Introduction
and Overview.
What factors into designing a good environment?
What factors go into making a good set? How is
this different from a good environment?
Pre-rendered vs. Real-Time 3D graphics: considerations;
similarities and differences
3DS Max: a “virtual film studio”;
-- the role of the camera
Identify the big issues at the earliest stage.
Modeling and Texturing Environments and Sets
Concept Art - defines the look, the inspiration,
and identifies challenges
Modeling - review general techniques; considerations
peculiar to environments
Cosiderations for building exteriors, interiors,
for movies and games.
Organizing the scene; working in layers
Lighting Considerations and Techniques:
Standard lights
Max's Advanced Lighting (Light Tracer and Radiosity);
Using Photometric Lights.
Consider baking in lighting effects
Animated camera and lighting effects
Intermediate Texturing:
Cameras and lighting impacts texture design
Atmospheres and effects impact textures
Shader types; Material Types; Map Types; how
they inter-relate.
Procedural vs. non-procedural materials; gradients,
falloffs, antialiasing
The 3DS Max Material Editor -- building material
trees
Texture Baking; Normal Maps
Specialized and Complex Textures; what is "Realism";
"Stylized"
Painting Textures in Photoshop
Applying textures
- UVW Mapping issues
Rendering:
Pre-rendered movies/cut-scenes vs. real-time
rendering
Output and output formats -- tips and techniques
The default Scanline Renderer in depth.
Other Rendering Engines:
Mental Ray and competing commercial products
Fogs, Atmospheres, Volumetrics,
and Special Effects.
Particle Systems: Basic, Advanced and Particle
Flow.
Post-production considerations:
Anticipating the requirements of a real-time
renderer (example Shockwave 3D)
Maximizing flexibility for post production
editing
Isolating
and rendering to layers; Render Elements; RLA/RPF
Introduction:
Overview of the character development process: design,
modeling, rigging, animating.
Importance of drawing and understanding anatomy
Character animation principals from the 2D world
(squash, stretch, anticipation, exaggeration)
Everything is based on the intended audience, budget,
output device(s), team.
Modeling and Texturing Issues for Characters
Box modeling in Edit Mesh
Box modeling in Edit Poly mode
Subdivision Surfaces
Introduction to Patch modeling (Surface Tools)
Modeling issues specific to characters
LOD and MRM
Edge Loops
Modeling with Textures (Subdivision Surface Displacement
in the Material Editor)
Other Texturing issues: Texture size and detail;
UVW mapping issues; Unwrap UVW
Non-bone-based Rigging
Why do we need bones?
Applying modifiers to deform the mesh (whole mesh
vs. selection sets)
Manipulators and wiring issues (Max 5)
Secondary animation effects (bounce, jiggle using
the Flex modifier)
Animating with Splines and the Linked-Xform modifier
Rigging with other animation controllers (eye-rigging
with the Look-At Constraint)
Introduction to Morphing – the
Morpher modifier
Biped basics (Character Studio)
What it does (and doesn't) do.
Figure Mode (modifying the skeleton to fit the mesh)
Footstep Mode (Footsteps vs. Freeform modes)
Keyframe Mode
Importing motion capture data
Recycling motion files; layering motions
Motion flow mode, stitching motions together
Attaching the model to the Biped
The Physique Modifier
Requires Character Studio
Overview of what it does
Relationship to bone scaling
Working with envelopes
Vertex assignments
Bulge setup – wiring secondary
animation effects
The Skin Modifier
Character Studio not required
Differences from Physique
Display options
Painting Weights
Built-in Deformer Gizmos
Rigging with Bones
Why not just use Biped? Advantages and Disadvantages
Review Hierarchies and how they work
Forward Kinematics (FK) vs. Inverse Kinematics (IK),
Uses
Setting Up a Bone chain (scaling, fins)
Setting constraints
IK Solvers; Helper Objects with IK
Setting Up a leg
Animating the Character
Biped
Keyframing in Footstep Mode
Keyframing in Free Form Mode
Bone Rigs
Keyframing and function curves