cgarena feb06 issue

7/23/2019 Cgarena Feb06 Issue

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CGArenaGet Attention in Computer Graphics Community

ISSUE 01 FEBRUARY 2006

nterview with3DAliens

Composition

The Rule Of Third

3D Challenge

Sunlight

PhotoshopChange the Mood

of the scene

After Effects

My Heart Goes Mmmm

Illustrator

Tracing the Pho

3ds Max

Making of A Passage


2/50Page 2 www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

contents

Theres something for everyone on the CGArena Forumhttp://forum.cgarena.c

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Editor : Ashish Rastogi

Email : [email protected]

183D Challenge: SunlightWorth $445 Prizes

16CompositionThe Rule of Thirds

05Interview with 3dAliensSantiago Redendo & Jesped Pedrosa

22 PhotoshopChange the mood of the scene

28 IllustratorTracing the Photo

30 After EffectsMy Heart Goes Mmmmm

34 3ds MaxMaking of A Passage
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industry news

Buzzword of the Month

igital Intermediate - The process of shooting on lm and nishing in the digital realm has been available to theoduction community for many years, but the problems associated with moving massive amounts of data required to

feature lm the same way has meant that lms have tended to only use the process for specic sequences.

hat has all changed - breakthroughs in data management and lm recording technology have created new opportunit

nish features entirely in digital. The process is called Digital Intermediate, and involves the original camera footage

tape - being scanned as data, the images digitally manipulated through colour grading and vfx , then the project reco

ck to lm negative in HD, 2K or 4K resolution.

nother major advantage is a greater control over colour grading. While optical colour timing allows only basic cont

e red, green and blue light sources during the duplication process, digital colour correction can affect aspects like saon and contrast to an innite degree. Many different colours within the frame can be isolated at any one time, allo

mplex visual colour effects to be created easily.

here are also other benets, including the protection of the original camera negative. Edits, re-edits, multiple ver

d even short promos can all be done without reverting to the original neg. The OCN is scanned once and then store

fe-keeping, the edit is performed digitally and thus always seamlessly. The digital intermediate path can also be take

oductions shooting on HD or SD tape formats although the overall resolution will only ever be as good as the acqui

rmat.

Disney buys Pixar

Walt Disney payed $7.4 bil-

lion in stock to acquire Pixar

Animation Studios--a deal

that puts Apple ComputerCEO Steve Jobs on Disneys

board of directors.

or the venerable animation giant, the move is a signicant

t on Pixars digital approach as the successor to the pen-

d-ink industry popularized by Walt Disney. Pixar will re-

ain in its San Francisco Bay Area headquarters.

bs said Pixars main choices came down to selling out to

isney or working with another studio under a deal like Lu-slm has with Twentieth Century Fox, in which the larg-

studio gets only a distribution fee. The latter option was

mewhat attractive, Jobs said, but would still result in an

rangement with two companies with two separate sets of

areholders and two different agendas.

Prime Focus Plans for

Rs117cr Expansion

Prime Focus, one of Indias lead-

ing integrated end-to-end post pro-duction and visual effects services

house, has chalked out an expan-

sion plan involving an investment

of Rs 117.25 crore (Rs 1.17 bil-

lion), according to a release.

The plan includes setting up of high-end digital studi

Los Angeles, London and Dubai and expanding its do

tic operations. To part nance this expansion, the com

soon proposes to enter the capital market with a public of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) through a 100% book bui

process. Prime Focus IPO is likely to hit the market a

end of February or beginning March.


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interview

ould you tell us a bit about yourself?

i, my name is Santiago Redondo and I am 38 year old, Telecommunication

ngineer. I started the 3dAleins Ltd in 2003. I am the programmer of the plu-

n Glu3d which is used for uids simulation in 3ds Max and Maya.

an you tell us from where you got the idea for Glu3d?

es. The idea of making uids with particles by applying the SPH formalism

as initially coded and applied in a Spanish company called REM Infograca

1997, the Company that developed well known plugins for 3dsmax like

etaReyes, clothReyes, NPR, etc. First test and source code were made there,

REM Infogrca under the management of Javier Reyes Moreno. The team

ader, I and other people from REM Infograca leaved the company in 1998

found a new company called NEXT LIMIT S.L. This company continued

e uid project and named it RealFlow. However every founder of the com-

any did not have the copyright of the program: although I contributed in

ealFlow program with a 33% , I had no rights on it, because it was registered

y the other two co-founders. After three years of continuous development,was red from there. I lost all my rights on the Company and the program

nd after a period of mobbing actions, I had to sell my Company stocks for

othing.

fter a year, I decided to start a new uid project from scratch. I called it

lu3D. It was in the early 2002. Every single line of source code added to

lu3D was new. Nothing was taken from the old project RealFlow. A new

oncept of uid simulator integrated in 3dsmax and Maya was in mind; based

n the SPH formalism as RealFlow, but with a new user interface, completely

tegrated in the 3D platform.

s soon as they came to know that I founded a new company, Next Limit

ecided to sue me, arguing that I used the same realow sources. After three

ears in the Court, and after comparing every source line of both programs,

e conclusion of the Court was that Glu3D is a completely new program with

o comparison with RealFlow.

Page 5 www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

AN INTERVIEW WITH 3DALIENSANTIAGO REDONDO & JESUS PEDROSA


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an you give us an overview of the core tech-

ology being used in Glu3d?

lu3D uses a CFD method called SPH - Smoothed

article Hydrodynamics, to calculate inter-particle

teractions. Lots of references about this model

n be found by searching in Google. SPH is

method that uses particles to sample 3D space

ith some uid properties, as density, pressure

d more. Fluid properties in any 3D point caninterpolated from those particle sample values.

nce animation is calculated, a surface polymesh

n be added to visualization purposes. The origi-

l algorithm purposed by SPH authors, has been

mplied and adapted to the 3D problem. These

mprovements continue in each Glu3D version.

What has been the biggest challenge in the

lu3d so far?

he aim of Glu3D developers is to bring a high

vel algorithm to the 3D community by simpli-

ing the complex physical model to adapt it to

e 3D animation requirements. Other commercial

proaches run outside the main 3D package (3ds-

ax, Maya) and make it difcult to adapt current

ene to a proprietary environment. People prefer

cook at home: Users love to run simulations in-

de its 3D package. We try to make it easier to

e users.

Whats coming next in glu3d, you are also plan-

ng a plug-in for Softimage and Houdini?

e have plans to provide with ports to other pack-

es. XSI is in our list. Some useful functions will

available outside glu3D; for example PWrap-

r: a particle envelope plug-in.


interview contd.




interview contd.


an you tell us about the team working on the

lu3d? How many people are working on it and

om what backgrounds does everyone comes?

or Now, only two people are working on this project:

sus Pedrosa and me. Other people collaborated in

is project. We are already in the 3D business for a

ng time. In future we will add more people to the

am.

ow do you rate your plug-in on the scale of 10?

mmm, 9

Would you like to say anything to CGArena E-Zine

aders?

ello to all CGArena E-Zine readers. I hope glu3D

ill help you in your work.


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interview contd.


ould you tell us a bit about yourself & family?

ough one, I usually dont like to talk about myself :)

am a 30 year (sigh) guy from Galicia, a region in NW Spain. My st

ntact with computer graphics was at a very early age with a Spec-

um +2 in the 8 bit era. I started doing videotext adventures with

aphics, later I moved to the pc, where I was blown away with 3d stu-

o and Animator Pro. Then came windows, 3dsmax and many others.

fter doing work as a freelancer I started to work for Pyro Studios (Com-

andos developer) in 1998. Unfortunately the team I was working on was

totally management disaster (the project, called Cimmeria was totally

newed from scratch every 6 months or so) so I became tired of the Span-

h videogame industry pretty soon (Cimmeria became Praetorians 4

ars later!). We are the 4th videogames buyer country in the world, but our

oduction industry is in the lowest part on the list, so you can imagine how

e videogame companies here are

fter that, I started working at Next Limit, the makers of RealFlow. At rst

e were just 4 guys, the 3 coders and me. I did beta testing, promotionaluff, web design, tutorials, customer support, etc.

was a very cool job. I wasnt well paid at all but I

as very happy working with creative freedom and

tight team in a very familiar environment. I met

anti Redondo at that time, but some months later

e other company partners kicked him out, giving

e very few explanations about that move.

fter some time Next Limit got nancial aid and

e company started to grow. That was a good time,

last the company got the resources we need to

o further in the development and CG production.

nfortunately we had to do some boring stuff like

chitectural previz and stuff like that but it was a

ood time, I learned a lot and met a lot of cool guys

ere. But you know that good things dont last

uch time.



interview contd.


he problem with the company was the new Mar-

ting guy. It is understandable that there are always

me frictions between the production and market-

g teams, but this guy goes beyond imagination.

e had (and still has) problems with almost every-

ne there except the company owners. I was the

oduction team manager at that time, and tired of

upidities, bad treat and hoax marketing maneuvers

explained the situation as unacceptable to the com-

ny owners. Result= I got illegally red typicalpanish After that I sued the company and as I had

nversations recorded where the company owners

cognized illegalities and shameful behavior they

eferred to pay before entering court (maybe Ill

ublish that some day, hehe)

egarding Next Limit, I think now people can see

eir policies with the Maxwell render product: hoax

arketing, an almost unusable product that doesnt

atch the expectative, buyers that ask their money

ck and get denials from the marketing team, etcfeel sorrow for the people working there (coders,

G artists and even marketing people), as all of this

nt their fault. People should ask Oscar Monzn

abregat (who changed his name to Oscar Mon to

oid being exposed from many people he cheated

l over the years. Believe me; the list goes very-

ry long). After him, they can ask Victor Gonzalez

d Ignacio Vargas, the company owners and one

the most coward people I ever met in my whole

fe.

nce I was out Next Limit I realized that I was on

e dark side so I contacted Santi and started to

lp him in the Glu3D development. Weve been

orking together for 2 years now, and Im happy

ith the results. I think Glu3D is a good product, it

uld be much better, but we are just 2 guys trying to

ght our way in this monsters industry without any

nancial help.



interview contd.


xplain the role of a Plug-in Designer - what do you do?

s I was the main beta tester of Realow since version 1 Ive

ent many years working with uids on a daily basis. I was

rfectly aware of what is a good idea and what it is not regard-

g a uids tool, so I started to feed Santi with all the ideas I

d in mind for years but Next Limit people refused to accept.

y main goal was that the tool should be easy to use. I was

ry used to RealFlow workow after many years working

ith it, but it was perfectly clear that RealFlow is a hell of aol to learn and make good use. So at 3Daliens we always

d in mind an idea Make it good and powerful but keep it

mple!. That is and will always be our motto.

which movies Glu3d used, till today?

lthough 3Daliens is a modest company, the quality of Glu3D

nvinced some great studios like Blur, Troublemaker, Cafe-

x, Sony, etc

e already know that Glu3D has been used in Sin City by

roublemaker Studios and CafeFx (both tried RealFlow and

rned it down after trying Glu3D), Sharkboy and Lavagirl

y CafeFx and works from Blur Studios (they turned down

ealFlow too).

here is more movies where Glu3D has been used but we are

ot aware of the titles, as some big studios doesnt like to pro-

ote little companies and they just tell we used Maya in the

terviews (but for real production they buy all kind of software

ols). Glu3D is being used by Weta Digital, Digital Dimen-on, Encore Hollywood, Frantic Films and many other Film

d TV companies from many countries around the world.

s you know, Online Piracy poses a major threat for all

mpanies, what you are doing to save Glu3d from this?

e belive that if the software is good enough and it have a

ood price the people that use it to make prot will buy it. We

now that piracy is unstopable, it doesnt matter if you put the

latest Starforce, FlexLm, C-Dilla, ... hackers will al

crack it sooner than later, and you will be wasting

time and annoying your legal customers with compl

censing stuff.

We think that there is a much more important thing

cant be cracked or downloaded from Emule or BitTo

GOOD SUPPORT.

Freelancers and Companies working seriously want a

support, so we are always there to answer question

bugs to meet the deadline, etc day or night. I think

one of our most valuable work, and letters from our

tomers prove it...



interview contd.

have no plans at all to use (or continue to use) Real Flow for any uid simulations. From what I have seen, I believ

lu3D is better suited to our needs than Real Flow. It seems to be every bit as capable as Real Flow, but has the adva

running inside of Max (something we have asked Next Limit to do for YEARS!). Also, the level of customer servic

e receive from you simply cannot be topped. It is very clear to us that you have a genuine desire to make Glu3D a

oduct, and you are always willing to hear suggestions of how to make it better. It is really great to use a product tha

ch enthusiasm behind it.

m sure we would probably have used at least PWrapper on about 9 out of the last 10 projects that we have done (its r

eat for blood splatters and stuff like that). PWrapper is absolutely AWESOME and extremely fast compared to any

pe of metaballs that we have.

eally hope things work out for your company. Its very frustrating to know that you have a better product than your

titor, but not have the resources or the opportunity to prove it. It would really be a shame to not have Glu3D contin

velopment.

irby Miller

ur Studios




interview contd.

What are your hobbies?

ike lms a lot. I really mean it, my BenQ hi-res projector is pos-

ble the best buy I did in many many years. I spent a lot of time

atching good lms from all times (undubbed versions, of course ;)

getting HD versions and freaky stuff like that. A quick brief list of

y favorite movies will be: Blade Runner, Fear and Loathing in Las

egas, Alien, Donnie Darko, Oldboy, The Fellowship of The Ring

xtended), Usual Suspects, The Incredibles, Yojimbo, Annie Hall,

pocalypse Now and Fight Club.

also studied Film and TV production, as I was much more inter-

ted in the whole process than just the fx part. Right now Im in the

ocess of making a short lm with some friends, although I reckon

at everybody does that these days. I am a computer freak too, I go

demoscene parties and I am always checking the new and latest

ftware versions, playing games, etc. I like to read a lot too, mainly

ctional books but classical too (greek, chinese, etc).

Where you see yourself after 5 years?

would love to keep on working in software design and fx produc-

on, but frankly I am becoming less and less interested in the fx part

movies. I would like to be involved in lm production, but in a

ore creative way.

ow anyone can contact you and ask for support or help?

nybody can reach me at the Glu3D user forums (http://ww.3daliens.com/glu3D/forum2), my personal contact details are

ere (email, msn, icq and yahoo)

ow do you rate your plug-in on the scale of 10?

eing honest, I will rate it with 8. Glu3D is easy to use and cheap.

could be more powerful, and we are always working on improve-

ents, optimizations and new features, but remember that we are

st a 2 guys company that lack nancial help for everything. What

I can assure is that when we will have more resofrom a bigger company Glu3D will be much b

and we will make more CG tools based on the

powerful and easy philosophy.

Would you like to give any message to CGA

Members?

Start working with Glu3D! we dont care if you

have money to buy it, the demo version is FU

FUNCIONAL, and we will always give free lic

to people that shows good results using our tosimple as that. If you can make an fx movie te

illustration using Glu3D that can call the comm

attention youll have a Glu3D free license gr

so hands on mates!

INTERVIEW: CGARENA

http://www.3daliens.com/glu3D/forum2http://www.3daliens.com/glu3D/forum2http://www.3daliens.com/glu3D/forum2http://www.3daliens.com/glu3D/forum2


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www.cgarena.comGArena brings you latest news and happenings 24 hours a day.

us, join in our interactive forums to showcase your work, andt attention in the computer graphics community Email: contact@cgaren
http://www.cgarena.com/http://www.cgarena.com/



composition

here are times when you need to place your sub-

ct in the centre of the frame, you can create more

teresting, balanced and powerful compositions by

acing the subject off-centre in your photograph. A

chnique that can help you visualize your shots is the

le of thirds. The rule of thirds means to view your

ot through a grid made up of three equal parts, both

rtically and horizontally.

his immediately cause the viewers eye to move

ound the image centrally placed subjects tend to

cus attention in the middle of the image and leave

there, making pictures feel at as a result. If youre

ying to create an abstract or graphic representation

reality, this might be exactly the technique youre

oking for. This rule is a basic principal often used

photography, video and lm.

ne of the most frequently used ways of directing the

ewers eye to the centre of interest in a picture is by

llowing the rule of thirds. Infact, there are lenses

ou can buy for cameras that makes this rule visible

rough viewnder and allows you to visualize where

place your characters and subjects.

isualizing your shots in thirds is like adding graph

per over your camera lens, allowing you to align

d balance subjects. In order to know if you are us-g the rule of thirds properly, think of sight lines or

adings. When you are presented with a new image,

r example, the eye goes to the most prominent shape

the frame, which is called the rst read. Then the

e wanders to a secondary shape, the second read,

d so on. Keep practicing it, and the rule of thirds

ill start to work itself into each of your shots.

The Rule

Of Thirds



Source: Morgue F


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challenge

GArena is proud to present the Sunlight Challenge (3D Challenge), 09 Feb - 12 Mar 2006, sponsore

orel, iStockphoto and Daz3D. We want lots of different ideas and approaches in a more creative w

Photographed By: Arlene Gee

Your Mission

reate an image which shows Sunlight in a creative way. This Challenge is a Work-In-Progress Challenge -- all contes

e required to post their work-in-progress images for community to critique/comment in order to qualify.

How the Challenge will be Run

his challenge will be a WIP (Work in Progress) Challenge. Each challenger is required to submit Work In Progress (

mages, from the initial concept sketch to the nal render. The purpose is that everyone can learn from each other,

edback and critiques.

Enter the Challenge by registering yourself on CGArena forum.

Submit your work in progress images in forum on a regular basis.

Participate in the community by critiquing other challengers works in the respective forums.

Submit your nal entry till 12th March 2006.

ote: You are required to submit work in progress images, obtain feedback and give feedback to other challengers i

IP challenge. This is a requirement of the challenge and failure to do so may result in penalties during nal judging.unity interaction is a must!

Rules

All CGArena members may enter the CG Challenge. Membership is free of charge.

Employees of Corel, iStockphoto, Daz3D and CGArena are not allowed to enter this challenge.

The Challenge starts 09 February 2006 and will run until 12 March 2006 Midnight GMT.

There will be 2 winners in this 3D Challenge and CGArena, Sponsers and Judges decision will be nal.

Winners have to submit a tutorial within 10 days and answer the few interview questions for eligible to prizes.


19/50

Photographed By: Victor K

inal Image Size

Your nal image dimensions should be print resolution. Do not

nd in a low-resolution placeholder and ask us to get back to you,

we wont.

A guideline is 2657 pixels wide and/or 3636 high, JPG, 300 DPI.

irst Prize

orelDRAW X3 Graphics Suite - $399USD

ith this comprehensive graphics suite, you can condently tackle

wide variety of projects - from logo creation and Web graphics, toulti-page marketing brochures, or eye-catching signs.

om new bitmap-to-vector tracing in Corel PowerTRACE, new

hoto-editing features in PHOTO-PAINT, new suite-wide learning

ols, and enhancements in illustration and page layout, this suite

mbines design capabilities, ease-of-use, and affordability that

nnot be matched by any other graphics software.

econd Prize

AZ3D - $25 Gift Voucher

AZ strives to bring 3D art directly to the masses by delivering the

ghest quality digital 3D content and software at the most afford-

le prices. DAZ also offers premier 3D software programs such

Bryce 5 (a 3D environment package), Mimic Pro (a 3D lip-sync

ogram), and DAZ|Studio (a 3D posing application) all at rock-

ottom prices.

and

tockphoto - $20 Gift Voucher

tockphoto is the worlds fastest growing collection of royalty-free

mages, at the worlds best prices. Just the best Stock Photography,

ector illustrations, and Flash les online, at prices for everyone.

This 3D Challenge is proudly sponsored by:
http://www.istockphoto.com/http://www.daz3d.com/http://www.corel.com/


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22/50

photoshop


23/50

Change themood of the

sceneValentines Day is near, so why dont change

the girlfriend image in a more romantic mood.So in this issue we will change the mood of

the existing photo in Photoshop.

1) Open the Salma Hayek Image and duplicate the exi

ing layer.

2) To create a romantic mood, warm up the image. T

do this, create a Image > Adjustments> Photo Filter. In thi

dialog box select Warm Filter 85 and set the density to

60%.



photoshop

Apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the blur to

0 pixels. Experiment with the value according to your imagequirement.

Change the layer mode to multiply and adjust the opac-

y slider according to requir ement. In my image keep to

%.

5) Adjust the levels in the Red channel.

6) Duplicate the second layer and change the

mode back to normal. Apply Filters > Distort> Diff

Glow and choose the settings as Graininess = 4, Gl

Amount =1 and Clear Amount = 20 and reduce the

opacity of the layer according to requirements.

7) Apply some touchup color on the cheeks an

lips. Flatten the image and use the Levels comman

again. If required use the Image > Adjustment > Br

ness & Contrast. If you done everything correct the

your girlfriend will be denitely happy otherwise

#&$%@


25/50

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SFDPSEJOHNBTUFSJOHFFDUTQSPDFTTJOHBOETUSFBNJOHNFEJBDSFBUJPO)PXEJEJUHFUUPCFOVNCFSPOF#ZEPJOHXIBUJUEPFTCFUUFS

UIBOBOZPUIFSQSPHSBNQSPWJEJOHBDPNQSFIFOTJWFQPXFSGVMTFUPGUPPMTEFTJHOFEUPNBLFZPVNPSFQSPEVDUJWF

/PXJOWFSTJPO4PVOE'PSHFBEETOFXGFBUVSFTMJLFTDSJQUJOHGVODUJPOBMJUZCBUDIQSPDFTTJOH745FFDUT

BOE"4*0ESJWFSTVQQPSU*UTFWFONPSFPGBHPPEUIJOHCVUXFEJEOUTUPQUIFSF

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TPMVUJPOGPS3FE#PPLBVEJP$%DSFBUJPO8JUIUIJTNVDIQSPEVDUJPOmSFQPXFSSFBMMZXIBUNPSFEPZPVOFFE

4POZ1JDUVSFT%JHJUBM*OD"MMSJHIUTSFTFSWFE

4PVOE'PSHFBOE$%"S

DIJUFDUBSFUSBEFNBSLTPSSFHJTUFSFEUSBEFNBSLTPG4POZ1JDUVSFT%JHJUBM*OD"MMPUIFSUSBEFNBSLTBSF

UIFQSPQFSUZPGUIFJSSFTQFDUJWFPXOFSTXXXTPOZDPNNFJEBTPGUXBSF]

/&8

4PVOE'PSHF

Pro Musicals, 25 Casa Major Road, Egmore, Chennai-08 | Email: [email protected] | Web: www.promusicals.c


26/50


27/50

Vancouver Film School is the place to be or everything you see,

hear, and experience in entertainment and that defnitely includesDigital Character Animation.

At VFS, your classroom is a production studio. Your creativity is the

lesson plan. Let our aculty o industry proessionals help bring

your best ideas to lie. VFS covers all aspects o Computer Character

Animation with a ocus on Technique, 3D Modeling, Cinematography,

and Acting Fundamentals. Students achieve creative profciency on

MAYA sotware, an essential tool or all aspects o 3D rendering.

Every program at VFS is designed to prepare the next generation o

talent or specifc careers in the most exciting and creative industry

in the world. How? Every student graduates with a demo reel or aportolio o original work the ultimate calling card.

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For more information, contact:



illustrator

Tracing the

Photo

Adobe stopped upgrading its vector conversion ap

cation Streamline some time ago, and the Trace

included in Illustrator has always been sadly lackThat is, until now! With the new CS2 version, Illu

tor users nally have a great trace tool.


29/50

What are Raster Images?

Raster imagesuse a grid of small squares known as p

to represent images. Each pixel is assigned a specic

tion and color value. Raster Images or Bitmap Image

the most common electronic medium for continuous

images, such as photographs or digital paintings, be

they can represent subtle gradations of shades and colo

What are Vector Images?

Vector graphics are made up of lines and curves den

mathematical objects called vectors. Vectors describe a

age according to its geometric characteristics. Vector g

ics are resolution-independentthat is, they can be sca

any size and printed at any resolution without losing

or clarity. As a result, vector graphics are the best c

for representing graphics that must retain crisp lines

scaled to various sizesfor example, logos.

1) Create a new document and to place a image in

trator, use the File > Place command.

2) After Placing a image in the Illustrator, Live button appears in the top control pallette or you

also use the Object > Live Trace Menu. Choose a

set from the dropdown Preset menu, which is acc

from the small arrow to the right of the Live Trace bu

3) After clicking the Live Trace button, you will

many more options on the control palette. Next to the Pr

is a button that opens many more options. From this dyou can control the number of colors, the preset, the

mum size that will be traced, and even choose to outpu

swatches le.

This is one of the best new features in Illustrator CS2.

this tool you will be able to trace logos, sketches, scans

many other bitmap images that were time-consuming

difcult to reproduce.



after effects

My Heart GoesMmmmmmmm

New Keyboard Shorcuts in AE

1. Remove Title Bar - Ctrl + Backspace

2. Maximize any window - Tilde (~)

Create New Composition, size = 640 x 480, Frame Rate = 25fps or

0fps, Duration = 5 sec.

Create New Solid layer (Ctrl + Y) Layer > New > Solid. Choose

y color and press button Make Comp Size.

this tutorial we will use the Adobe After Effects and Trapcode Particular plug-in to create this heart.

New Features in AE 7

1. Newly Designed User Interface.

2. Animation Presets for everything.

3. HDR Color Support

4. Timewarp - Can be used in place of T

Remapping for accurate results.

5. Accurate Lens Blue Effects.

6. Freeze Frame

7. Dynamic Link


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Apply Trapcode Particular Plug-in on the solid layer. Effect > Trapcode > Particular.

Set the key frame on 0sec for Emitter Particles/sec and leave the value to 100

Go to 1 sec and change the value to 400, set another key frame on 4sec with same value, set value 300 on 4:10

t value 0 on 4:20sec

We also need to change the Position XY settings but we talk about that later.

Set Direction to Directional, velocity to 10.0, Velocity Random to 100.0 and Velocity from motion to 5.0

Particle Life[sec] to 5.0, Particle Type to Smokelet, Size over life and Opacity over life as in the following im

pacity of Particles to 40 and set the color of particles of your choice, if you want a random colors in the heart then a


after effects



after effects

ange the setting of Color Random[%]

Now, talk about the Position XY settings. There are three ways to do this

Move the position anchor point at different places according to the shape desire at regular intervals but requir

tweaking.

Create a mask in the AE or Illustrator and copy the vertices then paste those vertices in the Position XY.

Or create any shape in Photoshop and save with alpha channel. And use Layer> Auto Trace feature, this will a

eate a mask then once again copy and paste the vertices in the Position XY. If the image dont have alpha channel th

ll you can use Auto Trace and select the channel in the dialog box as desire like R-G-B channel or Luminance chan


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Pro Musicals, 25 Casa Major Road, Egmore, Chennai-08 | Email: [email protected] | Web: www.promusicals.co



3ds max

Making of A Passage

ll the modeling in the scene was done using 3ds max 6. For texturing I used around 20-25 medium resolution picture

mbined them in Photoshop. Light Tracer was used for the rendering.

y intention was to create a work that depicts my love for art. This is not very detailed scene and modeling wise it

nly few hours to get the stage set. But, lighting and texturing is very important to convey the meaning of the image. I

spired by a painting I saw in book few months back. I was so moved by it that I drew a sketch in my drawing pad

at evening. It ended up something like the one I attached below.

hat painting depicts a lonely corridor running in between two walls, staying neglected for ages and stood guarded by

mpen walls.

staircase at the end of the corridor also serves a special meaning. The scene ends there but it gives kind of suspense fe

to what lies after that. In this sense the scene makes someone to think a lot.



3ds max

Modelling

odeling this scene involved very little time. But to get the

ncept and idea to the drawing board took longer than actual

odeling.

started with a box and converted it to poly and made the two

ain walls on the right side. These are the walls where most of

e drama will take place. I was very particular in the height and

eir joining angle. I used a camera from the beginning to de-

rmine the exact placement, since; the angle will play a major

le. As you can see in the picture below the placement of the

alls and how the camera is placed. I also added a ground.

hen I modeled the top portion of the wall using same poly modeling method. I also used Tessellate command and

odier to make the edge more random. The picture below shows the close up.

hen I turned my attention to the wall on the left side that will make it impossible to see the other side of the scene. Alth

ry small part of this wall is actually seen from the camera angle but it serves as a barrier between the passage and the

urce.



3ds max

had to add light source at this point to determine the exact light and shadow angle and made adjustment to the heigh

ientation of the wall.

hefollowing picture shows how the wall is actually placed and the light source behind it.



3ds max

ext I was concentrating on making the backdrop. The backdrop has to be interesting enough to catch the attention a

e same time should convey the basic meaning the image in proper synchronization. I did lots of experiment before co

make this object. The wall is placed in such way so that it shows the two windows from the camera angle. This p

ows the walls of a building positioned in the scene.

he next picture shows a close up of the window with shutters like we have in old buildings built around the rst qu

20th century.


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3ds max


ext I added the staircase at the end of the corridor. The edge is again made random and rounded to showcase the we

ing and aging.

hen I was almost satised with the scene setup Idded some pot with plants and wooden planks near

e wall. The picture below shows a close up of the

ots, one broken partly.



3ds max

exturing

exturing was a challenge in this particular scene. I used Unwarp UVW in most cases. For the wall rst I added an Un

VW and then took the map into the Photoshop and placed several layers of texture maps on the base. The picture b

ows how base layer containing the Unwarp UVW grid is placed.

used around 20-25 medium resolution maps for the entire texturing procedure. The process went like this way; I to

se texture for the wall from my collection and placed on top of the Unwarp UVW layer. Then I added moss layer,yer and water mark layer accordingly.


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3ds max


nce this major texturing is done I added some special

yers that contain a tic-tac-toe and grafti sign. I used

rious layer blending method to seamlessly match the

yers with the base layer, for example Multiply, Screen

d Overlay.

he backdrop is given a blue colored wall. I was trying

ith different color and found blue color quite appealing

r this scene. For the window and shutter I used an aged

ood texture with lots of variation in color.

ighting

used one target light and one omni light as ll light ine scene. The picture shows the placement of the lights.

placed a sky light to used with Light Tracer. There was

mething more with the light setup. I needed to create a

ce shadow in the foreground area. That was achieved

ing a light blocker in front of the light path. As shown

re a box is placed so that to cast a good shadow in the

rridor.



3ds max

ost Processing

endering process involved some tweaking with the light and shaders to get the proper mood in the scene. I tested wi

rious light settings and shaders for couple of hours before coming to a satisfactory level.

used Light Tracer of Scanline renderer with Bounce value 2. Then I took the raw render image in Photoshop and did

me color correction. I mainly work with Curve, HSL and Channel Mixer to correct the contrast level. Beside these

so had to manually use Dodge and Burn tool for perfection.

hope this article will be interesting to read and also be informative for you. Thank you for your time. Feel free to co

ent on this and send me your queries at my email address.

radipta Seth

[email protected]://pra-seth.3dup.net [Personal Site]

tp://www.3dallusions.com/forums [I am moderator at this site]

For discussion on this tutorial please click here
http://forum.cgarena.com/viewtopic.php?t=101http://forum.cgarena.com/viewtopic.php?t=101



gallery

VLAD THE IMPALOR

Harshdeep Borah, Canada

[email protected]

Maya



gallery



gallery

ANDO - CHURCH OF LIGHT

Karunakaran, India

[email protected]

3ds Max

ALL ROAD

Neil Maccormack, Geneva, Switzerland

[email protected]

Lightwave 3d



gallery

PICASSO TOWER

Juan Carlos, [email protected]

3ds Max



gallery

FRODO

Vishal Pawar, India

[email protected]

Photoshop

For Detailed Tutorial on Making of Frodo Click Here
http://cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/frodo/frodo.htmlhttp://cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/frodo/frodo.html



gallery

SPIDER & TANKLOW

Marco Antonio Delgado, Spain

[email protected]

Softimage XSI



gallery

A PASSAGE

Pradipta Seth

India

[email protected]

3ds Max


49/50

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