Friday, June 29, 2012

Major Rotation Order Bug in Maya 2013 SP 1

Mark Jackson just found this nasty little bug that occurs when you change the rotate orders on objects in Maya 2013 SP 1


3dsMAX contest / game ( win creation suite)



























As you complete a quest around the world in eight (8) adventure-filled Missions you can learn about the features in Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2013 software. Each Mission corresponds to a step in a guided tutorial to create a 3d Data Pad in 3ds Max. This reflects the kind of work that video game asset designers do as part of an overall game design workflow. When all 8 Missions are successfully completed, you will have created a fully rendered 3d video game asset that could be handed off to the next step in a video game production pipeline.

With each task to be completed in each Mission with the trial software, you will be provided with video tutorials to aid you in your creation. You upload your completed Mission Data Pad for approval/rejection at the end of each Mission, unlocking the next destination in your journey.

You compete to be the first to find the hidden city, and earn the most points to win the grand prize: an Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Ultimate 2013 license



follow link here:

http://area.autodesk.com/undiscoveredterritory

Thursday, June 28, 2012

New tutorials for Maya 2013 are now available!


 New HumanIK and nHair Getting Started tutorials showing the latest workflows are available online. In addition, check out the updated lessons in Rendering for Viewport 2.0. We've also updated the File Referencing tutorials and supplied new lesson data for the Polygonal Modeling tutorial. Find it all here:

http://www.autodesk.com/maya-tutorials













Access to Digital Entertainment Conference talks









Leverage production-proven creative tools, open data workflows, and industry standards to realize your creative vision faster and more efficiently.


See how the new 2013 Autodesk Digital Entertainment Creation (DEC) solutions can help you take your most innovative ideas to a new level. Register now to hear from industry experts and leading Autodesk customers Sony Pictures Imageworks and Blitz Games Studio to see how Autodesk solutions can help you produce entertainment content that pushes creative boundaries and overcome complex production challenges—all while staying within budget and meeting ever-tightening deadlines.
In addition, check out the all new Autodesk® Smoke® 2013 which was recently announced at NAB 2012. Register for this event to find out how you can take a project from start to finish in the all-in-one solution that connects editing and effects like never before.





It looks like almost all of  these are "on demand" so you can watch them at your leisure

http://med.experience.autodesk.com/all/




Monday, June 25, 2012

Maya 2013 - Service Pack 1, now available





list of "fixes"



  • MAYA-126 Set key on many components is slow
  • MAYA-142 Crash when attaching a Checker texture to Frequency ratio of the Noise node
  • MAYA-146 Stereo cam viewport breaks when tearing off and saving display state
  • MAYA-155 Undo sometimes creates keyframe where timeline indicator is
  • MAYA-890 DWG_DCE export from command line causes crash
  • MAYA-1975 Marking menus slower with fast gestures
  • MAYA-2172 Load default settings reference option doesn't work on load reference
  • MAYA-3199 Preserve load states when importing a file with references
  • MAYA-4502 Use object’s full DAG path when applying reference edits
  • MAYA-5115 Extension consistency for JPEG images
  • MAYA-6155 Playblast in Sequencer: imagePlane is off by 1 frame
  • MAYA-6350 Quotes and backslashes in render or animation layers causing issues
  • MAYA-7444 mental ray adds multiple scriptJobs for every render
  • MAYA-7897 Context tool with custom cursor doesn't work
  • MAYA-8247 Integrate python confirmDialog fails silently when invalid flag used
  • MAYA-8615 Make Hue value floating point for the new Color Chooser
  • MAYA-9381 Image plane attributes not always accessible
  • MAYA-9689 Unnecessary attrCtx created on right-click to marking menu
  • MAYA-10338 Maya Fluids Auto Resize Bounding performance lag
  • MAYA-10420 Unable to create constraints when hairs or CVs are deleted
  • MAYA-10611 Assigning new hair system to nHair system with Paint Effects output causes crash
  • MAYA-10675 nHair collision display may not draw if node is out of view
  • MAYA-10679 Maya scene with corrupt UVs causes mental ray renderer crash
  • MAYA-10689 Constraint creation fails when connecting input hair and an existing constraint
  • MAYA-10719 Adding custom passes causes a ray explosion and performance issue
  • MAYA-10736 Incorrect particle motion blur at emission with mental ray
  • MAYA-10773 Some EXR files no longer load properly
  • MAYA-10820 mental ray batch render produces incorrect results with animated node connections
  • MAYA-10854 TobjImport::cleanupMesh() needs optimization
  • MAYA-10916 Hotbox gestures with right mouse button causes crash
  • MAYA-10932 Problems on non-interactive nParticle creation
  • MAYA-11154 Problem with mental ray shadow shader
  • MAYA-11230 follicleShape simulation method turned to static after simulation causes crash
  • MAYA-11245 Fields are no longer working with nHair
  • MAYA-11267 Changing area light shape after duplicating causes an error  
  • MAYA-11428 HIK: Offset on Hips effector offsets other body parts on manipulation
  • MAYA-11430 Delete key resets values to zero when Show Buffer Curves is enabled
  • MAYA-11452 Hair may move even when no forces (internal or external) are applied
  • MAYA-11537 Manipulation rotation glitches on aligned rig
  • MAYA-11603 Spacebar used to switch views while moving components causes conflicts with Undo
  • MAYA-11607 Mac: problem with One Click Maya-Mudbox
  • MAYA-11750 Playback of hair after file load without rewinding causes crash
  • MAYA-11787 Merge UV doesn't work on non-default UV set
  • MAYA-12093 Fluid emission direction incorrect when fluid is rotated
  • MAYA-12128 Reposition using middle mouse button doesn't work with Rotate Tool
  • MAYA-12151 Character set interferes with getAttr -t command
  • MAYA-12176 Referenced object on animLayer cannot be removed from AnimLayer
  • MAYA-12209 Field Width cannot be changed in the Channel Box
  • MAYA-12384 Close (‘x’ button) and Save/Cancel scene causes crash
  • MAYA-12409 Alpha value of float texture image is changed by HDR Image Preview Options
  • MAYA-12513 Increase Camera Sequencer frame limits
  • MAYA-12663 Animation on locators doesn't update when playing or scrubbing the Timeline
  • MAYA-12802 Unloading DirectConnect causes crash
  • MAYA-12812 itemFilter as read-only node causes crash
  • MAYA-12819 Numerical errors in Camera Sequencer and Trax Editor at ~ 100 000 frames or more
  • MAYA-12833 Middle mouse button during Create Polygon Tool or Append Polygon Tool causes crash in Japanese and Simplified Chinese versions
  • MAYA-12885 Tearing off a stereo panel a second time causes crash
  • MAYA-12943 Add rig sync on set key in full body/body part modes
  • MAYA-12951 HIK: In Selection mode, make “Align Control Rig” on by default
  • MAYA-12958 Make it possible to detect render requests from Playblast renders or Viewport draw
  • MAYA-13026 MCommandResult always returns resultType 0
  • MAYA-13109 Using blastCmd with devkit plug-ins causes crash
  • MAYA-13141 Pressing '3' for polygon mesh causes custom viewport crash
  • MAYA-13207 HLSL plug-in does not support the standard set of annotations and semantics
  • MAYA-13270 Attaching existing cache file attaches hair cache as a geometry cache
  • MAYA-13271 Failure when deleting frames with nHair cache
  • MAYA-13273 Add and blend new nHair and the cache connects subsequent nodes incorrectly
  • MAYA-13274 Rewinding with appendCache for hair causes ‘off by one frame’ error
  • MAYA-13309 HIK: Rotating FK shoulder effector in body part repositions the rig in full body
  • MAYA-13518 HUD buttons broken Viewport 2.0

Two New MAYA FeedBack Forums..


There have been a number of forums and sites out there with "requests" and "updates" and "fixes" for maya, but I think this is the first time AutoDesk has officially created one.

They've created Two, actually.

Ideas for Maya Forum

suggest and vote for ideas to improve Maya



Wednesday, June 20, 2012

NYC Free Entertainment Creation Suites Test Drive

http://greateasterntech.com/events-a-news/61-nyc-free-entertainment-creation-suites-test-drive-628-10am

Thursday, June 28th from 10am - 4pm!

Suites_Bar

On Thursday, June 28th, Lee Fraser, Autodesk Technical Specialist, Maya Guru, Suites Guy - will be presenting a full day, hands-on Test Drive of the 2013 Entertainment Creation Suite.
Cost Free
Time 10am - 4pm
Where Autodesk M&E Office, 38 W 21st Street, NYC
When Thursday, June 28th
PreRequisites Registration is MANDATORY call 800-875-0025 or email Heidi

Prior to the test drive date, registrants will download the 30-day trial of the Entertainment Creation Suite so you can follow along, hands-on, on your own laptop!
SCHEDULE:
10-11 Introduction and Overview of Major New Features
11-12 Mudbox Intro and Workflows
12-1 Lunch Break
1-1:30 ICE Crowds Overview
1:30 -2:30 Motionbuilder Intro & Workflow
2:30-2:45 Break
2:45-3:30 Motion Capture with Consumer Devices
3:30-4 Tying Mocap Back to ICE Crowds and Q&A








LEE FRASER Autodesk Technical Specialist



lee_fraser
Lee Fraser : Autodesk Technical Specialist

BIOGRAPHY:
Lee Fraser has worked in 3D for well over a decade. He has worked at Autodesk focusing on many aspects of Maya, particularly for use in Film and Video production. During that time he's enjoyed working with many film and video production houses including Turner Studios, Cartoon Network, Fathom Studios, ILM, ESC, Tippett and Giant Killer Robots.
BIOGRAPHY:
Lee Fraser has worked in 3D for well over a decade. He has worked at Autodesk focusing on many aspects of Maya, particularly for use in Film and Video production. During that time he's enjoyed working with many film and video production houses including Turner Studios, Cartoon Network, Fathom Studios, ILM, ESC, Tippett a

Thursday, June 14, 2012

LipService w/LBrush for Maya is finally released!





http://www.lbrush.com/

Overview
LipService is a powerful multi-resolution subdivision surface sculpting, rigging and animation system built into a friendly and intuitively organized Maya plugin.

LipService's sculpting tools are comparable to ZBrush** and Mudbox*. Its animation tools extend this multi-resoltion editing philosophy through to motion and rigging.

This is the first time we've ever seen this kind of tool. Utilizing tools like PSD, Corrective Sculpt, and Blendshapes at the subpoly level allows you to increase the amount of animated detail in your scene by orders of magnitude.

Even inhouse tools at the largest studios in the industry do not do this yet, which is why they've been eager to test it during beta and track its progress.

This is now a released commercial product, yay!

user group is here : http://joealterinc.zendesk.com



_______________________________________________

BlendShapes+

BlendShapes have been around for decades, LipServices LBrush tool now has blendshapes, the idea is you attatch a slider to mix in pre-sculpted delta shapes that you've sculpted pre-rig. We've updated the concept a bit - thanks to stuff we've learned on our other animation modules, you no longer have to sculpt pre-rig - you can sculpt/animate them post-rig, or even one at a time - you can sculpt and animate them right ontop of each other.
You can even import your maya blendshapes/animation.


3D TEXTURE PAINT

LipServices LBrush tool now has a high quality texture painting tool. You can paint very highres textures inside maya directly in your viewport, hit render and the texture's already there (regardless of what render you're using). We do patterns, projectsions, clone, erase, blur smudge, move, rotate, falloff and more. We also have support for tiled texture workflows where you have lots and lots of 2k textures.

SCULPTING


Integral to all of it's animation and rigging features, is LipService's LBrush sculpting tool. LBrush is a state of the art multi-resolution subdivision surface sculpting tool. Similar to Pixologic's ZBrush and Autodesk's Mudbox, the sculpting tool has features like stencil brushes, texture brushes, smooth, push, pull, stretch, blendshape, etc running at speeds that blow artisan's doors off . You can also go back and fourth between LBrush and other Maya sculpting tools while you work with it and even import/export displacements between LBrush and ZBrush and Mudbox.

It's icing on the cake, but we also include real time shaders for shadows, screen space ambient occlusion which you can toggle on and off in our display panel.


RIGGING


One of the least satisfying things to deal with in character/creature animation these days is rigging. Studios like ILM, Weta, Sony Imageworks, and Dreamworks have all invested a great deal of effort (see links at bottom) in creating software to help riggers make models still look good in all poses, the reason for this is that the commercial tools have not filled this void in any kind of useful way.

Using PSD, you actually 'train' the engine to correct your geometry by stopping in the middle of a sequence and sculpting corrections, at the highres subdiv level. The engine will the recognize those joint configurations in the future and blend corrections in and out as they are approached. (fat guy by scott wells) 

CORRECTIVE SCULPT ANIMATION   


A common wish or people who've ever dealt with skinned characters or simulations like cloth, is that after the all the animation or simulation has been done, they wish they could just go in with their sculpting tools and 'fix' or 'embellish' things. Now they can.

Without disturbing the underlying animation with morphs and blends, you can layer sculpts on top of it with tangent space sculpting.

The correctional sculpt animation can also be used to embellish things like cartoony exaggerations. You can use this tool in conjunction with PSD and any other animation method.
(arm sculpt and rig by Scott Wells)           

FACIAL ANIMATION (Phonemes)


LipService actually started out 15 years ago as a facial animation system. One of the key benefits is non-linear interpolations, there's actually a spline motion path for every vertex. This means that your facial animations will require far fewer targets and will actually hit them without coming to a stop. With blendshapes, you have to over sculpt several targets around where you are keyframing just to get it to come close. As our sculpting tools are fully integrated, there are tons of sculpting tools to help animators/modelers create fast shape libraries, and animate high quality face with unprecedented speed. You can also rig facial motion capture with the above pose space deformation tools.









_______________________________________________

Inquire : joealterinc@gmail.com


LipService Node Locked License $300


LipService Base License Pack (floating) - includes 1 workstation and 6 render/batch nodes $799


Additional Workstation Licenses (floating) $500
         
Additional Batch/Render Licenses (floating) $120












Autodesk 2012 Post Production and VFX Show Reel

WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS PORTFOLIO/REEL DROP EVENT - JUNE 15 - NEW YORK

WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS PORTFOLIO/REEL DROP EVENT - JUNE 15 - NEW YORK





Walt Disney Animation Studios in New York!
Friday, June 15
4:00-7:00 PM

Aloft New York Brooklyn
216 Duffield Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
map

We are headed to New York in June! If you are interested to meet with Walt Disney Animation Studios to hear about our upcoming projects, drop by Aloft where we will be accepting reels, resumes, and portfolios.

No appointments needed - drop by anytime between 4:00-7:00 PM. You can "apply" below and create/update your profile to let us know you’ll be there. Download our application form to provide with your materials. For more information about this and other upcoming projects and events, visit our Events Page


http://www.disneyanimation.com/aboutus/upcoming_events.html

Sin / Noise Node for Maya, written by Ian Waters

http://ianwaters.posterous.com/sin-noise-node






Wednesday, June 13, 2012

2012 VES Career Fair & Tech Expo - Workshops June 16th


http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/calendar/upcoming



June 16, 2012 - New York

New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge
333 Adams Street
Brooklyn NY, 11201

Pricing

VES Members (with ID) Free
Students, PGA, DGA, and FXPHD members (with ID) $15 USD
General Admission $25 USD



View Larger Map















 (these are posted as the Los Angeles workshops, I don't know whats happening here....)

http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/CareerFair-Workshops/TechTalk

Workshop Sessions:


The Foundry
10.00 - 10.45 am - NUKE Tips and Tricks
11:30am - 12:15pm - MARI Best Bits, including the NUKE<>MARI Bridge
2.00pm - 2.45pm - Advanced NUKE with HIERO Workflow
3.30pm - 4.15pm - NUKE for Beginners
NUKE is the industry standard Swiss army knife for film, battle tested on the most ambitious visual effects projects ever attempted and proven to deliver a robust pipeline able to adapt and scale to any production demand. NUKE's film heritage and raw speed allows the delivery of shots that wouldn't have been possible in a commercials schedule before, merging seamlessly with the 3D CG pipeline and enabling artists to share workloads and take on an array of client-focused work, in a more creative and efficient manner.
Designed from the ground up to meet the needs of the most demanding VFX texture and matte painting artists, MARI is a 3D digital paint tool that will revolutionise your workflow. Capable of handling vast numbers of pixels, MARI out performs all other paint tools in speed, flexibility and processing capabilities. MARI allows artists to concentrate on painting detailed, multi-layered textures directly onto 3D models in a fluid and natural way.
MARI 1.4 introduces Adobe® Photoshop® layered PSD import and export functionality, OpenColorIO, triplanar projection and masked filters.
Designed to speed up workflows, standardise colour management,
and be even easier to use and more flexible than ever before,
MARI 1.4 is an ideal tool for every artist in your pipeline.
Adobe
9:00am-10:00am
10:30am-11:30am
1:00pm-2:00pm
2:30pm-3:30pm
Innovation in Motion: What's new in After Effects CS6
The release of Adobe After Effects CS6 holds exciting new features for the visual effects artist. This class will expose you to all that's new so you can jump in and get things done.
Perfect Pixels: What's new in Photoshop CS6
Learn what's new in Photoshop CS6 with a particular emphasis on tools that benefit the visual effects artist. Take advantage of new blurring and color correction options as well as support for enhanced text layout and 3D objects.
Maximum Power: Configuring Adobe Creative Suite CS6
Set up CS6 Production Premium for speed and efficiency. Learn how to extend the capabilities of Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 & After Effects CS6 with powerful hardware add-ons and useful software tools.

Tech Talk Sessions:


10:00 - 10:45am
Virtual Production Your Way
Ron Fischer- Technical Director
Universal Virtual Stage 1

How Universal's Virtual Stage facility deploys customized, vendor neutral
virtual production services which reduce client cost and improve quality
across feature, cable, television and industrial production. We begin with a
brief overview of how virtual production has evolved, and it's relationship to virtual sets, motion capture and previsualization techniques. Next we outline the evolution of Universal's Virtual Stage capabilities, from initial concept to today's focus on global services for visual effects companies.
11:00 - 11:45am
Interacting with Huge Particle Simulations in
Maya with the GPU
Wil Braithwaite - Senior Applied Engineer, NVIDIA

We present a plug-in for Maya which enables an artist to simulate huge particle counts in real-time by leveraging the NVIDIA GPU. Being able to interact with the simulation opens up new possibilities for modifying the workflow. We will demonstrate the plug-in, and provide insight into the algorithms used.
12:00 - 12:45pm
Infinity Ward
David Johnson

David Johnson has 14 years experience as a professional CG artist,
ranging from games to film, broadcast, web design and digital ink and paint. Over 12 Years of professional experience in game development, with a focus on effects, environments, lighting, characters and cars. David has been published on game effects and modeling as a co-author for the book “Introduction to Game Development” for the publisher Charles River Media. He has experience leading teams of overseas outsourced artists and have shipped over 11 games including some of the industries biggest blockbusters like Halo 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and 3.
1:00 - 1:45pm
The Mill
Danny Ho - 3D Scheduler

On many levels making commercials is no different to feature films, our deadlines are also governed by a launch date and a 'budget'. But in a world where the average job lasts only 8 weeks, where every job is totally different to the last one, where there is little or no time available for any research and development, and when we can barely afford to have enough artists to get through the weight of work, it's safe to say it's a slightly different beast
2:00 - 2:45pm

Filter Foundry
Patrick Bradley - President, Filter Foundry

FilterFoundry.com, is a fast growing social platform for creative artists with groundbreaking HTML5 content delivery. Members working in Visual Effects, Animation and Game Design and other fields, showcase visual creative work, discover job opportunities, collaborate, teach, and learn. Filter Foundry’s new “cloud linked” iPad app enables creatives worldwide to upload and manage their content. VES members can visit filterfoundry.com/ves to access their free premium account.
3:00 - 3:45pm
TNG Visual Effects
Nick Tesi - President, TNG Visual Effects

TNG Visual Effects is a 3D scanning company in the entertainment industry that specializes in the creation of photorealistic digital assets. Many characters, vehicles, cars, sets, props, animals, sculptures and other items have been added to TNG's scope of work since the company's inception in 2009. They have worked on commercials, TV shows, and films such as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2; GI Joe 2: Retaliation; Vamps; Knight & Day; Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D and Underworld: Awakening, to name a few.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

NYC indie games and NYC zBrush June Event


NYC Indie Games group and NYC Zbrush artists group are hosting an even June 27th



Learn from accomplished 3D artist Jean Gorospe as well as other industry veterans in this multi-faceted, informative, fun event. The event is part informational, where we discuss the best practices in creating an efficient, productive art pipeline in game development as well as hot topics such as base mesh generation from a concept art and sculpting techniques for clothing. Then, join us in live sculpting session! Create your own versions of the same character on the same topic and comparing the results and learn from each others' style of workflow and critique each other's work. Developers, come meet artists. Artists, come meet developers!

We are proud to have the awesome people at Great Eastern Tech - THE reps for Unity, Autodesk, Pixologic, etc. on the east coast - as the sponsor for this event, bring pizza and beer to your finger tips!  




The Game Innovation Lab, 5 MetroTech Center Brooklyn, NY 11201




here is there facebook group page for more info: