Need advice picking a program

First of all, if this is the wrong form, may the MOD SQUAD people move it to a good place.
The powers that be above me have decided that since I teach television that I can teach animation (2d and 3d), and have commanded me to start planning a new course in said subject. I know how animation works, and I have done some in Flash, Motion, and a bit in After Effects. However, its not my strong point.
They want me to get a program that can do 2d and/or 3d animation that looks good and can be considered professional. I want one that I can easilly learn over a couple months and is within the grasp of high school students.
And of course, it has to be Mac based. I run a lab with Intel iMacs (if something has to run in Rosetta I don't care, I am not one of those people who gets my jollies ruined because it takes an extra ten seconds for something to render). Most have the seperate graphics cards (some 128, some 256), and either 1 or 2 gigs of RAM. They do not want me to rely on what I have right now... I can use FCP, Motion, AE... but there has to be a new program to focus around. And there is a possibility that I may have to involve a camera for claymation type stuff depending on state standards.
I would be grateful for any suggestions for software for a high school level animation class.
BTW, if this is out of bounds on this board, please forgive me. I figure this is the best place for suggestions, rather than registering at a bunch of random Mac boards.

They want me to get a program that can do 2d and/or
3d animation that looks good and can be considered
professional.
...and/or? Motion is strictly 2d, AE has 3d compositing. If you want to teach 3d modeling/animation, you have to get a program that does just that.
I want one that I can easilly learn
over a couple months and is within the grasp of high
school students.
I have to chuckle a bit. I think 3d animation software has to have one of the highest learning curves in creative applications. If you think you're gonna pick this up quickly, you might be in for a surprise.
I can use FCP,
Motion, AE... but there has to be a new program to
focus around.
So you're teaching a class using FCP, Motion and AE and you want to tack on a fourth program? Yikes, I hope your students are brilliant, because that sort of ciricullum would push most college programs to the brink...
It sounds to me like you have everything you need to handle the 2d stuff, and what you're lacking is something that will allow you to build 3d models and animations. A program like Maya would be total overkill in this situation. While I haven't used it personally, I hear Cinema4D is a lot more approachable for the casual 3d artist.
From the sound of it, this sounds like a highly ambitious class. I hope it goes well.
Mac Pro 2.66Ghz - 3GBs RAM - X1900XT Mac OS X (10.4.8)

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Need advice on choosing programs for laying out and editing books

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I am looking to find out what the least expensive (for now) but necessary programs I would need to purchase in order to take a book from a Word manuscript to print-ready.
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The typical workflow in a newsroom will split copywriting from layout, as the journalists aren't allowed to format the page and the graphics dept can't write articles. So, the text is written in InCopy by a bunch of people, who then pass the content to someone with InDesign who imports it and lays out the issue. InCopy basically allows people to write a chunk of text that will fit in a certain space, but it doesn't care what the overall document looks like. It has some very powerful features for collaboration, but to put it bluntly, text is text - provided you get the styles mapping sorted, ID doesn't care where it comes from.
Unless you're working with this split-job-role system there's no reason you'd need to use InCopy.
OLIVE C. F. wrote:
Thank you for the tips. I will need InCopy then as that is a major part of what I do.
Sent via DroidX2 on Verizon Wireless™

Need advice on a DVD program that I can use to Airstream to Apple TV via iMac

Need advice on a DVD program that I can use to Airstream To Apple TV

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Overly Excited New User Needs Advice on Windows for Mac

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Hi eightezsteps, welcome to Apple Discussions!
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is iWork any better than Office?
I prefer it to Office now after using it for a year. However, it is different, and there is a slight learning curve to it. Once you discover the differences from Office, you'll be as productive if not moreso. You should be aware that some of the more advanced features of Office are sometimes not included in iWork though. So if you require advanced formulas and macros in Excel (for example) to be cross-platform compatible then you'll need Office. If your work is slightly less hardcore than that, you'll be just fine with iWork once you get used to it.
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--Travis

Need advice on video software.

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Hunt

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hi
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Hi Prateek,
Thank you very much for your quick reply.
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Need help writing host program using LabView.

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Hello,
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Regards, George
George Dorian
Sutter Instruments
51 Digital DR.
Novato, CA 94949
USA
[email protected]
m
(415) 883-0128
FAX (415) 883-0572

George may not answer you. He hasn't been online here for almost eight years.
Jim
You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are. ~ Alice

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Lisa Ellies-Laye wrote:
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Hello. So glad I found this site!
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Dear VectorGirly, I currently have an OKI Postscript c9800 printer. I use postscript printers because I calibrate and use color profiles to get the closest colour match to the outsourced commercial print that I can. I know this is more than you budgeted for, but it really depends what you end up focusing on. (ie web or print). I focus more on print, hence my printer has to proof postscript correctly for me. I am PC based but my files print to both PC and Mac platforms.
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My biggest advice would be to think through how you will use the video... e.g. DVD, iPod, internet, AppleTV, iMovie, anything you can think of that you will actually use in the near future.
Then, get the hardware and software you need and pick one tape and work it through the whole workflow so you understand everything from front to back. Then you can start picking up the speed and just doing the imports, etc.
1) Where do we purchase a "digital analog converter"? Is there a brand name that works well? You >>make a good point about working with the original. Do we understand correctly that we'd use this >>converter to transfer a VHS playing in a VCR directly to iMovie where it could be saved and edited, >>burn a DVD, and then move on to the next VHS tape?
Canopus sells digital audio converters, which converts your analog into DV format, which is a good format for editing. The EyeTV, mentioned above, will take your analog and save it is MPEG2, which is the format that DVD players use, but requires some extra conversion before you edit it. So if you are primarily doing editing, go with the Canopus. If you are going straight to DVD, the EyeTV is fine.
2) Does the Wii work like the Sony playbox? These are new things for us..., but we do have a Wii >> now - got it for Christmas.
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3) Does an Apple TV actually store the movies then? Can they later be downloaded, edited, and >> saved to DVD or whatever is the latest thing? (Obviously we don't have an Apple TV and don't >> know a thing about them.) Would this be a quick fix? If we could store them now, be able to
view them easily, and later, as we have time, we could edit and burn them to a DVD, that might >> be worth the money.
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Need advice on Career in SAP after completing 9 yrs in IT mainly in Telecommunication Domain with BMC Remedy Tool knowledge

Need advice on Career in SAP after completing 9 yrs in IT mainly in Telecommunication Domain with BMC Remedy Tool knowledge.
Which Module of SAP I can learn and get into as I have Tool based knowledge in BMC Remedy and fair knowledge in SQL, as I come from non-IT background. What are career prospect after completing any SAP module now will my previous experience will be taken into account?

Prashant,
One of the reasons nobody has replied to you yet is that, this is a question with so little information provided.
- There is no mention of your education background.
- Your work background is very vague.What exactly did you do in Telecommunication Domain?
- What exactly did you do in BMC Remedy? Where you just an end-user or did you do any background support work?
- What exactly did you do in SQL? Did you work on it or did you just attend training?
- Why do you want to jump into SAP? And what precisely you want to jump into in SAP?
- What are your interests? Technical or Non-technical?
- What's your career objective? Where do you want to be 5 years from now?
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It's your career that you are planning. It definitely deserves more thought-process and planning to go into.
pk

Newbie needs advice on audio interface

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To be honest, if using mics, you will get more out of picking up the FireStudio Mobile and spending the difference (or more) on treating the room you will be recording and mixing in.
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TBH, if this is strictly hobby stuff, by the time you treat your recording environment, pick up decent mics, a second hard drive, stands, cables, monitors, headphones, a handful of plugins, another DAW or two, furniture etc, etc, you will not be too concerned about ownng the FireStudio... Its a great little unit that is very reliable and has a solid build.

Neo2 865-ls compatibility issue - plz ASAP need advice

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My parts.
Cruciall DDR 400
p4 2.8c (800FSB) HT
WD caviar 80gb 8mb cache
sony dvd player
420watts thermalake pure power
ALL IN WONDER 9700 pro - pn version pn-XXXXXXXX-10
Thank you very much guys. :P

Hi Joni Guapz,
There shouldn't be any issue on this board if you do the proper setups accordingly.
1 word of advice for you. This mobo is very very very particular of the RAMs working on it, therefore, please kindly refer to the following page for a list of compatible RAMs:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=433
Please note that if you are an o/clocker, I suggest you browsing through the older post of the forum through the search engine and see which are the best selected RAMs for your board, or you can go to the following thread by me on Mobo vs RAMs etc... on the top of 1st page and see the pros and cons listed out from individual users.
All in all, this is a very very very good and stable board for me myself(in my signature) and it rocks very smoothly during gaming, ripping music and multi-tasking.
All the Best... :D!!!

Need advice picking a program

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