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  • Exploring Self through 3D Modeling + Animation

    3D Modeling + Animation

Students in the WMCAT Teen Arts + Tech Program’s ARtistry In Motion: 3D Modeling + Animation studio spent the fall 2023 semester answering the question “Who are you?” at the intersection of art and technology.
Their end goal: create a 3D model avatar and manipulate their digital replica with animations and world-building.  

To learn the skills needed to execute their projects, teen artists started by scanning and manipulating a donut. This gave them the practice needed to begin creating and sculpting simple 3D shapes, scanning 3D versions of real-life objects, and eventually molding themselves using computer software. As comfort level increased, Teaching Artist Brandon Copeland led students through scanning and building environments using Mixamo and Blender, open-source 3D creation and rigging suites.  

In response to the “Who are you?” prompt, teen artist distilled a unique aspect of themselves in a creative animation as their final projects, adding depth to their avatars by creating backgrounds of their favorite places and animations of skills they wanted to learn – like a karate kick.

“I definitely want to look more into 3D animation. It feels like a lot of fun . . . I have Blender on my home computer, and I recently downloaded a 3D rigging model for facial expressions and I’ve never done something like that . . . I’ve been using Blender whenever I can.”
– Olivia Gaudet, WMCAT Teen Artist

Final Project

Animation and rendering by WMCAT Teen Artists:
Ajani Dunlap, 10th grade, Grand Rapids Montessori High School
Olivia Gaudet, 11th grade, CA Frost Environmental Academy
Evan Karns, 12th grade, Innovation Central High School
Ian Winkle, 10th grade, City Middle High School