In this course we will be teaching you essential terms, definitions and workflows to help you build a solid foundation for material and texture creation in Softimage We will start off by explaining what a shading network is, and why is it such a powerful way to work. We will then begin exploring the Material Manager, which is where you will be creating your Softimage shading networks and we will be covering many of the features, the workflows, and the concepts that will allow you to successfully begin creating your own shading networks in Softimage.

In this collection of lessons we will learn the basics of 3d models in 3ds Max. Introducing the Beginner Guide to Modeling in 3ds Max, a fundamental learning series brought to you by Digital-Tutors, the largest online CG training library in the world and Autodesk Authorized Publisher. This course is an introductory look into modeling that will enable you to learn essential terms and definitions and build a solid foundation in computer graphics. We will start off by covering the basics of 3d models. We will then take a look at a variety of ways to work with models in 3ds Max. After that, you will learn about some of the 3ds Max tools that can be used to build models. And to wrap up, we will look at how geometry can be assembled into more complex models. This series of step-by-step videos were developed with artists new to 3ds Max in mind so we will be moving at a steady, easy-to-follow pace making sure you understand terms and basic techniques. To view more Beginner Guide courses; visit our library where you will find the largest collection of free, high-quality CG training videos.

In this series of lessons, we will be exploring many of the ways that shading networks can be utilized within Maya. Shading networks can be used in many different aspects of Maya including material and texture creation, lighting, special effects, and rigging just to name a few. Because these networks are widely used throughout Maya, this is one aspect of the application that nearly all Maya artists should be familiar with. This course will explore topics such as using various render nodes to create complex material and texture effects, building shading networks to simulate atmospheric effects, using shading networks for lighting purposes, and many other topics that will allow you to become a stronger, more efficient Maya artist.

In this series of lessons we will explore techniques and workflows for setting up realistic lighting for your interior scenes, and rendering these scenes using mental ray. The ability to realistically light an interior environment is a skill that is highly sought after in the CG industry. It is a skill that is used very heavily in areas such as feature films, games, and architectural visualizations. This course will explore the entire, step-by-step process of lighting your scenes. We will start by learning how to make sure that our lights are behaving in a way that is physically accurate by utilizing real-world light data in our scenes. From there, we will learn how to incorporate realistic secondary illumination into our scenes, learn how to create physically-accurate materials in Maya, and explore many techniques and workflows designed to help you overcome many of the common issues that you are likely to encounter in your own scenes.

In this tutorial we will be exploring the Substance procedural texturing system included with Maya. With Substance, we no longer have to rely on the time-consuming process of acquiring and manipulating photographs to suit our texturing needs. Substance allows us to procedurally generate textures that are highly realistic and highly customizable. This tutorial will cover essential topics such as applying and modifying Substance textures, understanding the limitations and potential complications you may run into when using Substance textures, and how we can work around these. We will also learn how to create our own custom Substance textures, and how to extend the functionality of Substance through the use of 3rd-party plugins.

In this series of lessons, we will be taking a detailed look at each of the commands found in Maya's Edit Mesh menu. Each video in this course is a self-contained lesson centering on one of the commands found in the Edit Mesh menu in Maya. This means that these lessons can be viewed in any order you wish, allowing you to jump straight to the content that is most relevant to you. Over the course of these lessons, we'll take a detailed look at each of the Edit Mesh commands and how each of them can be used to speed up our workflow.

In this series of lessons, we will be exploring the core tools and features of mental ray in Softimage. Having a solid understanding of the features of mental ray is a crucial step toward becoming an efficient and productive rendering artist in Softimage. We will begin our training by learning several methods for simulating realistic indirect lighting in Softimage, such as global illumination, final gather, as well as Importons and Irradiance Particles. We will also explore the use of caustics to simulate the light patterns created as light passes through refractive surfaces. In addition, we will also explore Image-based lighting techniques, camera and environment shaders, utilizing render passes and render channels, as well as many other tools and techniques that will allow you start rendering high quality work for a multitude of projects.

In this tutorial we will learn about the essential lighting tools and features found in Maya. Understanding how the various lighting tools in Maya work and behave is a very important skill for anyone who is getting started with this 3D application. In this Maya lighting tutorial, we will discuss the different types of 3D lights found in Maya, and methods for easily aiming and controlling your lights. We will also explore some of the specialized attributes found in certain light types, we will discuss the different types of shadows available in Maya, we will see how we can add depth and mood to our scenes though the use of volumetric light rays, as well as many other lighting tools and concepts that will help you establish a solid foundation in Maya.

In this tutorial we will learn the basics of animating in CINEMA 4D. Throughout the tutorial, you will be guided through the CINEMA 4D intuitive animation tools. Our objective will be to build a solid foundation by familiarizing ourselves with core animation components and techniques. We will start by covering the CINEMA 4D animation preferences and how to record animation. We will discuss path animation, how to bake motion from procedural animation and optimize that data, as well as how to edit and blend animation non-linearly and non-destructively with its robust Motion System. We will explore animation layers, how to modify animation in the timeline, we will learn techniques for seamlessly cycling animation, and work with Xpresso, its node-based expression editor. By the end of this tutorial, you will have the foundation required animate comfortably in CINEMA 4D.

In this series of lessons, we will learn how to create dynamic and high quality fracturing simulations. Dynamic fracturing of rigid bodies is a powerful and production ready tool in Houdini. The shelf tools are a great place to start but there's a lot more under the hood that can be leveraged to get high quality and highly tunable results in less time. This tutorial covers dynamic fracturing starting in the context of dynamic simulations, then using dynamic fracturing building blocks to visualize fracturing without the need to simulate anything, and other tip and tricks to attain complex effects and improve robustness of the workflow. The material is based on the assumption that the viewer has a working knowledge of other aspects of Houdini and might have some experience with other DOP simulations. Dynamic fracturing was introduced in Houdini 9.5 but this tutorial was created using Houdini 11.0 so there may be some differences with earlier versions of Houdini.

 

In this course we will go over how to properly rig and animate a vehicle in Maya. In this series of lessons we will learn how to rig vehicles in Maya and learn proper vehicle animation techniques. Throughout this series we will learn how to create a seamless vehicle rig that will provide the animator with the control needed to create realistic animation. We will start with preparing our model for rigging with a proper naming convention and hierarchy. Step by step we will learn how to set up controls for steering and rotating the wheels as well as building a full custom suspension. We will learn how to clean up our rig to make it simpler to use and be seamlessly passed off to an animator. We will also go through the process of creating realistic animation including setting up a shot camera, blocking the animation, adjusting the animation curves and viewing a motion trail. We will also cover animating the suspension for our car to give the it a sense of weight.

 

In this course we will learn the basics of working in Mudbox. Introducing the Beginner Guide to Mudbox a fundamental learning series brought to you by Digital-Tutors, the largest online CG training library in the world and Autodesk Authorized Publisher. We will start off by covering some of the uses for Mudbox and take a tour of the interface. We will then explore sculpting and painting in Mudbox so you can learn how to begin creating your own Mudbox projects. After that, you will learn to extract and export your geometry and maps. And to wrap up this course, we will look at how easy it is to work between Mudbox and other applications in your pipeline. This series of step-by-step videos was developed with artists new to Mudbox in mind so we will be moving at a steady, easy-to-follow pace making sure you understand terms and basic techniques. To view more Beginner Guide courses; visit our library where you will find the largest collection of free, high-quality CG training videos.

 

In this collection of lessons we will learn about the process of creating photo inspired vector artwork. We will begin this process by learning how to recognize and target shapes in a realistic form which we can recreate here in Illustrator. While beginning to target shapes, we will also learn how to use 3 of the tools in Illustrator for creating different types of vector shapes including the pen tool, the pencil tool and the blob brush. After we have gotten the hang of these 3 tools we will proceed in executing our illustration. Along the way we will learn about organizing our artwork, gradient workflows, as well as various methods for fitting shapes together.

 

This course explores an efficient, easy to work, and forgiving method for taking a drawing to a finished color painting. We will cover and implement a multitude of things that are common practice in the professional production art world - composition, tangents, value structure, color theory / temperatures, final touch-ups, and creating a stress-free painting set-up throughout. These methods and concepts have served me well in my career. And after you're done watching, I hope they'll give you what you need to get started on your illustrative journey!

In this Maya modeling tutorial, we will get an introductory look at the modeling process in Maya. We will use a project-based approach as we cover the basics of modeling, look at commonly used tools, and talk about some time-saving tips and techniques gleaned from production experience. We will begin by looking at the various types of geometry available to you and how you can actually convert between those different types. You will learn how to organize your model into hierarchies and keep your scene clean and efficient. We will also take a look at several modeling tools, including polygonal tools like extrude and the insert edge loop tool for adding resolution, NURBS tools like loft and extrude to create smooth surfaces, and a few subd tools as well. We will take a look at using a smoothing or subdivision workflow and use deformers to help shape our models. We are going to take a slightly different approach to this introduction course, in that we are not going to talk about all of the Maya modeling tools, but rather focus on the tools that you are going to find most useful as you begin the modeling process. Once you have a better understanding of how these tools work together, you will be able to create your own modeling solutions and really come up with a workflow that is comfortable to you.