Getting Started with Smoke for Mac 2012

Our friends at Autodesk have done a great job of creating tutorials for just about everything you can think of in Smoke for Mac, so I thought I'd share their tutorial on getting started and installing Smoke on your mac.



If you don't already have Smoke for Mac, you can get it here - Autodesk Smoke for Mac 30 Day Trial

New Mari 1.3 Ptex Tutorial Videos Posted

The Foundry's team has just released a couple new videos showing you how to use the Ptex in mari 1.3. If you use Mari, these are a must see, if you don't have Mari, this could be the reason to get it.  Click on read more to see more videos.

Part 1

Luxology Modo Summer training special

Until August 30th Luxology are offering all of the Modo downloadable training videos at 50% off.

modo Training Videos

 

Learn modo with innovative projects

 

Learning modo with the included on-line documentation is really just a starting point. Luxology has brought together a diverse collection of learning materials in video form that modo users can work with individually or in a classroom setting. These videos are step-by-step screen capture movies of carefully designed projects to help you learn to use modo for a specific industry or for specific result. Relevant content is included. It’s like having a modo instructor helping you achieve the results you want. Save 50% on selected Training Videos between now and August 30th.

 

Get started with modo 501 and the training videos at the Motion Media online Shop.

The Foundry Storm NEW STORM BETA RELEASE AVAILABLE

New release of the Storm open Beta.

"This release fixes some critical issues including pre-set look crashes, launch failures and display issues with R3D clips set to the new RedColor2 colour space."

The STORM Public Beta is available for free trial

Also don't forget to watch the introductory videos with Nick Shaw

An introduction to STORM basic workflow

Free Mocha Pro Image Stabilization Tutorial

Check out this free Image Stabilization tutorial using Mocha Pro that was done by the guys at Curious Turtle Training.

mocha Pro: intro to stabilize module from Ross Shain on Vimeo.

Is Staring at a Monitor All Day Harmful?

Most of us sit in front of a computer all day creating 3d models, motion graphics, or just checking our Facebook page, sometimes for more than 10 hours a day!  Is that long exposure to those tiny pixels going to hurt our precious eyeballs?

The consensus at this point is no.  It has been widely agreed that using a computer for eight hours or more a day, every day will not harm your eyes from a medical standpoint; but, and this is a big but, ultimately it will contribute to eyestrain or "tired" eyes.  We've all had those days where it feels like our eyes are going to explode if we stare at the screen for one more second, but we just blink our way through it and move on, because deadlines don't wait!

Ok, well that's great that my eyes aren't physically going to be hurt, but what about my headaches? and my eye strain? Well check out these tips on avoiding and alleviating those problems:

- POSITIONING: Set your screen slightly below your line of sight, approximately an arm's length away from your face to allow your eyes to focus correctly.



- REST: Take a break every hour or so to rest your eyes briefly in order to reduce eye fatigue. Go get that well deserved bagel or coffee that's waiting for you in the breakroom, you know you want to.
- EXERCISE: When taking a breather, focus on distant objects to give your eyes necessary exercise. Go look out the window or across the room, maybe even actually engage with another human.
- BLINK: it is surprisingly easy to forget this one, and it is important, especially if you're wearing contacts. Get in the habit of blinking to lubricate, or if that doesn't work, try using eyedrops.
- LIGHTING: Adjust the lighting around the screen of the computer it should not be placed directly in front of a lamp or a window. Keep your office lighting at a comfortable level too much light causes strain to your eyes when you look at the screen. Too little light will make it difficult to read papers and books on your desk.
- CLEAN: Keep your monitor free of dust - these tiny particles can contribute to eye strain when trying to focus on the screen.

Don't take my word for it, listen to Optomologist and past president of the Florida Society of Ophthalmology, Dr. Mark Dorfman:  "It has not been proven that computers cause any harm to the eyes. Your eyes may become tired, or you may get a headache, but nothing that is physically affecting your eyes. We find that avid readers and those doing other work close to their eyes are at a greater risk. I recommend that people find ways to reduce the glare surrounding their computer, as well as read the screen with a larger font size to lessen the effects,".

Even though staring at your screen all day won't damage your eyes from a medical perspective in the short or long term, why not try and lessen the side effects of eyestrain, because consequentially, tired eyes lead to a tired individual.

Digital Tutors Mudbox 2011 Essentials Learning Videos - Free

Digital Tutors introduces new users to the features of Autodesk® Mudbox 2011 and takes them through the steps of creating a model from the initial sculpting and texturing, to painting, lighting and exporting to animation software.

These videos are a great resource for anyone starting with Mudbox 2011!

Link: Free Mudbox 2011 Essentials Learning Videos by Digital Tutors!

Creating Engraved Text in 3ds Max

Here is a cool and simple tutorial on creating engraved text in 3ds max. Check it out.

http://area.autodesk.com/tutorials/how_to_create_engraved_text_in_max_2011

3Dean's Vray car studio setup

 

Dean Fowler's  list of settings for a studio style rendering of a car in 3ds max 2010 and vray. (check more of his work at machineflims.com) 

The car model was purchased via Turbosquid, the Vray materials can be found at http://www.vray-materials.de/ If you haven't been to this site, you might want to take a peak.  It's a good community of users posting their materials - from the brilliant to the bizarre! 

Enjoy!

Mental Ray Licensing Schemes for 3ds max, Maya, and Softimage 2010

[caption id="attachment_66" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="mental ray with Maya 2010"][/caption]		Clients often ask how mental ray is licensed.  Per CPU? Per Core?  Where do I get the batch licenses with my new Maya 2010? (answer: you get 5 per license, - but only with the network version of Maya 2010) See the attached charts and feel free to contact Motion Media with any questions!
[caption id="attachment_64" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="mental ray with 3ds max 2010"][/caption]		Notice the differences between the different software packages,  and the way that a mental ray satellite v.s  batch license is deployed.  For example, Backburner with 3ds max 2010 allows for unlimited batch licenses, and no additional licensing is required!
[caption id="attachment_65" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="mental ray for Softimage 2010"][/caption]		Satellite renderers are per core for maya, and by CPU for 3ds max.  Whether satellite rendering should be deployed, or if you will be ok with batch rendering v.s. purchasing standalone MR, is a topic for another post.

3ds Max Tutorial - Model and Texture a Modern Chair

Tutorial Details

• Software: 3ds Max and Mental Ray


• Version: 2009


• Difficulty: Beginner


• Estimated Completion Time: Approximately 30 min


• Supporting Files: None

Note: click the 'Monitor' icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.