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Blender tutorials source

Posted: 20 May 2010 07:36 AM PDT



The cganim8or's Channel is where Blender User could find a lot of video tutorials.

Check it out !
Related links:

youtube.com

CIS Hollywood Creates a CG-Rich World for “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra” Using BodyPaint 3D

Posted: 20 May 2010 07:12 AM PDT





Paramount Pictures' "G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra," a live-action film adaptation of the 1960s action figure's evolution into a team of elite soldiers in Marvel Comics is so CG rich, it took 10 visual effects houses to make it. One of the contributors was CIS Hollywood (www.cishollywood.com), part of the award-winning CIS Visual Effects Group, which also has a studio in Vancouver, Canada. While they have worked on effects-packed shows in the past, this was definitely one of the biggest projects CIS Hollywood has tackled, says Diana Miao, who served as look development supervisor overseeing modeling, texturing and lighting. "There were hundreds of shots that included CG environments, set extensions, vehicles, props, and we also did a lot of digital doubles where we had to take live-action characters and create a CG version of them," she explains.

CIS worked on the film for nearly a year. During that time, about 30 different artists did everything from modeling and texturing to lighting and compositing. Using MAXON's BodyPaint 3D, Ben Dishart, CIS Hollywood's lead texture artist, did the bulk of the texturing work while also acting as texture supervisor. "This was a fantastic project for us because there was so much painting and so many assets to work on," says Dishart, who was trained as a technical illustrator and has been using CINEMA 4D since 2004.



CIS artists (who work on the Mac platform for BodyPaint 3D and Photoshop) used reference photos and concept artwork to create their 3D models with Autodesk's Maya. Once the models were finished, Dishart began texturing them, going back-and-forth between BodyPaint 3D and Photoshop as he worked. "After importing the model into BodyPaint 3D I would select the view I wanted to work on and then send it over to Photoshop, where I took detail from reference photos and cloned it onto the model," he explains.



Next, he saved his work into BodyPaint 3D so he could project it onto the geometry and change to the next view before repeating the process to cover the entire model. "There was never a question about using any other 3D paint package because BodyPaint 3D is the only one with the capability to paint on the overlapping geometry and across the UVs of multiple objects," Dishart says. "I also like [the fact] that it's really easy to use."

While Digital Domain worked on the scenes in Paris and MPC's London studio handled the underwater battles, CIS created G.I. Joe's headquarters, located somewhere in the Sahara desert in an underground complex called "The Pit". One of the most detailed parts of the headquarters scenes was the landing platform, which included a giant hydraulic lift used by planes doing vertical takeoffs and landings. Rendering was done with Pixar's RenderMan, with some frames of the landing platform taking up to two hours to complete.



After receiving the model, Dishart used Maya to do the UV layout. Textures for all of the large, flat surfaces were done in Photoshop and BodyPaint 3D was used to create the dirt and grease layers on the hydraulic parts. "It was great because with BodyPaint 3D it's so easy to just tumble the model around and paint directly on the surfaces," says Dishart, who also used BodyPaint 3D to project the stripes on the pad so they lined up between the different pieces of geometry. Blue lights and vents around the platform's edge were added as layers in Photoshop.



In addition to G.I. Joe's headquarters, CIS also did several vehicles for the film. Of those, the Mole Pod, which was used by the evil Cobra organization to drill through the wall of the underground headquarters, was particularly fun to work on because Dishart and the other artists had a lot of freedom to develop the look they wanted. "The idea was that the pod itself was metal (with a composite, carbon steel drill bit) but it was covered with mud and dirt from drilling," Dishart explains. "So we used BodyPaint 3D's Brush tool to paint in a lot of different layers to build up that dirty look on top of clean, scratched metal."





About Maxon:

MAXON Computer GmbH was founded in 1986 by the current CEOs Harald Egel, Harald Schneider and Uwe Bärtels. The company's headquarters is located in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, just north of Frankfurt Main.

In 1998 MAXON opened its U.S. subsidiary, MAXON Inc., in California and added its U.K. subsidiary, MAXON Ltd., in 2001. MAXON products are sold by over 40 distributors in over 70 countries worldwide.

In early 2000 the Munich, Germany-based Nemetschek AG (www.nemetschek.de) acquired a 70% share of MAXON. 30% remain in the ownership of the company founders.

MAXON Computer has established itself as one of the leading software developers for 3D graphics. MAXON began as a publisher of computer trade magazines and hardware and software developer. Over the years, MAXON's focus moved exclusively to the development of 3D software packages for graphics.

MAXON's product line is centered around its core applications CINEMA 4D, a leading animation package for media production, and BodyPaint 3D, its pioneering 3D painting package. These applications are characterized by their speed, dependability and state-of-the-art technology.

MAXON Computer works closely with numerous hardware manufacturers, often being the first to adapt its software to the newest technologies. MAXON's client list includes BMW AG, Henkel KgaA, mobilcom AG, Siemens VDO, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Vitra and many more. For more information please visit : www.maxon.net

About CIS:

CIS Visual Effects Group is an award winning international visual effects entity with facilities in Hollywood and Vancouver. The company services high-end feature film, television, commercial and gaming clients in the global marketplace. CIS Hollywood, founded in 1984, is one of the industry's most respected visual effects facilities. In early 2008, the company launched CIS Vancouver. With its boutique accessibility, the company has the capacity to service its clientele wherever production is situated.
Today's visual effects industry is polarized between behemoth 
facilities and small outfits with limited abilities. Filmmakers who can't get attention at the large companies often face the headache of parceling out shots among countless small shops.
Scalability and flexibility makes CIS a brilliant alternative, a mid-sized studio with the creative experience and 
technical acumen to offer a full range of services from 2D composites and rotoscoping to 
complex 3D tracking and CGI. CIS can expand its crew by tapping into a broad network of local freelance talent, bringing in the right people for the task at hand.
The studio uses the most efficient technology available. The hardware and software is widely understood by our pool of freelance talent. When a visual effects assignment grows in size during a production, as it often does, CIS efficiently scales up to the project in a cost effective way.

The CIS Visual Effects Group is a wholly-owned affiliate of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. For more information please visit : www.cisvfxgroup.com

Related links:

maxon.net

3Point Shader for 3dsmax

Posted: 20 May 2010 06:44 AM PDT



3Point Shader is a toolset for creation and presentation of high-quality real- time rendered materials in the Autodesk 3ds Max™ viewport. A user-friendly GUI helps meet and exceed what is expected of a master shader and its companion tools.


Features


Graphical User Interface

The 3Point Shader GUI provides an artist-friendly approach to building complex realtime materials. It's intuitive and efficient without compromising on features. Unnecessary interaction has been eliminated and several traditionally manually performed tasks are now automated.

The GUI fits on low end monitors, with all the controls shown. Essential controls are on the left and complex controls on the right. Main settings control surface properties. Environment settings control scene lights, shadows and reflections. The big question mark takes you to the help page.
Basic Materials

All industry standard effects are featured. Surface colour, highlights, normal maps, glow, transparency, point lights, ambient lights and reflections. These can capture all materials you will need, from stone to skin, cloth or metal. Hard shadows are supported to the extent that your version of 3ds Max allows.

Each effect is configurable in multiple ways to be able to conform to a wide range of needs and standards of production environments.



"Quality mode" Normalmaps

Normalmaps are integral to "next-gen" graphics. Despite their industry-wide adoption, tangent-space normalmaps are typically rendered with harsh shading errors, and object space normalmaps have had no UV-mirroring support.

In either case, performance and/or visual fidelity has been significantly lacking.

The problems are now eliminated. 3Point Shader Quality Mode renders real-time tangent space maps without shading errors. Object space normalmaps now support UV-mirroring. All existing 3ds Max bakes are supported. 3Point Shader Lite fully supports Quality Mode.
Environments

3Point Shader handles mixing of viewport bound lights and omni lights, light range and shadow control as well as ambient light and reflection bakes. These emulate effects such as sky and environment illumination and colour bounces, light occlusion and environment reflection. Cube maps can be rotated to manually position the environment effects. Environment settings are highly configurable and integral to a professional quality result.



Advanced Materials

Parameter values are non-capped, meaning that no rendering assumptions are made, enabling glow effects that suck away light, negative shadow strengths that transform shadowcasting into "lightcasting", inverted fresnel masks and much more.

3Point Shader has extensive transparency controls that enable a wide range of effects through multipass rendering. Complex fur, sub-surface scattering, transition maps, texture projection, dynamic aging and cartoon shading are just a few examples of features that are not explicitly supported but have been user-crafted using only the 3Point Shader GUI.
Tools



3Point Shader is comprised of the following:

* 3ds Max 3Point Shader Material
* Modifier to enable Quality Mode
* Tool to convert Lite materials to full GUI materials
* Sample content that demonstrates 3Point Shader features
* Documentation

More information HERE!

Related links:

3pointstudios.com
maxunderground.com

Chaosgroup V-Ray RT 1.5 SP2

Posted: 19 May 2010 11:28 PM PDT



Chaos Group has released a service pack for their interactive rendering software - V-Ray RT 1.5 SP2

Changelog since 1.5 SP1a:
[new feature] Options to turn on/off rendering of proxy objects, X-Ref scenes and particles;
[new feature] Support for stereoscopic rendering with different preview types (anaglyph, interlaced, checker, dual-window);
[new feature] Adaptive sampling support with the ability to stop the RT once noise has cleared to some level;



[feature request] Support for the offset parameters of the physical camera;
[feature request] Support for mesh lights;
[feature request] Support for VRayAmbientLight;
[feature request] Support for bitmaps in the Gradient Ramp texture;
[feature request] MaxScript callback when a frame is complete;

[bug] Different result when there is a missing map in the enviroment slot;
[bug] Errors when there is a Bitmap texture without a file name specified;
[bug] horizontal shift for physical camera not working properly;
[bug] Differences with the production renderer when texture filtering is "None" and "Blur" is other than 1.0;
[bug] Animation of materials and textures is not updated in the ActiveShade window;
[bug] Animation of physical camera properties (focus distance, focal length) is not updated in the ActiveShade window;




Related links:

chaosgroup.com
treddi.com

2010 FILM RACE BOSTON: Awards

Posted: 19 May 2010 11:37 PM PDT



The Boston awards have been announced! "I ♥ U," - the Entry of Neoscape won Best Picture, Best Direction, Best
Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Visual Effects!


Best Film of the Boston Film Race 2010''I ♥ U'' by Neoscape


1st Runner-Up: ''Moving On'' by Castparty Productions

2nd Runner-Up: ''Double Edged Sword'' by Mango

3rd Runner-Up: ''P.H.O.N.E. 300K'' by Electric Shark Dog

4th Runner-Up: ''Pallino'' by Bait & Tackle


Audience Award (Screening) - ''I ♥ U'' by Neoscape

Best Direction - ''I ♥ U'' by Neoscape

Best Leading Actor - ''Pallino'' by Bait & Tackle

Best Leading Actress - ''Double Edged Sword'' by Mango

Best Acting Ensemble - ''Moving On'' by Castparty Productions

Best Writing - [tie] ''Development Hell'' by Red Bandit Collaborations & ''Double Edged Sword'' by Mango

Best Cinematography - ''I ♥ U'' by Neoscape

Best Editing - [tie] ''I ♥ U'' by Neoscape & ''The Bluebook Value of a 1974 Lincoln Mark IV'' by El Burro 2010 (Nate Johnson)

Best Original Music Score - ''P.H.O.N.E. 300K'' by Electric Shark Dog

Best Sound Design - ''Quit Claim'' by Zero One

Best Special FX - ''Moving On'' by Castparty Productions

Best Visual FX - ''I ♥ U'' by Neoscape

Best Set Design - ''Quit Claim'' by Zero One

Best Costume Design - ''P.H.O.N.E. 300K'' by Electric Shark Dog

I Heart U - Neoscape


Related links:
.filmracing.com

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Carrara 8 and Carrara 8 Pro

Posted: 19 May 2010 09:45 PM PDT




Draper, Utah - May 19, 2010 - A powerful, yet accessible, all-in-one 3D solution, Carrara is known for providing the necessary tools that allow artists to deliver high-caliber results at a cost-effective price point. Today, DAZ 3D-Gizmoz expands these possibilities through the availability of Carrara 8 and Carrara 8 Pro, providing improved animation tools, enhanced lighting, new vegetation tools and optimized rendering.


"It is no secret that artists are continually seeking new avenues to build their skill set, and this is exactly what we keep in mind throughout our software development processes," explains DAZ 3D-Gizmoz CEO, Dan Farr. "Whether you are a professional illustrator, game developer, special effects creator, web designer, or student, Carrara 8 offers the perfect tools to do so."


Professional artists utilizing the Carrara 8 Pro toolset will gain access to 64-bit compatibility for Mac and Windows, as well as the Bullet Physics Library. This open-source, advanced physics toolkit allows artists to use cutting edge rigid and soft body dynamics. Combined with the speed improvements achieved from the new support for multi-threading and 64-bit hardware, Carrara 8 Pro drastically improves productivity.


Additionally, updated export capabilities allow game developers to transfer custom figures, environments and/or animations directly into the Unity game engine via the FBX file format.


"Carrara 8 Pro's FBX export capabilities are beyond compare," said Carrara user and Unity developer, William Bell. "For months I had worked with several high-end 3D suites trying to transport my animated models into the Unity game engine with no success. It wasn't until I installed Carrara 8 Pro that I experienced a completely seamless export, directly into the engine, on the very first try."


In addition to the above improvements, Carrara 8 artists will experience:

Improved Plants & Vegetation: Users may add custom models and textures for unique leaves, flowers, fruit and more. Artists may also use a variety of different leaf objects per plant for increased natural variation.
Editing of Posed Meshes: Now users can complete important clean-up and detail work on conforming objects while the model is posed or conformed. This allows the user to see immediate results as they work.
Enhanced Lighting Tools: Not only will Carrara 8 users experience an improved user interface, they will enjoy negative lights, God rays, barn doors on spotlights, and the much-requested capability of photometric (IES) lighting.
Improved Animation Tools: DAZ Studio's Puppeteer has been added to the Carrara 8 toolset, enhancing animators' ability to quickly create realistic animated figures that may be recorded and used as animation clips. This once tedious process has now been simplified by blending between saved poses, shapes and expressions.
Optimized Network Rendering: Users will enjoy greater control over their render farm as they easily add and remove nodes via their master machine, render frames or buckets as desired for greater safeguarding against lost render data.

For additional information regarding Carrara 8 and Carrara 8 Pro, please visit: www.DAZ3D.com/software/carrara8.

Pricing and Availability

The full version of Carrara 8 Pro is available in both Macintosh and Windows formats via the DAZ 3D-Gizmoz website, and is regularly priced at USD $549. Licenses for the standard version Carrara 8 are available for USD $249.95. Special discount pricing is available for a limited time in the www.DAZ3D.com online store.

About DAZ 3D-Gizmoz

DAZ 3D-Gizmoz, with offices in Draper, Utah and Tel Aviv, Israel, joined forces in December 2009 and is led by Dan Farr, CEO and Eyal Gever, president. It is the leading publisher of personalized 3D digital characters, software and accessories, for creative professionals, game developer and 3D enthusiasts. The company provides a central solution to design, manage and transport high-quality digital characters that can be deployed in virtual worlds, cross-platform games, social networks, mobile applications and professional modeling and animation tools.

For additional information, please visit www.DAZ3D.com.



Related links:

daz3d.com
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