Autodesk's Mudbox 2009 By Kevin McAuliffe
The world of 3D design and animation has always had a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" mentality. What I mean by that is when it comes to someone getting into the world of 3D animation, normally (not all the time), they are either strong at the computer/technical aspect, or strong in (classical) animation, and they end up having to bulk up on either one or the other.
...Read More »
Star Ranger 7's four year journey By Ko Maruyama
In the 23rd century, Star Rangers are the peace keepers of the galaxy. For now they are under the power, Marc Kimball and Michael Harnois. It actually started back in 2004 - a whopping 4 years ago when Marc and Michael decided that they would take on a film production - - IN ADDITION to their regular gigs. They jumped, feet first into the project, enrolling friends and several feet of greenscreen.
...Read More »
Tips to Slim Down (your project) in 2009 By Ko Maruyama
It's time for those New Years resolutions to start piling up. You know the ones: I'm going to eat healthy food. I won't slouch at my desk. I'll spend less time on Facebook, Twitter and (insert your own)... I'M GOING TO SLIM DOWN. Well how about some slimming tips you might actually stick to? Here are some ways to slim down your animation projects in 2009....
...Read More »
Flip Boom: Love without a path By Ko Maruyama
I recently received a notice from Toonboom about their software being on sale for St. Valentine's Day. Is it that time already? Well, that got me to thinking about some other workflow tricks that can be used with FLIPBOOM. Here's just one.
...Read More »
Digital Media Artists / Los Angeles By Ko Maruyama
In the early summer of 2007, Chris Meyer announced to the group in attendance that he and Trish would be retiring from hosting the meetings, and that they would be handing MGLA over to Warren and me to continue. For many reasons, Chris decided that it would be better for the group if it continued under a different name. That's how DMA/LA was born - but it's not completely new, just a new name.
...Read More »
Toon Boom?s Digital Pro By David Basulto
I love using Toon Boom?s Storyboard Pro for quick previz or simple animations. In fact I picked up a job recently by doodling a storyboard and making it animate for a new client. When Toon Boom released its much anticipated Digital Pro application, I knew this was one that had to be added to the arsenal.
...Read More »
MAXON NEW LINEUP By Ko Maruyama
During the past 4 years, there has been a remarkable explosion of growth here in Hollywood for the 3D software produced by MAXON. Both CINEMA 4D and BodyPaint 3D have helped many Los Angeles production studios win multiple awards. MAXON has not taken any time to rest on its laurels, but has continued to develop more high end professional tools for serious 3D users.
...Read More »
The Basics of Rigging By Ko Maruyama
Utah's Dan "Cactus Dan" Libisch has been developing character tools for MAXON's CINEMA 4D software for several years now, which has resulted in a professional-level set of plugins that will give anyone more control over their character animations.
...Read More »
CREATING A PHOTOSHOP GIF ANIMATION By Ko Maruyama
Here are 6 very basic steps to making your own Photoshop GIF animation. Want to learn more? Be sure to check out the channels at DMN for more.
...Read More »
Poser Goes Pro By David Basulto
With more than 300,000 artists using Poser, making Poser a professional level tool was bound to happen. What was once a fun tool to do 3D figure design and animation has ventured into the pipelines of production. Poser Pro, eFrontier?s newest product, promises to provide production based users a much more powerful tool to use.
...Read More »
E-Frontier's Anime Studio By Ko Maruyama
At Siggraph 2007, E-Frontier demonstrated several pieces of software, including Anime Studio, a very dynamic vector based animation system. More than merely a vector based animation system, the software also supports a 3D camera system and 3D object import. Of particular interest to me is the fact that Anime Studio allows animators to use bone IK systems in their vector animations.
...Read More »
Anime Studio Pro 5 By Ko Maruyama
At Siggraph 2007, E-Frontier showed off Anime Studio, a very easy to use, vector based animation system. Of particular interest to me is the fact that Anime Studio allows animators to use bone IK systems in their vector animations. This alone make animating characters a breeze, but the addition of bone dynamics makes the entire process even more dynamic.
...Read More »
MAXON's R10 Character Animation and Paint By Ko Maruyama
I caught up with MAXON president Paul Babb who gave SIGGRAPH attendees a look at CINEMA 4D R10. The latest version of the software combines all of the features of their modeling and animation application as well as the power of their 3D painting toolset found in BODYPAINT 3D.
...Read More »
CINEMA 4D: Simpson Torus By Ko Maruyama
It's time to make the doughnuts. Sure - you could make a better one - I dare you to! But if you want to get started, there really is no easier way than to pop open up a 3D application and click on a primitive object that already looks like a doughnut: The Torus Object. Oh, the torus object - is there anything it *can't* do? Try it out - push it around, and see what happens. In the second part, we'll make the icing, frosting, whatever you want to call it: the pink stuff...
...Read More »
PLATFORM FESTIVAL: A Review By Sam Niemann
Who better to report on the debut of the major new animation festival in Portland, Oregon than an animator from Portland. I asked some friends up at renowned animation house RENEGADE ANIMATION if they'd drop in to see what all the hubbub was about, and got back more than expected. Veteran animator Sam Niemann started a journal which he's allowed me to reprint here.
...Read More »
Introduction to Poser By Ko Maruyama
Arena Reed hosts "An Introduction to Poser", an instructional DVD. Arena takes you through some of the most powerful tools of Poser in a very easy-to-follow narration. Her guided tour is really a private tutorial of professional tricks and tips that will not only have you up and running in no time, but her lessons will help to show you how to work more cleanly - saving time in your work pipeline so you can spend more time in creative experimentation.
...Read More »
MACWORLD 3D By Ko Maruyama
Slowing down and relaxing in the brilliant glow of recent accolades from CMP is not something that Luxology's Brad Peebler was about to do. There is no slowing down for the company's president, or for the software. After receiving the award in the annual Front Line Awards, Peebler made sure that attendees at Macworld were able to get personal demos of the software.
...Read More »
Autodesk Releases Maya 8.5 By Dave Nagel
Autodesk today releases Maya 8.5, the long-awaited Universal Binary update to the high-end 3D suite. The new version also adds in some workflow, performance, scripting and creative enhancements. It ships today, with a Personal Learning Edition set to follow in the spring.
...Read More »
Macworld Expo 2007: The Roundup By Kevin Schmitt
Allow me to begin with a rhetorical, albeit serious, question: if they held a Macworld and there were no Macs, wouldn't it just be called "World?" As much as I would love to smugly sit back while you ponder that enormously profound query, instead let us endeavor to break through the enormous hype bubble generated by the introduction of the iPhone to get at a select handful of some of the more interesting items unveiled at or around this year's Macworld. Well, interesting to me, anyway.
...Read More »
Joints and Skin By Rob Garrott
It?s long been a complaint of the C4D community that we didn?t have very good character tools. Cactus Dan Libisch wiped out all those arguments almost overnight with the release of his plug-in Joints and Skin
...Read More »
NO...Doesn't have a thing to do with "that" smartphone...or "that" store...or "that" tablet. It's the next generation. Kids and we mean little kids. That's what today's products are being designed for/targeted at. You happen to buy one...fine. Watch a little, little kid pick up a smartphone. He/she just uses it. They've come pre-wired and we're still trying to figure out how to IM. It's the IGen. They want it instantly. They want to use it instantly. They expect their photos, their video, their music, their stuff immediately when/where/how they want it.
Read More
In this clip, lynda.com host Mark Abdelnour takes a look at proxy bidding. He discusses the strategy and how it works. He also discusses the maximum bid, and when to use Proxy bidding.
Read More
The blood, gore, adrenalin challenges that were unveiled at E3 and enjoyed at ComicCon are fun to look at, easy to hold but are they really the games people want to plunk down their credit cards to own or rent time with? Seems as though the investors, the players who control the controllers have a different idea of a "good" game than the kids who develop them. While mobs of people play educational, informational, stimulating games our kid huddles in his room and mumbles "The Few, The Proud, The Gamers."
Read More
Autodesk's Mudbox 2009
The world of 3D design and animation has always had a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" mentality. What I mean by that is when it comes to someone getting into the world of 3D animation, normally (not all the time), they are either strong at the computer/technical aspect, or strong in (classical) animation, and they end up having to bulk up on either one or the other.
...Read More »
Star Ranger 7's four year journey
In the 23rd century, Star Rangers are the peace keepers of the galaxy. For now they are under the power, Marc Kimball and Michael Harnois. It actually started back in 2004 - a whopping 4 years ago when Marc and Michael decided that they would take on a film production - - IN ADDITION to their regular gigs. They jumped, feet first into the project, enrolling friends and several feet of greenscreen.
...Read More »
Tips to Slim Down (your project) in 2009
It's time for those New Years resolutions to start piling up. You know the ones: I'm going to eat healthy food. I won't slouch at my desk. I'll spend less time on Facebook, Twitter and (insert your own)... I'M GOING TO SLIM DOWN. Well how about some slimming tips you might actually stick to? Here are some ways to slim down your animation projects in 2009....
...Read More »
Flip Boom: Love without a path
I recently received a notice from Toonboom about their software being on sale for St. Valentine's Day. Is it that time already? Well, that got me to thinking about some other workflow tricks that can be used with FLIPBOOM. Here's just one.
...Read More »
Digital Media Artists / Los Angeles
In the early summer of 2007, Chris Meyer announced to the group in attendance that he and Trish would be retiring from hosting the meetings, and that they would be handing MGLA over to Warren and me to continue. For many reasons, Chris decided that it would be better for the group if it continued under a different name. That's how DMA/LA was born - but it's not completely new, just a new name.
...Read More »
Toon Boom?s Digital Pro
I love using Toon Boom?s Storyboard Pro for quick previz or simple animations. In fact I picked up a job recently by doodling a storyboard and making it animate for a new client. When Toon Boom released its much anticipated Digital Pro application, I knew this was one that had to be added to the arsenal.
...Read More »
MAXON NEW LINEUP
During the past 4 years, there has been a remarkable explosion of growth here in Hollywood for the 3D software produced by MAXON. Both CINEMA 4D and BodyPaint 3D have helped many Los Angeles production studios win multiple awards. MAXON has not taken any time to rest on its laurels, but has continued to develop more high end professional tools for serious 3D users.
...Read More »
The Basics of Rigging
Utah's Dan "Cactus Dan" Libisch has been developing character tools for MAXON's CINEMA 4D software for several years now, which has resulted in a professional-level set of plugins that will give anyone more control over their character animations.
...Read More »
CREATING A PHOTOSHOP GIF ANIMATION
Here are 6 very basic steps to making your own Photoshop GIF animation. Want to learn more? Be sure to check out the channels at DMN for more.
...Read More »
Poser Goes Pro
With more than 300,000 artists using Poser, making Poser a professional level tool was bound to happen. What was once a fun tool to do 3D figure design and animation has ventured into the pipelines of production. Poser Pro, eFrontier?s newest product, promises to provide production based users a much more powerful tool to use.
...Read More »
E-Frontier's Anime Studio
At Siggraph 2007, E-Frontier demonstrated several pieces of software, including Anime Studio, a very dynamic vector based animation system. More than merely a vector based animation system, the software also supports a 3D camera system and 3D object import. Of particular interest to me is the fact that Anime Studio allows animators to use bone IK systems in their vector animations.
...Read More »
Anime Studio Pro 5
At Siggraph 2007, E-Frontier showed off Anime Studio, a very easy to use, vector based animation system. Of particular interest to me is the fact that Anime Studio allows animators to use bone IK systems in their vector animations. This alone make animating characters a breeze, but the addition of bone dynamics makes the entire process even more dynamic.
...Read More »
MAXON's R10 Character Animation and Paint
I caught up with MAXON president Paul Babb who gave SIGGRAPH attendees a look at CINEMA 4D R10. The latest version of the software combines all of the features of their modeling and animation application as well as the power of their 3D painting toolset found in BODYPAINT 3D.
...Read More »
CINEMA 4D: Simpson Torus
It's time to make the doughnuts. Sure - you could make a better one - I dare you to! But if you want to get started, there really is no easier way than to pop open up a 3D application and click on a primitive object that already looks like a doughnut: The Torus Object. Oh, the torus object - is there anything it *can't* do? Try it out - push it around, and see what happens. In the second part, we'll make the icing, frosting, whatever you want to call it: the pink stuff...
...Read More »
PLATFORM FESTIVAL: A Review
Who better to report on the debut of the major new animation festival in Portland, Oregon than an animator from Portland. I asked some friends up at renowned animation house RENEGADE ANIMATION if they'd drop in to see what all the hubbub was about, and got back more than expected. Veteran animator Sam Niemann started a journal which he's allowed me to reprint here.
...Read More »
Introduction to Poser
Arena Reed hosts "An Introduction to Poser", an instructional DVD. Arena takes you through some of the most powerful tools of Poser in a very easy-to-follow narration. Her guided tour is really a private tutorial of professional tricks and tips that will not only have you up and running in no time, but her lessons will help to show you how to work more cleanly - saving time in your work pipeline so you can spend more time in creative experimentation.
...Read More »
MACWORLD 3D
Slowing down and relaxing in the brilliant glow of recent accolades from CMP is not something that Luxology's Brad Peebler was about to do. There is no slowing down for the company's president, or for the software. After receiving the award in the annual Front Line Awards, Peebler made sure that attendees at Macworld were able to get personal demos of the software.
...Read More »
Autodesk Releases Maya 8.5
Autodesk today releases Maya 8.5, the long-awaited Universal Binary update to the high-end 3D suite. The new version also adds in some workflow, performance, scripting and creative enhancements. It ships today, with a Personal Learning Edition set to follow in the spring.
...Read More »
Macworld Expo 2007: The Roundup
Allow me to begin with a rhetorical, albeit serious, question: if they held a Macworld and there were no Macs, wouldn't it just be called "World?" As much as I would love to smugly sit back while you ponder that enormously profound query, instead let us endeavor to break through the enormous hype bubble generated by the introduction of the iPhone to get at a select handful of some of the more interesting items unveiled at or around this year's Macworld. Well, interesting to me, anyway.
...Read More »
Joints and Skin
It?s long been a complaint of the C4D community that we didn?t have very good character tools. Cactus Dan Libisch wiped out all those arguments almost overnight with the release of his plug-in Joints and Skin
...Read More »
