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I use 3D Max as my primary 3d software, though, I do know maya and from time to time post a maya specific tutorial. If there's something you would like to see on here please email me at DanManther@gmail.com and I will get it up as
soon as I have a few free minutes to make one.

 
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I'll gladly make a tutorial utilizing any of the following software:
 
 
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Autodesk 3D Max

Pixologic Zbrush

Chaos Group Vray Renderer

Body Paint 3D

Unfold 3D

Sitni Sati's Afterburn

Sitni Sati's FumeFX
Adobe CS3

Final Cut Pro

Apple's Shake

Digital Fusion
Autodesk Maya
Anything Windows or Mac related
 
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Jump To - Mini series      Compositing      Production      Vray     Texturing      BodyPaint      Other
 
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Mini Series!

 

There aren’t a whole lot of Fusion tutorials out there and it’s an under-credited program, especially for those doing compositing of primarily 3D elements.


I decided to do a bunch of short tutorials covering “simple” things within fusion. 

 

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For this mini tutorial I will show you one way to utilize an already rendered wirecolor pass.

 
   
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  Compositing:  
 
Utilizing shake to composite your rendered layers gives you complete control over the final look, many things that cant be normally controlled after the final frame is rendered.
 
 
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      Wirecolor compositing
In this I'll show how to utilize a commonly used (but seldom talked about) technique to further your control on the final look of your renders. Utilizing a wirecolor render element to single out an individual piece of geometry and affect its specular color. This can be used in an infinite number of ways and is a great way to control pretty much anything.
 
 
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Using Velocity Channels for Compositing Motion Blur
 
   
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  Production:  
 
      Backburner Implementation
3D Max's default network render software. Can get stubborn and not want to work at times so ill cover the setup and common problems that arise with this otherwise very powerful piece of software.
 
 
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      Render PassManager
This amazing piece of software can decrease production time 10 fold. Ill explain how to set it up and fully utilize it to get the most out of it.
 
 
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      Point Cache Many Major studios use point cache to speed up production by enabling the lighters, effects artists and other major departments to begin their work while the animators finalize animation on shots. In this tutorial ill show that setting up point cache files and then later updating point cache files is worth the time and file sizes that come with the process.
 
 
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        Linear Workflow (LWF)
                  (Link to an External Site)

I normally wouldn't put a direct link to someone else's tutorials in my tutorials section, it would go on my links page, however, Wouter Wynen over at Aversis.be does an awesome job at explaining linear workflow and its importance.


I strongly urge you to read the tutorial and explanation on this commonly overlooked and/or ignored topic.

Note: If you try any of his other tutorials, he uses this setup for those tutorials.

 
 
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      Xref
Xref is a great way to keep file sizes minimal and still have full control of certain assets of the production. There are many buggy parts of xref but once they are fully understood this is a great way to speed up production.
 
 

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  Vray:  
 
      Rendering Moving Objects
Vray's whole claim to fame is it's AMAZING secondary bounce abilities and its speed in calculating those bounces. Rendering moving objects (ie...animations) with secondary bounces gets quite tricky. Over the years I have used nearly all the methods of calculating secondary bounces and in this tutorial I will explain which one is best for each application. It gets confusing to someone new to Vray so I'll try and explain thoroughly, you'll realize it can quickly become considered an art form!
 
 
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      Which Bounce Calculation?
Vray has a few different ways to calculate its indirect illumination (4 to be exact.) Each one has its advantages and its disadvantages and I'll attempt to put in perspective why some render quicker and at what cost.
 
 
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      Render Elements
Render Elements are the heart and soul of your 3D render. Render elements allow nearly limitless control of the image once its been rendered. These render elements and knowing how to control them and of what use they are is vital when trying to do pretty much anything in compositing.
 
   
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  Texturing:  
 
      Baking Textures
Decreasing render times is a must unless you have some crazy amount of processing power. Using texture baking when applicable can be a great way to speed up render times. Like anything it has limitations and ill go over what those are and ways to work around them.
 
   
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  BodyPaint 3D:  
 
      General Bodypaint
BodyPaint 3D is a piece of software made by Maxon (the makers of Cinema 4D) that is used to paint directly and seamlessly onto 3D models. It's a nice alternative to Zbrush's poly paint system and both have their ups and downs. Unfortunately for us, BodyPaint's UI happens to be its biggest downfall. In this tutorial I will go over a bit of setting up models for painting.
 
   
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  Other:  
 
I am often contacted and/or contracted to build computers for 3D production. There are some major pieces that come into play when working in 3D and ill go over those in detail and also show a step by step building.
 
   
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