Archive

In this collection of lessons we will learn about a wide variety of useful techniques for rigging game characters.

In this course, we will rig a character for a game in Maya. We will cover techniques like setting up our joints to have a consistent orientation throughout the entire skeleton, we will build a twist rig to fix deformations that collapse in animation, we will learn how to create a foot rig with more banking control, and even cover creating a robust and flexible spine rig with advanced twisting. We will also discuss weight painting techniques that help to speed up that process, making it less intimidating and instead more of an enjoyable experience. By the end of this course you will learn rigging techniques that can be applied to any rig you build.

This series introduces the essential techniques for creating digital sets and backgrounds, an area of visual effects growing in prominence. In this first disc of a series of three, visual effects designer Eric Hanson reviews architectural design principles then leads into setting up a scene with a tracked camera and live-action plate. Next, Eric illustrates efficient set modeling techniques using both NURBS and polygons. Finally, the lesson provides a broad review of camerawork, from motion control to camera projection. Throughout the disc, Eric uses a sample scene of an urban environment to highlight all essential steps. The lecture is designed for all advancing intermediate Maya artists.

In this series of lessons we will be exploring many of the new and enhanced rendering features found in ZBrush 4.

When creating digital sculptures in ZBrush, the rendering and presentation of that artwork is a very important aspect to consider. With the new rendering features that have been added in ZBrush 4, we can create renders that are much higher in quality and realism without ever having to leave ZBrush. This course will cover topics such as ambient occlusion rendering, adding subsurface scattering effects to our ZBrush models, rendering transparent refractive surfaces, rendering our ZBrush artwork into multiple passes for compositing purposes, as well as many other tips and techniques that will teach you not just how these features work, but how to use them properly to get the best results.