In this video tutorials you will learn how to build a Fiat Truck with 3ds Max 2009.
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Rendering skin with the natural appearance of translucency, specularity and reflection is achievable thanks to the Mental Ray Fast-Skin material. This tutorial demonstrates how to build the necessary shading network and manage the many attributes available. While the Fast-Skin material does have integrated control for specularity and reflections, we also look at how to implement a layered shader that allows for higher level control over these phenomenon. Using a female head as our example, we start from scratch and observe every step of the process, while explaining the logic behind our creative decisions.
Chapter One:
Working with the Fast-Skin Material
Chapter Two:
Mapping Color, SSS Layers and Bump
Chapter Three:
Layering Specularity and Reflections
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This session, led by Mike McCarthy, focuses on using Reactor to create dynamic simulations. There are some things that just can’t or shouldn’t be key-framed– with the power of Reactor you don’t have to! By giving objects real world properties like mass, elasticity, and friction you can set up a simulation and have Reactor build the animation for you
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Gnomon – Next-Gen Creature Design for Gears of War
In this DVD Jay Hawkins works from start to finish on the design for a Gears of War creature called the Locust Hydra. Jay covers everything from the intial thumbnail sketch to the final rendering of the concept used for production.
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Tip 1
Did you know that “architectural materials” and “self illuminated” materials are light emitting (for Mental Ray & Vray) ? If you apply them on a box you will get a similar effect as a “photometric area light” or a “Vraylight”.
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Tip 2
Try to use always soft shadows in your renderings if possible. Hard
shadows are looking always very fake. In “Mr Omni/Spot” scale the size of the light in the area light parameters (mental ray).
In Mental Ray you have to use the “RAYTRACED shadows” !
In Vray enable in the Omni/Spot the “area shadow” and scale the size of the light. Soft shadows will take more render time !
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Tip 3
To have perfect shadows it is necessary to create all objects with real dimensions.
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Tip 4
How to decrease render time for test-renderings:
a) The main setting to decrease the render time is the image size. Normally I use 150×112 pixels as size. It is too small to see the object’s details but it’s perfect to understand the light conditions.
b) Lower the Shadow quality !
c) Reduce the polygon number of the objects (try to use the optimize modifier if you don’t have any mesh smooth modifier on the objects)!
d) Reduce the photon number or/and the “sample” settings in the render engines. Vray/MentalRay/Brazil RS/FinalRender/ etc.
e) Be careful with the amount of lights (too many lights will make the rendering very slow)!
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Tip 5
Do not use editable MESH but ALWAYS editable “POLY”.
Editable Poly is optimized for advanced modeling , creates less errors than editable mesh and has many more settings than editable mesh.
If you were working on a object with editable mesh , you can without problems convert it into an editable Poly object.
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Tip 6
Instead to mesh smooth a box, use from the “extended primitives” a “chamfer box”… the result is the same, but the chamfer box” has less polygons !
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Tip 7
Sometimes all your Vertexes disappear during modeling of an object. To fix this bug try this options:
a) Convert your object again to an editable poly.
b) Convert your object to an editable mesh and then to an editable poly.
c) Save the file, Exit from 3Ds max and open again the file.
d) Save the file, Exit from
3Ds max and merge the object in a new file.
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Tip 8
The best light to create Highlights is the Omni light (or MR Omni).
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Tip 9
Do not use “area shadows” in Mental Ray, they are very slow and not optimized for Mental Ray.
The best/fastest result is visible when you use Raytrace shadows.
If you are working with the “light-tracer” than you can use “area shadows”. The result is the same as in MentalRay with Raytrace shadows.
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Tip 10
(For beginners) When you are working sometimes you can’t anymore move your object.
Probably you have pressed the key X. Press again X to enable the move tool (GIZMO).
Similar problem: You can select only one object, all other objects can’t be selected anymore: probably you have pressed SPACE and locked the object. Press again SPACE to unlock
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Tip 11
When you create a “loft” object it can happen that the end or beginning of the object has an error.
To fix the problem you should choose “CORNER” vertex on the first and last vertex of your spline.
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Tip 12
Download ALWAYS the last service-pack for your 3Ds Max version. It will fix important bugs.
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Tip 13
There can be only 2 mistakes when your extruded (spline + extrude modifier) object has an error:
a) you have overlapping segments in your spline.
b) the shape is not closed-check where you did not weld the vertexes.
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Tip 14
If you use splines to create shapes, try to use a very small number of vertexes.
If you convert the vertexes in smooth/bezier/bezier-corner you can create very organic and round shapes without a too high number of vertexes (same tip for loft in deformations-scale-panel).
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Tip 15
If your interface/panel disappeared you have this options to fix the problem:
a.) Maybe You are in the “expert” mode…press CTR+x…
b.) Customize > Customize User Interface > Toolbars Tab > Reset!
c.) “Start” button on windows > Autodesk >
3Ds Max > change graphics mode !
d.) There should be a 3dsmax.ini file in ur max folder…delete it and start 3Ds Max again…
e.) Customize > load custom UI scheme.
Following, just like in a real production, is a DVD that sets its goal to finally teach you in-depth how to effectively map your meshes. duber training didn’t want to create an ordinary, average training DVD, we decided we would like you to actually understand what UV’s are and how they work! Therefore loocas took the finished model from the first DVD and mapped it TWICE, firstly to show you how to work with the new Pelt Mapping technology available in 3ds Max 8 and then how to lay down the UV’s in a standard, classical, way. But still, this wouldn’t make the DVD so special if there weren’t clearly presented alternative UV mapping techniques utilizable on both organic and inorganic models along with numerous priceless tips and tricks proven in real productions. Everything is divided into logical chapters for better and faster navigation throughout the content.
- introduction
- uvw’s theory (if you are to map properly your own meshes, you have to understand what are and how UV’s work)
- pelt mapping (first we start with the latest technology. As it was said already, loocas unwraps the model twice in the end, this is the first time)
- classic mapping (you don’t have 3ds Max 8 and you don’t know how to UV map? That’s why loocas shows you how to in a classic way)
- mapping the eyes (it may sound simple, yet we’ve decided we wanted to dedicate a single chapter to this issue, you will see why)
- fine-tuning the UV’s (just like when modeling, if you haven’t fine-tuned it, it’s not done)
- alternate methods (it wouldn’t be a superior quality DVD if there wasn’t anything beyond the topic on UV mapping)
- conclusion
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Introduction to AutoCAD 2008 includes:
* Hundreds of full-colour drawings and screen shots illustrating the stages within the design process
* Worked examples and exercises throughout the text, linking the use of AutoCAD to real-world engineering practice
* Start of chapter learning outcome summaries and end of chapter revision notes and exercises to check the readers’ understanding
Suitable for all new users of AutoCAD, this book is particularly applicable to introductory level undergraduate courses and vocational courses in engineering and construction. Further Education students in the UK will find this an ideal textbook to cater for the relevant CAD units of BTEC National and BTEC Higher National Engineering schemes from Edexcel, and the City & Guilds 4353 and 2303 qualifications.
* Written by a member of the Autodesk Developer Network
* Hundreds of full-colour drawings and screen shots illustrating the stages within the design process
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by Les Pardew
Learn how to animate emotion in your characters and add drama to your animation! Character Emotion in 2D and 3D Animation deals specifically with body language, facial expressions, emotional reactions, and other methods of giving characters emotion. It also deals with adding emotion and drama to a scene or setting. A majority of animation books cover emotion as a side element. Character emotion is a major element that plays a vital role in the believability of the character. Character Emotion in 2D and 3D Animation offers comprehensive coverage of the techniques that can help you create believable emotion in your characters.
About the Author
Les Pardew was born and grew up in Idaho. His home town was a small farming community where he learned the benefits of hard work. His graduating high school class only numbered 33 individuals. From this small beginning Les has grown to become a recognized leader in interactive entertainment.
Les Pardew is a video game and entertainment industry veteran with over 20 years of industry experience. His artwork includes film and video production, magazine and book illustration and more than 100 video game titles. He is the author or co-author of eight books.
Game Art for Teens
Beginning Illustration and Storyboarding
Game Design for Teens
Mastering Digital Art
The Animation Reference Book
Basic Drawing for Games
Game Art for Teens 2nd Edition
Beginning Game Art in 3ds max
Everyone Should Draw
Game Character Animation All In One
Figure Drawing With Virtual Models
Maya 3ds Max Side-by-Side
Les started his career in video games doing animation for Magic Johnson Fast Break Basketball for the Commodore 64, He went on to help create several major games including Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Star Wars, Wrestle Mania, NCAA Basketball, Stanley Cup Hockey, Jack Nicholas Golf , Where in the World/USA is Carman Sandiego, Starcraft Broodwars, Rainbow six and Cyber Tiger Woods Golf to name a few.
Les is an accomplished teacher having taught numerous art and business courses including teaching as an adjunct faculty member at Brigham Young University¿s Marriott School of Management.
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In this DVD, Cetin Tuker gives an introductory explanation of the main concepts, actions, tools and workflow of 3ds Max. In the first chapters Cetin gives an overview of the user interface and explains how to customize it. Next, he demonstrates placing and transforming objects and discusses hierarchies which are very important for animation. Cetin covers the basics of viewing and navigating in 3D space, creating geometry, creating 2D shapes, selecting objects and modifying them by using the modifiers and modifier stack. He also shows how to manage scenes and files effectively. Finally Cetin talks about animation and time controls and gives a quick introduction to animation in Max.
Topics Covered / Chapters
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Industry veteran Szymon Masiak has put together over 4 hours of incredible Particle Flow and Autodesk Certified Animation Plug-in AfterBurn 3 training for animators looking to increase their understanding of how these two systems work in concert to produce everything from fiery explosions to drifting clouds.
With each effect type, the set up of the Particle Flow system is covered in easy-to-understand, logical steps, and Szymon explains how to make the most of your flows to get the looks you’re after.
Here’s an outline of Szymon’s course:
1. AfterBurn Introduction
2. Basic AfterBurn Clouds
3. AfterBurn Smoke & Fog
4. Basic AfterBurn Explosion
5. Advanced AfterBurn Clouds
6. Ground Explosion
7. AfterBurn Rocket
8. Advanced Explosion
9. PFlow Std. Cigarette Smoke
10. PFlow Machine Gun
11. PFlow Fireworks
12. PFlow Sand Dunes
13. PFlow Sand Twister
What’s more is that Szymon goes into detail on how you can tweak your AfterBurn settings so as not to bring your production renders to a grinding halt while still maintaining incredible detail and quality. It’s a must have for anyone who loves particle and effects work, and is a perfect compiment to the other Turbo Training titles. Buy your copy today.
About the Author:
Szymon Masiak was born in Poland in 1976, and after initially going to school for music, he switched gears and began his career as a 3D games artist in 1995. Self-taught, Szymon’s talents quickly earned him a good reputation and he quickly became a sought-after hired gun for 3D animation companies around the globe, from Germany and Poland to the UK and the United States. Now in his 10th year of working in the industry, Szymon is working steadily in the US and has recently completed work on several major motion pictures such as Sin City, Fantastic Four and Flight of the Phoenix among others. With his passion for particle effects, this DVD should give viewers a chance to learn from one of today’s top professionals. Let the explosive carnage begin!
Be aware that this DVD has been created at a resolution of 1024×768, therefore it will only function inside of a DVD Drive connected to your PC.
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