I'm such a newbie! can anyone help?

I know that that this technology is out of my current reach of understanding, but I want to learn how to do this!
I have a personal account for Zapworks. I’ve learned how to work the widgets and designer modes.

I’ve had fun making interactive photo cards. etc… The widgets and designer modes are almost too easy, but quite appropriate for the specific needs. For me, I was completely interested in creating your own 3d character in conjunction with this app.

I’ve had Zapworks for a few days and have loved it. I’ve actually been on it, almost non stop, for the past few days! I’m learning studio right now, but, I got this wanting to make my own interactive characters with Zapworks.

I’m an art teacher that teaches multimedia and I think that this is the highest level of multimedia that I can find.
I want to learn how to do this, personally and completely, before I introduce it my my school and my students in the fall. I basically need to find the path of least resistance. What my ultimate goal is: to have my students do a painting and then add a Zapcode to it with the interactive images/ people/ characters that they have done in 2D.

I have a few questions:
1. Which is better: Blender, Maya, or something else to create a 3d character? Better is defined by simplicity. Total control isn’t really desired?
We have a 3d printer and use Leopoly and Tinkercad to build our models. They save in different formats (STL). I’m assuming that Blender or Maya or other programs work in a similar manner?

**2.**In designer mode, adding a new slide is easy and making it do an action in that slide is easy. But, in studio… I’m having troubles figuring out how to do that…?

I wish that there was one more level between Designer and Studio… The difference is such a quantum leap!

At any rate, I want to know how easy or if it’s too hard to do for my students. I’m playing with this for the next month to figure it all out. My students would definitely get the Widgets and Designer modes, but for the applications that I would want aren’t in those versions.
I want to learn studio and either Blender or Maya over this summer to see if I can realistically introduce this into the classroom.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi There,

Thanks for getting in touch.

Glad to hear you’re having fun with ZapWorks and pushing yourself with Studio :slight_smile:

To answer your questions:

  1. Unfortunately all of the 3D tools out there are fairly complex and detailed, the main difference between Maya and Blender being that Blender is a free tool and Maya is more feature complete. Regardless of which you choose you’ll likely need to follow some tutorials on how to create 3D models using them so it might be worth checking out the tutorials and seeing which one you find easier.

  2. The concept of multiple scenes in Designer does not translate 100% into Studio but it is possible to get similar functionality using Screen Symbols.

When learning Studio we recommend browsing the documentation in the following order to get started:

  1. Getting Started/Tutorials - The best place to begin your learning journey. Everything from introducing the tool through to scripting and animation basics. Whether you prefer video or more traditional text based articles we have you covered.

  2. Projects - A series of step by step guides that will see you build your own complete experiences in next to no time. Great for getting a feel of the tool while also building some pretty cool AR content to spark your imagination.

  3. Scripting - A whirlwind introduction to TypeScript along with some basic programming cornerstones to help get you creating more complex interactive experiences. An invaluable follow up to the Getting Started section.

Hope this helps :slight_smile:

Mark

Thank you for replying!

I’m playing around with Blender. It’s a big learning curve for me but doable? But, just time and messing around is what I need to do.

Starting to do the tutorials. They are a bit confusing to follow, but I’m slowly getting things.
I did the Zapbot tutorial video and it came out well…? I was able to manipulate Zapbot around in Studio. I am still figuring out how to animate him more. Also, I still could not get him to move in my preview…? And, I couldn’t manipulate him in my preview, either? I just got him as a still statue. I know I’m doing something wrong. The videos are a bit tough to get, but I’ll figure it out.
After I figure out how to do that, I’m going to work on Masking.

This must be very basic to all of you. This is a quantum leap of my understanding. But, 3D animated sculpting is something that I always wanted to learn how to do. And,I think that The Zappar app is SO cool that it’s motivating me to learn! It’s right on the boarding edge from pro-consumer to professional. And, I’m coming from the ranks of ignorant civilian status!

I’m realizing that I’m playing in the world of graphic design professional techies and I am NOT near this world! I’m a Middle School Art Teacher that learning new skills is fun! And, I hope to learn everything that i can about this to try and bring this to my classroom for my students and for myself! I

Designer is coming along well for me. And I see that being the peak of where my students can be. Where Widgets is a good start for them. I just have to make sure that our tech can handle all this! I work in an inner city school and all tech is pretty old! I hope that it can work out!

I do after school lessons with my alumni who come back on Saturdays, because their schools don’t have an arts program, and I think Studio maybe a good route for them in conjunction with Blender?

I was wondering,… Like Zapbot, is there an open source/ free site to download 3D animated characters and objects that can be used in Studio?

If you’ve read this far, thank you for your time!

Thanks you!

Hey again,

If there are any particular areas of the documentation or videos that are confusing you then please do let us know, constructive feedback is as welcomed as positive feedback :slight_smile:

With regards to 3D models there are a few different articles/tutorials that touch on different areas:

  • For playing back a 3D model’s baked animations (created in 3D software such as Blender) then our article on Playing 3D Animations helps explain this process using ZapBot as an example.

  • For placing a 3D model onto a tracking image so that you can rotate your physical image so it rotates the model then you can watch our tutorial video on Tracking Images.

  • For manipulating a model using the screen such as scaling, rotating and positioning the 3D model, we recommend using the 3D Photofeature Template as demonstrated in our step by step article of the same name.

3D modeling and animating is definitely no easy task so don’t feel disheartened if it’s not something you get right away. It, like many other cool technologies, takes some getting used to.

We have some Studio ready free 3D assets in our free assets section of the forum which you can check out. As well as POD you can also import FBX models into Studio which is a well known 3D file type. Some 3D model websites such as TurboSquid have some free models, though not all of these will work in Studio straight out of the box.

Hope this helps :slight_smile:

Mark