The End is Near!

We are almost finished our school year.  We will have some review, a final exam, then the break.  It has been a great pleasure to be a part of NIS.  The students are great.  Our computer classes have been a very good experience.  Well done students.

Mr Richard Away

I know that the timing is bad, but Mr Richard will not be at school from 26 April to 6 May.

Be good, work hard and do your best in my absence.

IProducts — The Future

Memory

Students are Brilliant!

Here is an example of a dynamic model of a musical note created by one of our students. Every student in grades 8 to 12 can do this:

3D imaging, animation

Here is just a snapshot of some of the job titles a career in 3D visualisation could lead you to:

• Animator
• Architectural Draftsman
• Architectural Technician
• Civil Engineer
• Construction Project Manager
• Content Developer
• Designer Engineer
• Graphic Designer
• Marketing Manager
• Map Maker
• Mechanical Engineer
• Product Designer
• Quantity Surveyor
• Software Developer
• Special Effects Technician

Here are some professions that use 3D imaging:

• medicine
• engineering
• city planning
• air traffic control
• flight training
• safety planning
• crime investigation
• entertainment
• military
• game development
• space exploration
• astronomy
• dentistry
• and many more

Developing Skills in Character Creation and Animation

The more we work in CGI. the better we get.  Take a look …

Blender 2.4x or Blender 2.5

The alpha version of Blender is available to use.  We are trying both in the lab.  Blender 2.5 alpha is definitely easier to use and more efficient.  So far, we have only experienced small bugs or inconveniences.  In our experience, Blender 2.49 crashes more than 2.5

The best reason to stick with Blender 2.49 is because most tutorials are written for Blender versions 2.4x.  However, with a little bit of experience, the transition to 2.5 is easy.

We will let you know how the students make out in character creation and animation.  Expect some more  screenshots soon.

James Morris

The NIS community is saddened by the loss of our student James Morris in an accident.  James was a member of our grade 11 & 12 computer class.

James you are missed by all.  We have fond memories of you and will treasure them always.

Creative Commons, Open Source and Sharing

In our Level II courses, students are learning to use Blender to create computer generated images.  Blender is open source software, free for anyone, anywhere in the world to use.  It is a powerful, fully featured application that can be used to create 3D images, animation or games.  It is limitless in possibilities.

In the spirit of open source and sharing, James Chronister has produced a classroom tutorial book called Blender Basics. We are using the book as a guide for our lessons.  Published with a creative commons licence, we are free to use it and share it with the students.  Many thanks to Mr Chronister, and others like him who enhance education and society by freely sharing their knowledge and hard work.

Happy Blending!