3DS Max for Production Super Bundle

Environment Creation for Production

Instructor:
Tim Jones

Formats: (Mac or PC only)
DVD-ROM

In this DVD, Tim takes you through the entire process of creating an environment with 3ds Max starting with the analysis of reference photographs and determining real world object dimensions, all the way through the 3D modeling and texturing pipeline. Tim will teach you how to spot the visual cues that will allow you to quickly and accurately determine dimensions from set photographs. You will also learn how to build quick layout files for modeling and animation and how to model and texture an entire environment from photographic reference. Many artistic and technical challenges are addressed such as understanding perspective, modeling architecture, tile roofs, stone pathways as well as decay and general destruction.

Over 2 1/2 hours of lecture.

Topics Covered:

Understanding Perspective
Layout Modeling
Preplanning
Environment Modeling
UV Mapping
Texture Painting
Modeling Destruction

Chapters:

01: Understanding Perspective
02: Layout
03: Pre-planning your Modeling Approach
04: Modeling
05: UV Mapping
06: Texture Painting
07: Modeling Destruction

Environment Lighting for Production

Instructor:
Tim Jones

Formats: (Mac or PC only)
DVD-ROM

In this DVD, after setting up various production lighting rigs, Tim discusses the pros and cons of each solution. You will learn when to use one type of rig over another based on the goals of the project, as well as how to deal with the challenges that different scene elements create for your lighting setups. Tim will also show you how to render passes out of 3ds Max, composite them using Digital Fusion and set up your lighting in real-time using floating point image formats. Finally, you will learn how to set up a scene for multiple lighting scenarios including day, sunset and night shots.

Over 2 1/2 hours of lecture.

Topics Covered:

Setting up Light Rigs
Rendering Passes
Compositing
Night-time Lighting
Sunset Lighting

Chapters:

01: Light Rigs
02: Rendering Passes
03: Compositing
04: Night-time Light Rigs
05: Sunset Rigs

Instructor BIO:

Tim Jones is a CG Supervisor specializing in environment modeling, lighting and compositing for a wide variety of projects ranging from game cinematics and ride films to television commercials and film. He received duel degrees in the fields of architecture and illustration from Lawrence Tech. After several years doing freelance and working for an architecture visualization firm he has made the switch to entertainment and is now working for Blur Studio. Tim's work can be seen in game cinematics and commercials such as Warhammer 40K, Hellgate: London, Ghost Recon 3, X-Men Legends 2 and Call of Duty: Finest Hour.

The Minimum System Requirements are:
1GHz or faster processor
512 MB RAM
64 MB Video RAM
DVD-ROM Drive
5 GB of hard disk space
1280 x 1024 display

The Minimum Operating System Requirements are:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional,
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Apple® Mac® OS X 10.2

This DVD-ROM also requires the Quicktime Movie Player (Version 5.0.5 or higher), the Ensharpen Codec (Version 1.0.1 or higher) and Acrobat Reader (Version 5.0 or higher) in order to view its contents.

Character Modeling Techniques for Production

Instructor:
Ian Joyner

Formats: (Mac or PC only)
DVD-ROM

In this DVD, Ian shows you the tools and techniques he uses to quickly create a full character model in 3ds Max, leading you through the basic character production pipeline used at Blur Studio. He takes you through the process of building clean geometry using Max's built-in toolset as well as using the PolyBoost plugin. Ian shows how to easily enhance objects with ZBrush, and how to quickly find the form and detail of your character. From there he demonstrates how to bring the geometry back into Max to make it animation friendly by retopologizing. After the model is finished, Ian covers how to set up hair using Hair FX as well as how to set up lights, cameras and a simple rig using Biped to pose and render the character. Finally, using Adobe Photoshop®, Ian discusses how to present the character in a professional manner. This DVD is intended for artists with a basic under- standing of polygon modeling in Max, but is useful to anyone regardless of skill level or software. In this DVD Ian uses: Max, PolyBoost, ZBrush, BodyPaint and Photoshop®.

Over 7 1/2 hours of Lecture

Product Code: IJO01

Topics Covered:

Max Modeling tools
Using PolyBoost Tools
Poly by Poly Modeling
Detailing in ZBRush
Retopologizing Hi-res Objects
Building Props
Setting Up Lighting/Camera Rig
Basic Brazil Techniques
Hair FX Set up
Basic BodyPaint and Material Editing
Rigging for a Pose

Chapters:

01: Setting up a Template Character
02: Basic Light Rig/Blocking in Character, Part 1
03: Basic Light Rig/Blocking in Character, Part 2
04: Detailing Simple Objects and Retopologizing
05: Detailing the Character, Part 1
06: Using Paint Overs to Shape Your Characters
07: Detailing the Character, Part 2
08: Hair, Setting a Style with HairFX
09: Rigging Using Biped, Part 1
10: Rigging Using Biped, Part 2
11: Final Renders

Instructor BIO:

Ian Joyner has been a Character Modeler at Blur Studios for over 2 years. In that time he has worked on everything from feature films, ride films and critically acclaimed video game cinematics. Before coming to Blur, Ian worked freelance for various companies and with his free time entered and won one of the original Cgnetworks Challenges. Ian has also worked as a beta tester for a variety of high profile software packages including ZBrush 2 and Clay3d. Recently, Ian helped Softimage Special projects launch the FaceRobot software as well as creating cg art for his own personal enjoyment. Ian's work can be seen in many projects including X-men Legends 2, Brothers in Arms, Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Warhammer Age of Reckoning and Rise of Legends.

The Minimum System Requirements are:
1GHz or faster processor
512 MB RAM
64 MB Video RAM
DVD-ROM Drive
5 GB of hard disk space
1280 x 1024 display

The Minimum Operating System Requirements are:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional,
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Apple® Mac® OS X 10.2

This DVD-ROM also requires the Quicktime Movie Player (Version 5.0.5 or higher), and Acrobat Reader (Version 5.0 or higher) in order to view its contents.

Character Texturing Techniques for Production
Material and Texturing Techniques for Production with Ian Joyner

Instructor:
Ian Joyner

Formats: (Mac or PC only)
DVD-ROM

In this DVD, Ian textures and completes the game cinematic character he modeled in Character Modeling for Production. In this lecture, he shows different techniques to UV map objects of various complexities quickly and efficiently using 3ds Max's UV tools and DeepUV. Ian covers both hand-painted and image-based methods to create textures for the character. From there he uses various ZBrush plugins to both block-in and finalize textures and he uses BodyPaint to fix seams and to begin new textures. Ian demonstrates a variety of other techniques incorporated in the Max>ZBrush>BodyPaint pipeline and shows you how to enhance the hair created in his first DVD, and take it to a more finalized level. Finally, Ian shows how you can reuse your rigs from character to character using Biped, and how to use Adobe Photoshop® to add an extra level of professionalism to your final models before submitting them to a client. In this DVD Ian uses: Max, DeepUV, PolyBoost, ZBrush, ZappLink, Zmapper, BodyPaint and Photoshop®

Topics Covered:

UV Layout with Max and DeepUV
Creating Textures with Photos
Texture Painting Using Photoshop, ZBrush(ZappLink) and BodyPaint
Fixing Seams
Using Textures as Guides to Enhance Modeling
HairFX Settings
Brazil Materials
Simple Rigging Using Biped

Chapters:

01: UV Techniques
02: Roughing in Textures for Head
03: Making the Eye
04: BodyPaint and ZBrush's Zapplink
05: Fixing Seams with BodyPaint
06: Costume Texturing
07: Enhancing Hair
08: Re-rigging and Final Renders

Instructor BIO:

Ian Joyner has been a Character Modeler at Blur Studios for over 2 years. In that time he has worked on everything from feature films, ride films and critically acclaimed video game cinematics. Before coming to Blur, Ian worked freelance for various companies and with his free time entered and won one of the original Cgnetworks Challenges. Ian has also worked as a beta tester for a variety of high profile software packages including ZBrush 2 and Clay3d. Recently, Ian helped Softimage Special projects launch the FaceRobot software as well as creating cg art for his own personal enjoyment. Ian's work can be seen in many projects including X-men Legends 2, Brothers in Arms, Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Warhammer Age of Reckoning and Rise of Legends.

The Minimum System Requirements are:
1GHz or faster processor
512 MB RAM
64 MB Video RAM
DVD-ROM Drive
5 GB of hard disk space
1280 x 1024 display

The Minimum Operating System Requirements are:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional,
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Apple® Mac® OS X 10.2

This DVD-ROM also requires the Quicktime Movie Player (Version 5.0.5 or higher), and Acrobat Reader (Version 5.0 or higher) in order to view its contents.