Tutorial Suggestions!

Well for the facial one I was thinking of choosing a simple 5-7 second piece of dialogue, and then showing my workflow when it comes to facial animation from start to finish....

yea thats actualy a good idea..

I watched those other tutorials Tyson, and they are very cool, unfortunatly only for Max, but they do inspire me and give me ideas. Thanks.

Something i would love to see a tut. on would be how to bring multiple passes into ae and put them together properly and for that matter what the prosses is for multiple passes. because i know very little about that stuff though i would realy like to learn!

pflow
character walk cycle
modelling organically
texturing organically
uvw unwraps for games(and non-games)
zbrush
mudbox
reactor(i know a few peopole who dont know it)
rigging a face for animation
rigging bendable arms, legs, etc(that look good)
converting a maya file to 3ds max(its almost not worth it because most of the data is lost through the multiple exports but it can work)

I think this might be hard to do, but how about something related to character design?

Thanks!
~Mechis

alright

i'd like to see a scripting tutorial on automatic secondary motion.

say for something like a pony tail, a tail on an animal, or the spine of a character when its pelvis is moved around.

i thought about professional realistic lighting. both interior and exterior.

Hey guys, something ive been wanting to do and ive tried heaps but never works out. I was wondering if anyone could make a tutorial on Camera Tracking. So I can animate to live moving footage in 3dsMax.

Ohh plus I went to get tentacle tut but link was broken.
Cheers guys.

Sorry about the tentacle rig one, i just re-did my website and some things got moved around a bit. i'll need to go around and update some of the links.

here is where you can find it.

I wouldnt mind seeing a quick vid on how to bring things together in video editing software + throwing in sound and having everything tie up into a little bundle.

i'm planning on doing a camera matching video tutorial, which is the first step of camera tracking in Max. but, i've never done camera tracking in Max, so i can't do that part. i could do it using boujou, if that would help anyone.

hey effstops, you should put a topic in here to your video tutorials - you have tons of them on your site!

Not sure how long a tut vid of this would take but something that I keep failing at and want to learn is tracking my animated cg character to moving video footage. So he becomes part of the scene without floating about ect.
Cheers if its possible.

Have you tried Icarus Quinn? Colin (effstops) has some awsome tutorials he made on his website;

http://www.peerlessproductions.com/tuts ... carus.html

you can even download the software from him - this is where i learned everything about it, and i think it's awsome!

- Thanks for the tuts on Icarus Colin - they're awsome!

So this will work in 3ds Max and all? Or jsut use in After Effects?

actually, what you want to do is to shoot your footage, match your camera, bring your character in, and THEN start animating, otherwise you're in for a world of hurt moving everything around and scaling it and whatnot. I am actually thinking about doing one of these tutorials sometime soon here when I get a free day. Could be a few weeks here though.

I think Hype had some sort of tutorial on the basics of this principle though.


-Z

i just did a 2d one, with a camera mounted on a tripod, and then all the tracking in After Effects. i could do a 3d one, but i only have boujou. i downloaded icarus, but have never used it.

but its actually quite easy, using any 3d tracking program. there's already a few videos floating around on the web - i just watched one this week for PFHoe Pro, which is a nice cheap DV 3d tracker.
basically, you just run the automated 3d tracker, export it to your favorite 3d package, (which is just a matter of picking Export, usually in the File menu, and selecting your 3d package from a list). it makes a file.
in Max, you just open it up and run it as you would a Maxscript. then BAM - you have a scene with a camera and a billion little points all over the place. if you set it to camera view and put you footage in the background, it should all line up.

if it has trouble tracking, that's where the hard part begins. And I don't think I know enough about fixing it to make a tutorial. But, honestly, its really easy if the auto track goes smooth. almost all 3d tracking programs have the automated options if you want to use them. just let the program do its thing, export it, open it in your 3d package, and double check it. Super easy!

And Icarus is a stand alone 3d tracker, just like boujou, PFHoe, Matchmover, all those things, except its free! I'd say download Icarus and install it, watch Colin's tutorial, read your 3d program's Help file about how to bring in the footage, and you're good to go!

And I believe there's a link to download Icarus in the Free Programs thread under "Other Programs" here at SimplyCG.

Well you guys have been AWESOME for teaching me effects. I got a new one I was thinking in my head. I learnt particle dispursion, now I kinda wanna learn the opposite. I want to learn how to make a particle swarm of bats form into my name, or dust build a bridge ect. Can anyone help with that or is it some how the same thing in reverse? Cheers guys.

I think that might be up Zach or Hype's alley...I'm pretty sure both of them have used Fusion.....

Btw...welcome to the forums!

fusion is pretty much straight forward man. Import some footage, the flow goes either top to bottom or left to right, and add effects and stuff along the way. The help and how to files are actually pretty detailed and easy to understand for the most part. I'm more proficient in Shake and After Effects, but I do projects in Fusion from time to time just for something different. The main problem is that it demands a lot from your hardware. So I opt for other software that lets me focus on my work, not micromanaging streamlining my work.

-Z

Hey hey, what a nice response from all..

well tnx for the welcome.. now to elaborate on these questions..

I'm learning now through some of those basic tutorials (fusion) that come with the package.. it's not too in depth but it's ok.. dunno if it some weird talent but this node stuff just works for me like anything.. i just figured most stuff on my own..

but I am impressed with some of the possibilities... and my hardware is rather nice.. a dual core running on 3.4 ghz with 2g ram and 1,5g virtual.. graphic card is nVidia 7900gs, and since there is nothing else in this comp other than some music and an obligatory copy of world of Warcraft, the machine is doing just fine.. even in AEfx i can do most stuff in real time..


now for the color correction.. I'd just like to ear from someone who's been doing a bit that kind of thing.. problem that I'm facing is that I don't really have a chance to talk much about it with ppl I know..

I live in Europe where extensive color correction ( sin city, underworld, oliver twist etc..) are not much done.. lack of ppl in that branch an a different kind of cinematography in general..

this is why I got into compositing in the first place.. primarily I'm a director, but relying on others, especially if they are not sure what they're doing tends to be a bit frustrating.. so I ventured on net and ended up here lol..


I saw some really crazy stuff done through grading and mate paintings done in the Oliver twist that just came out.. and this is something I'm looking for.. some ides as how to change colorscapes while leaving them realistic ( or should I say surrealistic).. sure I don't have Da Vinci but some nice results can be made from CC inside fusion..


Now, for those interested you can check a video I made last year.. I did some CC in FCP, tho most of it was done on the set itself as I we were shooting with HDV camera so I could get most of the blue tint and atmosphere just from controlling the shutter.. considering it was done in less than a day, and during a rather sunny day I guess it came out good..

here's the url for it
buah just saw that the link is messed up.. hence the edit.. you can however still see it at

http://www.myspace.com/lance_sefiroth just scroll down a bit and it'll play..


and lets try it like this (dunno what works)

<a href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1015562954">Trace - Trag</a><br><embed src="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf" flashvars="m=1015562954&type=video" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="430" height="346"></embed><br><a href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.addToProfileConfirm&videoid=1015562954&title=Trace - Trag">Add to My Profile</a> | <a href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.home"> More Videos</a>




Anyhow, I have a video coming up in a week or two and I'm totally psyched about it.. I got shoot in mountains, sort of a Viking saga thig, a bit it the legacy of Conan and 13th Warrior.. I will have some shots done in a medieval kid of bar ( more of a tent), but the rest will shot outside.. I guess I'll add some blizzard later with particles... basically a small group of vikings stands up against a fleet of evil warlocks.. they fight, they die and off they go to Valhalla where they are met by some fine ladies.. needless to say, it a heavy metal band lol.. anyway I will use here a lot of that "nightcrawler" fx for the movement of warlocks and some energy balls shootouts I learned from Ryan W ( the lightsabre pioneer)... There will be some flaming swords (this I'll do on the set it self... I just love pyros) and lot of magic things going on... but I want it to be like a nice fantasy rather than dark Gothic stuff..

so I thought to put it all together in AE, cut it (Premiere probably, to keep it in the family), and export the final to Fusion for some nice color touch up.. (maybe I do some rotoing in fusion too.. seems better than AEfx)


So that's how I ask about these things.. any input is appreciated.. so bring 'em on..



And Hype tnx a lot for those tutorials.. I ran through them up and down.. finally got to enjoy AEfx. I yes.. 7 is soo much better then earlier versions... somehow it just makes sense.. (to me)


well, keep em up. alex.

something you're definitely gonna want to check out is this book.

http://www.amazon.com/DV-Rebels-Guide-A ... 0321413644

this book will blow your mind. he clears up alot of industry myths, such as Da Vinci being the best for color correction. I can't even begin to describe all of the useful information he gives you in this book. As a short movie maker, this is the best book i have ever read, period.

there's nothing regarding making a digital movie i could ever reccommend more than this book.

the video on your myspace page was cool, the blue looked really fitting.

quinn, it's posted, here in this forum, even though it's not a video tutorial. we don't have a place for AE tutorials!