South Seneca High School

In the new Animation & 3D Modeling course, South Seneca High School students learn the art and craft of computer animation.

The class is taught by Rob Hermanet, who designed the course looking to further expand the offerings available from the school’s business department by taking on new and cutting-edge subject matter. Roughly 20 students across two sections are in the class this year. Throughout the year, students have learned how to use Blender, an open source 3D software.

"The Animation & 3D Modeling class is structured to facilitate students taking agency over their learning,” Mr. Hermanet said. “They’re given tools, shown the basics of how to use them, and then encouraged to develop the skills needed to expand their knowledge and abilities independently. Essentially, the class is about learning how to learn, working through frustrations, and reflecting on progress. Students can apply these skills in almost any aspect of their lives. We just do it with fun content!”

A wide variety of third-party materials and assets are available for students to use in the Blender software. Students first are taught the underlying principles of modeling and animation in order to create designs from scratch. After they understand the process, they can make use of existing material and modify it any way they see fit.

Students learn how to use volumetric lighting, apply textures to 3D designs, animate soft or rigid objects and other modeling techniques. Projects have included modeling or animating 3D objects such as donuts, hammers, ice cream cones or flags.

The final project will be to complete a two-minute animation, which will also be shown at the school’s Media Night event