Arts
Explore the world of modeling and texturing 3D game props and assets in Autodesk Maya. Author Adam Crespi provides strong technical modeling techniques, from blocking basic forms and leveraging simple parts and reusable textures, to simulating real-world detail like dirt, wear, and grain with UV maps and ambient occlusion. The course includes workflow and integration considerations such as planning UV space for projection, and also steps into Mudbox and Unity for further refinement.
Discover an alternative to the traditional character rigging workflow with the Character Animation Toolkit (CAT) for 3ds Max, which offers preset character rigs as well as custom tools for creating a rig from scratch. Author Joel Bradley demonstrates animation layers; CAT muscles, which you can use to create a skin that deforms and stretches realistically as your character moves; and the forward/inverse kinematics workflow. The final chapter puts all these features into motion, as you apply the tools to a full character rig with secondary bones and perform a stress test animation.
GIMP is a popular open-source image editor for Mac, Windows, and Linux that has slowly evolved to become a credible free alternative to programs like Adobe Photoshop. In this course, Justin Seeley shows how to translate basic image editing techniques to GIMP, such as cropping and resizing, selecting and masking, improving tone and contrast, and dedicates other chapters to retouching with the cloning and healing tools, creating illustrative effects with the paint and ink brushes, and working with text and paths. The final sections show you how to save time by automating tasks with macros and batch processing and how to print and save your work.
In this course, author George Maestri explains how to model and render 3D objects and scenes using Google SketchUp 8. The course covers the fundamentals of the application, from navigating the user interface, manipulating objects, and building basic shapes to importing objects from Google Earth, animating a scene, and modeling organic terrain using the Sandbox tools. The course also explores SketchUp Pro features, which are available as an upgrade. These include tools for creating dynamic components and adding interactivity, as well as sophisticated importing and exporting options for working with outside applications.
Have you ever wondered how green screens work? Have you ever tried to edit your green screen but given up because it doesn't look good? Go from beginner to pro in this course on Green Screen Editing. Philip Ebiner has been editing green screen for over 5 years and is now a full time video creator at a college where he shoots and edits green screen online courses full time!
