3D-VISION: A WHOLE NEW DIMENSION

One came with a dumbbell, a city block and a candle. Another brought a birthday cake, a penguin and a hand grenade.

Still more came with a garbage can, a lamp, Mr. Peanut, a phonograph, a steel drum pan, a gun and a monkey in tow. In short, they brought everything but the kitchen sink.

The bathroom sink, however, they did bring.

For the students in assistant professor Michele Dickey’s 3D design class, show and tell has never been this fun.

Like painters, traditional graphic artists can recreate the Mona Lisa, but she can only smile in two dimensions. With polygons instead of marble and complex computer commands instead of chisels, designing in 3D is more akin to sculpting, whether the subject is Planter’s Mr. Peanut or

Michelangelo’s David. Unlike sculptors,

though, the students in Dickey’s class could actually make the David dance.

In Dickey’s 3D design class, there are literally no limits – except for the space ships from Star Wars. Those aren’t allowed (too easy and Dickey’s seen far too many), but anything else her students can think up is fair game.

Dickey’s interest lies in harnessing today’s technology for educational purposes.

“As educators we don’t tap into popular media nearly as much as we should,” she said. “We need to be exploiting it for education rather than just entertainment.”
Part education, part entertainment, the class is a virtual show and tell. That’s fortunate because bringing a real hand grenade to class could prove to be dangerous, but with Dickey’s help and the students’ persistence, virtually anything can be realistic.

Foundations in 3D Design is a new course offered by the interactive media studies program for the spring 2004-05 semester. It’s a step forward on the evolutionary chart of Miami’s interdisciplinary technology teaching, allowing students with an interest in the area to gain hands-on experience. They use Maya, a sophisticated 3D modeling and animation program that companies like Pixar use to animate feature-length movies.

Because the software has a steep learning curve

and the students enter the class at different levels and for different reasons, Dickey structures the class like a workshop. The 19 students sit at work stations, each with not one, but two flat-screen computer monitors.

“Her intention from the start was to make it feel more open because it’s easier for interaction that way,” said senior architecture major Michael Frederick.

Dickey teaches basic concepts in three stages – modeling (creating an object or character), texturing (overlaying a texture onto the model), and animation (bringing the model to life). Then it’s up to the students to play with the program and work through assigned projects. They think of it as play, even though technically it’s work, and trial and error is the accepted practice in Dickey’s collaborative classroom.

Frederick appreciates the approach.

“That’s the best thing to do in that environment because you could search for how to do something for an hour and not find it, or you can pop your head up and throw out a question and in 30 seconds you have it fixed,” Frederick said. “It helps everybody to learn.”

It’s not uncommon for Dickey’s students to share their work to a chorus of “How did you do that?” Each student figures out and shares new approaches and tricks he or she found while designing his or her model – how to get the hat to curve just right or the inside of the toothbrush cup hollowed out just so.

Instead of simple replication, Dickey also gives students the space to create their own unique models.

“Any computer software is about personal exploration, and she gives us the option to explore what we’re interested in and excited about,” junior architecture major James Diewald said. “Freedom encourages self-exploration, which you learn so much more from than rigid

assignments.”

The unique environment is evident when, directly after discussing the merits of designing with nurbs (a type of organic-shape modeling tool) versus polygons (a more geometric tool), Dickey, who focuses her research on 3D virtual worlds and 3D games, pops a question to the class.

“Have you guys played America’s Army?” says Dickey, who also teaches courses fusing technology and teaching in the department of educational psychology. She doesn’t seem like the shoot ’em up game type. “I just can’t seem to get past this one level. I keep getting killed.”

The class chuckles and then it’s back to vertices, cubes, cylinders and extruding.
The vocabulary and skills required to create animated 3D models entail much more than just an aptitude for visual design.

“It’s a combination of thinking skills, not just pure expression,” Dickey said. “There is a very technical, scientific component. There’s computer programming, geometry, physics, spatial relationships, the effects and behavior of light on surfaces….”

The list goes on.

The skills are directly applicable for Karmen Page, a first-year business major who wants to be an animator.

“Being in the class is giving me a great start on the next four years,” she said, “and learning the program is great because the industry uses it and once you know one, it’s easier to pick up others.”

Dickey said the critical thinking skills are essential for a liberal arts education and will still help the majority of the class who don’t necessarily want to be animators, and her students agree.

“We’re increasingly involved in a visually oriented society and technology is a very powerful means of communication that’s easily acceptable and understandable by the masses,” Diewald said. “This is really a step in the right direction for Miami. You need these skills to be successful and competitive in almost any work environment.”

Dickey’s next step is a class in 3D video game design. According to

Glenn Platt, associate professor and director of the interactive media studies program, the courses will likely become part of a thematic sequence, a topical three-class requirement for all Miami students.

“It’s conditionally approved,” Platt said, “but they’ll give us a final approval at the end of the semester.”

Many of Dickey’s returning students are eager to take the gaming class. Show and tell will turn into show and play, but the basics, and the challenges, are the same.

“Sometimes I’ve just got to say ‘We’re not going to be Pixar today,’” Dickey said smiling at several students who stayed after class to work on their designs. “But the students rise to and exceed every bar I set for them. It’s constantly surprising and more fulfilling because it’s always a challenge.”

Check out all students' work on their class Web site.