Tag: animation

BlobMesh Compound Object – 3D Max Tutorial

Post author By Graphic World Co.
Post date May 19, 2016

BlobMesh Compound Object

compound object creates a set of spheres from geometry or particles, and connects the spheres together as if they were made of a soft, liquid substance. When the spheres move within a certain distance of one another, they connect together. When they move apart, they take on a spherical form again.

Create panel > (Geometry) > Compound Objects > Object Type rollout >BlobMesh
Standard menu: Create menu > Compound > BlobMesh
Enhanced menu: Objects menu > Compound Objects > BlobMesh

In the 3D industry, the general term for spheres that operate in this way is metaballs. The BlobMesh compound object generates metaballs based on specified objects in the scene, and the metaballs, in turn, form a mesh result called a blobmesh. A blobmesh is ideal for simulating thick liquids and soft substances that move and flow when animated.

When you associate an object or particle system with the BlobMesh compound object, the metaballs are placed and sized differently depending on the object used to generate them:

For geometry and shapes, a metaball is placed at each vertex, and the size of each metaball is determined by the size of the original BlobMesh object. Soft selection can be used to vary the sizes of the metaballs.
For particles, a metaball is placed at each particle, and the size of each metaball is determined by the size of the particle on which it’s based.
For helpers, a metaball is placed at the pivot point, and the size of the metaball is determined by the original BlobMesh object.

Note: You can apply motion blur to a BlobMesh object to enhance the effects of motion in renderings. For particle systems other than Particle Flow, use Image motion blur. For Particle Flow particle systems and all other types of objects including geometry, shapes, and helpers, use Object motion blur.

Procedures

To create a blobmesh from geometry or helpers:

Create one or more geometry or helper objects. If the scene requires animation, animate the objects as desired.
Click BlobMesh, and click anywhere on the screen to create the initial metaball.
Go to the Modify panel.
In the Blob Objects group, click Add. Select the objects you wish to use to create metaballs. A metaball appears at each vertex of each selected object, or at the centers of helper objects.
In the Parameters rollout, set the Size parameter as necessary to cause the metaballs to connect.

To create a blobmesh with soft selection on geometry:

Create a geometry object, and convert it to an Editable Mesh or Editable Poly.
Apply a Mesh Select modifier to the object, and select some of the vertices on the object.
In the Soft Selection rollout, turn on Use Soft Selection. Set the Falloff value as desired.
Apply a Turn to Mesh or Turn to Poly modifier to the object.
This will retain the soft selection and pass it up the stack regardless of whether you exit the sub-object mode.
On the Create panel, with (Geometry) active, choose Compound Objects from the drop-down list. On the Object Type rollout, turn on BlobMesh. Click anywhere in a viewport to create the initial metaball.
Go to the Modify panel.
In the Blob Objects group, click Add. Select the Editable Mesh or Editable Poly object.
A metaball appears at each vertex of the selected object.
In the Parameters rollout, turn on Use Soft Selection.
Metaballs are limited to those vertices that are affected by the soft selection.
Set the Size and Min. Size parameters to set the sizes of the metaballs.

To create a blobmesh with soft selection on a spline:

Create the spline, and convert it to an Editable Spline.
In the Rendering rollout, turn on both Enable In Renderer and Enable In Viewport.
Apply a Mesh Select modifier, and select the appropriate vertices for soft selection.
In the Soft Selection rollout, turn on Use Soft Selection. Set the Falloff value as desired.
Apply a Turn to Mesh or Turn to Poly modifier to the object.
This will retain the soft selection and pass it up the stack regardless of whether you exit the sub-object mode.
On the Create panel, with (Geometry) active, choose Compound Objects from the drop-down list. On the Object Type rollout, turn on BlobMesh. Click anywhere in a viewport to create the initial metaball.
Go to the Modify panel.
In the Blob Objects group, click Add. Select the Editable Spline.
A metaball appears at each vertex of the selected object.
In the Parameters rollout, turn on Use Soft Selection.
Metaballs are limited to those vertices that are affected by the soft selection.
Set the Size and Min. Size parameters to set the sizes of the metaballs.

To create a blobmesh from a particle system:

When you use BlobMesh with a particle system, a metaball is created at each particle’s location. The size of the metaball is determined by the size of the particle.

Create a particle system, and set up its parameters to animate the particles.
On the Create panel, with (Geometry) active, choose Compound Objects from the drop-down list. On the Object Type rollout, turn on BlobMesh. Click anywhere in a viewport to create the initial metaball.
Go to the Modify panel.
In the Blob Objects group, click Add. Select the particle system. A metaball appears at each particle in the system.
If you have added a Particle Flow system to the blobmesh and you want to create metaballs only for particles in specific events, click Add on the Particle Flow Parameters rollout to choose the events from a list.
Tip: If you need to prevent the particles from rendering, do not hide them as this can prevent the blobmesh from generating correctly. Instead, turn off the particle system’s Renderable option on the Object Properties dialog.

Interface

Parameters rollout

Size

The radius of each metaball for objects other than particles. For particles, the size of each metaball is determined by the size of the particle, which is set by parameters in the particle system. Default=20.

Note: The apparent size of the metaballs is affected by the Tension value. When Tension is set to its lowest possible value, the radius of each metaball accurately reflects the Size setting. Higher Tension values will tighten the surface, and make the metaballs smaller.

Tension

Determines how relaxed or tight the surface will be. A smaller value makes a looser surface. This value can range from 0.01 to 1.0. Default=1.0.

Evaluation Coarseness

Sets the coarseness, or density, of the resulting blobmesh. When Relative Coarseness (see following) is off, the Render and Viewport values set the absolute height and width of blobmesh faces, and lower values create a smoother, denser mesh. When Relative Coarseness is on, the height and width of blobmesh faces is determined by the ratio of metaball size to this value. In this case, higher values create a denser mesh. Range (both)=0.001 to 1000.0. Render default=3.0, Viewport default =6.0.

The lower end of the range for both Coarseness settings is 0.001, which allows for high-resolution metaball geometry when Relative Coarseness is off. Using such low values can also cause lengthy calculation delays; if this happens and you wish to halt calculation, press Esc.

Relative Coarseness

Determines how the coarseness values will be used. If this option is turned off, the Render Coarseness and View Coarseness values are absolute, where the height and width of each face on the blobmesh is always equal to the coarseness value. This means the faces on the blobmesh will retain a fixed size even if the metaballs change size. If this option is turned on, the size of each blobmesh face is based on the ratio of the metaball size to the coarseness, which will cause the blobmesh face size to change as the metaballs become larger or smaller. Default=Off.

Large Data Optimization

This option provides an alternate method for calculating and displaying the blobmesh. This method is more efficient than the default method only when a large number of metaballs are present, such as 2,000 or more. Turn on this option only when using a particle system or other object that produces a large number of metaballs. Default=Off.

Off in Viewport

Turns off the display of the blobmesh in viewports. The blobmesh will still appearing in renderings. Default=Off.

Use Soft Selection

If soft selection has been used on geometry you add to the blobmesh, turning on this option causes the soft selection to be used for the size and placement of metaballs. Metaballs are placed at selected vertices with the size set by the Size parameter. For vertices that lie within the falloff set on the geometry’s Soft Selection rollout, smaller metaballs are placed. For vertices outside the falloff, no metaballs are placed. This option has an effect only if the Vertex sub-object level for the geometry is still enabled, and Use Soft Selection on the geometry’s Soft Selection rollout is turned on. If Use Soft Selection is turned off either for the blobmesh for the geometry, metaballs are placed at all vertices on the geometry. Default=Off.

Min Size Sets the minimum size for metaballs within the falloff when Use Soft Selection is turned on. Default=10.0.

Blob Objects group

[objects list]: Lists objects in the scene that are part of the blobmesh simulation.
Pick: Allows you to pick objects or particle systems from the screen to add to the blobmesh.
Add: Displays a selection dialog where you can select objects or particle systems to add to the blobmesh.
Remove: Removes objects or particles from the blobmesh.

Particle Flow Parameters rollout

Use this rollout if you have added a Particle Flow system to the blobmesh, and want particles to generate metaballs only during specific events. Before you can specify events on this rollout, you must add the Particle Flow system to the blobmesh on the Parameters rollout.

All Particle Flow Events: When turned on, all Particle Flow Events will generate metaballs. When turned off, only Particle Flow Events specified in the PFlow Events list will generate metaballs.

Particle Flow Events group

[PFlow events list]: Lists PFlow events that are part of the blobmesh simulation.
Add: Displays a list of PFlow events in the scene so you can pick events to add to the PFlow Events list.
Remove: Removes the selected event from the PFlow Events list.

Tags animation, Blob Objects, Default Off, Editable Poly, Editable Spline, Evaluation Coarseness, Geometry Compound Objects Object Type, Higher Tension, Large Data Optimization, Mesh Select, Min Size Sets, Object Properties, Particle Flow Events, Particle Flow Parameters, Relative Coarseness, system, Use Soft Selection

Articles Learning

WHAT IS 3DS MAX? AN INTRODUCTION …

Post author By Graphic World Co.
Post date May 13, 2016

WHAT IS 3DS MAX? AN INTRODUCTION …

Cool 3D flying wing model in 3ds Max

Introduction to 3ds Max for beginners:

This awesome piece of software consists of 3D modeling design, realistic animation, and renders of 3D models. There is a free 3ds max trial version to try out (See the 3ds Max download below). You can purchase the software at the link below. Also, students get to

Introduction to and history of Autodesk 3ds Max

Developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment, Autodesk 3ds Max is software for rendering 3D animation, models and imagery. It was originally called 3D Studio and was created by the Yost Group of Atari for work on the DOS platform, and development started in 1988. It later was adopted for Windows NT with 3D Studio DOS release 4 and was subsequently renamed 3D Studio MAX. 3D studio MAX, also developed by the Yost group was produced by Kinetix, which was then the media and entertainment division of Autodesk. It was the release 8 of the original 3D Studio, which was renamed Autodesk 3ds Max which was made available to the public in 2009. 3ds Max offers much functionality targeted towards ease of use and faster image and animation rendition.

Major Applications of Autodesk 3ds Max

The software is used in developing CGI as well as applications ranging from academia to game development. Each use of the software requires the use of a different set of tools available in the software and as plug-ins. 3ds Max is available free of cost for students. However profession packs are available for sale.

Major Features of Autodesk 3ds Max

Autodesk 3ds Max is primarily, although not completely, based on polygon modeling. Polygon modeling is used more extensively in game design than in other animation application as it offers a highly specific control over individual polygons that make up the model. This feature of polygon modeling also allow for greater optimization of the model.

Usually, the design process begins at the selection of a primitive model bundled with 3ds, which is then further refined as per need. The current versions have a simplified mesh editing interface and using the ‘edit poly’ modifier which moves the tools available in the primitive model, higher in the modifier stack, allowing them to be used on top of other modifications.

In the 3ds Max software various unique primitive shapes such as teapots, cones, pyramids and cubes are available which can be used as a base for model development.

Although polygons are the method of choice for model building, surfaces are easier to define using other methods. 3ds Max’s subdivision surface support allows for smoothened surfaces and with the use of tools like Soft Selection, which allows manipulation of vertex clouds into the desired shape without distortions from unwanted shapes and displaying smooth surfaces. The sculpting brush feature allows smooth surfaces to be drawn by hand, if polygons give a distorted image, although functionality is limited.

The NURBs feature of Autodesk 3ds allows smooth surface rendition by use of mathematical formulae and is of greatest use to in accurate simulation of mechanical parts. This is of greatest use in applications such as automobile design and instrument design.

3ds Max allows the use of custom lighting and shadows and highlights can also be ‘burned’ into the image rendered. These settings are mostly used for game imagery, since pre-fit values of shadows and highlights allows the game engine to process less data thereby improving game speed and performance as the model is already painted with the required modifications.

This also means that for constant lighting conditions during play, especially if motion is involved, the images do not falter and give a constant, regular image, free of improper shadows and bad graphics.

For life like character models, 3ds Max includes simulation for hair, skin, cloth and fur, all requirements for simulation of living beings. These inbuilt add-ons reduce the time required for model development and improve the detail for each frame.

It also includes rigid body dynamics which means that simulation of hard bodies such as wood or bricks, is easy to perform. This software is also equipped with features like shatter effect to recreate the dynamics of shattering rigid objects. However, soft body dynamics, which allows for the motion simulation of deformable objects, is not supported by 3ds Max, which makes simulation of such objects difficult.

A very useful feature of this software is the support for Inverse Kinematics and Forward Kinematics. Inverse Kinematics or skeleton modeling allows the user to create a model and fit it with a skeleton, which can then be animated as per the requirements of the animator. This skeleton can then be placed inside the model, making the animating the model easier.

Tools available in Autodesk 3ds Max

* MAXScript: It is a scripting language which is built into the software and can automate repetitive tasks, give varying combinations of present features and developing tools and user interfaces. MAXScript can also be used to build plug-ins for 3ds Max.

* Scene Explorer: Scene Explorer provides an orderly, hierarchical view of scene data. It allows categorical editing of data, to achieve simplicity in editing complex sets and can also manage code in .NET.

* Character Studio: Initially a plug-in character studio is a tool for help in animating virtual characters, the Character Studio allows using stock skeleton animation to quickly and easily modify characters for a project which work on the ‘biped’ skeletal system.

* General keyframing: There are two keying modes; auto key and set key which provide support for separate workflows. The keyframing controls given help in easing the animation by providing simple, but important features like cut, copy and paste.

* Constrained animation: It allows animation of objects placed inside the constraints of their shape. This tool allows the animation of objects along curves with controls provided for smoothness, velocity, alignment, banking etc. and along surfaces.

* Skinning: Using with the Physique or Skin, a fine control of movement can be achieved and can be used in the most tricky of places.

* Integration with Autodesk Vault plug-in: The Autodesk Vault is a plug-in which is shipped along with 3ds Max and is used to integrate user data and assets on to one location, thus tracking progress on projects. Also, managing work in progress is an easier task. The plug-in enables users to safely and easily design, find, reuse and share 3ds Max models for a team production effort.

Conclusion

All in all, Autodesk 3ds Max is a useful software for learning and practicing animation and developing the skills required for 3D modeling and animation purposes. Along with having a very user friendly interface, it also can be used for managing professional projects in animation. One of the best features is added plug-in functionality which increases its features by a wide margin.

Tags animation, best, building, Character Studio Initially, design, development, DOS, free, Inverse Kinematics, location, max, modeling, NET, Scene Explorer Scene Explorer, software, system, tool, top

Articles Learning

How to learn Blender 3D in under 24 hours

Post author By Graphic World Co.
Post date May 12, 2016

How to learn Blender 3D in under 24 hours

Lance Evans takes you on a day-long crash course of this powerful open source 3D application.

Until the day when desktop holography becomes a reality, 3D will remain the wholly grail of the graphics world. But 3D can be a very technical craft. And each 3D program has its own idiosyncrasies, making it all a bit daunting.

I cut my 3D chops on many programs that are now long dead and forgotten. Blender is one program I’ve wanted to learn for many years. I’ve even downloaded and installed it a few times, but fell short on the follow-through to learn it. Writing this article is my personal impetus to finally get to learning it. Perhaps it can be your impetus as well. Let’s see where we can take this in just 24 hours.

Why choose Blender?

Blender has many qualities that include years of steady development, a prized commodity in either commercial or open source projects. This has netted a broad range of capabilities, beyond even its full range of 3D modeling and animation tools.

For example, Blender has video editing, camera tracking, compositing, and even game creation tools all built right in. The fact that it’s open source and completely free is also an unbeatable perk! (Though donations to the Blender Foundation are a good idea.) With all this power, Blender’s toolset is often directly compared to top programs in the 3D field costing thousands, like Mayaor 3ds Max.

Naysayers may complain it lacks centralized support, since there is no commercial publisher with a help staff. However there is ample support onlineon many sites, and even a real time IRC chat option. This means nights and weekend support too! Plus, the Blender community can be uniquely generous with its help.

The other knock is Blender’s much smaller market share, which means there are perhaps fewer companies looking to hire Blender artists. Having said that, know that this is changing and there are sites like the Blender Network that specialize in matching Blender artists with employers. And even mainstream job sites are getting more Blender savvy every day.

None of this is even an issue if you run your own shop or are just doing your own thing. Then all that matters are the final renderings. And few clients know or care about all this techno-geek talk.

Blender’s own jobs website, and it’s gaining ground on other job boards as well

My first hour with Blender: installing and learning the interface

I went up to Blender’s website , clicked on the ‘Download’ link, and chose between the installers available for Mac, Windows, Linux and even FreeBSD. (And made a small donation while there!) Installation was almost crazy-easy, and fast. Which is common for most open source programs.

Once installed, I booted it up like a kid on Christmas morning. The splash page had a number of links, including one to the official Blender manual online. The manual is an excellent resource, but perhaps a bit better suited to those that already have an introduction to both 3D and Blender.

Upon first viewing, Blender’s interface can be overwhelming. But it isn’t as complicated as it first looks. Once you understand the logical thought process it becomes much less daunting. Logic-wise it’s rather similar to Adobe programs like Photoshop or InDesign.

Blender’s default user interface. See the text for a quick explanation of its UI

The default Blender interface is made up of four areas. (A) in the image above is called the Toolbar, a collection of the most commonly used tools. (B) is the 3D Viewport, or work window. (C) is a vertical stacking of many control/preference/properties interfaces, which again, is just like Adobe products you know. (D) is the timeline, for animation work. You might be familiar with this from programs like After Effects.

Understanding these basics makes Blender all the more approachable. Although not necessarily more useable. Before looking at any instructions, I felt compelled to muck about with the buttons, doodads and doohickeys, and hoped to find my way around. But I’ll admit that I wasn’t too successful. I began to realize that Blender wasn’t quite as intuitive – at least for me – as I had hoped.

So I started to explore what alternative ways I could go about learning it, beyond the button-poking. I quickly found out there are quite a few learning options out there.

An extreme example of multi-monitor support

Hours two-four: organizing my education

Starting my second hour with Blender, I began hunting for ways to learn it. I started out the way many of you would, by looking online for books. A quick search turned up dozens of books which included titles such as ‘Blender 3D Cookbook’ and ‘Blender Basics’ (both from PACKT Publishing), and ‘Blender for Dummies’ (John Wiley & Sons), all recently published as print and Kindle editions.

I ordered a few of these books for download. Which books best fit your learning style is up to you. As might be expected by the title, the ‘Dummies’ books take extra pains to make easing into a new subject as painless as possible, so are a good place to start. But they also tend to not go as deep as other offerings. All the books were well written and took me step by step.

And while I began learning from these books, I had to acknowledge that whether it’s our cultural evolution, or just me getting older, I found it harder to read this tech material than I used to. So I began looking for other ways to learn.

Hours four-10: video education, part one

Again, I didn’t do anything different here than most of you, I went trolling around YouTube with search phrases like ‘learn blender’, which gave a return of 157,000 videos. I’m sure most had more to do with making a good smoothie, but still, there were hundreds on Blender 3D.

An advanced subject: creating a city in Blender

Some of the most popular Blender tutorial channels included Blender for Noobswith over 27k subscribers, Blender Guru with over 153k subscribers (see the amazing architecture video!), and tutor4u with over 172k subscribers.

Jacob Lewis offers a 2014 updated 10-part video series called ‘Blender Absolute Beginner Tutorial’ with about 380k subscribers. One video that is seriously worth a look is Max Coulfield’s great Blender sculpture timelapse.

‘Sculpting’ a young female head and shoulders

I spent time finding and then watching many videos, and at this point I had clocked in roughly 10 hours of working on the Blender project, across two or three days. Trying to do it all in one day would surely have exploded my tiny head.

Hours 10-15: video education, part two

After viewing YouTube tutorials for a bit, I will admit to a bias against any that begin with “Yo-yo fellas… wassup?” An experience that can leave you wanting more formally prepared material.

So I finally did something that many of you might not actually do. I contacted Ton Roosendaal, the original creator of Blender, and now the Chairman of the Blender Foundation. He was gracious and we exchanged a number of emails. At his suggestion, I got in touch with Jonathan Williamson, a co-founder and instructor at CG Cookie, an online computer graphics video education resource. CG Cookie has courseware for Blender, as well as other subjects like creative concepting and Unity game development.

CG Cookie offers online video courseware on Blender

CG Cookie offers what they call ‘Learning Flows’ for Blender, which contains 141 separate video installments. These are broken down into 9 sections, with topics like modeling, lighting, etc. The first module in the series is ‘Blender Basics’, which they make available at no cost. It contains six videos that run about a half hour total. Over the next few days I watched the intro videos, and as many of the follow-up sections as I could. All the while popping back to Blender to try things out.

Hour 15 and beyond…

I also touched base with Anja, who runs the Blender Shop on blender.org. She provided a long list of Blender learning resources, which we have reprinted at the end of the article.

So by the time I was nearing my 18th hour with all of this, I was feeling like I was in a fairly good place. By that I mean I could navigate around the interface with aplomb, I could create, modify, and texture map models (with limits on complexity), light them, and render out basic animations. In other words, I could knock out basic day-to-day 3D work. No character modeling, video editing or compositing, I’ll leave that for another day.

If this was for myself instead of an article it would have gone faster. One book and one video series would have been fine. I’m sure you’ll keep things simpler.

So what are you waiting for? Download it now, and let us know how your learning curve goes!

Resources (from Anja at Blender Shop)

A good way to learn Blender if you don’t have experience with 3D
programs is to start with Blender’s own tutorials and manual.

You can find lots of free tutorials on the internet about learning Blender.

Here are some links with lots of information:
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Tutorials

Links

http://wiki.blender.org/
http://cgcookie.com/blender/
http://www.blenderguru.com/
Free book link: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Books
The Blender Art Magazine, free for download.
Free Blender Basics – Introduction for Beginners (video tutoiral)
Free Blender Basics Book for version 2.5/2.6 and 2.49
An Introduction to Blender 2.59 free eBook
Free Blender 3D Tutorials/e-books in PDF format
Free: A Blender Quickstart course, a tour of Blender’s modeling, uv mapping, rigging, animating, and rendering
Free Blender 3D Design Course
Free Blender tutorials & training
Free video tutorials 2.5
Free video tutorials
Blender hotkeys:
http://www.foreverblender.com/2010/02/blender-25-all-hotkeys.html
http://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/blender/useful-keyboard-shortcuts.php
http://blendertips.com/hotkeys.html

If you have questions about using Blender you can always place them on the forums.

Words: Lance Evans

Lance Evans is creative director of Graphlink Media.

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Tags animation, article, Blender Absolute Beginner Tutorial, Blender Foundation, day, development, download, Free Blender Basics Book, good, IRC, learning, material, Max Coulfield, modeling, start, Words Lance Evans

Post

G Awards winners 2015 revealed!

Post author By Graphic World Co.
Post date May 10, 2016

G Awards winners 2015 revealed!

Discover our winners and be inspired to explore new software, apps and movies.

For the last few months, 3D enthusiasts all over the globe have been nominating and voting in the 3D World CG Awards for what they believe represents the very best products, technologies and CG content of the last year. Now, the voting is over and the results are in. Here we present the winners and runners up in each category.

Technology

New application

Winner: Redshift

Redshift was developed from the ground up to be a production-ready renderer. “Redshift was the first commercially-available product to offer out-of-core textures and geometry, and the first to offer both biased and unbiased GPU-accelerated GI algorithms. Key to this was developing a sound technological foundation that allowed us to implement features thoroughly,” says Panos Zompolas, chief technical officer at Redshift.

Software update

Winner: ZBrush 4R7

With ZBrush 4R7 Pixologic introduced innovative tools, like the new dynamic subdivision mode, the bridge to KeyShot and ZModeler. It’s tools like these that have really impressed: “ZModeler has been a game changer for a lot of artists because it enables them to focus on a model’s shape rather than accuracy of its topology,” says Thomas Roussel, marketing director and 3D specialist at Pixologic.

These features impressed judge Ken McCuen, matte painter and concept artist on feature films: “As a traditionally trained artist I have a high respect for developers who make the transition from painting/sculpting in real life to the digital medium easier. I’ve found ZBush to be excellent at providing tools to quickly create maquettes as a basis for my work.”

Plug-in

Winner: Golaem Crowd 4

With Golaem Crowd 4, the team wanted to make it more user-friendly and more open than previous versions. “We implemented tons of helpers, lessened the number of files to manipulate, enhanced all interfaces, and created new ways of accessing Golaem Crowd’s internal data,” says Golaem Crowd product manager, Nicolas Chaverou.

“But as we can’t help playing with technologies, we also integrated Nvidia PhysX for doing physics simulation with crowds. It is a huge step forward in terms of speed and quality, and it also enables new features like servo force (mixing animation and physics simulation together) or direct physical interaction of the crowds with Maya objects.”

Software innovation

Winner: Unreal Engine 4

Unreal Engine 4 is a complete suite of game development tools, but its success has been in attracting new users to those real-time tools, including filmmakers and animators.

“Epic Games made a big, bold move back in March this year that demonstrates it has its eyes looking five, 10 and 20 years ahead, by making UE4 a free platform for the likes of us [arch-viz artists] to tap into its platform and use it to tell our client’s story in new and captivating ways,” says CG Awards judge Ronen Bekerman.

Hardware innovation

Winner: Cintiq Companion 2

Wacom has leveraged 30 years of experience in pen-based tablets, patented technologies and unique manufacturing processes to bring a unique solution to us. “The Cintiq Companion is a fantastic tool that allows you to take your studio anywhere,” says IÃ±aki Gonzalez.

“The power CPU means there are no delays or jags while working and with so much RAM memory you can easily work on large files.”
“Our ambition is to produce innovative and inspirational products that enhance the creative workflow,” says Jeff Mandell, executive vice president branded business, Wacom. “Here we were able to develop a state-of-the-art Cintiq graphic display and integrate it into a stand-alone mobile computing device for on-the-go creativity.”

Creative Awards

CG animated feature film

Winner: Big Hero 6

Big Hero 6 is a story told in the finest traditions of Disney. Its message is reaffirming and heartfelt, and visually, it’s a stunning blend of new technology and well-honed skill.

According to producer Ron Conli, Disney strove to develop a look never seen before in an animated feature film: “We created a new rendering system called Hyperion to produce the incredible world of San Fransokyo. We developed a character-building program called Denizen to populate the streets… Our Effects Department created the ‘microbots’ and the ‘interior of the portal’. Artists and technical teams worked hand in hand to support our story.”

CG animated short

Winner: Le Gouffre

The goal of creators Carl Beauchemin, Thomas ChrÃ©tien and David Forest was to make a film that they loved and would catch the attention of industry professionals. And Shelley Page, CG Awards judge and head of international outreach at DreamWorks Animation believes that it has done just that.

“The story of the making of this visually exciting and emotionally uplifting film is almost as inspiring as the subject! Made by a group of graduates in Montreal and supported by crowdfunding, this story of the heroic attempt of two backpackers to build a bridge spanning an impossibly wide chasm is as compelling as it is impressive. The main characters never speak, but we are irresistibly swept along by their determination.”

VFX feature film (scene)

Winner: Interstellar (space scenes)

Double Negative’s work on Interstellar mixes miniatures, opticals and in-camera projection FX with CG research such as the cutting-edge relativistic renderer developed to reveal the way a black hole warps the fabric of space time.

“On one hand we wanted to be absolutely faithful to the reality of space exploration, staying as true as possible to the incredible material captured by space explorers over the last six decades,” says VFX supervisor Paul Franklin. “On the other we were passionate about revealing some of the universe’s most astonishing phenomena; the reality of the cosmos is so much stranger than fiction.”

VFX film short

Winner: Power/Rangers

Ingenuity Studios worked with director Joseph Kahn to create this ‘bootleg’ short film. The sheer number of shots combined with the complexity of the VFX work is extraordinary. The team spent many late nights and weekends over the course of six months to create this film, and are pleased their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed: “We were quite busy with other projects during post-production on Power/Rangers which meant splitting time and a lot of late nights,” says VFX supervisor Grant Miller.

CG commercial campaign

Winner: SSE Maya

The Mill took seven months to create a ground-breaking piece of work to showcase the actions of leading renewable energy company SSE. The team collaborated with adam&eveDDB and academy director Frederic Planchon to create the 90-second spot that depicts an entirely CG orangutan climbing up buildings and experiencing all that a big city has to offer, before going back to the forest to nurture its baby.

The dedication of the VFX team’s work shines through. The Mill’s Dan Moore said: “We looked through hours and hours of footage of orangutan to try and work out how they move, how they gesticulate and how they emote.”

3D print innovation

Winner: Clip technology

Carbon3D made its debut at TED 2015 and took the 3D printing industry by storm, demonstrating speeds 25 to a hundred times faster than traditional 3D printing. In his TED talk Joseph DeSimone CEO and co-founder said, “We were inspired by the Terminator 2 scene with the T-1000, and we thought, ‘Why couldn’t the 3D printer operate in this fashion, where you have an object arise out of a puddle, in essentially real time, with essentially no waste, to make a great object?” The Carbon3D team met the challenge, and Continuous Liquid Interface Production, or rather, CLIP technology was born.

CG arch-viz still

Winner: King Edward Hotel

This image has a beautiful visual narrative that really pushes the boundaries of architectural visualisation. Past, present and future are merged in a frame within a frame. The Canadian studio has been pushing the boundaries of architectural visualisation since 2000. In every single project there is a constant and honest concern about telling the right story, using the appropriate visual narrative.

“With today’s technology, it is easier to achieve a hyper realistic look in arch-viz. This doesn’t mean that the technique is not important any more, nor that the industry is reaching its end. Just like photography has not ended as a profession with the rise of point shoot cameras with great resolution,” explains Zerofractal’s Jose Uribe, adding, “It just means that people and professionals are starting to value more what is really important: the message and the story behind each visual.”

Arch-viz animation

Ryan Groves created this three-minute animation to test his skills as a 3D artist – in fact, it’s his first attempt at animation. 3ds Max and V-Ray were the core tools used, along with Nuke Studio (non-commercial) for post-production.

He employed a variety of modelling and texturing techniques, from poly modelling and splines to V-Ray blends, mix maps and composites. The result is a beautifully crafted animation that takes you on a journey through the elegant architecture of the Louvre, showcasing several lighting scenarios.

CG video game in-game

Winner: Assassin’s Creed: Unity

This award goes to the title that delivers the very best in terms of art and production design, and Ubisoft continues to up the ante with this latest offering to the Creed series. The art direction is absolutely awe-inspiring. Set in the fictional world of revolutionary France circa 1700s, the game boasts some of the best-looking and most-atmospheric cityscapes we’ve ever seen.

CG video game promotion

Winner: The Division: Take Back New York

The Division’s story is a grand and sweeping one: a whole city dealing with tragedy, but in order to connect with people on an intimate level Blur wanted a microcosm of the larger event, and centres the action on one family dealing with the outbreak to great emotional effect.

Darren Butler, CG supervisor explains: “Initially reading the script, I got a bit of a lump in my throat thinking to myself how were we supposed to pull off 14 days of time-lapse in one single shot… but with the help of the whole team and a few new tools, we managed to pull off something that we are all extremely proud of.”

Special awards

3D World Hall of Fame

Winner: Paul Debevec

Paul Debevec is regarded as one of the most influential visionaries and researchers in the CG scene, and it’s easy to see why. Paul is associate director in graphics research and research associate professor at the USC ICT Graphics Lab, and he and his team have a long history of innovation.

His research and algorithms have had a huge impact on computer graphics. In particular, his work on image-based lighting and HDR techniques have resonated around the CG and VFX world, and the ‘Light Stages’ he created are still widely used today.

Live event

Winner: Siggraph 2014: Vancouver

Moving the venue to Vancouver proved a talking point; smaller but beautiful, the Vancouver Convention Centre was a perfect venue.
Dave Shreiner, chair of Siggraph 2014, said Vancouver was, “the perfect city for a conference aimed at creating new experiences that impact on the senses. Technology, the way humans and computers interact, is rapidly growing and Siggraph is at the heart of that evolution.”

Post

The 5 best new 3D tools for April

Post author By Graphic World Co.
Post date May 10, 2016

This time of year can often be a quiet one for those of us working in 3D art and visual effects, with developers gearing up for the events season and new releases being a bit thin on the ground.

However there are a few notable updates and newcomers, so have a read below to see what could help you improve your work or help you be more efficient.

01. Modo 10 series

Modo has been around for a while but continues to develop and grow

Recently announced is the latest version of the now long running Modo, the full solution for 3D artists that includes tools for modelling and texturing animation and rendering. Previous updates had followed the x01 naming convention, lending a feeling of continuity to the brand but The Foundry have broken from that with what would have been 1001. Instead they have refocussed a little and changed the way they are targeting their products.

10.0 v1 is the first of the new system and is aimed squarely at the interactive market, so if you are on the lookout for a solid 3D app for your VR work or game content then this is the one you want. It hasn’t quite been released at the time of writing but it’s just around the corner and will be followed later by 10.1 and 10.2 which will each have their own focus.

02. NVIDIA Iray VR and Iray VR Lite

Rendering power is steadily moving to the GPU and Iray VR looks set to a strong contender

Most artists will usually have thoughts of graphics cards when you mention the name NVIDIA but they are also software developers and one of their main applications of recent years is Iray, now with additional versions for VR. Iray VR has many uses but the obvious benefits are for engineers and architects, where they will be able visualize not just form and function but also lighting interaction.

If you are into architectural visualization and want a step up then look at Iray VR, as it will let you light your spaces on the fly without the process of having to wait for test renders. Imagine taking the power of your GPU to run interactive demos to clients, showing them how their desgins will look in any situation. VR looks to be having a resurgence and Iray wants in on the party.

03. Forest Pack 5 and Railclone 2.6

These two heavy hitting max plugins are well respected and rightly so

Possibly the best known plugins for 3ds Max is this pairing from iToo. Well regarded even amongst non-Max users, the software’s abilities in rapidly populating a scene in an organic yet controllable way has always been a huge benefit but they’ve announced their newest version which promises to add even more features.

There are a few new features for both apps but the main ones are expression support, so all you maths tweakers can use expressions to control your clones and their placements. Second up and one that will please many is support for V-Ray 3.3 including motion blur.

Check the website for a full list of new options as there are many new render options and a bunch of GUI options which make for more efficient working.

04. popVideo 3

The popVideo keying tools allow easy background removal, with a single colour picker

If you work in VFX it’s pretty likely you will have to work with green or blue screen footage. That’s okay and working with different keying solutions is getting easier but there’s still a lot of room for improvement. Reallusion has announced its latest version of popVideo, which includes some simple to use keying options that have sophisticated uses.

Using popVideo you aren’t limited to the tradition blue or green screen studios but can effectively remove any colour background. The possibilities this opens up are enormous, from basic paper rolls that can bought from any photo supplies shop to working with sky removals or annoying artefacts. The tools is operated with a colour picker meaning traditional chroma values aren’t a limitation.

05. Pixel lab NAB sale

The pixel lab packs are winners for quality and price

If you are a Cinema 4D artist and need plugins, materials and models then look no further. Joren Kandel has a huge range which is growing steadily, month by month. The news here is that he is currently running an NAB sale where you can save over $1000 on the complete set of products. Sales like this don’t come around that often and, although this isn’t about a specific product, it’s well worth sharing.

Many of the items are After Effects compatible too, so check it out. Even out of sale these packs are heavily discounted and well worth investigating.

Tags 3d, 5, animation, best, design, different, for, GPU, jobs, Joren Kandel, max, NAB, new, NVIDIA, room, software, system, tool, top, us, VFX, visualization, VR

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