Exploring Self through 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.