3D-Palace Master Seminar 2006 (3DS Max)Commercial Download Released

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The Master Seminar 2006 Set

Commercial Download Set HERE




By Cris Robson for 3D-Palace

The set covers the creation of a two main projects;
A complete project showing how to model a low poly fantasy spider guard, rig it up and animate a walk cycle. Then using a simple Pflow setup the spider is made into a small crowd – simple yet effective and a good introduction to the more complex things we will be covering later on.
Everything you need to create a complete particle driven battle between spaceships, airplanes, tanks, ships or anything else you can stretch your imagination to – the tutorials show you everything you need to know to use Pflow to create a complex particle driven battle, including the all important Particles Chasing Particles and Inter Particle Collision Detection as a Test.

So, breaking down the two major sets into their component parts for you;

SPIDERS

Making the fantasy spider – this teaches low poly modelling, subD modelling techniques, optimising, pure poly modelling and box modelling as well as how to complete an entire model build using the various clone tools, mirror, Xform Resets, WSM and so forth. The spider can be used un subdivided or with a few iterations on the Nurms for the finished result.

1.Modelling the front of the shell

2.Rear shell modelling

3.Building the soft underbelly

4.Finishing up the main body

5.The Head Cowl

6.The Head

7.Starting the Legs

8.Continuing the legs

9.Duplicating the legs and building the front claw

Rigging up and animation of the fantasy spider – this teaches you how to create a complex rig using history independent IK, dummies and shapes as controllers linked to limbs and good practice.
1.Initial Rigging of the spider

2.Finishing up the rigging

Animation section for the spider covers the creation of a walk cycle over 40 frames. The walk cycle of a spider is complex as it requires that during a normal walk 4 legs be placed on the ground with the other 4 weaving over to enable a walk. Also because of logistics the legs have to all move an equal distance on the ground and air or the spider would move inequally and the animation would break over a loop.

1.Spider Walk Cycle

Particle Flow can be used easily and successfully to duplicate rigged and animated pieces like this – even if they are made from multiple non grouped parts – this section also shows why grouping for use in Pflow is not as effective as ensuring your model is preoperly rigged in the first place. At the end you will be able to create a plane or any other landscape surface, filled with spiders all walking around using offset animation (so their movements are not all uniform to each other).
1.Spider Replication using Pflow to generate a crowd.

LIGHTING AND RENDERING

As its important to know how to set up some simple lighting for a scene and also how to use the two renderers that ship out with Max (Scanline and Mental Ray), the following tutorials will teach you some useful and practical things – including how to set up a Scanline lit render and how to use IES Sun in Mental Ray.

1.Practical use of lighting in Scanline

2.Mental Ray and IES Sun






PARTICLE EFFECTS



These particle effects tutorials show you how to use Particle Flow to set up all sorts of visual pieces. Particle Flow can be used to drive dynamic crash sequences with debris being made to fly about, it can be used to drive complex smoke for wreckage that has been strewn on the battlefield, it can show how to make a crashed ship hull burn or how to create explosions simply and effectively.

1.Smoking Debris

2.Fireworks / explosions

3.Particle driven dynamic debris field

4.Burning Wreckage Parts 1,2 and 3

HIGH POLY SPACESHIP BUILD

This section covers the creation of a single seat spacecraft armed with missile launchers – end polycount is quarter of a million polys – this ship will be used on our upcoming particle driven battle as the good guy ships. This section covers use of the placement tool, use of high poly modelling techniques including pure polymodelling techniques, symmetry modelling, optimisation of high poly parts, use of Nurms and several complex advanced modelling ideas. By the end of the tutorial section you will have a complete finished high poly fighter -




1.Ship building parts 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11

2.Procedurally texturing the ship

PARTICLE DRIVEN BATTLE SYSTEM

Finally this part of the set covers the creation of a very in depth particle flow, utilising three pre-made scripts as well as many events and tests – the particle flow system produces two teams of ships, the two teams are produced from the same flow spawned from their two seperate bases – the first team flies towards the second team whilst the second team flies towards the first teams base to bomb it. First team launches missiles once within range that home on on team two and knock them out of the sky forcing them to spew debris. Due to the use of the high poly singe seat fighter this tutorial covers creation of a proxy scene, importing and setting up the proxy and using it in Pflow.

1.Particle Driven Battle Part 1, 2, 3 and 4

2.Live recorded Prescis explaining how to utilise all the parts of the tutorial to create your own complex scene.

The commercial downloadable version went on sale on Sunday the 8th of October - midday (GMT) for £29.99 whilst the DVD Version will go on sale on Sunday the 15th of October at the same time for £39.99 - The Commercial Download and DVD are not available as a part of any combination deal for the moment.

Any questions - help yourself.

Cris

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