'Molding and Casting the Maquette' picks up where 'Sculpture 2, 'Character Maquettes' left off. Beginning with the sculpture, this four hour lecture takes the student through preparing the sculpture to be molded, by first cutting the sculpture into separate pieces, right up to pulling plastic casts out of the silicone flexible molds and assembling them. Through an intricately detailed step-by-step process, students will learn how to make a flexible silicone Matrix mold, individual box molds and then how to produce plastic castings of all the sculpture parts. From there it illustrates assembly techniques, covering seaming and patching of the plastic parts, then moves on to priming and getting the student ready for painting and finishing their project, all while exposing the viewer to the special materials and tricks of this trade. Students will also learn how to avoid the practical pitfalls associated with this kind of work, walking away with a solid foundation for molding and casting their own projects.

Gnomon Workshop: Maya Rendering 1 - Light Fundamentals - DVDRIP

This lecture introduces the basic concepts of lighting and rendering a scene. It begins by introducing Render Globals, Depth-Map and Raytrace shadows, and each of the light types in Maya. Three-point lighting is demonstrated as an effective starting point for lighting a scene. More advanced topics such as reflected light, gobos, and optical effects are introduced. The lecture demonstrates a simple but rich three-point light setup, and then illustrates a more complex, fully realized scene, using the tools learned.

In this new series from Aaron Sims, he reveals his process for building the 3D world of his project Tethered Islands. In this lecture, Aaron demonstrates his techniques for sculpting character textures using ZBrush. Aaron shows the basics of using sculpting tools, and covers how to use alpha textures for applying detail to a character. This DVD contains a library of over 150 pre-made alpha textures which are available for your own projects. Aaron also illustrates how to make your own custom alphas using Adobe Photoshop.

In this DVD, Kevin guides the more advanced modeler through the steps of laying out UVs on more complicated organic objects, where no single simple projection will work. Kevin provides a clear approach to breaking down objects into pieces that can be laid out and reassembled. Starting with a dollhead model, Kevin covers how to combine different projections and use the Relax and Unfold tools to get the desired results. He then discusses UV layout solutions for clothing and more complicated objects like a horse skull. Kevin then shows how to utilize his favorite tool, UVLayout by Headus, which can really speed up your workflow by automating the process of cutting up the model and projecting onto it, while maintaining a consistent scale.
Finally, Kevin explains why in production it may be necessary to have multiple UV sets and what the specific requirements are for programs like ZBrush and BodyPaint. Intended as an advanced tutorial on production UV layout techniques, Kevin's many years of expertise inform this clear and "holistic" approach to modeling and UV work.

In this lecture, Matt Hartle will lead you through the steps necessary to produce a finished visual effects shot from conception to the final composited rendering. Along the way we will examine modeling, texturing, animation, lighting and rendering using Mental Ray. We will then composite the rendered layers in After Effects, using a 3D composition with a camera exported from Maya. By bringing in the camera from Maya we will be able to integrate photographed elements with our rendered elements to create a final composite. Render layers from our Maya scene will include beauty, ambient occlusion, particles, ground fog and color alpha among others.

Many of us drew dinosaurs when we were kids. Dinosaurs are beasts of paradox. They inhabited the world between monster and animal, imagination and science. For many, dinosaurs were the introduction to understanding the natural world. It is not surprising that many of the world’s leading paleontologists started out as artists themselves. In this DVD, David conveys a strong understanding of dinosaur anatomy mixed with the sheer joy of giving life, personality and motion to these inspiring creatures. He covers a wide range of topics from skeletal structures and muscles, to range of motion and the essential gestures of various body types. David focuses on capturing these elements in the form of quick sketches of both herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs.