tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33825795495304999862024-03-13T09:05:53.265-07:00Do Tech Artists Dream of Electric Sheep?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-42884291507965851022015-05-16T21:33:00.001-07:002015-05-16T21:34:07.712-07:00Kim Goossen's Procedural Modeling Youtube channel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UoTlNdYNo0w/VVgWANtD-bI/AAAAAAAADRs/qi_uF-3Jpp4/s1600/maxresdefault%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UoTlNdYNo0w/VVgWANtD-bI/AAAAAAAADRs/qi_uF-3Jpp4/s400/maxresdefault%5B1%5D.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Ok so the theme this week is plugs. I really wanted to share Kim's work. If you're interested in learning great fundamentals in procedural modeling and general Houdini fundamentals, this is an incredible resource. I've worked a little bit with Kim at EA a few years ago and gained a mountain of knowledge from him and other incredible talents in this discipline. If you want to build sustainable, scalable, and dynamic cities, props, characters, etc. This is an awesome place to start.<br />
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Here's a link to Kim's channel:<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0VQvtms-36ilCVgJQXEM_Q">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0VQvtms-36ilCVgJQXEM_Q</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-28721197147842565012015-05-16T21:31:00.001-07:002015-05-16T21:34:07.708-07:00NVIDIA Hairworks Maya and 3DS Max Plugin available!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oSIvjFyeU_8/VVgXMp6ROvI/AAAAAAAADR0/Eul3XkG5oF4/s1600/qcKCgKx%5B1%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oSIvjFyeU_8/VVgXMp6ROvI/AAAAAAAADR0/Eul3XkG5oF4/s640/qcKCgKx%5B1%5D.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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NVIDIA recently put out their Hairworks Maya and Max plugins for public use and I definitely encourage people to try it. No word on an engine side implementation yet but if you're interested in testing the performance of Hairworks in Maya, here's your chance. I've played with it a little bit but haven't gotten too far. Still very impressive toolset so give it a shot if you get the chance :)<br />
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Hit the jump for a video demo and useful links to try Hairworks for yourself...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sut-lc-8ZB0" width="560"></iframe></div>
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Overview of NVIDIA Hairworks:</div>
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<a href="https://developer.nvidia.com/hairworks">https://developer.nvidia.com/hairworks</a></div>
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Download page for Maya and 3DS Max plugins:</div>
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<a href="https://developer.nvidia.com/gameworksdownload#?dn=nvidia-hairworks-1-0">https://developer.nvidia.com/gameworksdownload#?dn=nvidia-hairworks-1-0</a></div>
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Tutorial on how to use Hairworks:</div>
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<a href="https://developer.nvidia.com/hairworks-tutorials">https://developer.nvidia.com/hairworks-tutorials</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-15215871644429411952015-05-16T21:31:00.000-07:002015-05-16T21:34:07.700-07:00Maya to Unreal Plugin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_fpzNiR5Q7o/VVgS7LpNfII/AAAAAAAADRc/D566HR4FmJ4/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_fpzNiR5Q7o/VVgS7LpNfII/AAAAAAAADRc/D566HR4FmJ4/s640/Capture.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Shameless plug alert! I actually had a chance to play around with this plugin that allows you to sort of live link Maya to Unreal. You can hook up the camera from Maya to the UE4 editor and send object from your Maya scene directly to UE4 and back using serial ports and good timing :)<br />
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Hit the jump for links to the source and a demo video...<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/101552170" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe>
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The forum with all of the information is here:</div>
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<a href="https://forums.unrealengine.com/showthread.php?22515-m2u-interactive-sync-script-for-Maya-gt-UE4">https://forums.unrealengine.com/showthread.php?22515-m2u-interactive-sync-script-for-Maya-gt-UE4</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-25008695806117183732015-05-16T21:10:00.002-07:002015-05-16T21:34:07.704-07:00Alex Forsythe Motionbuilder Python Tutorials<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xvRxb4bwpJI/VVgT7m0s7fI/AAAAAAAADRk/caBrTdU5oik/s1600/476362725_640%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xvRxb4bwpJI/VVgT7m0s7fI/AAAAAAAADRk/caBrTdU5oik/s640/476362725_640%5B1%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Another shameless plug!<br />
<br />
So this set of tutorials is absolutely HUGE if you need to work in Motionbuilder and write python scripts like you would in other DCC applications. Alex does a phenomenal job teaching scripting in Motionbuilder and Python in general. This helped me a ton at work and I wanted to share it here.<br />
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Here's a link to Alex's website with his suite of tutorials. The production value is great and the pacing is awesome if you're learning for the first time.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://awforsythe.com/tutorials">http://awforsythe.com/tutorials</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-17980022824328127872015-02-15T14:27:00.002-08:002015-02-15T14:27:48.516-08:00YEBIS 3 Engine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qRp_1H4hUX8/VOEWlYLPL9I/AAAAAAAADNc/Fe4rduR1QQM/s1600/nexgen_mv4%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qRp_1H4hUX8/VOEWlYLPL9I/AAAAAAAADNc/Fe4rduR1QQM/s1600/nexgen_mv4%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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(Real Time in Engine)</div>
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Silicon Studio over in Japan is putting out their new YEBIS 3 game engine. They plan to use this engine to develop their new Final Fantasy XV title along with other future titles. Kingdom Hearts 3 was also developed in this engine for a while before the team switched to UE4. This engine seems to do a really nice job with ooooh shiny objects so I look forward to how Final Fantasy will look on this platform.</div>
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Hit the jump for more screen shots and video demos of YEBIS 2 and 3...</div>
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<a name='more'></a>Here's a demo of YEBIS 3:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sYX9I3ONHc4" width="560"></iframe>
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Here's a demo of YEBIS 2:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ErWicf6yuDo" width="560"></iframe>
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Here are some screen shots of pretty renders from YEBIS:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o676TlgIgCU/VOEVPiOFXvI/AAAAAAAADNQ/BwC_tE9lw5U/s1600/nexgen_mv3%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o676TlgIgCU/VOEVPiOFXvI/AAAAAAAADNQ/BwC_tE9lw5U/s1600/nexgen_mv3%5B1%5D.jpg" height="384" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-740cZx2l5kM/VOEWz104epI/AAAAAAAADNk/gjRDX7PsDGQ/s1600/final-fantasy-15-has-no-character-switching-k-L-wy1LFg%5B1%5D.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-740cZx2l5kM/VOEWz104epI/AAAAAAAADNk/gjRDX7PsDGQ/s1600/final-fantasy-15-has-no-character-switching-k-L-wy1LFg%5B1%5D.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-axAHnw5Rh9Q/VOEXSg6d-wI/AAAAAAAADNs/IFscmKAB_qg/s1600/screenshot-2014-04-07-11-40-00-780x438%5B1%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-axAHnw5Rh9Q/VOEXSg6d-wI/AAAAAAAADNs/IFscmKAB_qg/s1600/screenshot-2014-04-07-11-40-00-780x438%5B1%5D.png" height="358" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H9BaxSDyLLM/VOEYR5gt17I/AAAAAAAADN0/3Hj5RfNi5_8/s1600/Yebis%202%201%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H9BaxSDyLLM/VOEYR5gt17I/AAAAAAAADN0/3Hj5RfNi5_8/s1600/Yebis%202%201%5B1%5D.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PpKgHaGRFwY/VOEYbbYuGLI/AAAAAAAADN8/o8YuO-eLxEA/s1600/yebis2%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PpKgHaGRFwY/VOEYbbYuGLI/AAAAAAAADN8/o8YuO-eLxEA/s1600/yebis2%5B1%5D.jpg" height="358" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Qi-4JvgUfc/VOEYjFuK3hI/AAAAAAAADOE/dGNVzuK-JQ0/s1600/mizuchi-2%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Qi-4JvgUfc/VOEYjFuK3hI/AAAAAAAADOE/dGNVzuK-JQ0/s1600/mizuchi-2%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-81878758348295761232015-02-15T14:24:00.003-08:002015-02-15T14:27:48.540-08:00Project Cars is getting prettier and prettier<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F8zgp1bERs4/VOEPOj_nFcI/AAAAAAAADLc/C9AQHm3IzmU/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F8zgp1bERs4/VOEPOj_nFcI/AAAAAAAADLc/C9AQHm3IzmU/s1600/Capture.JPG" height="344" width="640" /></a></div>
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I was introduced to this clip at work and I thought you might get a kick out of this. This picture doesn't really do it justice so you need to see the source video: <a href="http://fat.gfycat.com/RareOffensiveCavy.webm">http://fat.gfycat.com/RareOffensiveCavy.webm</a> (Make sure that you're using a browser that supports HTML5, not Internet Explorer!)<br />
<br />
Project cars is coming out soon and if you want to play a gorgeous racing sim, this may be the game to play. I'm really excited to see if they can pull these visuals off in their final product. I'm really impressed by how well done the graphics hold up in overcast lighting settings too.<br />
<br />
Here's a link to their official site:<br />
<a href="http://www.projectcarsgame.com/">http://www.projectcarsgame.com/</a><br />
<br />
Hit the jump for more screenshots from Project Cars development...<br />
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<a name='more'></a>I was trying to find renders that can hardly be distinguished from photographs. Hopefully these fit the bill:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zcscnOeknSM/VOEQgAMHqgI/AAAAAAAADLo/bb9LJ5lCwbQ/s1600/Project-CARS-2%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zcscnOeknSM/VOEQgAMHqgI/AAAAAAAADLo/bb9LJ5lCwbQ/s1600/Project-CARS-2%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fn0Rmn4osKM/VOEQzsbvtiI/AAAAAAAADLw/bcrQsvb72eU/s1600/074%5B1%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fn0Rmn4osKM/VOEQzsbvtiI/AAAAAAAADLw/bcrQsvb72eU/s1600/074%5B1%5D.png" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kEYXfuUNA9A/VOERJrehSOI/AAAAAAAADL4/Z30_pXlPH88/s1600/pcars-cg22-18%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kEYXfuUNA9A/VOERJrehSOI/AAAAAAAADL4/Z30_pXlPH88/s1600/pcars-cg22-18%5B1%5D.jpg" height="358" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k4zlvqysKSc/VOERzj0RJEI/AAAAAAAADME/Pn66s0ydPLI/s1600/ProjectCARS_PC-1-wm%5B1%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k4zlvqysKSc/VOERzj0RJEI/AAAAAAAADME/Pn66s0ydPLI/s1600/ProjectCARS_PC-1-wm%5B1%5D.png" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OC6_aP5dy4U/VOESMPyrOTI/AAAAAAAADMM/l7i3RjSX58A/s1600/Project_Cars_13893899401884%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OC6_aP5dy4U/VOESMPyrOTI/AAAAAAAADMM/l7i3RjSX58A/s1600/Project_Cars_13893899401884%5B1%5D.jpg" height="398" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ewm8QTOQLgs/VOEShrbvANI/AAAAAAAADMU/n0WMYWrOYRI/s1600/Project%2BCARS%2B-%2BE3%2Bscreen%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ewm8QTOQLgs/VOEShrbvANI/AAAAAAAADMU/n0WMYWrOYRI/s1600/Project%2BCARS%2B-%2BE3%2Bscreen%5B1%5D.jpg" height="398" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-85aCmpI8RjM/VOESqdwGUjI/AAAAAAAADMc/sIYjs7rSAD4/s1600/project-cars-gameplay-trailer-2014-xbox-one-ps4-screenshots-2%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-85aCmpI8RjM/VOESqdwGUjI/AAAAAAAADMc/sIYjs7rSAD4/s1600/project-cars-gameplay-trailer-2014-xbox-one-ps4-screenshots-2%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P6jb1ZWvZM0/VOES3Y9VP1I/AAAAAAAADMk/JVNoD5JKjfY/s1600/project-cars-a-benchmark-for-next-gen-racers-can-you-tell-which-is-real-project-cars%5B1%5D.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P6jb1ZWvZM0/VOES3Y9VP1I/AAAAAAAADMk/JVNoD5JKjfY/s1600/project-cars-a-benchmark-for-next-gen-racers-can-you-tell-which-is-real-project-cars%5B1%5D.jpeg" height="336" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yi-ttRFWEmw/VOETF9Hy1ZI/AAAAAAAADMs/yGaxnYHqrh4/s1600/1e17c896b76f032a74c703d13926c72b%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yi-ttRFWEmw/VOETF9Hy1ZI/AAAAAAAADMs/yGaxnYHqrh4/s1600/1e17c896b76f032a74c703d13926c72b%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Pvdbn3km5A/VOETL639_VI/AAAAAAAADM0/uMVvss8IEpw/s1600/2591426-14429591767_9a533292c0_k%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Pvdbn3km5A/VOETL639_VI/AAAAAAAADM0/uMVvss8IEpw/s1600/2591426-14429591767_9a533292c0_k%5B1%5D.jpg" height="336" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OB-4h8egWFw/VOETg6EdDCI/AAAAAAAADM8/oXrRgz-qZJM/s1600/Project-CARS-E3-screenshot-18_1404232420-1024x640%5B1%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OB-4h8egWFw/VOETg6EdDCI/AAAAAAAADM8/oXrRgz-qZJM/s1600/Project-CARS-E3-screenshot-18_1404232420-1024x640%5B1%5D.png" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uIh3TMgknn0/VOET47jB9oI/AAAAAAAADNE/8qnxdvcfAfk/s1600/project-cars-2jpg-dff6e6_1280w%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uIh3TMgknn0/VOET47jB9oI/AAAAAAAADNE/8qnxdvcfAfk/s1600/project-cars-2jpg-dff6e6_1280w%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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Ok I need to stop!!!! There is so much content out there!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-44419859048069932022015-02-15T14:21:00.002-08:002015-02-15T14:27:48.532-08:00Unreal 4 Massive Collection of tutorials!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9GDO2VOYe7w/VOEMDc1Vr4I/AAAAAAAADK8/R6dVnraa0V8/s1600/unreal-engine-4-editor-window%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9GDO2VOYe7w/VOEMDc1Vr4I/AAAAAAAADK8/R6dVnraa0V8/s1600/unreal-engine-4-editor-window%5B1%5D.jpg" height="388" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
A friend from work found this really neat page that is a great collection of fantastic free official and unofficial tutorials for UE4.<br />
<br />
Here's a link:<br />
<a href="https://unreal-engine-4.zeef.com/tom.looman">https://unreal-engine-4.zeef.com/tom.looman</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-26432369566717492972015-02-15T14:20:00.001-08:002015-02-15T14:27:48.523-08:00Total Moving Face Reconstruction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-64Xzmsog_40/VOEITRw-P4I/AAAAAAAADKk/mFtB2ry-kTg/s1600/3dflow_result1%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-64Xzmsog_40/VOEITRw-P4I/AAAAAAAADKk/mFtB2ry-kTg/s1600/3dflow_result1%5B1%5D.jpg" height="274" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
So this is a really cool abstract from the University of Washington that I think some companies might find really interesting. Basically you can take a video of someone talking and reconstruct a 3D representation from the video. This would be really great if you're trying to accurately simulate a real person's likeness in an interview or broadcast setting in a 3D environment.<br />
<br />
The really big takeaway is that the source material is not environment controlled. These are just videos gathered from interviews. This is huge when you need to gather lots of source data to generate content! Right now this is still an abstract but I look forward to it developing further at a production capacity!<br />
<br />
Hit the jump for a video demo of this in action and a link to the abstract...<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Here's a link to the abstract:<br />
<a href="http://grail.cs.washington.edu/projects/totalmoving/">http://grail.cs.washington.edu/projects/totalmoving/</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C1iLVAUiC7s" width="420"></iframe></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-55002721344594490602015-02-15T14:18:00.001-08:002015-02-15T14:27:48.534-08:00Houdini 14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lnQbh6KnwmU/VOEEEoY7EaI/AAAAAAAADKY/C2g2zli_bmU/s1600/498761799_640%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lnQbh6KnwmU/VOEEEoY7EaI/AAAAAAAADKY/C2g2zli_bmU/s1600/498761799_640%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Houdini 14 is out! Well it's been out but I wanted to talk about some of the interesting features that caught my eye.<br />
<br />
One really nice thing was the improved user experience. With speed improvement made to the animation editor, you can see performances much faster which is nice for rig playback. UV Flatten and layout tools now have UDIM support! Massive win if you're working with high fidelity assets in the hopes of optimizing for games.<br />
<br />
Other great features include their new position-based dynamics which can run on the CPU or GPU using OpenCL. Pretty nice in case you need to switch from individual tests to pushing simulations over a farm. Their crowd system is now more user friendly and robust in Houdini 14. Their hair grooming feature is now based on OpenVDB and include a new Stroke SOP which I'll need to play with. The results seem pretty promising too!<br />
<br />
All in all, these are some pretty nice improvements to an already powerful tool. It's definitely worth a look over.<br />
<br />
Hit the jump for some links and a video demo of Houdini 14...<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Here's a more comprehensive overview of all the new updates with Houdini 14:<br />
<a href="http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3044&Itemid=417">http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3044&Itemid=417</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/116557961" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-27556271887125430442015-02-15T14:16:00.002-08:002015-02-15T14:27:48.526-08:00Cru-Ci-Form<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8cAu9pCp5I/VOEKZz_w0II/AAAAAAAADKw/UxMWiN2fUVE/s1600/header%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8cAu9pCp5I/VOEKZz_w0II/AAAAAAAADKw/UxMWiN2fUVE/s1600/header%5B1%5D.jpg" height="282" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Here's a really impressive real time WebGL demo that you can play on your browser or phone. It's pretty intense so you may need to use your PC to see all features at full framerate. I tried it on my Galaxy S4 at full resolution and I was getting about 10 fps which wasn't too bad considering how much was going on in the demo. It's fun to interact with and the visuals are impressive.<br />
<br />
Try it on your desktop and your mobile device!<br />
<br />
Here's a link to the demo:<br />
<a href="http://www.clicktorelease.com/code/cruciform/index.html">http://www.clicktorelease.com/code/cruciform/index.html</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-2407306714634460482015-02-15T14:16:00.000-08:002015-02-15T14:27:48.520-08:00Maya Plugin Goodness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YmWLt_E3Hrg/VOEMjiXfy4I/AAAAAAAADLE/tZAETF4ebPk/s1600/bhghost%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YmWLt_E3Hrg/VOEMjiXfy4I/AAAAAAAADLE/tZAETF4ebPk/s1600/bhghost%5B1%5D.jpg" height="372" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I wanted to share a few Maya plugin resources that I've stumbled upon recently. Most of these have been around and you've probably seen them already but in case you haven't, here are some that I've found useful recently:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/maya-plugins-10134947">http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/maya-plugins-10134947</a><br />
<a href="http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/plugin/prattractnode">http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/plugin/prattractnode</a><br />
<br />
Feel free to add to this list in the comments. I appreciate all the resources I can get! :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-59801344673994831942015-02-15T14:15:00.002-08:002015-02-15T14:27:48.537-08:00fxphd<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S6Lx5AwLgsU/VOENV8ro-vI/AAAAAAAADLQ/sQX1TPNGIWw/s1600/fxphd%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S6Lx5AwLgsU/VOENV8ro-vI/AAAAAAAADLQ/sQX1TPNGIWw/s1600/fxphd%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Along with sites like <a href="http://training.cgsociety.org/">CgSociety</a>, <a href="http://www.cgcircuit.com/">CgCircuit</a>, <a href="http://www.digitaltutors.com/11/index.php">Digital Tutors</a>, etc. I stumbled upon a cool site that has really neat VFX tutorials and classes that you can take to advance your skillset. It's called fxphd and focuses on VFX. I like it because it has some nice stuff for pipelines and production.<br />
<br />
Here's a link:<br />
<a href="https://www.fxphd.com/fxphd/courseInfo.php">https://www.fxphd.com/fxphd/courseInfo.php</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-32626201142673526662015-02-15T14:15:00.001-08:002015-02-15T14:27:48.529-08:00Fusion 7 Free!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hNDuFCX4sA0/VOEZXUlRN8I/AAAAAAAADOQ/jQtH1-rjXoQ/s1600/hero-training%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hNDuFCX4sA0/VOEZXUlRN8I/AAAAAAAADOQ/jQtH1-rjXoQ/s1600/hero-training%5B1%5D.jpg" height="430" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
This isn't news anymore but still worth a mention. Fusion 7 is out and there is a powerful free version available for download. Fusion is a nice VFX tool suite that's comparable to software from the Foundry like Nuke. The big takeaway is that it's free so if you can't afford Nuke, you can still develop high quality shots for you film.<br />
<br />
Here's a link to Black Magic's site where you can get Fusion 7:<br />
<a href="https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/fusion">https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/fusion</a><br />
<a href="http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=59&t=1232457&page=1&pp=15">http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=59&t=1232457&page=1&pp=15</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-21974920826983799162014-09-03T00:12:00.000-07:002014-09-03T00:12:40.438-07:00Maya 2015 Extension 1 has some really nice improvements<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-34sXZPzTN1Q/VAa83Pry_UI/AAAAAAAAC5c/pUSAnoYoCz0/s1600/Maya2015_Ext1_Profiler%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-34sXZPzTN1Q/VAa83Pry_UI/AAAAAAAAC5c/pUSAnoYoCz0/s1600/Maya2015_Ext1_Profiler%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
As if Maya 2015 wasn't jam packed enough with new features. It looks like Extension 1 has some really cool added features. Here are some that stood out to me.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Performance Profiler. At first I thought this would be a simple ui with some real time feedback on Maya's performance but it turns out to be way more robust. You can now easily spot choke points during any process and the profiler will identify the exact maya action that's sucking up your performance. This is great if you want to optimize a scene.</li>
<li>Send to feature is now extended to game engines. The really awesome send to feature that lets you send a scene from one package to another now extended to engines. Now you can take an asset from maya and in the click of a button, send it straight to Unreal.</li>
<li>Modeling toolkit fully integrated. It looks like the modeling toolkit has usurped a lot of the obsolete modeling tools in Maya proper now.</li>
<li>Cloud import export. This one seems pretty cool. You can upload content directly to a server. I'm curious to see this feature progress.</li>
<li>Color Management. This one is really great. You can transfer your color information from compositing tools like flame into Maya and the viewport will properly update the color scheme of your scene to match the tool that you originally set your color values in. </li>
</ul>
<div>
Hit the jump for video demonstrations of these tools in action!</div>
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<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/XIP3yF_KteI" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/h949lWBJQLQ?list=UURnX4Yc585eRTj4UvNkBM8w" width="560"></iframe></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-46530741806899619582014-09-01T01:21:00.001-07:002014-09-01T01:31:21.334-07:00Mari 2.6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WdGv5oYarYM/VAQl_C5G2LI/AAAAAAAAC5M/eHRuOoBibrE/s1600/render_final1%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WdGv5oYarYM/VAQl_C5G2LI/AAAAAAAAC5M/eHRuOoBibrE/s1600/render_final1%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Working at LucasFilm has exposed me to a lot. One thing that I learned about that I didn't see much of at EA is The Foundry products. In particular the tool that stands out is Mari. I've taken some time to talk about <a href="http://barakmoshe.blogspot.com/2014/03/quixels-ddo-and-upcoming-suite-is.html">Quizel's dDo</a> and there's also <a href="http://www.allegorithmic.com/products/substance-painter">Substance Painter</a> out there which both handle surface painting beautifully but Mari handles surface painting so well, I really need to share it.<br />
<br />
For starters Mari 2.6 supports GLSL which allows you to author surfaces on shaders familiar to those in modern game engines. If the shader out of the box does not quite match up, you can write a custom shader in Mari that fits your engine better using their Custom Shader API. Your shader will still be able to support all of Mari's great authoring features which allow artists to really build accurate surface materials that will translate nicely to an engine. Mari's shader engine will soon be able to also simulate rendering engines like Arnold and VRay as well.<br />
<br />
Another thing that really speaks to Mari's power is it's robust Python API and terminal mode. You can write batch scripts and pipeline scripts in Mari to process assets through Mari without having to even open the UI, freeing the artists from doing any sort of monotonous tasks by hand. It's really easy to write python scripts for Mari too. There are already scripts out there to transfer Mari assets into Maya and back.<br />
<br />
One of my favorite features of Mari at the moment is it's particle texture transfer system. Basically you can take a super high resolution film quality asset and overlay it on a game resolution equivalent and transfer all of the detail from one mesh to the other. This is similar to Zbrush and Mudbox's detail transfering except for surfaces. You could transfer surface detail from a really high resolution mesh with tons of UDIMs to a game resolution mesh with one UV map and get the proper diffuse, specular, normal, roughness, etc. maps for your engine. All in all, this software is really great and I highly recommend it.<br />
<br />
Hit the jump for some video demonstrations of Mari 2.6<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/90986118" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
Here is Mari's Python API in action for all you scripters out there.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Wsf3cKioCz0" width="420"></iframe><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Here is Mari's texture transfer tool in action.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/90974833?byline=0&portrait=0&color=f9b41b" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-22979708648968303782014-09-01T00:52:00.000-07:002014-09-01T00:52:25.318-07:00Disney Lookdev process for Big Hero 6 and Frozen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3382579549530499986&pli=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y5F_TN2WQm8/VAQixcTezTI/AAAAAAAAC5A/LbA1xEOhWDM/s1600/BuosFCCCUAE3UnA%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y5F_TN2WQm8/VAQixcTezTI/AAAAAAAAC5A/LbA1xEOhWDM/s1600/BuosFCCCUAE3UnA%5B1%5D.jpg" height="358" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I'm so glad that I stumbled onto this gem of a presentation by Disney. They go into incredible detail on how they designed their characters for Big Hero 6 and Frozen with lots of emphasis on design principles like shape and appeal. The process is definitely painstaking and requires lots and lots of disciplines to coordinate their efforts. It's definitely needed to get the best possible design that holds up against lots of animation. These guys show you how they designed some major and minor character from concept to finish and include steps like stress testing the character rig. They also talk about the pipelines between sculpted concept and usable asset. If you're into character development and look development, I highly recommend taking the time to watch this presentation all the way through. There is so much content to take in and the workflow that they demonstrated definitely feels straight forward and approachable.<br />
<br />
Hit the jump to see the full video presentation at the Zbrush Summit this year:<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/A36i_1kqhw0" width="560"></iframe></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-78260476644691786312014-09-01T00:33:00.000-07:002014-09-01T00:33:51.949-07:00NVIDIA Turbulence/ Unreal 4 Particles and Vector Fields<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z7_cOn1_VHQ/VAQchmkRwUI/AAAAAAAAC4o/yUScqO27YxE/s1600/Unreal-Engine-4-7%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z7_cOn1_VHQ/VAQchmkRwUI/AAAAAAAAC4o/yUScqO27YxE/s1600/Unreal-Engine-4-7%5B1%5D.jpg" height="370" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
So I've seen this technology evolve over the years and it looks like we're getting closer and closer to seeing GPU accelerated particles becoming easy to access in an engine. In this case NVIDIA's APEX Turbulence ended up turning into NVIDIA Turbulence and now evolved into Unreal Engine 4 Vector Fields. it's getting easier to access and experiment with this tech for any kind of high fidelity particle animation or fluid animation in real time. I've talked about the<a href="http://barakmoshe.blogspot.com/2014/03/gtc-nvidia-titan-x-is-stunning.html"> Titan's real time fluid effects</a> that was shown earlier this year but there is something really mesmerizing about Vector Fields and I wanted to definitely share what I've found thus far. If you happen to have a copy of <a href="https://www.unrealengine.com/register">Unreal 4</a>, definitely check it out. It's 20 bucks a month and you don't necessarily have to pay every month if you don't want to.<br />
<br />
Hit the jump for video demonstrations and tutorials on how to get started with Unreal 4 and NVIDIA Vector fields now:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Here is a video that Unreal put out demonstrating their extensive particle effect feature set:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5WjwBPuL27I" width="560"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Looks cool? Well it should! Unreal was also generous enough to provide tutorials on how to create these effects one by one:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Check out the Unreal Engine Youtube channel (Definitely worth subscribing to!):</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OXK2Xbd7D9w?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yLpZZcPjiPo?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kSNqiYXi-ek?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7hC_QT4GLiU?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DcesEW380lc?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/psoTTXS7844?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ywd3lFOuMV8?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jBUF6at1s1o?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5HkghxEIXiU?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mDHZcecbsLg?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZeGUfwAlL7U?list=UUBobmJyzsJ6Ll7UbfhI4iwQ" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FTMiAWiHMMM/VAQfZKYyldI/AAAAAAAAC40/-6HnhW27L3s/s1600/turbulence-tutorial%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FTMiAWiHMMM/VAQfZKYyldI/AAAAAAAAC40/-6HnhW27L3s/s1600/turbulence-tutorial%5B1%5D.jpg" height="217" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
If you're still with me, here were some of NVIDIA's older documentation on how to set up these effects in UDK and general access to the SDK for GPU particles:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1049229162">https://developer.nvidia.com/apex-turbulence</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://developer.nvidia.com/apex-turbulence-tutorials">https://developer.nvidia.com/apex-turbulence-tutorials</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-72833007829509780522014-08-31T23:34:00.001-07:002014-09-07T22:05:56.989-07:00Dreamworks Premo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yvgf9jb-2ug/VAQQx3FTYDI/AAAAAAAAC4E/vFV615aAv4o/s1600/dragons2-outils1%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yvgf9jb-2ug/VAQQx3FTYDI/AAAAAAAAC4E/vFV615aAv4o/s1600/dragons2-outils1%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
This software!<br />
<br />
Dreamworks' Premo made a big splash at SIGGRAPH this year. For those new to the software, Premo is Dreamworks' new animation tool that was used to make How to Train Your Dragon 2. It was developed over the span of 5 years or 300 man years to produce and looks incredible! Their previous tool Emo showed its age over the years, making basic animation tasks more complicated than they needed to be. Premo allows animators to really focus on their craft in a fast and intuitive manner. Dreamworks worked with HP and Intel to come up with a better hardware and software architecture that can best utilize multi processing from today's powerful CPUs to get maximum performance. This allows animators to animate characters at full resolution and without needing proxy models. This is a really big deal considering how much detail characters have in Dreamworks films. I am ecstatic of the results after watching How to Train Your Dragon 2. They were definitely able to hit subtlety in a beautiful way and get great performances from their characters. You can definitely see how that is possible by watching Premo in action.<br />
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Hit the jump for some great articles on Premo and a video of it in action:<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="more"></a><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ePtJEF7VIpY/VAQP-AupDPI/AAAAAAAAC4A/DzcFZrDKtJM/s1600/emo_HTTYD1%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ePtJEF7VIpY/VAQP-AupDPI/AAAAAAAAC4A/DzcFZrDKtJM/s1600/emo_HTTYD1%5B1%5D.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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(<i>Emo</i>)</div>
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<br />
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You can see Emo above. Basically animators had a limited view of the scene they were animating for and also had to manually input key values on the character rigs into a little excel sheet in the tool to record their actions.</div>
<br /></div>
Here was a great article from The Verge talking about Premo. I like this article because it also talks about Premo's evolution from Emo a little bit:<br />
<a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/12/5804070/the-amazing-animation-software-behind-how-to-train-your-dragon-2">http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/12/5804070/the-amazing-animation-software-behind-how-to-train-your-dragon-2</a><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xvowwOVtpII/VAPjSt_F78I/AAAAAAAAC3s/oD773hk_zSA/s1600/Premo_Featured%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xvowwOVtpII/VAPjSt_F78I/AAAAAAAAC3s/oD773hk_zSA/s1600/Premo_Featured%5B1%5D.jpg" height="218" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(<i>Premo</i>)</div>
<br />
Digital Tutors also had a great article which include's Dreamworks' video presentation of Premo:<br />
<a href="http://blog.digitaltutors.com/siggraph-news-dreamworks-premo-may-future-animation/">http://blog.digitaltutors.com/siggraph-news-dreamworks-premo-may-future-animation/</a><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QJ-2pmGjMQc/VAQQ8bJYzOI/AAAAAAAAC4M/QYruyY3Dhno/s1600/outils5%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QJ-2pmGjMQc/VAQQ8bJYzOI/AAAAAAAAC4M/QYruyY3Dhno/s1600/outils5%5B1%5D.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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(<i>Premo</i>)</div>
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I loved the rigging philosophy on faces too. You can deform a face using controllers or deform the mesh seemingly directing. The selection tools can be exposed or seamlessly hidden into the character mesh. This trend seems to definitely be taking off too which I think is very exciting.<br />
<br />
Here is a great video covering Premo:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/N16Qsj6kAhw" width="560"></iframe></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-69990559451003711762014-08-31T20:03:00.001-07:002014-09-01T01:30:21.002-07:00PyCharm and Maya<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HY9EXSHueUs/VAPW1eN6eXI/AAAAAAAAC3c/U4eAeODg4IA/s1600/pycharm_logo%5B1%5D.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HY9EXSHueUs/VAPW1eN6eXI/AAAAAAAAC3c/U4eAeODg4IA/s1600/pycharm_logo%5B1%5D.gif" height="144" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
This was a little bit overdo so I wanted to make sure to talk about PyCharm a little bit. I haven't had a chance to fully use this IDE like Eclipse and Visual Studio. I can say that from initial testing, I really do like PyCharm and I think that it is a great option for tech artists when writing scripts for their DCC apps and for Python programming in general. Note that I am also comparing from a Windows perspective and from a pricing perspective. I notice that Linux users tend to lean toward Eclipse over other software partially because it supports multiple languages, compatible with multiple platforms, and free :).<br />
<br />
Hit the jump for some video overviews and some links to setting up PyCharm with Maya 2013. Also I'll provide a brief comparison of Eclipse, Visual Studio, and Pycharm.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Here are some links to my posts on Eclipse and Visual Studio respectively if you're interested in using them as your Maya Python IDE:<br />
<a href="http://barakmoshe.blogspot.com/2013/08/set-up-eclipse-with-maya-2014.html">http://barakmoshe.blogspot.com/2013/08/set-up-eclipse-with-maya-2014.html</a><br />
<a href="http://barakmoshe.blogspot.com/2014/02/visual-studio-as-maya-python-ide.html">http://barakmoshe.blogspot.com/2014/02/visual-studio-as-maya-python-ide.html</a><br />
<br />
Using PyCharm definitely feels cleaner than Eclipse and from a Python perspective, feels more feature packed than Visual Studio. It has a great way to enforce PEP-8 standards. It can version control code on its own and integrate with other version control systems. The interface is very clean. It is compatible with multiple platforms like Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. You can download it for free or buy a professional license with all features for multiple price ranges. If you're a student, it's 30 dollars for a license and 20 dollars to renew the license. The price goes up incrementally depending on what degree you choose to use the software.<br />
<br />
Here is the download page:<br />
<a href="http://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/">http://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/</a><br />
<br />
Here is the pricing page:<br />
<a href="http://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/buy/">http://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/buy/</a><br />
<br />
Here are the Maya setup instructions:<br />
<a href="http://tech-artists.org/forum/showthread.php?3153-Setting-up-PyCharm-for-use-with-Maya-2013">http://tech-artists.org/forum/showthread.php?3153-Setting-up-PyCharm-for-use-with-Maya-2013</a><br />
<br />
Here is a video that gives a nice overview of how the software works and what kinds of features it provides at a cursory glance:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iutkLjeGc6w" width="560"></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
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I will say that I really like this software and for a Python IDE, it's arguably the best one out there. It's a little hard to compare it to the other leading packages simply because it focuses almost exclusively on Python but that is the intent of the software. Nail down one language and be the premier IDE for it. With that said, here is my brief comparison:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Visual Studio</span></b></div>
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<b>Pros:</b> Brilliantly powerful IDE and Intellisense. Handles Python very well but definitely designed for compiled languages like C. If you're into game development, you're probably already using Visual Studio by default to program your game so adding Python on top of that is a free bonus. This IDE is solid if you're using Windows.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Cons:</b> I wouldn't recommend buying Visual Studio if you only plan to use it for Python programming. It's very expensive software which price ranges from 300 dollars to 4300 dollars. This software is not really meant for Linux of Mac OS either.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">PyCharm</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Pros:</b> Amazing Python IDE. Not too expensive. Works on all platforms. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Cons:</b> Pretty much only does Python. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Eclipse:</b></span></div>
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<b>Pros:</b> Free. Available on all platforms. can handle tons of different languages including C++, Java, and Python. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Cons:</b> You can probably tell that it doesn't get as much love on some platforms over others. It thrives in Linux and technically works well on Windows. I personally don't like the Windows implementation as much as the other platforms but it does the job very effectively. The interface can feel a bit clunky when using Eclipse for Python in Windows.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-63982487166140111722014-08-16T21:09:00.000-07:002014-08-16T21:09:15.245-07:00From EA to LucasFilm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7QqbgiJTzl4/U_Aobrb8UdI/AAAAAAAAC24/zU28HKf7vjw/s1600/lucasfilm%5B1%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7QqbgiJTzl4/U_Aobrb8UdI/AAAAAAAAC24/zU28HKf7vjw/s1600/lucasfilm%5B1%5D.png" height="406" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
It has been an exciting year for me between working on Madden15, Teaching at UCF, and starting this blog. I am excited to announce that I also moved to San Francisco this year to work at LucasFilm! I joined a serious dream team and I am really excited about the work that I will be doing. Down the line, as more stuff gets publicly released, I'll talk a little bit more about my work here. San Francisco is an amazing city! The people here are great and there are so many things to try. I hope for this to be an exciting new chapter for me while I continue to experience new stuff both professionally and personally! I will also continue to update this blog with more new on games but I will also add film topics now that I will be more exposed to that. The tutorials will still come as well. Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way! I'm living out my wildest dreams and cannot be more grateful.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-65675434695593816372014-08-16T20:54:00.001-07:002014-08-16T20:54:29.694-07:00Madden 15 coming out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DR0VpvXHKAc/U_Aeo-z1vTI/AAAAAAAAC2M/DxiYb9tBPX0/s1600/madden-15-ratings-joe-haden%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DR0VpvXHKAc/U_Aeo-z1vTI/AAAAAAAAC2M/DxiYb9tBPX0/s1600/madden-15-ratings-joe-haden%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Madden 15 is about to come out this month which is very exciting for me! This image sums up a lot of the work that I did for the game this year. We made great strides in graphics and character likeness. My main contribution was in the facial animation workflow and pipeline. We had lots of problems in previous years with facial rigs breaking randomly on coaches and players. When facial animation wasn't broken, usually the animation would tend to break the likeness of the model. We made huge improvements in this front as well as in the modeling from to get really believable likeness on key players and coaches. I'm really proud of all that was achieved in this past year. It's like night and day compared to last year. Fans are definitely noticing the improvements and I am definitely excited for the game to come out. We needed to make sure that these major fixes applied to every single character across the game so if there are no broken faces on any of the players this year, it will be a great success.<br />
<br />
Sadly this is my last year working on Madden as I have moved to LucasFilm. I will say that working on these titles was an incredible experience for me. There's a great group in Tiburon making this title and I will definitely root for them every year.<br />
<br />
Hit the jump for some video trailers of the game!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>So the marketing this year focused more on gameplay improvements and less on presentation. Either way, you can still see graphics improvements here:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uVfJ8ApxHSM?list=PLJiVGeJ_KPz40voKydVRLDVIMaaByntaa" width="560"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Ok this one has nothing to do with graphics but this commercial is amazing. I love Kevin Hart!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-DL0W9AUCuY" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Here are some images from the graphics improvements this year compared to last year (Same consoles btw):</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lnqYgngiWC4/U_AjTYL_jUI/AAAAAAAAC2U/zlH55zXpwl0/s1600/Madden25%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lnqYgngiWC4/U_AjTYL_jUI/AAAAAAAAC2U/zlH55zXpwl0/s1600/Madden25%5B1%5D.jpg" height="372" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>(Left: Last year, Right: This year)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mtWbMxX1eo0/U_Am-SlonbI/AAAAAAAAC2g/ZtXqTSZSFsM/s1600/m25ngpeyton2%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mtWbMxX1eo0/U_Am-SlonbI/AAAAAAAAC2g/ZtXqTSZSFsM/s1600/m25ngpeyton2%5B1%5D.jpg" height="358" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Last year</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iB3Jv791KFI/U_AnOzKPrpI/AAAAAAAAC2o/QLSy93YNLLs/s1600/madden-ratings-manning%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iB3Jv791KFI/U_AnOzKPrpI/AAAAAAAAC2o/QLSy93YNLLs/s1600/madden-ratings-manning%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>This year</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-84125632793318523932014-06-27T09:32:00.002-07:002014-06-27T09:33:40.044-07:00Autodesk Scripting and SDK Learning Channel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BFu-hwwUmdI/U62bi52vWPI/AAAAAAAAC0A/tjGmMl2sZxs/s1600/maxresdefault%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BFu-hwwUmdI/U62bi52vWPI/AAAAAAAAC0A/tjGmMl2sZxs/s1600/maxresdefault%5B1%5D.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I like to bookmark as many cool resources for digital art and programming as I can and I am more and more impressed with Youtube these days. Particularly Autodesk's use of Youtube to upload their latest SDK related tutorials as they make them. If you're into scripting and you use Autodesk packages like Maya, Max, SoftImage, Motionbuilder, etc., you should definitely subscribe to this channel! There is a lot of great content for beginners and experienced scripters alike. They are made using the latest versions of the software that you'll be working with. There's also a nice emphasis on game development with these tutorials so that's another plus if that is your industry.<br />
<br />
Here's a link:<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/ScriptingSDKHowTos">https://www.youtube.com/user/ScriptingSDKHowTos</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-30424689245558868202014-05-21T20:27:00.000-07:002014-05-21T20:27:02.769-07:00Yoda Alert!: Yoda Model shown in Cracked video! (Bonus points cause they also mention Madden)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nqI0jHOuBo8/U31r_zqXH4I/AAAAAAAACwI/Smr_R9LfELc/s1600/yodacracked.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nqI0jHOuBo8/U31r_zqXH4I/AAAAAAAACwI/Smr_R9LfELc/s1600/yodacracked.JPG" height="356" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Ok so I love going on Cracked! Tonight I checked out what's new and spotted Yoda in one of the articles! Cracked writers grab reference images for their articles and videos all the time and they happened to use a video of someone printing my Yoda sculpt. Sure it was just used for b-roll but it's there none the less! It was even set up right at the beginning of the video at the 4 second mark! Also as another bonus they referenced Madden on the 52 second mark! I love seeing the stuff I work on shown on one of my favorite websites.<br />
<br />
Hit the jump to check out the cracked video and the time lapse Yoda print video...<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
You can find the video here:<br />
http://www.cracked.com/video_18921_how-3d-printing-perfecting-sex-dolls-and-other-stuff.html<br />
<br />
The Yoda time lapse video that cracked was referencing is here:<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_vloWVgf0o<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
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</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-82683176513816098152014-05-19T19:09:00.004-07:002014-05-19T19:10:51.589-07:00Yoda Alert!: Yoda was used to test out new HoloMake system!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QpTppcIVujQ/U3q31Xuim7I/AAAAAAAACv0/h2mSnV38xU4/s1600/yodaclay.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QpTppcIVujQ/U3q31Xuim7I/AAAAAAAACv0/h2mSnV38xU4/s1600/yodaclay.JPG" height="358" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/holomake">HoloMake </a>just tweeted to me today about how they used my Yoda sculpt to test their new computer guided hand sculpting system. Based on what I was able to gather from the video that they posted, it looks like it takes a 3D model and projects slices of the model progressing upwards on a transparent LCD screen. You use those guides to inform your sculpt so that you can recreate a 3D model by hand. This seems like a really cool tool to learn how to get comfortable with traditional clay sculpting. I think it's really fascinating in general considering the tech that's involved and of course considering that they used my model to demonstrate it!<br />
<br />
Hit the jump to see the video of HoloMake in action...<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3382579549530499986.post-58085352902751438832014-05-04T13:19:00.001-07:002014-05-04T16:37:55.648-07:00New features in Maya 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's that time of the year where Autodesk starts to announce all of the new stuff that's coming with the their next installment of all of their software. Maya has seen some really great changes that I'm excited to play with ranging from modeling and rigging to vfx and rendering. Some of the most exciting features are Bifrost and Viewport 2.0 finally being fully featured with all aspects of Maya!<br />
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Hit the jump for a breakdown and the video presentation that Autodesk released which demos all of these great new features.<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Geodesic Voxel Binding</span></h3>
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This feature is really fascinating. Basically Maya has a new skinning solution similar to its relatively new heat map solution without the constraint of watertight geometry. Basically it breaks down the mesh or collection of meshes when skinning and assigns weights in a more volumetric way. The results are evidently really favorable out the gate; more so than traditional methods. I will definitely be taking advantage of this!<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">XGen Arbitrary Primitive Generator</span></h3>
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So this feature is another really fancy real time catch up to what used to be a long cumbersome process in developing follicle based hair. Basically it's all of the things you love about current gen hair development tools with more bells and whistles and an actual real time visual interface. Rather than needing to render out hair to get feedback on your work, you can now quickly recalculate your changes in the Maya viewport and see an accurate visual representation of your hair without needing to constantly render. It's awesome for iteration! You can also generate geometry to represent your hair in case you want to author cards for games or other real time applications.<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Bifrost Procedural Effects Platform</span></h3>
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This feature I think was the huge wow moment of the presentation. While Bifrost has been around, this implementation of Bifrost in Maya is really remarkable. I'm generally used to the Realflow to Maya workflow which is very time consuming, even though the results were great. Bifrost is still an independant tool outside of Maya but its output goes straight into Maya. There is no need to add a step to port your cached results back into Maya for rendering or general iteration within the scene. My favorite is that when Bifrost simulates, it does so outside of Maya. You can continue to work in your scene while you wait for the simulation to finish. I am absolutely going to take advantage of this feature! It's really impressive and significantly quicker than the solutions that I would use in the past. Being integrated into Maya also means rendering the simulation will be more straightforward as well since the resources to do so will be easier to follow. Another great side note is that this supports alembic cache so you can create cache files from previously generated geometry and bring it into Maya. This gives you incredible real time performance in the scene. Granted this isn't too different from bringing in cached meshes from Realflow, using alembic is great because you can also bring that same cache to other real time applications as well.</div>
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Bullet is another thing that isn't brand spanking new but looks great in Maya right now. With Viewport 2.0 performing really well in Maya 2015, you can see Bullet simulations run faster in the viewport as well as honestly any other geometry based animation. You can now cache all geometry updates to your GPU with Maya Viewport 2.0 which lets character animation and simulation run way faster in real time where it couldn't in the past. I love how stable bullet seems in Maya compared to all of its predecessors. The simulations also look really predictable and it doesn't take much to quickly get the behavior that you're aiming for. Collisions in the simulation also work really well with bullet.</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Maya Viewport 2.0 particle support</span></h3>
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I do not want this to fly under the radar. I love this feature a lot. So in the past, in order to get visual feedback on particle rendering that used advanced node set ups, you needed to do software renders. Viewport 2.0 is now fully featured which means that it fully supports particle rendering. This is a major leap forward for Maya in my opinion because now I can make all of the cool particle effects that I used to render with software rendering and tune my effects and my sprites in real time. Want to adjust your fractal node to have more detail? Want to add a ramp to filter your effect? You can now adjust the node in real time in your node editor and see the particle sprites update procedurally in real time from your viewport. Again this will still render in a software renderer but now your viewport representation will be way more faithful to the final effect. You can also create giant fog volumes in your scene to simulate atmospheric diffusion in the viewport. You can now adjust your fog and atmosphere without needing to do software renders. Honestly this full featured Viewport 2.0 drop is the biggest news of all for Maya 2015 as it allows Maya to have a solid foundation to implement these phenomenal real time or semi real time features.</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">ShaderFX</span></h3>
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So this feature was out for Maya 2014 LT but now it's integrated into Maya 2015 for everyone who didn't grab LT. I wrote a a past post about this feature <a href="http://barakmoshe.blogspot.com/2013/11/maya-2014-lt-is-out.html">here</a>. </div>
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Now you can set up advanced realtime fx shaders in Maya that could potentially be dropped into your game engine using this sophisticated node editor without dealing with the limitations of Maya LT.</div>
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If you want to see the video demonstration of all of these great features, here is the Youtube video that was released:<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03660361180178256544noreply@blogger.com0