Screen Training Ireland and Animation Skillnet, in association with VFXAI, are seeking participants for a Maya transitioning course. This course will provide participants with an overview of Maya, including animation, modelling, lighting, and texturing. Participants should be skilled in other 3D packages such as 3DS Max, Blender or Softimage.

The course will cover the following:

• History of Maya
• Maya's User Interface
• Nodes, the backbone of Maya
• Overview of Editors - Attribute Editor; Channel Box; Outliner; Node Editor; Hypergraph; Connection; Attribute Spread Sheet; Relationship Editors
• Settings and Preferences
• Modelling - Polygons
• Curves and Surfaces - Pixar's Open SubDivs
• Animation - Working with Keyframes; Attaching objects to Paths; Deformers; Working with the Graph Editor and Dope Sheet; Non-Linear Animation
• Shaders and Texturing - Working with the HyperShader; Surfaces; UV Mapping; 2D and 3D Textures; Shader Utilities; Mental Ray Shaders
• Lighting - Standard Lights and Common Settings; Light Effects (Decay, Fog and Glow); Image Based Lighting; Global Illumination; Photon based Lighting and Caustics; Light Linking; Shadows (Depth and Ray traced)
• Cameras - Standard Camera and Common Settings; Film Back vs. Resolution; Depth of Field; Environments; Rendering; Common Render Settings; Mental Ray Settings; Other Production Renders (Arnold, RenderMan, V-Ray)
• Brief overview of additional Maya features – nParticles; nDynamics; Bullet; nCloth; nHair; Fur; Bifrost; XGen; Fluid Effects; Oceans and Ponds; Character Animation; Muscles; Paint Effects and Artisan; Expressions; MEL and Python

This course is aimed at professionals working in animation and VFX, who are seeking to transition to Maya from other 3D packages such as 3DS Max and Softimage.

How to Apply:
Please apply online with current CV at www.screentrainingireland.ie. Deadline for applications: Monday 18th August 2014. For further details contact sorcha.loughnane@screentrainingireland.ie.

Bobette Buster’s course, “The Art & Process of Cinematic Storytelling”, comes from her combined experience as a Hollywood development executive and faculty member at USC ‘s Graduate School of Cinema-Television and La Fémis in Paris. She lectures throughout Europe, Cuba, Latin America and Japan, as well as, Pixar, Disney, Sony and Twentieth Century Fox. In each of the last 15 years, films from her students ranked in the Top 10 box-office worldwide, and have won all the major awards.
Bobette analyzes in-depth classic films, and presents film clips from scores of beloved, international films from various Her programme covers these Core Principles of Cinematic Storytelling:

“Cinema is the Orchestration of Emotions”
Audiences seek fresh stories that take them on the emotional journey of a character’s process, as they discover who they really are. Whether it’s Michael Corleoni’s struggle to become his own man while protecting his father, or Salieri’s longing to understand the musical genius of Mozart, or the process of John Merrick, the Elephant Man’s discovery of self-love, or a rat named Remy’s discovery of his passion for haute cuisine and a refined way-of-living. All characters lead the audience on a inner discovery process, too.

This course will explore key concepts as to how to create this Emotional Discovery Process, by focusing on:

• Audacity – how the filmmaker creates a fresh point-of-view
• The Big Idea – the importance of clarity and uniqueness in the film’s vision
• Embarrassing Secret – the nerve of the character’s story, creating the intimate connection with the audience

“Cinema is the Art form of Transformation”
Audiences, the world-over, desire to go on the same journey as the characters in a film. This journey, in cinema, always involves the experience of transformation. This is what audiences seek: the experience of change.

To achieve the greatest connection possible with the audience, the screenwriter/director must master Cinema language:

This programme provides numerous examples, from classic films of all genres, illustrating the power of cinema language to enable audiences to see and experience the story intimately.

The Unique Process of Cinema Language Development for Each Story:
For this 3 day intensive course, several classic films are analyzed in-depth.

Discovering Your Voice and How Best to Reach your Audience:
An actual craft and process of development is presented to the group. This process is worked on for three days. During this time relevant films will be presented to the class for deconstruction and analysis.