INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING AT MIT

This is a course from MIT's OpenCourseWare website. It is called “Introduction to Computer Science and Programming” and was instructed by Professors Eric Grimson and John Guttag. You can watch the lectures, read the transcripts, and view class assignments and exams. No programming experience is required. This course is intended to enable students to write small programs and use them for solving problems. The programming language utilized here is Python. Coincidentally, Python is the same language used by Blender.

This course includes the following topics: operators, variables, iteration, code patterns, recursion, bisection methods, lists, efficiency, algorithms, binary search, testing, debugging, dynamic programming, abstract data types, encapsulation, computational models, plotting, distributions, simulations, curve fitting, linear regression, and stock market simulation.

Intro. to Computer Sci. and Programming (MIT)

DIY COMPUTER ANIMATIONS AND VIDEO GAMES

Have you ever watched a Pixar film and wished you could have a go at making CG animations? Do you aspire to becoming a video game developer, but you lack the resources to gain any experience? Blender might be just what you need. It is a 3D computer graphics program which is free and open-source. All you need is a reasonably fast computer and internet connection. This software is capable of building 3D models, rendering artwork, making animations, running user-created video games and simulations, and more. A diligent user's creations are only limited by imagination, and, in some cases, computing power. In commercial applications Blender has been used to make advertisements, short films, and was even used by the storyboard department of Spider-Man 2. The experience acquired from using this program can be invaluable if you are pursuing a career in the film/animation or video game industries. Learning to use Blender takes some time, but there is a lot of support via the Blender community. Users who are highly skilled often create tutorials to share their knowledge. Not only is the software free, but getting educated in how to use it is free, too. Below is a screenshot of Blender followed by a few short films.

Blender (software)

“Esign 2”

“Elephants Dream”

“Sintel” (some violence and blood)