roll

Lecture 197 Toe Twist

Lecture 198 Heel Twist

Lecture 199 Banks

Lecture 200 Toes Control

Lecture 201 Hierarchy Organization

Lecture 202 Control Rig Clean Up & Organization

Lecture 203 Skin Rig & Control Rig Files

Lecture 204 Weight Painting Basics

Lecture 205 Weight Painting Blockin

Lecture 206 Skin Weight Mirroring

Lecture 207 Range Of Motion Docuemnt

Lecture 208 Weight Painting Refinement

Lecture 209 Final Skin Mirroring

Lecture 210 Binding The Unhatched Egg

Lecture 211 Skin File Clean Up

Lecture 212 Combing The Rigs

Lecture 213 Global Scale

Lecture 214 Geo Type Toggle

Section 9: Introduction To Character Animation

Lecture 215 Walk Cycle Overview & Animation Test File Set Up

Lecture 216 Walk Cycle: Contact Pose

Lecture 217 Walk Cycle: Passing Pose

Lecture 218 Walk Cycle: Down Pose

Lecture 219 Walk Cycle: Up Pose

Lecture 220 Walk Cycle: Animation Curve Refinement

Lecture 221 Cycling In The Graph Editor

Lecture 222 Walk Cycle: Walk Forward

Lecture 223 Story Boarding The Final Project

Lecture 224 Set Construction

Lecture 225 Set Dressing

Lecture 226 Referencing The Character

Lecture 227 Establishing Shot

Lecture 228 Camera Animation

Lecture 229 Animation Block In

Lecture 230 Inbetweens & Breakdowns

Lecture 231 Egg Shell Modeling

Lecture 232 Shatter Script

Lecture 233 Egg Shard Animation

Lecture 234 Character Animation Refinement

Lecture 235 Background Egg Refinement

Lecture 236 Egg Shard Refinement

Lecture 237 Play Blast

Section 10: Final Lighting, Rendering, Compositing, & Audio

Lecture 238 Light Concepting

Lecture 239 Light Linking

Lecture 240 Scene Lighting

Lecture 241 Light Editor

Lecture 242 AOV Set Up

Lecture 243 Render Layer Basics

Lecture 244 Rendering Settings Calibrations

Lecture 245 Final Sequence Render

Lecture 246 Render Check

Lecture 247 Color Grading

Lecture 248 Blooming

Lecture 249 Depth Of Field (DOF)

Lecture 250 Color Augmentation

Lecture 251 Motion Blur

Lecture 252 Sourcing Sound

Lecture 253 Adding Sound Effects

Lecture 254 Final Render

Section 11: Portfolio Construction

Lecture 255 Online Portfolio Creation (Artstation)

Lecture 256 Character Turn Table Rendering

Lecture 257 Wireframe Rendering

Lecture 258 Turn Table Composite

Lecture 259 Render Layers For Multiple Turn Table Renders

Lecture 260 Artstation Portfolio Creation

Lecture 261 Course Conclusion

Aspiring 3D Animation Enthusiasts: Embark on an exciting journey into the world of 3D animation and visual storytelling. Perfect for beginners seeking a solid foundation in the art of animation.,Artistic Hobbyists & Creative Minds: Unleash your creative potential with 3D modeling and animation techniques. Ideal for hobbyists and individuals eager to bring their artistic visions to life through animation.,Self-Learners & Storytellers: Learn at your own pace with hands-on projects and real-world examples. Perfect for self-motivated learners with a passion for storytelling and a desire to master 3D animation skills.,Supportive Parents & Mentors: Empower your aspiring young artists with essential 3D animation skills. Ideal for parents, mentors, and educators looking to foster creativity and imagination in their students.,Visual Communicators & Content Creators: Explore the world of 3D animation as a powerful tool for visual storytelling. Perfect for content creators, designers, and marketers looking to enhance their visual communication skills.,Game Design Enthusiasts: Dive into the realm of 3D animation for game development. Suitable for game design enthusiasts who want to bring their game characters and environments to life.,Filmmakers & Video Producers: Enhance your filmmaking and video production projects with captivating 3D animated elements. Perfect for filmmakers and video creators looking to add a dynamic touch to their productions.,Art Students & Designers: Expand your artistic repertoire with 3D animation techniques. Ideal for art students and designers eager to explore new dimensions in their creative work.,Educators & Instructors: Discover innovative ways to engage and educate your students with 3D animated content. Suitable for educators and instructors across various subjects seeking to enhance their teaching methods.,Digital Media Professionals: Elevate your digital media projects with the art of 3D animation. Perfect for professionals in the digital media industry, including graphic designers, illustrators, and digital marketers.