Summer Camp Success!

We caught up with Dave Bittorf to tell us how this year’s Summer Camp Went…

Nicole: What did you teach this summer?

Dave: I taught Z-Brush to a group of High School students.  Z-Brush is a high-end sculpting project that is used to make characters for both video games and feature films.  This program is similar to sculpting with clay but instead, you are doing it on the computer.  The class learned how to make characters from scratch and texture them as well.

Nicole: Was this is your first time teaching a summer camp at Platt College San Diego?

Dave: No, I’ve taught the summer camps at Platt for many years.  In fact, I came up with the idea of having the summer camps about ten years ago.  When I started teaching at Platt, I was teaching 3D in the evenings and doing high school presentations during the day.  When I saw how excited the students were about all that Platt could offer, I designed a week long course in the summer where high school students could try it out and see if this would be a good fit for them.

Nicole: What do you teach at Platt College in general?

Dave: At Platt, I teach several of the 3D courses.  I’m currently teaching Hard Surface Modeling, Character Anatomy for Modelers, and Demo Reel Development.

Nicole: How long was the summer camp course?

Dave: The summer camp was a week.  It met four hours each day, every day for one week.

Nicole: What fun projects did you assign the students?

Dave: I had the students create their own characters from scratch!  I showed them different ways that they could start their creations and then they took it from there.  It was really fun to see what they came up with.

Nicole: How did the students respond to the class and the projects?

Dave: I think the students had a great time.  This wasn’t your typical “Summer School” course.  People who do this type of work are very passionate about what they do and are excited to work on their projects.

Nicole: Do you have any work from one of the students?

Dave: Yes. I can share a photo of a project done by one of the high school students. His name is William Lord.

Nicole: What was your favorite part about teaching summer camp?

Dave: My favorite part is always seeing the creativity of the students.