Produced for CAD 179/ CAD 279 / ARC 216 and CAD 110

By Jennifer O'Connor

There is, perhaps, an easier way of learning a large amount of information than just slogging through a book from start to finish, trying to read, process and remember every piece of information as you go. That process may work for some people, but certainly not all.  People rarely remember how to do something when they have only read, or seen something demonstrated, only once.  People have different learning styles, too, and linear reading is not always the best approach for all.   Usually a combination of methods is needed for most people to learn and understand any subject.  We will cover several learning styles in this class, and you will see, hear and do the subjects you need to understand.

You may have heard the joke, Q: "How do you eat an elephant?”  A: “One bite at a time."  Whenever you begin to take on a big task, like learning a new program such as 3ds Max Design, it seems obvious to break it down into small manageable bites that you can tackle one at one time, like eating that elephant. 

Any large, potentially overwhelming task, is best broken down into smaller tasks.  When learning, however, this approach is like trying to figure out what an elephant is by looking through a microscope.  The narrow focus eliminates the big picture.  You need to get the big picture too, and I want to introduce you to a different approach to reading your book, and to learning any material, something that can help you to more easily get that big picture of an entire subject, and make it easier to learn and remember the concepts presented there.

We all like the concept ‘easier to learn’, right?

 

You are probably familiar with the terms "Short-term" and "Long-term" memory; the human brain stores information first in the short-term memory and, if the process or information is repeated, the brain transfers it to the long-term memory.  Some experts have said that, for the average individual, things needs to be repeated at least four times before they are moved to long-term memory.  Obviously, repetition aids in learning.

 

How many times have you seen a movie for the second time and caught something you didn't see the first time, or got some subtlety you previously missed?  You ended up getting more out of the movie by seeing it again.  A multiple-pass approach to learning builds on that insight, and is what you need to do if you really want to learn this software, and get a good grade.

 

Each time you saw the movie it added another layer of information, another level of understanding to the content, and your understanding of part of the movie opened up the opportunity to learn more about other parts.  The multiple passes also helped to move the repeated information into long-term memory.

So, keeping in mind that it takes more than one pass through information to make it 'stick', and that taking multiple passes helps to broaden your understanding, I’m asking that you do something called "Scan and Dip" through your book at least once between each class.   I'll describe what “scan and dip” means in a moment, and what you need to do.

 

 

First, start with an open mind.  For almost your entire life, you have used a serial, start-to-finish approach to reading any material, and believed that you must read and understand every word as you go along.  This can often take a lot of the enjoyment out of reading, and create a stressful situation that makes learning difficult. 

I want you to begin to take a different approach to learning 3ds max.   This approach may not show you immediate, obvious results, but it does help, it significantly improves your understanding of the program, and makes the process of understanding easier.

Second, whenever possible, find a time and place that is conducive to learning.  Study during the time of day that is your best time to learn.  Working against your natural rhythms only makes things more difficult than they need to be.  Find a quiet place if that works for you, or play music to keep out distractions. 

Except during lecture, of course!

Everyone’s learning style can vary, and working against what works for you only makes it more difficult to learn.  If you are bogged down or frustrated, then take a break.  Walk away.  Stretch.  When you get back to the program things will be easier to handle. 

Third, stay away from carbohydrates during and before studying or class time.  Eating pasta for dinner, for instance, causes your blood sugar to go way up, then come crashing down later during class or while studying, making you tired and making it more difficult to concentrate.  Sticking with protein as much as possible before class keeps your blood sugar level steady, and keeps you from falling asleep or getting the munchies part way through class.

You need to understand that your outlook - your attitude towards learning this or any subject - will have a great impact on your success or failure.  If you believe that this will be hard, then it absolutely will be, no doubt.  You will prove yourself right every time.  The amount of work assigned in this class can be accomplished in the time given, and a few students will complete things early, and even go beyond what is outlined for them.  That is not always necessary for a good grade, however.  Most people will need to come in for extra lab time on the weekend to get everything done, but I believe that everyone is perfectly capable of completing all the assignments given, and more.

 

The first time you open any book, first begin by spending up to 15 minutes ‘Scanning’ the book.  Scanning is the process of flipping through the pages at about one second per-page, no more.  Read the table of contents, look at any text in bold print, like chapter headings, etc, and looking at the pictures, then move on.  Take a relaxed approach and do not attempt to understand any word you read, and do not take more than one second per page. – Reading and understanding is not the objective at this point.  Adding a small layer of understanding about the whole book is the point.

Your goal is to get a general overview of the book, its contents and layout, and not the details, and you are not expected to remember everything you see.  You may pick up on some key words that are repeated throughout the text, and this will help you later, which is great, but the goal at this point is just to expose yourself to the entire book in a relaxed manner and to begin building the first layer of overall understanding. 

You are essentially looking at your elephant from a distance and getting a general idea what it is.  You are getting a feel for the program, and a sense of what is covered in the book and this class.

If you find yourself beginning to read things that catch your eye, force yourself to move on.  Don't spend more than a second per page at this point, and remember to relax as you go.  This is not a test, and we’ll read more in the book later.

Once you’ve scanned the book, give yourself some time to let your subconscious digest the information.  Take at least an hour, but overnight is better. Scanning before bedtime is helpful.

The next time you scan through the book, keep a notepad nearby and write down any "key words" you see repeated in the text.  In our book, it may be things like: Render, Object, Geometry, Modify, Transform, and so on.  Don’t delve into what those things are yet, just acknowledge that they exist, write them down, and move on.

Writing these topics or concepts down will help to create 'hooks' in your memory, and give you something to build upon, and something to help recall this information later.  You are not writing definitions for these words or trying to understand what they are at this point, you are just writing down that these concepts exist in the software.

Each time you scan you build another layer of overall knowledge, you will get a better picture of the overall concepts, and also learn where information is placed within the book, all with minimal effort.

 

In later scanning sessions you begin to add "dipping".  This means that when you see a key word that interests you, you dip into the text and read about that concept for a short while, a paragraph or two.  Taking brief notes, even if you never look at them again, helps to make the memory more permanent. Don’t spend a lot of time on any one topic.

Once you’ve read a small portion about the subject, you continue to scan the book until you get to another topic that interests you.  Again, read a paragraph or two and take short notes if you like.  This builds more detailed layers of understanding about the subject matter.  Scanning and dipping also allows you to learn about things that may interest you that we may not get to for many weeks.

Because 3ds Max Design is such a large program, often times it not so much that you understand every detail of every topic, but that you know that the topic exists, and where to look it up.

Note:  Scanning and dipping into the text does not replace standard reading; you still need to do that, and you should try to follow the outline I have provided in the class.  I may not follow the order of the book in my lectures, as the lectures are tied to the labs I assign, too.  The scanning and dipping will make understanding the text much easier, as you already have some layers of understanding about the subject.

 

 

Each time you sit down to read in your 3ds max book, take a few minutes and scan through the areas you have already read, along with the remainder of the book.  Like seeing a movie again, your knowledge of the material will open you up to learning more.  You will be amazed at how much this can reinforce your understanding of the material already covered, and make it much easier to get the big picture as you move forward.

 

 

A multi-pass approach applies to lab work, too.  If you work through a lab and don't feel that you "got it", then doing the lab again can help you in understanding the concepts presented to you.  It’s always easier the second time, and it usually goes much faster.  If you can do the lab again (provided you have the time), or you do a similar tutorial provided with max, your understanding will improve vastly, and future labs will be easier for you to do. 

 

The Tutorials provided with 3ds max are found in the Help->Tutorials menu (for the text), and you can go to the instructor's machine for the tutorial *.max scene files.

 

 

Habits, like how you used to read through a textbook, are hard to break, but taking a multiple-pass approach to learning can greatly increase the speed of learning, and vastly improve your level of understanding.  Give it a try!

·          Learning to Learn:  Maximizing your Performance Potential.  Published by Elan, Hawaii, 1991.  D. Trinidad Hunt, author.  ISBN 1-881904-00-8.  808-239-4431

·          The PhotoReading Whole Mind System.  Learning Strategies Corp, Minneapolis, publisher.  Paul Scheele, M.A. author.  ISBN 0-925480-50-9.  $12.95.  800-735-8273.

·          "The Dark Side of the Light Chasers: Reclaiming Your Power, Creativity, Brilliance, and Dreams" by Debbie Ford.  Published by Riverhead Books, June 1999. ISBN: 1573227358.