I asked Tolu about the course and asked him to provide a kind of diary so that we could document the progress both he and the children made over the period of the twelve-week course.

Where did you get the idea for the course?

Two years ago while freelancing, I taught a beginners' course in 3D graphics using Bryce 3D and Poser 3. When this course had finished, due to the success and popularity of the course I considered setting up a LightWave equivalent.

As I thought back to my younger academic days I realized that for any young people looking to get into 3D arts their only realistic access point was through higher education at the age of 18 or above. This was not so much of a hindrance for me, as I was quite determined and wanted to do nothing except create CGI, since watching Tron when I was twelve. The situation is not so rosy for the enthusiastic but not-so-determined individuals who may go "Wow, I’d love to learn that!" but cannot even begin to fathom how to get started hence the 3^rd Dimension.

Have you had experience of teaching children before?

I have previously ran a kids art’s club down at my local community centre and taught children how to use the internet. My teaching experience also includes teaching IT skills to the elderly people in sheltered housing - as part of the government’s Shelter-net scheme - as well as teaching people on government benefits.

What are your qualifications to teach LightWave to anyone?

As you know there are no formal qualifications for teaching LightWave, but I have used LightWave for about five years and that combined with my teaching experience helped create the learning materials and complete the paperwork necessary to create a course of this type.

The first 3D program I ever used was Real 3D on my trusty old Amiga 1200, I used that for about a year before I upgraded to Cinema 4D which taught me a lot. Eventually I bought a PC and thanks to Babylon 5 bought a copy of LightWave, since then I have managed to break into the industry doing freelance modelling work. In the way of formal qualifications I have a BSc in Special Effects for film as well as A levels in graphic design and fine art.

What’s the worst thing about trying to teach LightWave to a bunch of pre-teens?

Students who aren’t ready to roll up their sleeves. One of the great things about 3D is the instant cool factor that surrounds it. Everybody wants to do 3D but not everyone can handle the level of work and commitment that is needed to progress, this is especially true of pre-teens.

Talking. No matter what you do or say a class of pre-teens will always talk to each other. The trick is to try to keep talking to a minimum; this can be done either through the authoritarian approach (not recommended) or the compromise approach which involves you actively sculpting the verbal traffic into a more acceptable form. For example I said "I don’t mind talking as long as you're working on your computer and the conversation you're having involves 3D."

What’s the best?

Where to begin? Their enthusiasm, the amazing ability children have to assimilate information and the genuine sense of wonder on their faces when they discover something new.

Why LightWave?

Obviously I know LightWave quite well, so in choosing to teach a course in 3D I’m going to go with what I know. Aside from that, in my opinion it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to teach a course of this type to children using other high-end software. Before I elaborate further I would just like to say for the record that I’m against software snobbery of any kind, I always say "whatever gets the job done gets the job done" in my opinion crap artists blame their tools. But having said that there are some things you can’t just ignore, the main one being LightWave's ease of use.

With Modeler it is very easy to create complex organic forms from a cube in mere minutes, and best of all the ease of use does not come at the expense of power, so much so that you find yourself asking why other programs make things so difficult. I could go on forever about the qualities LightWave brings to the table but to sum up I would say: For teaching pre-teens the basics of a high-end 3D program and getting them used to industry standard tools, terms and practices look no further than LightWave 3D.