MMST 3ds Max Class Blog

Autodesk Software - Free Student Licenses

2012-01-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

Autodesk provides almost all of its product line free to students through its educational portal: http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=download_center. These are full featured applications. You need to create an account to access the download. The class workstations have installations of the entire Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite, i.e. 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage, Mudbox and Motion Builder. You are entitled to download and install each of these applications on your own equipment. We will use 3ds Max as our 3D application in this course. Note, the portal includes student licenses for most products in the Autodesk line, including the Auto CAD line.

Since these applications often run to several Gb's, make sure to use a fast connection. Make sure print and keep a PDF or print of the Serial No. and Key in case you need to reinstall the product. I also recommend keeping the downloaded installation files for the same reason. Autodesk has reorganized this site, so take a moment to review the resources even if you've been here before.

After you've downloaded 3ds Max, go to the Services and Support page, to find documentation, etc., and last, get Service Pack 2 at http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=17826382&linkID=9241178.

Lastly, take a look at the Autodesk Learning Channel on YouTube for 3ds Max ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MydCSNNMdTQ).

If you wish to use any products other than 3ds Max, consult the instructor before proceeding

Welcome to MMST 163 & 173

2012-01-23T12:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to MMST 163 (& 173), Level II 3D (& Level IV)-- Intermediate Textures, Lighting, Environments, Characters and Animation. This is a lot to swallow in 16 weeks. The syllabi for MMST 163and MMST 173 are posted on your class page on MyCOM and on my site, at Zoomextents.com. This class requires no specific text, but I have recommended texts available on my site. I also recommend you check the training tab on my site for 3DS Max/general 3D links, downloads and resources.

Autodesk has extensive resources and material on The Area, including written and video tutorials, support discussions, etc., which everyone is expected to join and look to for additional techniques and industry information. Equally, Autodesk offers 3DS Max 2012 and about 30 other products free for students through its Education Community site -- you are expected to register, download and install 3DS Max 2012 to use during the semester. Also follow the Autodesk Media & Entertainment portal on Facebook or the Autodesk Channel on YouTube.

We will use this blog in connection with the College's MyCOM portal. These will be our links to each other between classes -- MyCOM is a place to post work in progress, links, questions, news items, events, etc. It's also a good way to email me and members of the class.

All of you are expected to check this at least weekly. Good luck!

Dan Roarty - Character Artist.

2011-12-12T12:06:00.000-08:00

Dan is currently the lead character artist at LucasArts

3December Toronto

2011-12-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

Autodesk® presents...

3December® -- an annual worldwide celebration of 3D computer graphics and the artists who create them. On its 13th anniversary, 3December aims to unite thousands of artists at live venues and through 3December Online. This year, Autodesk in collaboration with Clustr, is hosting a small live event in the heart of downtown Toronto, at the Twist Gallery on Wednesday December 7th, 2011 at 6PM.
Whether you are a student, hobbyist or already working in the industry, the evening will be a casual night where you can hang out with fellow CG people who get excited about the same stuff you do. And the presentations will be from notable folks who will demo cool stuff in 3ds Max, Maya, SketchBook Pro and then some! Don't miss out -- it'll be like going to the forums, but realtime! Just make sure you register, and come on time for some limited free swag!

3December Toronto
Date / Time:	December 7th 2011, 6PM-10:30PM
Venue:	Twist Gallery ( twistgallery.ca ) 1100 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M6J 1H9

Join us virtually on AREA for 3December Online, December 8, 2011

- Watch the Montreal event live on AREA TV, Wednesday December 8 from 6pm-9pm EST
- Access free MasterClasses
- Get valuable tutorials, videos and much more!

Autodesk thanks its strategic partners. Be sure to check out the great content they have made available - Just click on the logos for each partner.

Animated Camera Mapping Tutorial by: Chris Bullen

2011-11-05T15:23:00.000-07:00

Camera mapping has been in use for many years as a way to project 2D imagery onto 3D objects, creating photo realism without modeling to that level of detail. This technique is widely used in cinematic productions to bring life to a static camera shot, or matte painting, by creating the illusion that one is traveling within a 3-D environment when in fact it is only a digitally enhanced 2-D image.

GDC at Moscone Center March 5 - 9, 2012

2011-11-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

The Game Developers' Conference is the largest of its kind, drawing about 19,000 visitors from over 140 countries. The good news is it's in San Francisco. It's famous for its high-level sessions, the job fair, and technology expo. There's something for every skill level, not to mention a wonderful opportunity to meet/see industry pros you want to work with.

For students, becoming a volunteer is a wonderful opportunity to acquire a free pass in exchange for ushering duties.

LG Optimus Hyper Facade Event in Berlin

2011-09-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

This video is of an event in Berlin, a projection on the side of a building...yes. Courtesy of Peter Blunt -- thanks.

Head Modeling Tutorial

2011-09-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Speed Video -- creating a girl's head.

After Effects Integration: 3ds Max 2012 State Sets (Subscription Pack)

2011-09-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

The most requested addition to Max has been interoperability with Adobe After Effects. The new State Sets subscription offering at SIGGRAPH 2011 addresses this. It is not limited to After Effects, however, and should work with Autodesk Composite, Smoke, Apple's Final Cut and Motion, etc. Here's the announcement video:

Here's a basic tutorial for 3ds Max showing how to get started:

SIGGRAPH 2011 Louis Marcoux Demo 3ds Max Creation Suite + Smoke

2011-08-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

This is fast and furious, but gives a good sense of workflow using the 2012 versions of 3ds Max, Mudbox, Motion Builder, Smoke, and Kinect to produce in a finished post-production shot.

Kinect Demo from SIGGRAPH

2011-08-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

Kinect is effecting movie and game scene production. Here's a workflow for machinima.

Autodesk Photofly demo

2011-08-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

The Autodesk Channel on YouTube -- Subscribe

2011-08-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

In addition to The Area, Autodesk posts many of its demos as videos on YouTube, through the Autodesk Channel. I recommend you subscribe to follow what they post. New features in the Autodesk line generally come from customer request or invention. Their videos give you a window into what's current, where the industry is and what they expect.

Yale Architecture Students Dig Into Autodesk Mudbox

2011-08-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

Using digital fabrication or rapid prototyping with Mudbox, Architects are fabricating unique, complex and specialized facades and ornamentation.

Welcome to MMST 124 & 125, Fall 2011

2011-08-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome to MMST 124 (& 125), 3D Fundamentals (& Intermediate)-- Modeling, Texturing, and Animation. This is a lot to swallow in 16 weeks. The syllabi for MMST 124 and MMST 125 are posted on your class page on MyCOM and on my site, at Ogle.com. This class requires no specific text, but I have recommended texts available on my site. I also recommend you check the training tab on my site for 3DS Max/general 3D links, downloads and resources.

Autodesk has extensive resources and material on The Area, including written and video tutorials, support discussions, etc., which everyone is expected to join and look to for additional techniques and industry information. Equally, Autodesk offers 3DS Max 2012 and about 30 other products free for students through its Education Community site -- you are expected to register, download and install 3DS Max 2012 to use during the semester. Also follow the Autodesk Media & Entertainment portal on Facebook or the Autodesk Channel on YouTube.

We will use this blog in connection with the College's MyCOM portal. These will be our links to each other between classes -- MyCOM is a place to post work in progress, links, questions, news items, events, etc. It's also a good way to email me and members of the class.

All of you are expected to check this at least weekly. Good luck!

3DS Max 2012 Announced at GDC

2011-03-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

3DS Max 2012 enhanced interface

Midterm Projects Due Friday, March 25

2011-03-01T08:21:00.000-08:00

Midterm projects are due on or before March 25. The due date is fixed; there are no extensions or incompletes. This midterm will consist of your creating an environment, according to the requirements contained in the syllabus. I will be available during class hours to discuss and help you plan your content and answer questions on how to make it.

Your project should consist of an animated camera moving through the environment 10 - 30 seconds in length at 15 fps, together with 6 JPEG stills plus the Max archive file.

Welcome to MMST 163, 173

2011-01-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

Welcome to MMST 163 & 173), 3D Environments and Character Animation (Intermediate)-- Modeling, Texturing, and Animation. This is a lot to swallow in 16 weeks. The syllabi for MMST 163 and MMST 173 are posted on your class page on MyCOM and on my site, at Ogle.com. This class requires no specific text, but I have recommended texts available on my site. I also recommend you check the training tab on my site for 3DS Max/general 3D links, downloads and resources.

Autodesk has put together extensive resources and material on The Area, which everyone is expected to join and look to for additional tutorials and industry information. Equally, Autodesk offers free software for students through its Education Community site -- it's worth joining this one.

We will use this blog in connection with the College's MyCOM portal. These will be our links to each other between classes -- MyCOM is a place to post work in progress, links, questions, news items, events, etc. It's also a good way to email me and members of the class. All of you are expected to check this at least weekly.

Midterm Projects due October 15

2010-09-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

Please check the syllabus link (above) for details)

3ds Max Subscription Advantage Pack: iray, PhysX, substances!

2010-09-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

For those who are subscribers to 3DS Max 2011, there's a new post up offering addins, i.e the iRay renderer, new nVidia PhysX dynamics, and a new procedural substances library. They don't mention whether the PhysX engine will run on computers not using nVidia GPS's Follow this link to the videos.

Autodesk Webcast Archive

2010-09-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

Autodesk has a resource page on resources.autodesk.com which contains archives of webcasts on the use of its products. Some are by Autodesk presenters, others by their customers. Usually these are helpful, at least to show how the tools are used, and from this you can begin to understand the intended uses motivating the software designers.

Autodesk Game Developer Webcast Featuring MMA by Electronic Arts

2010-09-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Autodesk Game Developer Webcast Featuring MMA by Electronic Arts

Date: Thursday, September 9, 2010
Time: 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Duration: 60-minutes

Presented By
Autodesk

Overview
Autodesk and EA Sports present the Game Developer Webcast, featuring a discussion with Simon Sherr, Animation Director for Electronic Arts Tiburon, moderated by Mary Beth Haggarty.

EA Sports MMA heavily leveraged Autodesk® HumanIK® in their production of complex character interaction. In this session we discuss implementation of Human IK features for EA’s Mixed Martial Arts fighting game including: dynamic Footplanting, Non-Uniform Player Scaling, Interaction-based player scale compensation, and partial body “Relative IK” interactions.

Featured Speakers

Mary Beth Haggerty
Senior Product Marketing Manager – Middleware
Autodesk, Inc
With a background in games, film and TV, Mary Beth Haggerty has 15 years of experience in digital entertainment creation. Her credits include 10 games working at EA/Maxis, 9 feature films working at ILM and numerous television commercials, including 3 Clio award-winners. She is passionate about the future of digital media from games to film to advertising, and is a former co-chair of the Visual Effects Society (Bay Area). Mary Beth joined Autodesk in 2008 and works closely with game developers and publishers around the world.

Simon Sherr
Animation Director
Electronic Arts Tiburon
Simon Sherr is Animation Director for Electronic Arts Tiburon, heading up gameplay and technical animation for EA Sports' new MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) franchise. He has worked on numerous stellar video games such as Madden 2010, Madden 2009, NCAA 2009 to name a few. Simon is one of the creators of the ANT animation system at EA which leverages the power of HumanIK. ANT is now used as the animation engine for all Gen3 EA Sports titles, and many EA Games titles currently in development.

Welcome to MMST 124 & 125, Fall 2010

2010-08-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to MMST 124 (& 125), 3D Fundamentals (& Intermediate)-- Modeling, Texturing, and Animation. This is a lot to swallow in 16 weeks. The syllabi for MMST 124 and MMST 125 are posted on your class page on MyCOM and on my site, at Ogle.com. This class requires no specific text, but I have recommended texts available on my site. I also recommend you check the training tab on my site for 3DS Max/general 3D links, downloads and resources.

Autodesk has put together extensive resources and material on The Area, which everyone is expected to join and look to for additional tutorials and industry information. Equally, Autodesk offers free software for students through its Education Community site -- it's worth joining this one.

We will use this blog in connection with the College's MyCOM portal. These will be our links to each other between classes -- MyCOM is a place to post work in progress, links, questions, news items, events, etc. It's also a good way to email me and members of the class. All of you are expected to check this at least weekly.

Good luck!

3DS Max 2011 New Features

2010-03-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

3D Studio turned 20 this year. Autodesk announced the 2011 versions of it Media & Entertainment line, including 3DS Max. Again, there are hundreds of new features which extend the product in the same directions as before. We should be enthusiastic about some of these:

Painting objects on other objects
Expansion of "Paint on Canvas" into a full 3D paint package
A new node=based material editor with a new material library
Toxic built-in as a compositor (this includes most features we had in Combustion)
Major expansion of the Ribbon, including the ability to customize these palettes.

These are all summarized in videos at http://area.autodesk.com/3dsmax2011

Recommended Books to learn 3DS Max 2010 - 2011

2009-09-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

I've updated my recommendations for new 3DS Max books. You can order titles through my site, or directly from Amazon (same price). Take a look: www.ogle.com/Resouces/Resources.htm

The course does not require additional text books. However, many of you have been looking for printed materials. These are titles I respect.

3DS Max 2010 Introduced at GDC - Feature Videos

2009-03-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

Autodesk announced Max 2010 at GDC, purportedly containing 350 new features. It has not shipped, but here are some videos on YouTube to cover the more interesting ones.

Rigging Videos from GDC 2009

2009-03-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

CGSociety is hosting videos from two of the Autodesk GDC Master Classes being staged at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The Area has given CGSociety exclusive access to two of the presentations below, one Maya, one 3ds Max.

Holiday 2/13 and Class is cancelled 2/20

2009-02-08T19:38:00.000-08:00

Friday, Feb 13 is a holiday, so there will be no class. The following Friday, Feb 20, I must attend a conference, so that class is cancelled. I will schedule a make up for the 2/20 class and let you know.

Welcome to MMST 163

2009-01-23T09:41:00.000-08:00

This class is the second semester of study in 3d Art and Animation. The first 8 weeks will concern building environments -- for games, for CAD, or for animation. The second half will be about building and animating a character to inhabit that space.

Assignments, files and information will be posted to MyCOM and to www.ogle.com, and announcements and news or event items will be posted to this blog. Please check these locations at least weekly.

MyCOM is the best tool to reach the instructor, to post WIP, or to email each other. Please take advantage of this.

Autodesk to Buy Softimage

2008-10-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

So, who's left to compete? Lightwave? Cinema 4D?