Blender 2.5 alpha was released a month ago, and this first testing release of the 2.5 series comes packed with lots of improvements and changes. Obviously, since this is an alpha release, there are some missing or incomplete features, but development has continued alongside the Durian project, and already a lot of new features have been added. One of these new features is Indirect Diffuse Lighting for Aproximate Ambient Occlusion
In this tutorial, and, after a brief introduction to the new interface and locations of different features, we’ll build a small scene and light it with AAO and indirect lighting.
Watch here
Related links:
cg.tutsplus.com
In this DVD Michael Pavlovich starts off by taking up where the first DVD left off and covers the new features in ZBrush 3.5 R3. After the new features are covered he takes everything that you have learned up to this point and puts it into practice by creating an entire highres character right inside Zbrush. Many techniques are used during this character creation process that would benefit almost anyone.
After the character is made he goes through many of the useful ZPlugins like Zapplink, Subtool Master and even goes through creating a turntable video of your character. At the very end there is a bonus video that takes you through rendering out passes from ZBrush and compositing them inside Photoshop.
Dont forget you can watch the first 45min of this video for FREE right here: http://eat3d.com/free/zbrush-35-r3-new-features
Related links:
eat3d.com
HDRSource recently released a completely revised website containing new High Dynamic Range Images with a main focus on 3d applications
Many of the HDRs are over 8,000x4,000 pixels wide and contain over eight F-stops of information per image. All HDRs and HDR libraries are available for electronic download. HDRSource plans to release several more libraries in the immediate future, as well as adding sIBL (Smart Image-Based Lighting) versions as well. HDR images are priced at $14.95 per image. Collections of 20 HDR images are also available at $149.
For more information, please visit www.hdrsource.com
Related links:
hdrsource.com
Ricky Grove has just reviewed the book of Ballistic Publishing: Character Modeling 3
PLEASE CHECK HERE
Beverly Hills, CA (December 28, 2009) — Nomination ballots for the 82nd Academy Awards® were mailed today to the 5,777 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Completed ballots must be returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers by 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 23, 2010. Ballots received after the deadline will not be counted.
Nomination and final Awards ballots are tabulated by PricewaterhouseCoopers to ensure that all aspects of the balloting process are conducted with fairness and accuracy.
Prior to mailing, the PricewaterhouseCoopers staff administers a thorough verification process to ensure that there are no duplicate ballots and that none are missing. In addition to being counted and sorted, the ballots are numbered to guarantee that each one is addressed to the appropriate Academy voter.
The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.
Related links:
oscars.org
over 19 hours After Effects tutorials by industry veteran and Gnomon School instructor Ergin Kuke
The Greeting holliday from Gnommon:
"Just in time for Winter Break, these downloadable tutorials cover a wide gamut of tools and topics, with extensive coverage of the basic tools, tracking, using 3D, keying and more. Highlights of this release include a variety of project-based advanced tutorials covering effects and compositing techniques you might see in commercials, effects shots and opening title sequences. Stay warm, be safe, have fun ramping up your After Effects skills and see you in 2010!"
See more information on all of these great titles below.
After Effects Tutorials Essential Techniques with Ergin Kuke
Related links:
thegnomonworkshop.com
A discussion on how intelligent use of color may help to promote and reinforce the environmentally sound credentials of the Renault Z.E. concepts first shown together at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.
As Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of Renault recently iterated in Paris, concerns over CO2 emissions are no longer just the preserve of the scientific community, they have very much become part of the public consciousness.
Manufacturers have realized that they have to be proactive when it comes to issues surrounding climate change. As a result of this, we are embarking on a very exciting time in automotive design – the handing over of power and influence from one propulsion system to another – the exchange of petrol for electricity.
The fact that Renault is a company with aspirations to be at the forefront of this shift is evidenced by the promise that their four Z.E. (Zero Emission) concept vehicles will be translated into production reality by 2012. With this move, Renault has declared that the past is over and that the revolution in affordable and purposefully designed sustainable motoring most definitely starts here.
Red is a color which is very much associated with revolution so perhaps one would expect to see a great deal of it being used in the Z.E range.
Why then is this not the case? Red symbolizes an incredibly bold and assertive move, and furthermore to a fifth of the World red can be seen to represent luck – surely these vehicles will need some luck on their side in order to succeed.
On the flip side, red is the color of flesh and blood – it can signify danger, anger and of course anarchy. Red is hot headed, impassioned, irrational and overtly emotional.
Red then is not the color of a calm and ordered state of mind and because of this it could be said that red might wish to consume resources such as petrol at an irresponsible rate and thus edge us ever closer to ‘Peak Oil’ (if we aren’t already there).
The Z.E concepts of course do not contain a single tail pipe between them so are therefore actively attempting to remove visual signs of their association with unsustainable consumption.
Perhaps even more importantly, we might do well to remember that the visceral emotions red represents are associated with the generation of a great deal of heat.
And as things get hot they tend to melt, so perhaps the consumer might get the wrong message – the Z.E. range are designed to significantly lower the amount of CO2 being released into the environment (Co2 is of course a ‘greenhouse’ gas responsible for heating up the planet). These vehicles have been created to help protect Earth’s icecaps and glaciers, not to accelerate their demise.
As the green movement and the battle to reduce global warming is probably the most pressing challenge to face the planet, why not go the whole hog then and splash these vehicles with green?
It is, after all, the color of a fresh start, Spring, new shoots, renewal, refreshment, peace and calm.
However, with the introduction of photovoltaic cells and electric motors unsupported by an internal combustion engine, the consumer is dealing with technology which has been placed in an unfamiliar context – the automobile.
Cars are expensive, and the color green is also associated with inexperience and naivety – no customer wants to feel as though they may be gullible (another context in which green is found) so perhaps this is why greens are limited to being used on some very well thought through details across the Z.E. range.
Worse still, the color green can be linked to expressing a feeling of nausea – cross that with a passenger who is prone to being travel-sick and the results could be devastating.
Green too is the color of something slightly odd, something not of this earth, a life form which might come from outer space. With this information in mind, it is perhaps slightly surprising that Renault chose to illuminate the windows of the 2008 Z.E. concept with a lime green hue.
The fact that the days of the familiar and reliable petrol burning engine may be numbered might create a certain level of anxiety in some consumers (and of course some car companies too).
What this situation needs then is a calm, measured approach.
Customers need to be given the opportunity to reflect and contemplate in order to be sure that their next vehicle is the intelligent and rational choice, one which is made in order to aid the long term wellbeing of the planet and its inhabitants.
Consumers also need to know that the technology they are about to invest in is trustworthy and dependable and not temperamental or prone to the fits that new technology can be associated with.
Blue certainly ticks all these boxes and the blue spectrum features very heavily in the Z.E range. Blue of course also very literally says ‘electricity’.
Blue does have perceived negative connotations too as it can be seen as cold, distant, perhaps even removed and can signify a state of depression.
The ‘coldness’ of blue can however be advantageous – in these vehicles there is surely a hint of the hue of the headline-making icebergs which are in such need of being protected.
Moreover, perhaps the overall ‘coldness’ of the Z.E. range is symbolic of automotive companies needing to be perceived as distancing or indeed detaching themselves from their past in order to promote an image of actively pursuing a more responsible future.
Blue is also an extremely spiritually significant color and represents serenity.
This symbolism is surely a very important factor in the choice to invest in a zero emissions vehicle. Knowing that one has done ‘their bit’ makes a person feel they are a better human being – and as Renault are keen on being perceived as leading the way, perhaps they are informing potential customers that their next car will stand as an example to drivers of other vehicles and will encourage them to change their irresponsible ways.
It appears that blue has captured the zeitgeist – this revolution is cerebral and serene rather than visceral and bloody.
About the Author
Aysar Ghassan is a Snr Lecturer in Transportation Design & Design For Industry at Northumbria University.
His interests include form, branding and semiotics.
Related links:
http://www.carbodydesign.com/
Ronen announced "The Challenge starts it's 3rd week and there are some great submissions so far... with many things to learn from too! You really should check out the progress of"
Arthur's thread
Bertrand's thread
Ivo's thread
Robert's thread
Pay a visit to the others submissions too and give them feedback if you like...
Related links:
ronenbekerman.com
V-Ray RT follows the users actions while working on the scene and automatically and progressively generates a photorealistic preview of the scene. It is designed to improve and fasten the artists work on the Texturing and Lightening stage.
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
Related links:
ChaosGroupTV
Trailer for the anime series Cat Shit One Produced by :Studio Anima
Director: Kazuya Sasahara
Original Manga (released in the USA as Apocalypse Meow): Motofumi Kobayashi
Format: 23 min. 12 episodes
Target Viewers: Survival game fans and military fans
Anticipated Customers: Clients who are looking to invest in imaging contents that are on a par with those by PIXAR
When dealing with FumeFX, and other effects generating tools, it can be said that knowing how to convincingly merge your effects into your 3d scene is just as important as knowing how to create the effects themselves. In this tutorial we will take a look at a little explored area of FumeFX, at least when it comes to tutorials, multi-pass compositing.
We will study this subject inside of Toxic, Autodesk’s HD compositing package, and create render passes specific to FumeFX. We will also take another look at how to make an elegant candle flame and add it to a scene inside of 3DS Max.
WATCH HERE
Ambientdesign announced the immediate availability of ArtRage Studio / Studio Pro 3.0.5. This update includes a number of fixes to problems that have been discovered since the product launch on the 15th.
Fixes and Changes:
The following items were fixed:
- Fixed a bug that prevented strokes being completed on mouse up on some Tablet PC devices with older drivers or specific hardware configurations.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when switching off ink-services in the ArtRage preferences panel for some hardware configurations.
- Fixed a problem that could cause a dark blob of paint at the start of each paint stroke for some users with specific tablet configurations.
- Fixed a bug that prevented layers above 0 being selected on G4/G5 Macs.
- Fixed a crash bug that would occur after holding down H or V for some time doing a quick mirror.
- Fixed a bug that prevented pasting data from external applications on OSX 10.6 and in some cases 10.5.
- The ArtRage Window now titles itself based on the painting name.
- Shift + Character shortcuts now work on OSX.
- Fixed a bug that prevented the default shortcuts for Select Next Layer (Ctrl Up) and Select Previous Layer (Ctrl Down) working.
- Fixed a bug in JPEG compression quality settings on Windows that caused JPEG files to be overcompressed on export.
- Fixed a bug that could transparency on base layers to be lost when exporting to PSD.
- Fixed a bug that prevented pressure adjustment through keyboard shortcuts (Up/Down keys) updating the brush size proxy in the tool picker.
- Fixed a bug that caused clicking in the titlebar of the settings panel to deselect the currently selected preset if there was one.
- Added all Snap Art 2 filters to the Photoshop filter exclusion list.
- Fixed a bug that prevented the palette knife storing Drip Spread and Falloff values in its presets
and more
Related links:
ambientdesign.com
An animated film based on the classic children's picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, The Gruffalo tells the magical tale of a mouse who takes a walk though the woods in search of a nut.
ProductionCredit: Studio Soi http://www.studiosoi.com/
More about this programme:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pk64x
Related links:
bbc.co.uk
Check out The new BATTLE BEARS v1.5 iPhone Game Trailer.
The artists used Cinema 4D, Modo, Unity Pro, Unity iPhone Advanced for all game-play elements.
For their cut scenes They used the CS4 suite (AE, PS, Premiere) and ProTools LE
BATTLE BEARS Official Website
Related links:
battlebears.com/
The LANDSCAPE SHADING KIT is a collection of 3D procedural Cinema 4D materials. 170 materials patiently designed to offer a high level of realism and flexibility. The whole kit is the most powerful solution for landscape texturing within Cinema 4D. It offers almost the same level of realism as photo based maps, without the limitations and frustrations of 2D mapping.
> Working with 2D maps is nothing more than putting a sticker on a surface or a socket around an object. With high details geometry this method always generates a mess: projection problems, stretching, seams, repetitions, visible pixels, etc... An entirely procedural 3D material overcome these issues by providing a 3D definition of the material independent from the polygonal structure of the object. A 3D material will always look as it should, no matter how intricate the geometry is. Tedious parametric projection or manual UV mapping is not required at all. Assigning these 3D material to a geometry is an instant gratification drag and drop affair.
> Since procedural shaders are algorithms converted in pixels only at the rendering stage, they are totally resolution independent. They offer high details shading, without the cost of high resolution maps or the sacrifice of tiling.
> This materials library is optimized to provide flicker free animations and fast renders. It is also extremely light. The whole kit, made of 170 different materials weights only 3 MB.
CHECK HERE
Related links:
ericsmit.com
Third round of Cinema 4D content including new modeling lessons plus additional titles for Maya, Photoshop and Nuke
New Cinema 4D Modeling Lessons
Discover time-saving techniques and practical projects to learning a variety of modeling tools in Cinema 4D.
- Step-by-step instructions to effectively shape objects with multiple deformers
- Explore several innovative techniques to modeling furniture
- Proficiently build curtains using splines
- Learn a variety of modeling tools to creating cartoon props
Watch today!
Maya Rendering Node Reference Library: General Utilities
Explore best-use workflows and solution-based techniques to learning a variety of Maya's general utilities hypershade nodes.
- Efficiently use the bump 2D and 3D node to create bump-mapping effects
- Successfully create dynamically-changing shading networks with the condition node
- Explore several nodes including the array mapper node and sampler info node
Watch a Preview!
Digital Painting: Human Head
Build a solid digital painting and drawing foundation and learn how to illustrate various features of the face in Photoshop.
- Learn the anatomy and musculature that make up a human face
- Understand which forms of the face to keep in mind when illustrating
- Build upon your anatomy and forms to create stunning finished results
- Use real-life variations to show your character's personality
Watch a Preview!
Introduction to Rotoscoping in Nuke
Utilize the power of Nuke by learning fundamental rotoscoping tips and techniques.
- Easily learn how to use and control the Bezier node
- Understand the basic workflows of animating masks
- Learn how to keep consistent shapes for more appealing mattes
- Output masks into image sequences for use in other Nuke scripts or applications
Watch a Preview!
Available for Annual Members: Immediately
Available for Monthly and Semi-annual Members: January 23, 2009
http://www.digitaltutors.com/09/pricing.php
Related links:
digitaltutors.com
The SShadersVFloor is integrated right into 3ds Max and becomes one of the Material options available within the Material Editor. It is expertly programmed Shader that control many components of the V-Ray Material based on specific Material criteria. You can customize everyone Preset flexibly and, the main thing, quickly, to adapt for the needs. This Shader exposes only the settings that are important to creating a highly realistic and optimized material.
KEY FEATURES
* 20 Flooring Presets:
o Hardwood (12)
o Concrete (8)
* Compatible with 3ds max 2009, 2010 | V-Ray SP2, SP3, SP4 | 32 and 64 bit
* Compatible with Blend material (VRayBlendMtl currently not supported)
* Compatible with Multi/Sub-Object material
* User Presets manager
* Friendly and simple interface
* Useful for V-Ray newbies, average and power users
Version Requirement:
3ds max 2009, 2010 | V-Ray SP2, SP3, SP4 | 32 and 64 bit
Other Software Required:
V-Ray
Homepage URL:
http://www.siger.lt
Related links:
siger.lt
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – December 23, 2009 – wondertouch by GenArts announced today the immediate availability of particleIllusion™ for After Effects (pIAE) for users of Adobe After Effects on Windows.
Available as a plug-in for the first time, particleIllusion for After Effects enables artists to create gorgeous particle effects directly within After Effects, producing a more efficient workflow and significantly enhanced productivity. Like its stand-alone sibling particleIllusion 3.0, pIAE is built on the industry’s most robust 2D particle generation engine. As a result, it features the same highly acclaimed speed and ease of use that have made wondertouch products so popular with compositing artists. In addition, pIAE provides access to the thousands of existing wondertouch emitters -- downloadable presets designed to allow users to effortlessly create natural, high-quality effects such as smoke, fire, explosions, sparkles, fireworks and countless abstract effects -- without ever leaving the After Effects environment.
particleIllusion for After Effects features include:
- The ability to load most of the more than 2,800 existing particleIllusion emitters in After Effects, including the popular “Pro Emitters”
- The same emitter search engine found in wondertouch particleView
- Access to all top-level particle parameters, including size, life, number, velocity, etc. to further customize the particles for each project
- OpenGL-accelerated rendering
- Full support for HD content
“particleIllusion for After Effects is the particles solution we’ve been waiting for,” said Ernest Chan, Post Production CG Supervisor at Nickelodeon Animation Studios. “We are huge fans of the incredible ease of use and high-quality output that wondertouch products have delivered for years. Now, we get all those benefits in a more streamlined workflow that maximizes our creativity while minimizing our support costs. particleIllusion for After Effects is the right product at just the right time.”
Artists using particleIllusion for After Effects can gain even greater control by using it in conjunction with particleIllusion 3.0. An excellent companion to pIAE, particleIllusion 3.0 grants access to all emitter settings and lower-level parameters such as color gradients, particle images, initial angle settings, and so on. Artists can also create new emitters and libraries, or move emitters between libraries using particleIllusion 3.0.
“particleIllusion 3.0 as a standalone application has earned its reputation by allowing customers to create stunning, natural effects that they would never have the time or resources to accomplish with other tools,” said Alan Lorence, creator of particleIllusion. “particleIllusion for After Effects further enhances artists’ creativity by offering convenient, intuitive access to our amazing preset library without having to leave the After Effects environment.”
Pricing and Availability
- Regular pricing for particleIllusion for After Effects is $299
- Existing particleIllusion 3.0 users can purchase particleIllusion for After Effects for $179
- particleIllusion for After Effects BUNDLED with particleIllusion 3.0 will be priced at $579
- particleIllusion for After Effects BUNDLED with all 12 Pro Emitter libraries will be priced at $499
- particleIllusion for After Effects BUNDLED with particleIllusion 3.0 AND all 12 Pro Emitter libraries will be priced at $799
particleIllusion for After Effects is available immediately for Windows users, and will be available in Q1 2010 for Macintosh users. Visit www.wondertouch.com to order online or to find a reseller.
About wondertouch by GenArts
wondertouch by GenArts is an award-winning software developer specializing in particle effects for the visual effects industry. The company's flagship product particleIllusion, a sprite-based particle effects application, is designed to provide the most comprehensive effects creation tool and efficient workflow. Considered one of the most popular solutions for effects creation, particleIllusion is now used worldwide by creative professionals working in film post-production and pre-visualization, standard and HD video, commercial broadcast, motion graphics and game content creation.
Related links:
wondertouch.com
Created by John Knoll, Photoshop co-creator and Star Wars effects guru, Knoll Light Factory is one of the industry's most popular motion graphics tools. It is most famous for its high-fidelity simulations of light effects called flares, which simulate reflections from a very bright light source as seen through a camera's lens. Knoll Light Factory is Hollywood's go-to tool for adding interest to text or logos or extra pop to FX explosions.
Highlights
Custom Lens Editor
Build your own flares or edit a preset with the custom lens editor. Choose from elements such as StarFilter, Ellipse, or PhotonSpikeBall, and control each element's position, color, scale, thickness, angle, and width. You also get pinpoint control over brightness, scale and color of the lens as a whole.
70 powerful presets
Use the same presets that the pros turn to every day for sports events and major motion pictures. Presets include Desert Sun, Arc Welder, Generic Panavision, Spikey Glow, Pv1 (for exploding stars), RedLaser, RockConcert, Omnimax (a flare seen on IMAX projection), or Distant Quantum (the original photon torpedo).
Auto-obscuration tools
Flares can be obscured by objects (cars, enemy spacecraft) that come between them and the viewer. The auto-track feature tracks specific points in an existing alpha channel, making flare location a snap. The integrated Knoll Unmult tool generates alphas, making it easier to include lights and flares in complex composites.
More FEATURE
Related links:
redgiantsoftware.com
This lecture presents a variety of approaches and techniques to create a Crash Barrier procedural system. This is the sequel and much needed video to get further in our discussions of ultimate virtual reality on demand.
HERE YOU GO!
Related links:
cmivfx.com
Watch the Mass Effect 2 cinematic trailer by Blur Studio
The true HD 720p Blur Trailer just got on Youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w94Bo1...
A great slideshow of Screenshots from this video can be found here.
http://img85.imageshack.us/slideshow/...
Just click when you're at a picture you want and you can download it individually
---------------------------------------
Download this video from here:
http://www.zshare.net/video/70236055b...
If Zshare.net isn't working for you, here's another alternate link
http://hidemyass.com/files/Gs1Nk/
---------------------------------------- --------
Other Recent Mass Effect 2 Information
[AKA "Master Link Page"]
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dd78xs...
---------------------------------------- ----------
Thane IS a biotic, watch this video here
http://www.zshare.net/video/702203862...
Related links:
youtube.com
baldasseroni.cgsociety.org
In this basic tutorial, Omar Alkattan will continue with his creating an ocean tutorial and in this tutorial, we'll add rain and clouds.
READ THE CONTENT HERE
Download the exclsuive wallpaper calendar 2010. Artwork created by various artists from around the world
DOWNLOAD HERE
Related links:
cgarena.com
In this tutorial we will create a reflective orb using only built-in After Effects plug-ins. The key to this tutorials is building a proper spherical map and utilizing the raytrace capabilities of the CC Sphere effect with Andrew Kramer
Related links:
videocopilot.net
After 10 years of working with great clients and creating award winning work we are proud to announce that Smoothe has rebranded and relaunched as multi-disciplinary design agency - Assembly Studios
THEIR NEW WEBSITE IS HERE
Related links:
assemblystudios.co.uk
cgarchitect.com
In this episode of Red Giant TV, Michael Park returns to us with a fantastic tutorial on creating a Christmas tree (complete with lights and star at the top) with Trapcode Particular. You'll also use Trapcode Starglow to enhance the look.
View Tutorial
Project Files
Example Video
Related links:
redgiantsoftware.com
Kstudio shows us the video of the FilePathFinder Pro. It's Coming
Beta version of FilePathFinder Pro.
The new version coming soon.
-DotNet interface.
-Image preview list and other.
Related links:
3d-kstudio.com
SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Dec. 22, 2009—NVIDIA today announced that its press conference at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010, will be webcast live.
The event will begin at 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time (1:30 p.m. Eastern Time), at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel, in Las Vegas.
Interested parties can listen to a live audio webcast of the press conference, available on the NVIDIA website at http://www.nvidia.com/ces2010. A replay of the webcast will be available for seven days after the press conference.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) awakened the world to the power of computer graphics when it invented the graphics processing unit (GPU) in 1999. Since then, it has consistently set new standards in visual computing with breathtaking, interactive graphics available on devices ranging from portable media players to notebooks to workstations. NVIDIA’s expertise in programmable GPUs has led to breakthroughs in parallel processing which make supercomputing inexpensive and widely accessible. Fortune magazine has ranked NVIDIA #1 in innovation in the semiconductor industry for two years in a row. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.
Related links:
nvidia.com
Curitiba, PR, Brazil December 22th, 2009 — cmiVFX | cmiStudios launches a brand new Houdini video called Empowering Digital Assets with Python. We have dedicated ourselves to completing training for one of the most flexible workflows in Houdini. Python! Rigging a Rubik's cube is a challenge by itself and our goal is to get an animation ready Rubik's cube rig using the power of Python as the core of our asset. It takes experience to do either one of those things and we showcase our experience to you here with this fantastic release. This video is available today at the cmiVFX store. cmiVFX Video Player Online Store http://cmivfx.com/store/Browse.aspx?Category=11
BUILDING THE SCENE WITH PYTHON
Python scripting could be of a great help, especially when it comes to redundant things that if done manually would take ages. In this part you are going to learn how to use python, inside the python shell, to automate the creation of the Rubik's cube and all the necessary nodes from scratch. By the end of this part you will have built, using python, the geometry of the Rubik's cube with the materials attached to it and with nulls parented to the cubes that will serve later in the code.
INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL ASSETS
Digital assets are a very important brick in any workflow built around or using Houdini. In this part you will be introduced to digital assets and you will learn, by transforming the Rubik's cube into one, how to transform a bunch of existing nodes into a digital asset.
PYTHON INSIDE THE DIGITAL ASSET
Since digital assets are entities that can live by themselves, it is crucial to be able to include the scripts they use inside them. There are many methods to do that and in this part you are going to learn one of those methods. By creating a simple python function inside the Rubik's cube digital asset and then adding a button also to the digital asset to be able to call this function.
RUBIK'S RIG CORE CODE
All is ready now to begin building the core code of the Rubik's cube rig. In this part you are going to go deeper into the python code that will drive the behavior of the rig. You are going to learn about the functions and how to pass parameters from the buttons to these functions, to be able to drive a multitude of conditions that will determine what cubes belong to which faces, which faces will rotate, how they are going to rotate ... etc
KEYING AND ANIMATION
Up until now all the work done so far, allows only to play with the Rubik's cube, no keys were set and therefore no animation. To bring the cube to life, in this part, you are going to learn how to create the code that will allow setting key frames on the rotations to get an animation!
CUSTOM GEOMETRY
What if the user needs to use custom geometry instead of the default cubes? In this part you are going to see how to make this possible and how to allow the user to define a custom geometry or not, in which case the default cubes will be used.
FINISHING TOUCHES
Resetting the cube to its initial state is important because not everyone knows how to solve it! :) In this part a reset button will be created as well as making the rotate function more flexible by allowing it to take the angle in as a parameter.
About the Author:
Georges Nakhle is 25 years old, Lebanese and has a master's degree in mechanical engineering. He began his art steps with traditional painting and sculpting then gained a diploma in dramatic monologue (acting -singing). He has worked as a writer and performer in radio and TV. Combining arts and science led him to CG, where he mastered many tools including Maya and Houdini among others. George is also a programmer; he's currently working for Dassault-Systemes in Paris-France and he has also worked in combination with Dassault-Systemes and Mental Images, the makers of mental-ray.
About cmiVFX
cmiVFX is the leader in High Definition Video Training for the Visual Effects Community. To test drive the new cmiVFX TVOD © system, visit http://www.cmivfx.com/cmi_vod.html For additional information about cmiVFX, visit www.cmivfx.com. cmiVFX is launching a live training tour in 2010, to find out more information about dates and locations, email to info@cmivfx.com © 2010 cmiVFX | cmiStudios. All rights reserved.
Related links:
cmivfx.com
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