Being a "cyber" camp instructor...

steady

So I got hired as an instructor for this camp called iD tech camps and this is the first year they are in my area, figured it would be a good way to build leadership skills while waiting to hear back from med schools. Wanted to know if anyone else here has taught at one of these "cyber" type camps and has any experiences they would like to share.
My issue is that I wanted to teach the 3d modeling course but since the camp only uses Maya (I have only used 3dsmax) I have been assigned to "Advanced Video Game modding" which will deal with Unreal 2 and possibly Warcraft 3 modding. Do you think I should try downloading Maya PLE and try learning it ASAP? I think I would enjoy teaching a 3d course more, I would be able to transfer all the great knowledge I've absorbed from all you geniuses here at polycount to these youngins. A modding course would be cool but not AS cool as creating actual assets/characters. At the same time I would be lying to the company, telling them that I am a pro at a program which I am not. There is a 2 day training session that goes on before camp starts, and most of the lesson plans are already planned out for us to teach, so I feel like I could do it if I really wanted.

What do you guys think? THX!

nacire

You should definitely learn Maya. Being someone who has used both Maya and Max in production environments, I can say that they are very similar. It shouldn't take you long to get enough of a foot hold in Maya to teach modeling at a cyber camp.

indian_boy

omfg for a moment i thought u got the job where i worked last summer, and am applying this summer. lol

its called CyberCAMP [organized by 'cyber arts' program of don mills CI in toronto w00t]... so i was like "woah i get to meet a fellow polycounter!"

and learning as many softwares as you can is probably the best of ideas.

Emil Mujanovic

To be honest, it may not be a good idea. It all depends on how much time you have and what exactly you will be teaching.
If you've never used Maya, you're going to need to know the toolset inside-out before you get in front of a bunch of people trying to teach stuff.
I made the switch from Max to Maya, because where I work they use Maya as their package of choice. I made the transition fairly quickly (I was making assets within the week), so I don't doubt that you could do this also. In fact, I'm quite sure you could.
But like with every package, you need to know it's quirks and handy tips that make it great. I've been using Maya for about a year and a half and I'm still finding a whole bunch of new shit that I could have used over a year ago.
Also, don't try and teach something because it would be "cooler" to teach, teach something you know you'd do a great job at. At present moment, which would you do a better job at teaching, the modding stuff or the modeling in Maya stuff?
How long until this Cyber Camp stuff begins? If you have over a month, then give Maya a go and see how you find it.
Good luck, mate.

-caseyjones