What resources should I use to grow as an animator? Which animation techniques do you use daily? Animation Mentors Bobby Beck, Carlos Baena and Shawn Kelly answer your questions at CGW.com.

More information at Alias.com.

A trial version of Mankua's advanced texture mapping plugin is now available for r6 and r7.

MetinSeven.com has released version 1.0 of The VRay Automator.   [ more... ]

Alf Float Controller is (Babelfish-aided translation follows) : A controller that allows you to specify a Float value by means of a user-creatable graph, with options for adjusting the phase, cycle time, etc. In addition, each point on the controller's graph can in turn be driven by any other Float controller - including another Alf Float Controller.

Di-O-Matic announced the release of Facial Studio for Windows. Facial Studio gives users more than 500 controls over the 3d head creation process and supports Kaydara's FBX file format. A 30 days limited trial version is available for download.

Lots of Robots Vol. 2 animation is now available! A small 480x196 Quicktime version can be accessed online and the full size DVD version is available for purchase. Andy Murdock plans to continue developing Lots of Robots until he completes a feature-length animated film. Check out the latest version of Andy's creation myth at LotsOfRobots.com.

According to an article in the latest issue of CGW, Pixar has been using 3ds max and Brazil r/s in the production of their latest Disney/Pixar blockbuster, The Incredibles.  From the article:  "The second unit created 'digimattes' using 3ds max and Brazil," says [Rick] Sayre,[supervising technical director for The Incredibles,]  referring to Discreet's 3D software program and SplutterFish's rendering software. "It was great fun, ... liberating."

This New York Times article (free registration required) looks at Electronic Arts, overworked artists, class-action labor lawsuits, E.A. Spouse, and the never-ending "crunch".  This long-standing industry issue is now getting attention in the main-stream.

Also check out the International Game Developers Association's Quality of Life White Paper.

Digimation has begun shipping SpeedTree 3, the latest version of IDV's 3D tree creation plugin. New features in this release include support for flared trunks, advanced wind controls, a completely new sample library and improvements to the foresting tool. Visit Digimation.com for more information and some sample movies.

Wavgen have posted some interesting Flash and AVI files showing how TerraShader works together with mental ray. Since version 3.3, mental ray can load 16bit DEM displacement files, and TerraShader, a wavelet shader, makes full use of this. Head over to Wavgen for more information.

As reported some time ago, Matt Fairclough is working on a new version of Terragen, the 3D landscape rendering program. New images created with the alpha version of Terragen 2 have been posted (also check out this sunset at Luc Bianco's website) as well as more information on the upcoming release.

Todd Sheridan Perry reviews Max 7 for DigitalProducer.com: "Every [new] tool contributes to a more efficient pipeline, which leads to the creation of higher levels of animation in a shorter amount of time."

GHOST 3D, LLC announces the availability of 3ds max 7 (Discreet) plug-in versions for its line of 3D modeling, conversion, digitizing and reverse engineering products.   [ more... ]

Andy Murdock has completed the second DVD of his animated creation myth Lots of Robots. As its predecessor, the Lots of Robots Volume 2 DVD will include many 3ds max tutorials. Stay tuned.

HDRI-Studio offers environment maps created using professional studio lighting techniques. Neutral, Gels and Abstract categories are currently available. A set of Automotive environments and backdrops is in the pipeline and will be released soon. Visit HDRI-Studio.com for more.

(Nov 8) ALTOONA, PA - Dosch Design has introduced a new 3D model collection geared toward Christmas commercial production and Web site design.   [ more... ]

Simplifies the process of adding voice to Flash animations (November 10,2004)

Not *really* a max related product, but for those of you doing flash work. The public beta version is available at www.lipsync-mx.com   [ more... ]

Or rather lack of it. Following a paper published by the IGDA, the issue of overly stressful working conditions in the video game industry is being brought to the spotlight once again by an anonymous poster going by the nickname ea_spouse. The message has already provoked a huge amount of responses in just a couple of days. Also of note, here are two links showing the effects chronic stress may have on a person's immune system, and why these situations should be avoided: chronic stress affects both mind and body, stress ages immune system. It would be very positive to see some of the guidelines suggested by IGDA's paper implemented.

Read the press release.

Romanian artist Mihai Anghelescu seems to have a very good eye for female portraits. Check out his latest creation based on Italian actress Monica Bellucci at CGChannel.com. Done with poly modeling in 3ds max.

Jamie Field reviews Vue 4 Pro for InsideCG.com: "... the ease of use is (...) what ultimately sets it apart from the competition."

Andersson Technologies announced a lens distortion tool to complement its SynthEyes camera tracker. The Lens Distortion Tool is a standalone program that can apply or remove lens distortion, calculated by SynthEyes, to image sequences in Targa, TIFF, BMP, PNG, Cineon, or SGI format.   [ more... ]

Making of "Beren"
T-Rex organic modeling
Making of DV4000 (French)
Modeling Omega Tropic
Power Solids for 3ds max Tutorials
How to Build Metropolis   [ more... ]

The opening sequence of Fallen Art, Tomek Baginski's latest short film is available online!! Viewers should exercise caution, however, for it's been said that watching the entire film may bring an irresistible urge to join the army.
(Errata: the headline of this news item used to read "Fallen Art trailer", but this is actually the opening sequence of the movie, a new trailer will be posted soon)

New features in Nevercenter's subdivision surface modeler include a Topology Brush for drawing topology lines on top of existing objects, a Slide Tool to move selected edges back and forth along the edges crossing them and enhancements to the selection tools. Silo 1.3 is free for registered users.

Good news, Adobe starts getting more involved with Linux. CNET News.com has the article.

DrapeFX Pro is a stand-alone image manipulation program that enables Max users to re-color and re-texture exported 3D scenes in post using the same UVW mapping applied in Max. DrapeFX Pro provides features such as the ability to tile, rotate and shift textures and apply filters such as Glare, Non-Photo Realistic, Find Edge, Cell, etc. Check out some sample images at DrapeFX.com.

The latest from Blizzard, amazing as always.

In this DVD, Paul Neale covers a custom version of spline IK, arm rigging with two possible arm twist solutions and a hand rigging tutorial along with the creation of a comprehensive GUI using custom attributes and MAXScript. Visit CG-Academy.net for more.

Leonard Teo has done an interview with Paul Taylor and Dave Wilson (CG Supervisors, Blur Studio) on their work on Relic's Warhammer cinematics. The article gives a detailed account of the creation process at Blur and makes for some very interesting reading. Check it out!

Oleg Bayborodin, the main developer behind Particle Flow, has opened up a new forum dedicated to everything related to CG particles.

Check out this great new tool that is bound to make life easier for all Max users working with Poly modeling. SelectionMaster is focused on bringing advanced selection tools to 3ds max, as well as some modeling tools. The scripted plugin is expected to be available in a couple of months. Download the demo video and check out the thread at CGTalk for more information. (On a side note, watching the video for a while gives the funny feeling of seeing pixels instead of polys, as if one were looking at a low-res paint program such as Dan Silva's good ol' DPaint.)