What is 3Dami?

Last week at one of our Escape Studios Creative Workshops I was looking at a portfolio from a student who had, as part of a group project, made an entire 3D animated film using the 3D software Blender. 

When I asked her how she had done so much work, she explained that she had made the film along with a group of other students at 3Dami, an organisation that helps 14-18 year olds get experience with digital technology.

I was impressed with the quality of the film, and also with how much the students got done in a short amount of time. The project was exactly the kind of thing that we get our students to do at Escape Studios - hand-on experience making films using the right techniques and technology.

3Dami

What is 3Dami?
According to its website, 3Dami is a non-profit organisation founded to promote digital art amongst pre-university students, by linking them with each other and industry.

What does 3Dami do?
3Dami runs free seven day summer (14-18 year old) and half term (14-22 year old) animation camps, getting groups of nine students to run their own studios, and make their own short 3D animated film using Blender. The students experience every part of production, from scriptwriting through to final première.

I often get asked by parents of children with an interest in animation how their kids can get some teaching in the subject. 3Dami looks like a great solution. 

Getting started
To get involved, students must first register their interest, and submit a small portfolio of work.  It helps if students have tried out the free software Blender (see below).

Blender
3Dami uses the free software Blender, so it's a good idea to download a copy of Blender, and test it out.  Blender is free, runs well even on older machines, and can be used to create excellent work.

Scheme of work
3Dami also produces a free 6 week school scheme of work for 11-18 year olds based on the English Computing curriculum. Both projects place film-making, teamwork and computational thinking at their core.

Who runs 3Dami?
3Dami is run by a group of academics and volunteers trying to bring digital skills to students in secondary school. The project director is Peter Kemp, Senior Lecturer in Computing Education at the University of Roehampton.

Where and when
3Dami depends on the generosity of institutions such as University College London, who have in the past provided classroom space. Courses take place over the summer, in late July and August, after schools break up for the holidays.

Further information
To find out more, you can see their YouTube Channel here. You can find 3Dami at Facebook here.  And you can find them at Twitter here.  And, of course, visit them at their official site.

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt in 3D Animation, follow this link.  To apply for our storyboarding evening class, visit this page here.  For the next 12 week animation course, click here.