VFX Artist Rusty Hazelden has released his first volume of "The Art of Renderman"

https://gumroad.com/rustyhazelden






full chapter  list here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLhpS_PlWwViZAbc2924SFjZQJvk25JBYn&v=D0PmsO3Tzc4

Using MASH for cell division

There's a lot more to MASH then mograph.

3D Splanchnic shows how he uses it to create a cell division.

Point Pusher : retopo a dino head

PointPusher shares his approach to retopoing a dino head.
( if you haven't liked and followed and all that, be sure to) 


dino head retopo from pointpusher on Vimeo.

Paul Paulino's UV tips and tricks

Yes, you are reading that correctly... Over an HOURs length tutorial on UV unwrapping.. and Also,, this is part FOUR !  
 ( parts 1 -3 are linked in his youtube description to pages on his artStation) 

 But seriously, there are so many tools for unwrapping, and even though most of us just use unwrap and layout, and then poke and prod the uvs around, there are a lot of great ways to get what you want, with less pain. 


And if the youtube video isn't your style. Dive in even deeper at Paul's website.

http://www.paulhpaulino.com/6-tips-to-improve-your-uv-mapping-workflow/

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Paul also has a tutorial from 2016 about unwrapping tubes & ropes, which always sucks to do.. but this one is M.O.S. 

Ramp Weights from Brave Rabbit !

    Ingo Clemens ( Brave Rabbit) has been putting out amazing tools for some time.. I'm sure some of you have used his "shapes" plugin, which is fantastic. 
 He recently released a new tool to handle blendshapes , that uses a Ramp to control the weighing of the targets.
 Not only does it look amazing, but it is also "free" ! 


  

rampWeights - Split deformer weights from brave rabbit on Vimeo.

From Ingo's vimeo page:



Node for Autodesk Maya to control blend shape weights or weighted deformers with an axis based ramp for various effects.

Download rampWeights here: braverabbit.com/rampweights/

The ramp weights node gives fast access to splitting blend shape targets or weighted deformers along any axis.

The split can be controlled by a number of attributes defining the split width and position which even can be used for animation effects. Each ramp weights node allows for controlling any number of deformers. The resulting deformer weights can be inverted, either globally or individually per output. For advanced control it's possible to create a placement node or even use a custom control to refine the split.

When disconnecting the ramp weights node from a deformer or even deleting it you can choose between keeping the generated weights or discard them.

The ramp weights node also has a couple of presets to create centered or mirrored results which cater for a greater variety of effects.

The open source release of the plug-in is mainly to give people easier access to the node without having to fully commit to using the blend shape editor SHAPES.

The rampWeights node is also part of the SHAPES plug-in braverabbit.com/shapes/, our advanced blend shape editor for Maya. If you have the SHAPES Blend Shape Editor installed it's not necessary to download this newer version of the plug-in.


rampWeights is under the terms of the MIT License

Arnold 5.1 Denoiser overview from atdsk

There are 2 new deNoisers added to Arnold 5.1
Technical Specialist Roland Reyer does an overview of using both, and their pros and cons.

• nVidia Optix denoiser
• superfast
• interactive
• un-stable
• runs on nVidia GPU hardware
• Arnold batch denoiser
• slower
• non-interactive
• stable !
• runs in batch mode
• runs on software

Better VP2.0 and in view Arnold rendering

The arnold standard shader has been updated for Maya 2019 so that it not only performs better in shading.. but also VP2.0 can better reflect the final result.

• realtime reflections from Area Lights in VP2.0 
•  ... so.. yeah,, faster, looks more like final....
•  *( wheres GPU RENDERING !) 

( just watch the video..)