Learning this new program has been tough but pretty fun when I finally get the hang of things. I l finally finished the tutorial model of the helmet and have been watching other tutorials as I try to go along to make my own model. I am constantly getting caught on something and having to go back. I am only able to go back so far and sometimes its not far enough so I have to start over. This is what I am working on now. I am trying to get better straight on shots from the front and side of my dog but I figured for now I could use these just to get a start on the body shape.

These are screenshots of about where I am on the practice.

Example Youtube Videos of different Maya projects. (not mine, obviously)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Ua-Ahcu4E

I have been getting help from one who works with Maya and he has been helping find where to look for tutorials and if i have a problem he is pretty much right there. Anyway. I started following an example lesson with AutoDesk Maya. The lesson is based simply to show me the basics and how to use the tools. I'm slowly working my way through Maya creating this helmet...keep in mind I have never done anything like this of the sort. SO the process right now is really slow.

Alright, so I had a delay on uploading my clay characters....files were missing. I finally got a few of them together.

The whole crew

little guy in the front is my board game character in Toy Design classs

Hello there!

My name is Amanda Fitzpatrick. I am a commercial art major at Pittsburg State University. I am a senior. I have been working on character design/development. Doing this I have been creating a few character designs and then making polymer clay models of them. This semester though I would very much like to learn the process of animation. Now, I do not know a whole lot about animation, if fact I probably know next to nothing, so this semester is going to be a big exploration and require a lot of hard work and dedication. I do know that it will require a lot of time and knowledge to learn all there is to know about animation and I will have to just stick to one stage. There are many different stages ("Jobs") before you get to the actual animation stage. There are the designers, developers (if needed, the people who make clay models of the designs), the 3d digital modelers, riggers (people who create the points in the figure to move), the animators (the people who take those points the riggers creates and animate them), and then there is the final editor. That's it in a little nut shell. I however will be working with the 3D digital modeling this semester, probably. I will be learning one or several different programs that allow for modeling: Maya, Zbrush, MudBox,...and the list can go on. I have Maya, which is a 3D program that allows me to create basically anything i can possibly think of, I though have no experience so I will be learning that. I will post a few of my character designs and models I have made of clay, tomorrow.

Extinction for all

Everyone knows how terrible we as humans are on this planet; animal extinctions, superfund sites, deforestation, and pollution. Many people would say its just its survival of the fittest, we as humans are the more advanced race and shall take what we want(need) no matter the consequences. I believe that its mostly greed. If we as humans don't turn our behavior around we will ultimately kill off the animal kingdom, nature and our selves. Now I am going to narrow this subject to just one species and that the cheetah. The cheetah is my ultimate favorite animal. Its so beautiful; his round head, long slender body and long tail. The Cheetahs body is so dedicated to its self, by that I mean everything about the cheetahs body is made to help it survive. The long tail helps the cheetah balance in a high speed sprint it also helps direct them when making a turn running. The long slender body and deep chest allows for sufficient space for the heart and lungs cuz a high speed race with make anyone out of breath. The spine also is really flexible allowing them to stretch farther when running. Their claws are non retractable like most cats, this allows them to dig into the ground when running and grab their prey. Their high eyes give them a 210 degree field of view. The most distinguishable feature of the cheetah are the "tear marks", the tear marks are black and this prevents for glares. The cheetah is rapidly approaching extinction. the population has decreased about 30 percent in about the last 20 years. The biggest threat to the cheetah are us stupid humans because of habitat loss and hunting for trading or livestock protection. However there are many organizations fighting against poachers and creating national parks or safe havens for them to live. I absolutely love the cheetah I just need to find something to really investigate into.

Short cheetah bit there

Well in class I lack the interest into coming up with an idea to research into. maybe thats not the right way to word it....anyway so i got picked apart to get to my "self" and find what it is I might find interest in. I'm very indecisive and lack interest in really researching. I know what I want and cant pick anything out that I want to know more about soooo i was given the assignment to research an animal since I LOVE ANIMAL and hate people lol. Well my favorite animal is the cheetah. They are the most beautiful and cute animals alive. Their sleek and slender bodies to their long ring tails to their found face with their small round mussel to the "tear marks" from their eyes. Also they are FAST. Everyone knows that. The story of a cheetah is rather sad though. There used to be an abundance (~ 110,000) of cheetahs all over the western hemisphere (pretty much; asia, india, africa) but now they are isolated to certain parts of africa and a little in india (~90,000 - 12,000 today). The poor cheetah generally hunts early morning or late evening. He relies on tall grasses for camouflage. When the hunt is on and the cheetah is after a prey it usually last for 20-60 seconds cuz the cheetah is fast or the prey was startled and had a head a start. The cheetah can reach speeds up to I believe 60 mph, fast! Something that is sooooo cooool about the cheetah, even though a part of the big cat clan it can not roar but rather purrs in communication like domestic house cats. The cheetah can also mimic other sounds like birds.