Animation: Introduction to Animation

Animation for film, TV, and linear storytelling is you controlling the character, creating keyframes for the posing, and carefully planning it out.

Animation in gaming is about creating a character or an object that has certain behaviors assigned to it so that it will behave a certain way when you control it.

Animation in the gaming industry takes a cold, dead environment and breathes life into it. Animation is not just how your player moves through the world; it’s also the world interacting back with the player.

People tend to think about the obvious, walking around or dancing, but animation is so much more powerful than that.

For instance, you’ve got an ax that you’re swinging. If you go up to a tree and swing the ax and nothing happens, you’re probably going to think that you can’t knock the tree down. If, instead, the tree wiggles and shakes a little bit, you’re going to swing that ax again.

You feel like you’re engaging with the environment, and the environment starts feeling real. You’re also cluing players into the game mechanics and which actions they can take.

You swing the ax again. This time the tree shakes harder – you’re going to swing it again. You have positive reinforcement that swinging the ax does something, and you should keep doing it until the payoff.

There’s a huge team that works on all these projects within the esports industry. And at every level of gaming education and planning, they have to consider the gaming experience.

A character designer and a modeler work together to create the characters, make them look appealing, scary, or whatever the game requires.

Next, the rigger puts in a rig, a skeleton that goes inside the mesh, the skin of the character, and creates movement. Then, the character receives its texture. Textures give the feel of leather, skin, or cloth, and they create the mood, the sense of danger, or lightness, of comedy.

Animation in gaming is different from animation in television and feature films. Each step in the process must take into account the materials of the objects or characters.

For example, as online gaming education teaches, characters made of metal will move a certain way based upon the characteristics of the metal. A program (coding) will determine how a metal character will interact with its environment.

The environment must be specified as well. Is it metal, wood, or ground? Gravity is also critical; it’s the most important part of physics regarding how a character moves.

If you’re on Jupiter, you’re going to move very slowly. If you’re on Earth, you’re going to move like we’re used to seeing people move. If you’re on the moon, you’re going to move lightly.

All of these details get programmed into the game. Whether it’s an esports, 2D, or 3D game, these things give the character the performance that makes the game exciting.

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Choices in Development: Engines, Languages, and Platforms: Game Engines and Environments

Game development has become a very welcoming environment. The game engine is the hub that runs the entire game and makes your game assets work. Anybody can develop a game as there are many different types of game engines and environments available.
If you are an aspiring game developer just starting out, you may want to check out Unreal Engine. This is a popular engine that is good for starters in that it is a bit more user-friendly. Unreal Engine involves less technical aspects to it as compared to other engines.
Another popular game engine that quite a few people know about is Unity. This game engine has a platform that allows you to create game characters. You can also add physics to the game assets using Rigidbody dynamics, and you can make your characters do different things by adding some code to your program.
If you don’t want to install a hefty software application on your computer, there are a whole host of game development engines that are web-based. You would simply go onto an internet browser, type in the URL, and then start coding. Once you’ve created your app or game, you simply download your file.
MIT App Inventory is a form of Scratch, which uses a block-based programming language for you to create apps and games. You drag and drop various blocks to build the code needed to run your creation.
Flowlab is another web-based application. Using Flowlab you can create game characters, add different movements for those characters, and create a full-fledged game. You can also access this application on your phone.
If you start working for first-party studios in the gaming industry, such as PlayStation, Naughty Dog, or Rockstar, you may work with proprietary game engines that these studios have created themselves.

“So I Could…” | Selina Hilliard

Name: Selina Hilliard | Instagram: @saleenasss
Course: Fundamentals of Global Sports Management

I enrolled in the Fundamentals of Global Sports Management course so I could…
show my commitment to staying up to date in the ever-changing sports industry.

How did the course prepare you for working in the sports industry?
This course has prepared me tremendously. I obtained a Bachelor of Business in 2015, so taking this course now has helped me stay up to date on what’s going on in the sports industry and how things are changing/expanding.

How did the partnership with NYU for Fundamentals of Global Sports Management affect your choice to take the program?
It affected my decision a lot. To know that I would be learning from professionals from such a prestigious institution made me intrigued, and ultimately choose this program.

What is your biggest takeaway from this program?
My biggest takeaway from this program would have to be the new area of sports analytics and how it is affecting the sports world.

Why did you think the course was right for you when you enrolled?
I thought this course was right for me because I knew it would help me level out the playing field when applying for sports positions. I have some experience in the sports industry but don’t have a Master’s in any sports program. I felt like this course was a great supplement to my bachelor of business.

What assignment, course, and/or instructor sticks out in your mind or taught you something valuable?
The marketing campaign assignment stuck out to me the most because it is something I actually want to do in my career. Making marketing campaigns is my career goal at the moment, so being able to get practice with that was amazing!

What would you say to a friend about Fundamentals of Global Sports Management?
Fundamentals of Global Sports Management was a great course that allowed me to dig deeper into my passion, at my own pace.

“So I Could…” | Noelle Nelson Guerrero

Name: Noelle Nelson Guerrero
Course: Fundamentals of Global Sports Management

I enrolled in the Fundamentals of Global Sports Management course so I could..
stay on top of my game and goals towards becoming a knowledgeable Sports Industry Professional.

 

How did the course prepare you for working in the sports industry?
I have acquired great knowledge and feel much more confident in pursuing work and career in sports.

 

How did the partnership with NYU for Fundamentals of Global Sports Management affect your choice to take the program?
The fact that it was offered by NYU was a definite reason for choosing this program because of the access to the faculty, the reputation, and the well established Sports programs it represents. I was happy to be able to attend NYU courses through a well programmed platform residing in another state of California.

 

What is your biggest takeaway from this program?
The program was impressive and informative. I especially appreciate how up to date and current the material is and the visual media incorporated was done very well. I am very appreciative that I was able to enroll in this program with the offer to apply for a partial scholarship to help with the costs. I learned a lot about the history and future of sports and was challenged with the course questions and marketing project which I found to be a great way to apply the material. It was the right amount of required assignments and I didn’t feel too overwhelmed. I’ve acquired and retained good useful information. I like that you can study at your own pace and time to complete the certificate. Such a Great! program for anyone interested in the Sports Industry.

 

What assignment, course, and/or instructor sticks out in your mind or taught you something valuable?
Vince Gennaro lectures and insight about Blockchain in sports. I appreciated the history timeline presentation and courses Media Marketing, Data Analytics and Global Ecosystem both instructors were awesome.

 

What would you say to a friend about Fundamentals of Global Sports Management?
If you are interested in learning about all aspects of the sports industry presented in a relevant, useful well developed presentation of curriculum and delivered by sports industry veterans, true sports professionals and educators this is the course to take, you will enjoy the content and won’t regret the decision to enroll. You will obtain a well earned NYU Certificate to add to your education accomplishments.

Ayesha Curry Talks “Following Your Passion” with Chris ‘Coseezy’ Strachan

Exclusive Conversation: Pursue Your Passion w/ Ayesha Curry and Chris ‘Coseezy’ Strachan.

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Ayesha Curry is a very busy woman. From cooking shows to restaurants to baby shoes to a new magazine, she is truly the personification of the phrase “pursue your passion.” In addition to her many personal projects popping off, she is super-focused when it comes to giving back to the community of Oakland and she stays true to her goals at all times. 

Mrs. Curry recently spoke with Chris ‘Coseezy’ Strachan and gave us all some gems to consider when pursuing your passion.  Throughout the conversation, she gave us quite a few tips. She talked everything from her favorite recipes to launching her magazine “Sweet July” to her Fempire series on EllenTube to all of the workings of eatlearnplay.org, and balancing family with work. Speaking of which, Stephen Curry dropped in for a mid-conversation cameo as well. Oh and Ayesha may or may not be dropping a new cookbook in September….stay tuned!

Thanks to Ayesha and Coseezy for this entertaining conversation, and for giving us all inspiration to “pursue your passion.” If you missed the live stream, drop your email address above to get a link to the full replay.