The basic and fundamental skills that are required by students and newcomers to 3d animation are thought with this product. The material covered in this training series is vital and builds the foundation for further advancement into 3d animation. Without the fundamental skills learned in this training series, it will be difficult to impossible to be able to continue into advanced 3d animation and digital content creation. Because the material in this training series is geared towards beginners to the world of 3d animation and 3dsMax, this training series is not recommended to experienced 3d artists. However, if you have just begun working in 3d, are thinking about it, or have little to no experience, then this training is for you. The aim of this training series is to take someone who is new to 3d animation in general and get them up and running with 3dsMax as quickly and easily as possible. If you have never worked on a real production with any 3d software, then this training series is right for you. This product was designed for 3dsMax 2009 and up.

These videos reveal the artistic and technical approach that CG artist Jeff Unay takes to model a hyper-realistic hand with Autodesk Maya and Autodesk Mudbox.
In part one you will see how to sculpt the primary forms of the hand. In part two you will follow a 2 hour time-lapse of sculpting which include Jeff's comments. In parts 3 and 4 you will continue detailing the hand and preparing for deformations. In part 5 you will see how to incorporate blend shapes for use in conjunction with the joint rig. Part 6 concludes the series through sculpting the finger and thumb deformations with a look at the final result of all shapes working with the joint rig.

What’s New
Innovative Graphite Modeling Toolset
Create models quickly and efficiently with the new Graphite modeling toolset. Graphite takes 3ds Max polygon modeling to a new level by delivering over 100 tools for advanced polygonal modeling and freeform design. Because the Graphite tools are displayed in one central location, it‘s easy to find the tools you need for the job. With Graphite you can customize the tool display or hide the command panel and model in Expert Mode.

Material Explorer
Easily manage complex scenes using the new Material Explorer, a productivity-enhancing toolset that simplifies the way users interact with objects and materials. Use it to quickly browse and replace materials in your scene, and to view material properties and relationships.

Autodesk® 3ds Max® software is a powerful, integrated 3D modeling, animation, and rendering application. Its easy-to-learn environment enables artists to quickly ramp up for production. 3ds Max is used by film and video artists, game developers, multimedia designers (print and web), design visualization professionals, and 3D enthusiasts to achieve stunning results in less time. 3ds Max is the leader in 3D animation for game development, design visualization, visual effects, and education.

Create stunning 3D in less time with Autodesk® 3ds® Max software. This full-featured 3D modeling, animation, rendering, and effects solution is used to produce top-selling games and award-winning film and video content. Those looking to quickly and efficiently generate convincing characters, seamless CG effects, or jaw-dropping games will want to explore this latest release of the software.

With 3ds Max 2009, Biped now offers animators a more efficient workflow for rigging quadrupeds, together with other features that facilitate the character animation process. The release also delivers new UV editing features including a UV spline mapping tool, and enhanced Pelt and Relax toolsets that streamline the UVW unwrap workflow.

Autodesk® MotionBuilder® is the industry-leading, real-time 3D character animation software for games, feature film, and television productions. With its core focus on interactive real-time workflows, MotionBuilder enables creative and technical artists to take on demanding, animation-intensive projects. MotionBuilder is a professional package designed for 3D data acquisition, manipulation, and visualization, which makes it not only an animation productivity solution, but a tool that drives the iterative process of creativity.

What’s New in Autodesk Motion Builder 2009:
With its unique real-time, interactive 3D environment, Autodesk® MotionBuilder® 2009 software is an ideal choice for both animation production and virtual cinematography. Production teams are discovering that the real-time interactivity of Autodesk MotionBuilder not only makes animators far more productive, but it puts the creative control back in the hands of directors and cinematographers. This new release gives animators, technical directors, and moviemakers high-quality, interactive visualizations within the 3D viewport, an intuitive toolset for creating real-time simulations and expanded script development for tighter pipeline integration.

Designed by professional artists in the film, games, and design industries, Autodesk® Mudbox™ digital sculpting and texture painting software gives 3D modelers and texture artists the freedom to create without worrying about the technical details.

Autodesk Mudbox 2009 combines a highly intuitive user interface with a powerful creative toolset for creating ultra-realistic high-poly 3D models. Breaking the mold of traditional 3D modeling applications, Mudbox 2009 provides an organic brush-based 3D modeling experience that ignites the creative process.

Combining an intuitive user interface with a suite of high-performance, creative tools, Autodesk® Mudbox™ digital sculpting and texture painting software offers 3D modeling professionals the ability to quickly and easily create highly detailed organic and inorganic 3D assets.

Productivity at Your Fingertips
The creativity-enhancing Mudbox feature set is easily accessible to traditional sculptors and to both new and experienced digital artists, enabling users to become productive in hours rather than weeks. Digital sculpting tools mimic the behavior of their real-world counterparts: if you can pinch clay, you can use the tools in Mudbox.

Autodesk® 3ds Max® software is a powerful, integrated 3D modeling, animation, and rendering application. Its easy-to-learn environment enables artists to quickly ramp up for production. 3ds Max is used by film and video artists, game developers, multimedia designers (print and web), design visualization professionals, and 3D enthusiasts to achieve stunning results in less time. 3ds Max is the leader in 3D animation for game development, design visualization, visual effects, and education.

Create stunning 3D in less time with Autodesk® 3ds® Max software. This full-featured 3D modeling, animation, rendering, and effects solution is used to produce top-selling games and award-winning film and video content. Those looking to quickly and efficiently generate convincing characters, seamless CG effects, or jaw-dropping games will want to explore this latest release of the software.

With 3ds Max 2009, Biped now offers animators a more efficient workflow for rigging quadrupeds, together with other features that facilitate the character animation process. The release also delivers new UV editing features including a UV spline mapping tool, and enhanced Pelt and Relax toolsets that streamline the UVW unwrap workflow.

With 3ds Max 2009, you get the information you want, the way you want it. Greater OBJ translation fidelity and more import/export options mean more accurate data transfers between 3ds Max and Autodesk® Mudbox™ or other digital modeling packages. 3ds Max 2009 also delivers improved Autodesk FBX® memory management and new import options that support interoperability between 3ds Max and other products such as Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® MotionBuilder™.

3ds Max 2009 Features:
With each new release, Autodesk software solutions become more intuitive and user friendly, while gaining functionality and a broader tool set. The following videos introduce the new features and functionality of Autodesk® 3ds Max® software.

Modeling and Animation
With the introduction of the ForeFeet option, Biped now fully supports four-legged characters, In this video, animators see that the center of mass can be animated using external pivots, like the working pivot, making it easier to create realistic body movements like falling forward. Animators also see how the Walkthrough Assistant simplifies the process of creating walk-throughs and how soft selections can be interactively adjusted with a few mouse-clicks.