It’s been awhile since I’ve posted here, but I thought I’d try to get as many suggestions as possible.
Currently, I am a senior and I have a free elective where I can take whatever class I want. So, I decided to take an independent study with one of my professors. My question is, what are somethings that I could learn more about.
The few things I thought of were:
Model a hand and rig it with realistic deformation.
I’d say the first thing you need to do is take some time and research. Most independent studies allow a week or so to really figure out what you are going to do, if not do this now… Sit down and think about what you want to learn, use this time to become more skilled in an area that will contribute to what you want to do in the near future. If you want to be a rigger, do rigging, if you want to program c++ maya, do that, if you want be a python programmer, program python.
This is the generic case of students not knowing what to do. The best advice I can give you is to make it count, go look at job requirements of positions you want to have, think about where you want to be, find a project you think is cool, and redo it or make it better.
College is a time to explore the options, don’t think anyone can give you the answer, you have to learn the answers yourself, and it starts with putting in that time in “researching.”
It’s really important to have a clearly defined goal. Of the three topics you mentioned, only the hand modeling and rigging meets that qualification.
Not only do you need a clearly defined goal, but you need a way of measuring your success. How do you know you’ve met your goals? When is it time to stop working on one problem and move on to the next?
After exploring your options, choose something that allows you to create a good plan. You’ll want to break it down into sub-goals that allow you to evaluate your progress and success along the way.
If you can’t make a good plan, it’s an indication that you haven’t done enough research to understand the problem well. Either that or the problem isn’t well-defined to begin with. At that point you should probably just pick a topic that fits better with your current expertise. Experience is incremental. Use what you’ve already got.
Not sure what school or program you are in, but it is also a good idea to discuss your options with your professor. And speaking of professors, it would also be beneficial to ask one who has experience in the subject you want to get into. On my last quarter of school, I also did the Independent Study route and narrowed down my mentors to 2 professors, one with experience in the game industry from the Art department, and one with CG/animation background from the CS department. Having a great mentor will make it easier for you to strive and measure your goal and make the most out of your studies. I’ve seen lots of students choose a professor who could care less what their students did, and the student also didn’t have the full motivation to do what they planned out in the beginning. Sure you might get your A in the end, but what did you really gain out of those few months?