One of the challenges for any 3D curriculum is how to balance the need for the students to learn the art of 3D animation against the need to learn the technology. For educators looking to tip the balance towards art, Reflex provides the leverage.
Teach the Principles
Reflex is the perfect tool for teaching aspiring character animators because the principles are right there on the screen. With Motion Paths, when a student changes a pose, they immediately see visual feedback on how that change affected the Arc and Spacing. Likewise, changes to the Timing of a pose reveal the effect on the spacing of the inbetweens.
Focus on Character Animation
Reflex's clean interface focuses the attention on the character animation tools. Not only does this streamline the learning process, it makes the software much more approachable for the first-time user. Without a lot of arcane tools to learn, students will spend more time learning how to create strong poses, clean timing, clear arcs, and solid spacing.
Start with Fun Documentation
Usually, reading software documentation is not fun. When we thought about the best way to teach people how to use Reflex, we realized that we needed to engage the reader in a language they were familiar with. For animators, the universal language is visual, so we made our Quick Start Guide a comic book. Students will be up and running on Reflex faster and with more comprehension than with most 3D animation systems and, as a 3D instructor, so will you!
Give Visual Feedback
Instead of telling a student how to improve the line of action on their pose, why not draw it for them? Drawing Planes give instructors a simple way of demonstrating in the classroom. Student work can be played in real time, paused, drawn over to illustrate a point, and played again. When you're done with the review, save the drawing so that when the student goes back to work on the shot, your instructions are there as a reminder.
Teach a Flexible Workflow
Whether you like to teach the Pose-to-Pose method, the Layering method, or something in between, Reflex is flexible enough to handle it. In addition, you'll find that Reflex allows for entirely new workflows. Once your students get the hang of Reflex, you'll see them come up with ways of getting the job done that might surprise even you!
Demonstrate With Ready-made Samples
Maybe you need a bouncing ball to get the class started, or perhaps a walk cycle to show the students how it's done. You can download these high-quality samples and more from us to give you or your students a head-start in learning about the different ways Reflex can be used.
Reflex at CalArts
In September 2005, the California Institute of the Arts became the first educational institution to use Reflex as their primary teaching tool. To learn more about what CalArts had to say about Reflex, click on the link below!
