Announcements

• Today is Earth Day ???
• Lunchtime workshop co-facilitated by Prof D: Emojis as Digital Language
• Today: Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment 
• Physical Computing Kits: I’ll make a “claim” sheet and do a big giveaway in the 2 sessions of class. The kits are for small robots or LED projects, and their boards include Arduino, Lilypad, Jewelbots, etc.
• The last day to request a Credit / No Credit Option is May 7: https://hunter.cuny.edu/students/registration/register-for-classes/credit-no-credit/. This might be an appropriate option for those who haven’t turned in Projects 1, 2, and/or 3.
• If you sent me a Unity build/project and NOT a screen recording, please be prepared to share your screen.

Agenda

• 3:10 
  • Project 4 Presentations
  • If there’s time: Dream Machine case study
• 4:50 Break 
• 5:00 
  • Part III of Semiology of Graphics
  • Color Discussion
    • Kouwer, B. J. (2013). Colors and their character: A psychological study. Springer Science & Business Media.
    • Stoughton, C. M., & Conway, B. R. (2008). Neural basis for unique hues. Current Biology, 18(16), R698-R699.

Assignments

• Technical Stuff: 
  • Project 4 is due! Please submit ASAP if you haven’t already.
  • Next week, we will wrap up the Physics Playground and experiment with this Solar System VR tutorial. Please review the Solar System tutorial and files before class.
• Conceptual Stuff
  • Envisioning Information, Chapter 5: Color and Information.

Announcements: Extra Credit

• Attend the Emojis as Digital Language workshop and write 3+ paragraphs for EC.
• A useful Unity asset management tutorial: Creating LODs (levels of detail) in Maya for Unity. Give it a try and write 3+ paragraphs for EC.
• Check the Projects + Extra Credit page for more EC options. If any of your projects are late, I strongly encourage you to submit extra credit work.

Announcements

• Please add your physics playground screenshots to this slideshow.
• PT job for student: Unity Simulation developer @ MIT
• Request for entires (with cash prizes): CUNY Asian-American Film Fest
• Any interest in free physical computing kits? e.g. https://www.adafruit.com/product/2768. To pick up in downtown Brooklyn over the summer.

Agenda

• 3:10 
  • Note: Project 4 is due next week. To this end:
    • Tutorial: Building and submitting a build for next week. Note that the Physics Playground has build bugs. I’m working on debugging this, but it won’t be ready for next week, so you can screen record if you’re encountering export bugs.
    • Tutorial: Making/importing your own prefabs in the playground. My steps:
      1. Get/make the model you want (in my case, I got the coronavirus model from the NIH 3D print exchange).
      2. Copy the model into your project’s Assets > Models folder (make this if it isn’t already there)
      3. In your project, turn the model into a prefab by going to the Assets menu and choosing
         Create > Prefab (or Create > Prefab Variant).
      4. If this option isn’t available,
         • Make an empty project
         • Make your model into a prefab there
         • Drag it into the Physics Playground (or whatever project you’re using).
      5. In your MainScene’s Manager, add the prefab to the list of objects.
         • If you’re using the COVID model, you will need to scale it up.
      6. You can now instantiate it in the playground. But it doesn’t demonstrate physics.
      7. To make it float, collide, etc, add a Rigidbody and Mesh Collider to the prefab. For now, use the covid “Membrane” sub-model as the mesh.
      8. For more info, consult the Prefab section of the Unity manual.
    • Other notes:
      • texture
      • code
• 4:50 Break 
• 5:00 
  • Physics Playground: slideshow chat
  • Part II of Semiology of Graphics, p62 [breakouts with slideshow]
  • Part III of Semiology of Graphics

Assignments

• Technical Stuff: 
  • Project 4 is due next week before class. Please email me the usual question answers (see full spec) and share a link to either
    1. A 2+ minute screen recording
       OR
    2. BOTH a Unity MacOS build AND your project files (in case I can’t open your build on my Mac).
  • Next week’s “critique” will be more of a technical discussion. Since there won’t be time for me to download/install/run your projects before class, it will be best for you to share your own screens, so please be prepared to do so next week.
• Conceptual Stuff
  • Next week after critiques, we’ll discuss color. Please take a look at these resources:
    • Kouwer, B. J. (2013). Colors and their character: A psychological study. Springer Science & Business Media.
    • Stoughton, C. M., & Conway, B. R. (2008). Neural basis for unique hues. Current Biology, 18(16), R698-R699.

Announcements: Extra Credit

• Check the Projects + Extra Credit page for more EC options. If any of your projects are late, I strongly encourage you to submit extra credit work.

Announcements

• While you’re waiting for class to begin: check out the Physics Playground page and video
• Reminder: Policy on project lateness. Turning in a project late is better than not turning it in at all!
• Audre Lorde
  • Today after class: Self-Care as Political Warfare event (Zoom link here), looking at Lorde’s poetry/essays on cancer
  • Notes from a Trip to Russia
• If you’re interested in documentary VR, Journalism 360 might be a useful resource (see their most recent newsletter, which mentions CUNY)
• manual: HDRI Lighting in Maya (2016)

Agenda

• 3:10 
  • Unity
    • Tour of Unity Hub and Learn.Unity.com. Since this is 3DVE, we will focus on Physics!
    • Note on coding
    • Creating a Physics Playground: We will build on this environmental project with models and objects we previously made/used in Maya. Steps to set the project up:
      1. Create a new Unity project. I recommend calling it something descriptive like Physics_Test01.
      2. In the Package Manager, import and activate Cinemachine, which is used by this project.
      3. Close the new project.
      4. Download the Physics Playground files (linked from the Overview page).
      5. From the Physics Playground directory, drag the contents of each subdirectory into the corresponding subdirectory of your project.
      6. When you reopen the project, you should see the Physics Playground.
      7. Today, we will use this project to look at the Unity UI, project components, and environment. We might also use the Unity manual.
  • [Brief break for DMs]
  • While you’re going through the steps above, I’ll discuss MeshLab + Molecule Data. Note Prof’s Youtube playlist on Coronavirus vaccines (all videos are from respected journals, medical orgs and news outlets).
  • Physics Playground Project Anatomy
    • Uses the Creator Kit: FPS in a very strange way!
    • Skybox update
    • Collider update
  • Quick Technique Updates
    • Wrapping texture around a sphere
• 4:50 Break 
• 5:00 
  • “WandaVision Is The Matrix From the Machines’ Perspective” (Slate) 
  •  Part II of Semiology of Graphics
  • Blockchain Explainers
    • Article about Beeple artwork sale (WaPo, shared by Franky)
    • ACM Article (more technical, by CS folks)
    • WIRED 5-level explainer video (bigger-picture, by humanities folks). Note this section about “hype.”
    • Blockchains Use Massive Amounts of Energy—But There’s a Plan to Fix That (short article from MIT Tech Review)
    • For those of you who use Git and Github, the blockchain “distributed ledger” concept is similar to concepts of distributed version control.

Assignments

• Technical Stuff: 
  • If you still owe me Projects 2 and/or 3, start thinking about doing additional extra credit.
  • Please finish importing the Physics Playground and play around with the project.
    • Go through the videos/pages for the Overview, Workshop 1, Workshop 2 (Time), and Workshop 3 (Sound).
    • Before class next week, take a screenshot of your Physics Playground in action. I’ll ask you to add your screenshot into this slideshow during next week’s class.
• Conceptual Stuff
  • Please read Part III of Semiology of Graphics. Again, the text is dense, but the graphics are numerous and organized.

Announcements: Extra Credit

• Go through any/all of the non-playground tutorials in the Physics Playground series (the non-playground tutorials start at “Intro to the Unity Physics Engine 2019“) and send prof 3+ paragraphs or other documentation (pics, video, etc) about the process.
• Check the Projects + Extra Credit page for more EC options. If any of your projects are late, I strongly encourage you to submit extra credit work.

Announcements

• Late submissions will be presented today.
• Reminder: Faculty observation today. Thanks for turning your cameras on for a bit!
• Reminder: Policy on project lateness. Turning in a project late is better than not turning it in at all!
• Audre Lorde: Notes from a Trip to Russia

Agenda

• 3:10
  • Quick Technique Updates
    • Terrain color (with updated ElevationTest04 and color file)
    • Wrapping texture around a sphere, with a Sun STEREO satellite and Hyperwall example
  • MORE Project 3 Presentations and Critiques
    • Everyone can share their screens today.
    • For each presentation, I’ll ask for two audio comments and lots of chat comments. Please limit your comments to MOOD, INFO, and AUDIENCE.
• 4:50 Break 
• 5:00 
  • New datasets on the 3DVE Data Sources list
  • Manhattan CityVis Tutorial
    • Get Prof’s tutorial files here
    • Optional: download QGIS and/or the original data for NYC Building Footprints
    • Reference: Maya’s page on Displacement Attributes
  • MeshLab + Molecules. Note Prof’s Youtube playlist on Coronavirus vaccines (all videos are from respected journals, medical orgs and news outlets).
  • “WandaVision Is The Matrix From the Machines’ Perspective” (Slate) 
  • Blockchain Explainers
    • Article about Beeple artwork sale (WaPo, shared by Franky)
    • ACM Article (more technical, by CS folks)
    • WIRED 5-level explainer video (bigger-picture, by humanities folks). Note this section about “hype.”
    • Blockchains Use Massive Amounts of Energy—But There’s a Plan to Fix That (short article from MIT Tech Review)
    • For those of you who use Git and Github, blockchain “distributed ledger” concept is similar to concepts of distributed version control.

Assignments

Please take the next week to catch up with your Projects and Reading.

• Technical Stuff: 
  • If you haven’t submitted Projects 2 and/or 3, PRIORITIZE THIS! Submitting the project(s) late is much better than not submitting them at all.
  • If you haven’t already, install Unity before next week’s class.
• Conceptual Stuff
  • Take a look at Part II of Semiology of Graphics, and then take a closer look at the section “The Retinal Variables” (the pages labelled 60-97). While the text is kind of dense, the pages are mostly graphics.
• HAVE A GREAT SPRING BREAK!! ???⛱️???⛱️???⛱️

Announcements: Extra Credit

• Check the Projects + Extra Credit page for more EC options. If any of your projects are late, I strongly encourage you to submit extra credit work.
• More optional exercises:
  • Install QGIS. This is a very useful app for preparing geographic files. Try downloading the shapefiles for NYC building footprints and opening them in QGIS. If you prepare this file in black-and-white, you can them use them as a surface relief texture.
  • Try downloading the Coronavirus Spike Protein (see the extra credit below to learn more about these proteins), then try using MeshLab to convert it into a model that Maya can read. If you want to learn even more about protein and DNA in 3D, check out new resources on the Data Sources page.
  • Challenge: can you import a molecule into Maya with its color? If so, send a screenshot to Prof for EC!

Announcements

• Observation next week, on March 25. Late submissions will be presented next week.
• Next Tuesday: Prof D at upcoming Prison Education Event, sponsored by UAW (labor union)
• Terrain Tutorial again next week?
• Fisheye camera
• New datasets on the 3DVE Data Sources list
• Reminder: Policy on project lateness

Agenda

• 3:10 Project 3 Presentations and Critiques
  • Everyone can share their screens today.
  • For each student presentation, I’ll ask two other students to speak: one student will offer a short appreciation and another student will offer a brief suggestion. All students can type additional thoughts in the chat.
  • Please limit your comments to one of the following attributes:
    • MOOD: how do the pacing, movement, form, & color establish an environment?
    • INFORMATION: is a narrative or important data clearly conveyed?
    • AUDIENCE: would this animation potentially serve or not serve specific people(s)?
• 4:50 Break
• 5:00
  • The State of Play Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds: Chapter 7: Virtual Crime and Chapter 9: Virtual Power Politics.
  • If there’s time: Terrain Tutorial repeat (links in Class #6), New Data Sources, MeshLab, QGIS

Assignments

Please take the next week to catch up with your Projects and Reading.

• Technical Stuff:
  • If you haven’t submitted Projects 2 and/or 3, PRIORITIZE THIS! Submitting the project(s) late is much better than not submitting them at all.
  • Install MeshLab. This is a very useful app for converting 3D models.
• Conceptual Stuff
  • If you still need to catch up on previous reading, take this week to do so.
  • Fun, short article on 3DVE and XR: “WandaVision Is The Matrix From the Machines’ Perspective” (Slate)
• All Caught Up? Here are more optional exercises:
  • Install QGIS. This is a very useful app for preparing geographic files. Try downloading the shapefiles for NYC building footprints and opening them in QGIS. If you prepare this file in black-and-white, you can them use them as a surface relief texture.
  • Try downloading the Coronavirus Spike Protein (see the extra credit below to learn more about these proteins), then try using MeshLab to convert it into a model that Maya can read. If you want to learn even more about protein and DNA in 3D, check out new resources on the Data Sources page.

Announcements: Extra Credit

• Next week we will do a brief session on molecules. You can prepare by watching Prof D’s Youtube playlist on Coronavirus vaccines and sending Prof a few paragraphs about what you learned.
• Check the Projects +Extra Credit page for more EC options.

Announcements

• Please be prepared to chat during 1-on-1s today.
• Please create an account on USGS EROS. You don’t have to share your email or any other personal info to make an account. We will play around with this today.
• A Poem: A Litany For Survival by Audre Lorde
• WHY ARE WE DOING THIS CODING STUFF? See my new “Teaching Philosophy” section in the syllabus.
• Observation on March 25

Agenda

• 3:10
  • Digital Universe and Constellation Vis
    • Constellation Jams: Steps to get from stars.speck and constellations.speck to Ursa Minor and Orion constellations in Maya.
  • 1-on-1s. I’ll speak with each of you 1-on-1 while you work on your project. If you need or can provide help on the tech topic, you can pop into a separate breakout room. If you help another student and they verify that you significantly helped them, you get 1 pt of extra credit added to your overall grade.
  • Fisheye camera
  • Terrain Tutorial
    • You can start with Prof’s example Maya files
      • If you want to get new terrain elevation data: USGS Earth Explorer > GMTED2010
      • Adjusting Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) in Photoshop > Level-adjusted Tiffs
      • Old yet handy tutorial on connecting a texture as bump and displacement map
      • Adding clouds through Fluid Effects
• 4:55 Short Break (since most of today is freeform)
• 5:00 Wrap-up

Assignments

• Technical Stuff 
  • Project 3 is due before class next week. We will prioritize a more formal critique in the first part of class, in which I’ll ask each person to critique one other student’s work.
  • Please create your own terrain by going through the surface relief section of the Maya manual with a DEM. You can acquire a new DEM from USGS Earth Explorer or use one of the level-corrected DEMS from class. You can also can add a simple fluid by importing a fluid example.
• Conceptual Stuff
  • Getting back to the reading: Please finish reading one or both of the following from The State of Play Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds: Chapter 7: Virtual Crime or Chapter 9: Virtual Power Politics. We will prioritize this after project critique next week.

Announcements: Extra Credit

• Check the Projects +Extra Credit page for a running list of EC options.

Announcements

• Please be prepared to discuss issues you’ve encountered this week regarding 3DVE.
• NEW Items in the 3DVE Menu: 
  • Data Sources
• Some of you still need to submit Project 1. You’ll receive a DM today.

Agenda

• 3:10
  • Project 2 screening. Did you run into any issues?
  • Project 2 troubleshooting
  • Scripting 
    • MEL Overview
    • Looking at built-in MEL scripts
    • Digital Universe and Constellation Vis
    • Constellation Jams: Steps to get to Ursa Minor and Orion constellation.
• 4:50 Break
• 5:00 Discussion
  • Follow-up on tech topics
  • Follow-ups: 
    • Reference image in mindrider.
  • Deformers (if there’s time)

Assignments

• Technical Stuff. 
  • With Ursa Minor, try
    • Setting up the camera to show the constellation as we see it on Earth.
    • Rendering it as a short (5-second) animation in which the camera moves smoothly.
  • Now that you’ve submitted Project 2, you can continue to fine-tune your rendering and animation skills through either
    • the Rendering tutorial or
    • the final Rocketship tutorial (Arnold required) in Maya 101.
  • Optional:
    • Watch and follow a more advanced scripting tutorial on YouTube.
    • Play around with USGS EarthExplorer (account creation may be required), then try downloading New York GMTED2010 data and following this video about importing a digital elevation model into Maya. I’ll run through this in a tutorial next week.
• Conceptual Stuff: None for next week! We will return to this on March 18.

Announcements: Extra Credit

• Submit your Ursa Minor image or animation for extra credit.
• Try running a different Constellation MEL file in Maya and render a quick animation like with the Ursa Minor animation.
• Don’t see the constellation you want? Try generating it using one of these Perl scripts and send me the file for EC. If you don’t like Perl, try converting the script to Python and send me the script for EC.
• You can now check the Projects +Extra Credit page for a running list of EC options.

Announcements

• Please be prepared to discuss what you’ve been up to this week regarding 3DVE.
• NEW Items in the 3DVE Menu:
  • Recordings
  • Projects + Extra Credit
  • Coming soon: Data Sources
• New Office Hours link for March-May will be emailed later today.
• If you heard from me yesterday: please submit ASAP; letter grades are dropping.

Agenda

• 3:10
  • Chapter 2.2 and 2.3 of Designing Virtual Worlds. What was most interesting in this reading? Did you come away with questions? Are there passages you disagree with? 
  • Animation: simple keyframing and graph editor. Camera & lights.
  • Rendering: ALWAYS check your renderer and resolution before rendering. I suggest using Maya software and a low-res for initial renders of anything.
    • Using the script editor to check for errors
    • Command line rendering
  • Scripting
    • MEL Overview
    • Looking at built-in MEL scripts
    • Digital Universe and Constellation Vis
• 4:50 Break
• 5:00 Discussion
  • Follow-up on tech topics
  • Follow-ups:
    • Reference image in mindrider.
    • Complex tools and renderers: Not required! Less is more! KISS (Keep it simple, stupid)! Simple tools!
    • Prof D Reel was made all with very simple tools.
  • 3D and non-entertainment options
  • Deformers (if there’s time)
  • Why Data? (if there’s time)

Assignments

• Project 2 is due before class next week, on March 4.
• Technical Stuff.
  • Go through the very brief Beginning MEL Scripting tutorial, including the subtopics Obtain the transform, shape, and history nodes, Modify attributes with scripts, etc.
  • Before class next week, try
    • Loading the Ursa Minor MEL file into the Maya Script Editor and try to understand how this file was generated from the Digital Universe files stars.speck and constellationLines.speck.
    • Running the Ursa Minor MEL file and checking out the stars!
  • Optional: if you have time and feel ready, watch and follow a more advanced scripting tutorial on YouTube.
• Conceptual Stuff: None for next week! We will return to this after we look at scripting.

Announcements: Extra Credit

• You can now check the Projects +Extra Credit page for a running list of EC options.

Announcements

• LAST CHANCE: Please fill out the 3DVE Intake Form.
• Please be prepared to discuss what you’ve been up to this week regarding 3DVE.
• In the chat, please share if you have any questions about last week’s assignment.
• Zoom

Agenda

• 3:10
  • Welcome to new students, Discord and WhatsApp.
  • Note on missing class and emailing me
  • Notes from you:
    • Ridged cone
    • Default renderer: Windows > Settings/Preferences > Renderer
    • 3D Paint tool: Texturing > 3D Paint tool
    • Shading faces (e.g. Maya 101 Lesson 6)
  • Tech topic: Modeling for Virtual and Real Environments
    • Case Study: branching structures, models, normals, moss reproduction. Cherry tree puffs
    • Case Study: Where the Hel > MindRider
  • More sources of easy-to-use models based on real data:
    • NASA Solar System Exploration
    • NASA 3D
    • Arctec 3D scanned models
• 4:00 Shareback
• 4:50 Break
• 5:00 Discussion
  • Chapter 2.2 and 2.3 of Designing Virtual Worlds. What was most interesting in this reading? Did you come away with questions? Are there passages you disagree with? 
    • Upload (mentioned last week)
  • Why Data? (if there’s time)

Assignments

• Technical Stuff. Learn animation basics by doing one of the following:
  • Read and follow Lesson One, Keyframes and the Graph Editor, of the Maya Animation Tutorial. If you already feel confident with that lesson, you can go through Lessons 2, 3, or 4.
  • Watch and follow Lessons 7-9 of Maya 101 on YouTube. This will make most sense if you’ve gone through Lessons 1-6.
• Conceptual Stuff:
  • Take a look at the Digital Universe by the American Museum of Natural History. We will work with this data next week.
  • If you haven’t already, read a subsection of Chapter 2 in Designing Virtual Worlds. What was most interesting in this reading? Did you come away with questions? Are there passages you disagree with? 

Announcements: Extra Credit

• Continue reading “The Master’s Tools will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” and/or all of Sister Outsider. You can also read some of her Poetry. We can continue to discuss in class and/or you can reference this work in your upcoming projects.
• Submit to this $10k opportunity for Smithsonian Open Access proposals. You can share your proposal with me for extra credit.
• Play with the sample of Unreal Engine’s MetaHuman Creator and email me 3+ paragraphs with your thoughts on the software’s pros and cons.
• Download and explore the Digital Universe data. I’ll ask next week who had a chance to do this.
• Play Temple Hunters and email me 3+ paragraphs about its 3D virtual environment.

Announcements

• If you haven’t already, please fill out the 3DVE Intake Form.
• Please be prepared to discuss what you’ve been up to this week regarding 3DVE.
• In the chat, please share:
  • Any issues you had installing Maya.
  • Any questions about the First Time Tutorial.
  • Any questions/comments on this past week’s reading.
  • If you’re a new student, please introduce yourself in the chat. What’s your name, major, and experience with 3D development?
• Zoom
  • Meetings will now be auto-recorded. Let me know if you have questions/concerns.
  • Anonymous Zoom poll: how was this week’s workload?
  • Last week’s Zoom recording is here. I will type the passcode in the chat (if you need it later, just email me).
  • Quick question: can you access Zoom recordings through Blackboard?

Agenda

• 3:10 PM
  • Welcome to new students. Note student Discord and WhatsApp groups.
  • Maya or Blender?
    “Maya 3d” v. “Blender 3d” v. “Blender game” in job searches
    • LinkedIn: 1350 v. 763 v. 30
    • Indeed: 839 v. 317 v. 129
    • Monster: 422 v. 98 v. 58
    • ZipRecruiter: 362 v. 116 v. 66
    • Glassdoor: 226 v. 2 v. 2
    • SimplyHired: 733 v. 230 v. 89
    • CareerBuilder 62 v. 24 v. 24
  • Brief IP discussion, including copyright
  • Tech topic: First Time Tutorial and basics. Let’s talk ice cream! Shift-clone, smooth mesh, double-click loop, soft select, standard surface, sky-dome, Arnold
  • Data of human-made objects: more on the Smithsonian example, with some star maps from NASA
• 4:00 Shareback
  • Your work in Maya this week
  • Questions/Comments on Interface Overview, Maya Basics, Managing Scenes, Files, and Projects.
• 4:50 Break
• 5:00 Discussion
  • Chapter 2 of Designing Virtual Worlds. What was most interesting in this reading? Did you come away with questions? Are there passages you disagree with?
  • Why Data?
  • Audre Lorde: Poetry and “The Master’s Tools will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” from Sister Outsider. Note: If you’d like to listen to Sister Outsider as an audiobook, please email me for a link.

Assignments

• Project 1 is due BEFORE CLASS next week. Email me a link (not an attachment) to your image. Your image should be in a common format like PNG, TIFF, or JPG and be at least 500×500 pixels. Please answer the following questions in your email:
  1. What is the image?
  2. How did you build it?
  3. What skills did you aim to develop?
  4. What did you learn in the process of making the image?
  5. Did you use external assets, e.g. models, data, etc? If so, name your sources
  6. Did any particular works or projects inspire you in preparing this image?
  7. EXTRA CREDIT: Reference Audre Lorde’s work in your image and discuss how you did so.
• Technical Stuff. Please go through one of the following:
  • Lesson 1: Modeling a polygonal mesh from a reference image
  • Lesson 2: Sculpting a polygon mesh
  • Intro to Maya: Lessons 1-6 of Maya 101 on YouTube
• Conceptual Stuff:
  • Please start to read one or both of the following from The State of Play Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds: Chapter 7: Virtual Crime or Chapter 9: Virtual Power Politics. We will start discussing the reading on February 25.

Extra Credit

Continue reading “The Master’s Tools will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” and/or all of Sister Outsider. We can continue to discuss in class and/or you can reference this work in your upcoming projects.