Over the past school year I had the opportunity to take Digital Design and Animation II, or DDA II, which is an entire course based around 3D modeling, using Autodesk's 3Ds Max. I have learned a lot over the past year from this class, and I hope that I can use the knowledge I gained in order to create some really cool things in the future, but my main take away from this class are not the skills I learned, but a newfound appreciation for people who 3D model professionally, I can't begin to describe the number of things I have messed up on while 3D modeling, despite having previous experience, it really gives me a sense of appreciation towards the people who do this for movies and video games, because detail driven and intense it can be. The most rewarding experience from taking this class was the opportunity to work in 3Ds Max, good 3D modeling software is really expensive, and to have the opportunity to work in a program that closely related to the industry standard, Autodesk Maya, is a really unique opportunity that everyone interested in 3D modeling gets to experience. I hope that in the future I can have more opportunities to practice my modeling skills again, as well as learn about the more detailed aspects of 3D modeling that were not covered in the course such as, fluid dynamics, ray tracing, or experimenting with more rendering types. Although I don't plan on pursuing 3D modeling as a career, I do want to go into the game industry as a programmer, so it is nice to have an understanding of the intricacies of 3D modeling so that I can, hopefully, perform better as a programmer when coding interactions the game will have with it's various models. I would like to conclude this reflection by thanking my teacher and my classmates who helped me over the course of this year get better at something that I enjoy.
Over the past school year, I have had the pleasure of taking Advanced Game Art and Design as a class, and I have learned so much from it. This class was something I had looked forward to ever since my freshman year, and I can say it did not disappoint, from audio and video editing to creating 3D games, i have enjoyed every last bit of it. I know that I have complained in the past about some of the topics and applications I had to use in class, but that does not mean that I did not enjoy learning the new materials. AGAD has been an emotional and mental roller coaster for me, but it was the hardships that I faced in this class that, I think, have prepared me for what lies ahead, my main takeaway from this class is that things can and will go wrong, but it is up to you to be prepared for those situations so that you don't implode from stress or anything else. Although I learned a lot, the experiences I value most from this class are not any of the materials I learned, but the interactions that I have med with my classmates, the people in my class are some of the brightest, most creative people I know, and over the course of the year they have made me realize just how meaningful a second opinion can be, there have been moments when I have been stuck trying to fix a problem and someone will give me an idea to fix the problem that I had never even thought of, in addition to that, I am also really looking forward to what my classmates accomplish in the future because they are all really talented. In terms of the future, I know that the programming skills I built in this class will help as I try to get my degree in Computer Science in the next four years, and although I only have experience in one programming language, I believe that the logical thinking and problem solving skills that came along with my programming knowledge will prove to be useful not only in my pursuit of Computer Science, but in life as well. I am proud to have had the opportunity to have taken Advanced Game Art and Design this year, and I would like to end this journey off by thanking everyone who traveled on it with me for helping me realize that making video games is what I want to do with my life.
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The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools
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