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Welcome to the wonderful world of 3D Computer Graphics. This world is occupied by a whole menagerie of nerds, geeks, neckbeards, sociopathic shut-ins and egoists, many of whom are devoid of any attractive physical or personality traits, or real artistic ability. This is precisely why there are so many of us on SA. No, that’s not entirely fair. ***THE RULES***
Now for the fun stuff! To go to the FAQ, just CLICK HERE To go to Resources, just CLICK HERE To go to the Gallery, just CLICK HERE So what the hell is ‘3DCG’? Whatever it is, it is pretty drat huge. The easiest way to explain it, is CG is just doing all of the artistic things that have been done for the entire human existence, but with a beige-electrified-magic-machine. 3DCG is just a subset of this, meaning that we use these ‘mad skillz’ primarily in a ‘3D space’. Along with the artistic component of 3DCG, are the technical aspects. So really, 3DCG is just for people who aren’t artistic or technical enough to be a traditional artist or computer programmer. OK. So what exactly would I be doing if I get a job? Lets break it down into disciplines; Disciplines Disciplines are pretty much the tasks you will be performing on the job. A grounding in a lot (if not all) of these disciplines is almost essential to being a good 3D artist, even if you find you are specializing in one area from a very early stage in your career. Knowing the ins and outs of what is being delivered to you in the production, and what your work is going into, can only be a bonus. (Follow the wikipedia links kids! They’ll explain things good like.) Modeling – You don’t need to take your clothes off for this. This is generally the first forte into the 3D world for a production. Modeling is all about the transition from 2D images (whether it be concept artwork, floor plans, etc) into a 3D object. If you want a really bad analogy, in modeling you act as an interpreter; taking the information from one person, decoding its makeup, then expressing it to another in an eloquent way, in which it will be most understood. Ofcourse, it’s not all as simple as that. You have different systems (Polygons, SubDs, NURBS), processes (Traditional, Digital Clay), considerations (Polycounts), and packages when it comes to modeling. Rigging – Show me your bones. Rigging is one of the more technical aspects of CG, and is generally reserved for a character technical director. It can require a deep understanding of the 3D program and its coding languages. When you rig, you are building the deformation systems and skeletons upon which the animation and other things are performed. Characters, props, background elements, custom interfaces, and lots more, need some sort of system in place to be controlled. Animation – Housing hyperactive, juvenile men and women since 1928 I think we all know what animation is. Some of the words bandied about when it comes to animation are things like Character (numero uno), Acting, Squash, Stretch, Weight, Anticipation, Timing, Keyframe, Dope Sheets… and so forth. If any of that sounds interesting to you, then you will like animation. The only book you'll ever need on animation (not true) is Richard Williams' The Animator's Survival Kit. It is full of advice, anecdotes and pretty pictures vital to any aspiring animator. Lighting and Rendering – Ooohhhhhhh… shiny. Another discipline rooted in a rich artistic history, with a twist of technical knowledge. Actually a really fun area, and is very important to the fidelity of your final piece. It’s also an incredibly huge and complicated area to explain. Here are some tasty subheadings:
Tied closely with rigging, and one of the more technical aspects of 3DCG. Dynamic simulations are required for anything from fire, smoke, water, physical collisions and crowds. This area kind of comes with experience, and we can maybe elaborate on it if there is a call for it from the thread. Kirby fucked around with this message at 08:23 on May 25, 2009 |
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***FAQ*** Q: I totally want to get into ‘3DCG’, I love Computers/Games/Movies/Puppies It helps to like those things, but it's not essential. I can't stress enough, CG is just as much (if not more) about the art, than it is the computer. You need a grounding in artistic principles if you want to produce good work. Please don't expect to get a job with a portfolio like this or this. Sure, your work will look like that when you first start. But give it a year. Look at your work when you first started. Give it another year. Look back at the first year. It doesn't take long for all of that artistic sensibility you have developed to blossom through. These resources will definitely help too. Q: What 3D programs are out there? There are a shitton of different 3D packages out there, all with their own prerogatives, nuances and workflows. Here’s a quick rundown on some of the ‘industry standard’ ones; CG packages Autodesk Max Autodesk Maya Softimage XSI SideFX Houdini Sculpting Autodesk Mudbox Pixologic Zbrush Dynamic Simulations Realflow it is handy to keep an eye on the cheaper/free alternatives to 3DCG. Their interface and workflows may suit your beginner status a little better. Here are some popular ones; Blender Nevercenter Silo Google SketchUp Beyond 3D, you may be asked at times to become familiar with compositing packages. I haven’t mentioned it much, but it is the next progression beyond your 3D work. It’s practically essential to know about compositing if you want to produce some industry level work. Keep these programs in mind; Adobe After Effects Apple Shake The Foundry Nuke Autodesk Combustion Q: SO which program should I be using? It depends. There isn’t a wrong answer. There most likely will be a time when you will be asked to pickup a program you have never used before in a production. Learning how to learn, and just being familiar with the kind of environment these programs have will help you a long way in being flexible. Tis will also come in handy, as many upper level Studios use proprietary software. Learning in one of the cheaper packages can have its advantages, just as learning in one of the industry packages can. However, it is not recommended diving headfirst into a program like maya or max, it will just net you countless hours of trying to find the respective edge>splitloop tool. Fire it up, familiarize yourself with some simple navigation and common hotkeys (which should be helpfully laid out in the programs’ manual), and head on over to the resources area of the OP to get your tutorial-on. You may also want to consider what kind of field of the industry you are interested in, to help decide what program to start in. Q: What fields are there in 3DCG? 3D is primarily, a freelance/contract based business. You will no doubt find yourself self-employed, wherever you are in the world. Don’t get into this business if you want strong job security (that being said, you can still easily be successful if you have the talent). Generally speaking, these are the fields of CG; (need some thread elaboration; these are just my ballpark guesses)
Q: How do I get a job? By sending out examples of your work on a DVD (This is called a ‘showreel’), along with any extraneous crap like a CV or portfolio. Here are 10 tips from Jeremy Birn Q: So what makes a good reel? Read the huge quote below by BigKOfJustice. But if you want some quick fundamental rules;
BigKOfJustice posted:
Kirby fucked around with this message at 10:56 on Jun 17, 2008 |
# ? Jun 16, 2008 14:42 |
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***GALLERY*** Some cool rear end goon renders from the previous thread; Hinchu poopinmymouth TouchToneDialing cubicle_gangster concerned mom SGT.Squeaks Pixelherder marshmonkey ElecHeadMatt Some boob lovin’ dude whose name I forgot to take down nonentity Heintje therunningman tuna (character model, rendering done by https://simonreeves.com) Kirby fucked around with this message at 10:58 on Jun 17, 2008 |
# ? Jun 16, 2008 14:44 |
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Nice OP! Has anyone heard of Gradient FX? Just sent them my reel, and they have next to nothing on their website. Also, I wish I had something cool to put into the gallery.
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# ? Jun 16, 2008 23:09 |
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Presenting: When 3d goes wrong What the gently caress Character Studio?
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# ? Jun 17, 2008 08:37 |
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Heintje posted:Presenting: Needs more melting clocks.
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# ? Jun 17, 2008 14:55 |
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So which tutorials should an absolute beginner start with? I'm looking to add a bit of 3d to my skillset for design purposes--nothing fancy or photoreal, just the basics.
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# ? Jun 17, 2008 16:38 |
mcsuede posted:So which tutorials should an absolute beginner start with? I'm looking to add a bit of 3d to my skillset for design purposes--nothing fancy or photoreal, just the basics. Honestly the tutorials that come with the applications are great for beginners. Also, click on the Modeling title in the OP. Good site. ceebee fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Jun 17, 2008 |
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# ? Jun 17, 2008 18:29 |
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Holy gently caress, been off the grid for a while now (moved out to San Francisco and started the new job ) and this thread is like the supercharged full tilt cokehead older brother of the old one and I thoroughly enjoy it. Also, redesigned the portfolio site and am always looking for feedback (it is a continuous work in progress of course) http://mattburdette.com Those who have started new jobs, how are people digging it so far? I am loving loving the hell out of mine.
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# ? Jun 17, 2008 18:41 |
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All I can say is that your demo reel is loving incredible, but that isn't very constructive criticism, so all I can offer is that most if not all of the links in your "extras" section are 404s. I'm not sure if that is what the "under construction" label is for, but if its not you may want to take a quick look at that area.
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# ? Jun 17, 2008 20:28 |
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Yay I can finally post again!! And a sparkling new thread to do it in, too! http://rapidshare.com/files/123189111/Infested.avi.html Here's a video of a scene I've been working on for too long.
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# ? Jun 17, 2008 23:27 |
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My game Zero Gear is in the new issue of 3dWorld, if anyone has a copy and also a scanner, could they hook me up?
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# ? Jun 18, 2008 01:12 |
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z
Synthbuttrange fucked around with this message at 13:16 on Jan 16, 2017 |
# ? Jun 18, 2008 06:52 |
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ElecHeadMatt posted:Holy gently caress, been off the grid for a while now (moved out to San Francisco and started the new job ) and this thread is like the supercharged full tilt cokehead older brother of the old one and I thoroughly enjoy it. That demo reel is fantastic.
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# ? Jun 18, 2008 09:09 |
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SynthOrange posted:Venting time. I'd complain to the program heads or school heads, I know that academia and industry people rarely work together well in a teaching environment, especially when someone else's main job is taking away from teaching. Switching software in the middle of the semester is a big no-no. Hell, professionally speaking you never switch software in a production, you'll get to a point where you lock down the software versions you are using because you can't risk upgrading software without getting a new bug that shuts things down.
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# ? Jun 18, 2008 17:57 |
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Is V-ray Maya out of beta? Every reference I see to it on messageboards is "I'm in the beta", but there is a downloadable demo on Chaos' site that works pretty well (limited to 600x400-something and is watermarked). I guess what I'm trying to say is that I haven't found anyone who has actually used it yet if it is available. I ask not because I want it but because I'm genuinely curious as to its status.
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# ? Jun 19, 2008 01:44 |
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I officially hate Silhouette, and am very very happy I am back on Shake.
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# ? Jun 19, 2008 05:14 |
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Geez - already 1046 hits?!? I was planning on posting a WIP before posting a question but oh well. How can one get transparent shadows in Max? I am trying to make a photo-real diamond and even with raytraced shadows on, the shadow looks completely opaque. Caustics would be nice but I can't even get the shadow to look right. This is the closest thing I can find but even here the shadow doesn't look at all transparent. http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/max/caustics/index2.html I am sure it is something easy but I can't figure out how to set this up in Max08 with Mental Ray. Here is a render hilighting the shadow in question: Martytoof: The last working Vray for maya was for maya 7 I believe.
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# ? Jun 19, 2008 06:14 |
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Oh man, I just realized I have this minotaur I made back in school. I'll post a screengrab of it later. Maybe I'll even do a silly render. No texture though cause my texture is terrrible.
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# ? Jun 19, 2008 06:31 |
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sigma 6 posted:Geez - already 1046 hits?!? I'd say that the shadow is being cast uniformly like that since it's just looking up the opacity of the surface it passes through. Since the opacity of the entire surface is uniform, the shadow is also- it looks like it's not transparent but it actually is (maybe). To test this add a box in next to it with no transparency, and look at the intensity of that shadow. The only thing left that would give you variation in the shading on the shadow is caustics, so you can give that a go next. You can also try the 'cheat' method, which is to create a camera at the exact location of the light, pointing the same way, render the specular of the diamond and then use that as a projection map on a copy of that light- but only affecting the floor behind the diamond. It goes *something* like that anyway, I've never tried it. On another note, I'm looking at a new laptop for when I move to start at SCAD. The Dell XPS ones are pretty cheap and have the specs that I need for a 15", however I've just started looking at Macs. They are hideously expensive in comparison but the mobility and option of having the Mac OS is kinda tempting. I still need to run Max, Autocad, Combustion etc under XP, but Maya, Houdini and Macrodobe could be under the Mac partition. Plus I could do my shell scripting work with it. Have any of you tried this at length? How would a Mac fare running XP SP2 x64 and 3ds max? edit: apparently bootcamp doesn't work with XP x64 but that's not too bad, it's not like there will be over 4gb ram in it. Heintje fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Jun 19, 2008 |
# ? Jun 19, 2008 06:56 |
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Wow, that's an awesome OP. I've been working on my first full fledged character model for many long and frustrating hours over the last couple of weeks. Spent a lot more time on the head than the body, but that picture in the OP helped a crap load. The second is the concept, which, as I realized once I started modelling, has a lot of accessories that don't really make sense. I think I'll just repaint it retroactively after finishing the model. ElecHeadMatt - HOW are you still in college. That is a very professional looking site & portfolio. What's the music from?
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# ? Jun 19, 2008 08:33 |
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Martytoof posted:Is V-ray Maya out of beta? Every reference I see to it on messageboards is "I'm in the beta", but there is a downloadable demo on Chaos' site that works pretty well (limited to 600x400-something and is watermarked). It's an open beta, so thats what the demo is - if you want the restrictions taken off, you can email vlado/chaos and pay however much a license is and you get non restricted builds. When it's released officially you've already got your license and can just update the build of it. I think it's being used in production by a few small VFX houses now - they've had about 6-9 months to test it so it's only just being moved in properly, the stargate films are using it I know that much. I just realised what vray for maya is going to do for it's market share in vfx... I have no idea why people say 'i'm in the beta', it's been open for ages now and when it was closed about 10 people had it at most. Maybe they just got a cracked version without even checking the status. cubicle gangster fucked around with this message at 10:09 on Jun 19, 2008 |
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Heintje posted:Have any of you tried this at length? How would a Mac fare running XP SP2 x64 and 3ds max? I tried this a year or so ago and Bootcamp would break the Max license. Long story short, the copy protection they use for the standalone license messes with the boot sector. When you boot into OSX, the boot sector is changed, Max's copy protection freaks out and you have to call Autodesk to fix it. Every. Single. Time. This apparently doesn't happen if you use a network license. I know it's still causing people problems, but last I checked (~2 weeks ago) some people had figured out a way around it. If you never boot into OSX you should be fine, but it's something to look into if you're serious about getting a Mac. If the program at SCAD hasn't changed too much since I was there, you won't be using Max unless you're taking classes in the interactive/game program. Everything else will be Maya or Houdini. DefMech fucked around with this message at 14:12 on Jun 19, 2008 |
# ? Jun 19, 2008 14:00 |
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Hmmmmm I might have to find a friend who's willing to let me test that, sounds like a total pain in the rear end. And yeah I won't be using Max in class, but I will still need it for other stuff and I might occasionally want to use it as a go-between for various bits. I do however need autocad and whatnot to work, so windoze aint going anywhere yet. gently caress using vista though.
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# ? Jun 19, 2008 14:59 |
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DefMech posted:If the program at SCAD hasn't changed too much since I was there, you won't be using Max unless you're taking classes in the interactive/game program. Everything else will be Maya or Houdini. There is no reason for 3d other than video games
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# ? Jun 19, 2008 16:02 |
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ElecHeadMatt posted:Holy gently caress, been off the grid for a while now (moved out to San Francisco and started the new job ) and this thread is like the supercharged full tilt cokehead older brother of the old one and I thoroughly enjoy it. Where'd you get a job? Awesome reel by the way, but two small crits. Ditch the plane shot. I know you're proud of it (as you should be) and it's a nice shot, but I feel that the quality of the end result is below everything else on the reel. And that's a compliment, because you have set a very high bar for yourself with the quality of your work! I know it would hurt, and I know you want to show off your comp skills, but it just seems kind of off. Don't hit me! Also that blue ball logo thingy...I'd ditch the breakdown of that because it doesn't really show anything other than "this thing had several pieces on several layers" which is kind of a given in any piece. There's no "ohhhh that's how he did it!" moment with the breakdown. Other than that absolutely fantastic work. Extremely high quality!
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# ? Jun 19, 2008 18:14 |
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Heintje posted:I'd say that the shadow is being cast uniformly like that since it's just looking up the opacity of the surface it passes through. Since the opacity of the entire surface is uniform, the shadow is also- it looks like it's not transparent but it actually is (maybe). To test this add a box in next to it with no transparency, and look at the intensity of that shadow. I suppose I wanted variation in the shadow since the surface is made up of so many smaller faces. This only makes sense, because some light should bounce around, and some should pass through. Never tried caustics in Max, so I guess I will give it a shot. Your "fake caustics" didn't make that much sense to me - do you have a URL? EDIT: ElecHeadMatt: I would like to echo everyone else's comments. Good stuff! VVVV OH dammit, that looks amazing!! Can someone do the same for mental ray PUHLEEEZE!?! VVVV sigma 6 fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Jun 19, 2008 |
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On the subject of caustics, this is for people who use vray which I wrote up yesterday for the office:me posted:Caustics are pretty well known for being uselessly slow and a pain in the arse, but mr. vray has gone and put in an experimental feature where they work like the light cache and are pretty fast... By 'pretty fast' I obviously meant 'holy poo poo look at that! quick, do it again, that was awesome - move the camera a bit this time' cubicle gangster fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Jun 19, 2008 |
# ? Jun 19, 2008 19:49 |
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Sigma-X posted:There is no reason for 3d other than video games I think it's probably from the request of recruiters. If the program is geared towards VFX and film work, and feature animation work. Max usage drops off to practically zero with a few exceptions. You're better off entering the workforce knowing the software that most of the large studios use [ie. Maya, Houdini, etc]. I noticed thats what killed off softimage/xsi classes at many places. In the mid 90's there were softimage classes everywhere at major colleges with good animation programs. I got into things during the power animator to maya transition. Softimage dragged their feet and came too late to the party with XSI. At that point most schools were dumping softimage because the students were bitching that everyone who took the maya class got jobs and they didn't and had to wind up learning maya anyways. I had a good laugh at the 3d crash course I took at Seneca College. The softimage program head was a raging rear end in a top hat. He felt you can't do character animation in a alias package.. which was true until Maya came out. He gave us poo poo for doing character animation in Maya 1.0 -> 1.5. Oh well, it's funny how times change.
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# ? Jun 19, 2008 21:40 |
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stuckeys posted:Wow, that's an awesome OP. I've been working on my first full fledged character model for many long and frustrating hours over the last couple of weeks. Spent a lot more time on the head than the body, but that picture in the OP helped a crap load. The second is the concept, which, as I realized once I started modelling, has a lot of accessories that don't really make sense. I think I'll just repaint it retroactively after finishing the model. Looks nice so far. The concept is really interesting. I'd say the head is too big, and watch those cool gaiter things, they are too narrow currently.
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# ? Jun 19, 2008 22:42 |
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I'm sorry if this is sort of a stupid question, but I am pretty much a beginner in 3d and I wanted to know, how do you get normal and specular maps to work in vray? Is it just a simple matter of turning off global illumination and using vray lights and materials? Or is there a different way to do it? I'm also interested in knowing how to achieve a wet road effect in 3ds max, either with vray or the scanline renderer. Similar to how the roads get in GTA IV after it has been raining. Any help is appreciated. Also, ElecHeadMatt your showreel is awesome, it's probably the best one I've ever seen.
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# ? Jun 20, 2008 00:30 |
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Agreed. Thanks for the crit!
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# ? Jun 20, 2008 00:31 |
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A Sober Irishman posted:stuff about vray. You'd probably do pretty well to watch the chris nichols gnomon dvd, about externals. http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/cni01.html It's pretty good, very detailed and well presented.
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# ? Jun 20, 2008 02:02 |
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I would not say learn Houdini. The knowledge you learn with it won't be really translated anywhere else, and I don't know of any other studios besides the really big ones that use it. And when they do use it, it's primarily for particle work.
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# ? Jun 20, 2008 04:48 |
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PowerLlama posted:I would not say learn Houdini. The knowledge you learn with it won't be really translated anywhere else, and I don't know of any other studios besides the really big ones that use it. And when they do use it, it's primarily for particle work. Not translated anywhere else? That's a good one Many people think that and go other routes. Traditionally speaking at the immediate and senior levels of film/fx studios and small commercial shops, theres a shortage of good houdini talent, which reflects in the wages and demand. Theres a old joke where there is no such thing as an unemployed Houdini TD. Houdini has one of the strongest foundations of any 3d package on the market, you have access to more internal data then most other packages, and an incredibly flexible environment with a powerful renderer, dynamics engine for fluids and of course the strong particle system. The node based procedural system is easy to pick up, and with the digital asset system you don't need to script or write plugins 95% of the time. With Houdini you'll learn all the underpinnings of 3d, you have easy access to every vertex, every attribute, and every simulation calculation. Nothing is hidden from the user. Case in point, On Incredible Hulk, I came up with an entire L-system branching cardovascular system with hearts and lungs, nerve endings, etc, in 3 days for Abomination back when he was going to have translucent skin [I can mention this since Arron sims posted the early concept for him] which meant we had to do layers of 3d muscle, skin and misc stuff. All the internal guts was procedurally modeled in 3d, along with proper uv's and procedural groups and was ready to roll into production. Everything was setup to pulsate and pump as well. Then the studio realized how expensive the translucent option was going to be and they dropped it, and went with a different concept. Thats a bunch of R+D work down the drain. The main problem with Houdini, is the lack of a labor pool, which leaves a few shops wasting the package just to use as a particle engine. Which is fine, many studios are picking it up for use as a pipeline backbone which has already been proven in production. That being said, any package is good to learn. I started with Sculpt Animated 3d Jr which did glorious 16 color renders, flat shaded. The idea is to learn the concepts behind the tools, and be able to apply it in any package because its very possible for one job to be using a different software setup then your last job. If your goal is just to mess around as a hobby, then it doesn't really matter too much. If you want gainful employment then is best to pick something that is used in your target market. Big K of Justice fucked around with this message at 08:47 on Jun 20, 2008 |
# ? Jun 20, 2008 08:38 |
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I'm not saying Houdini isn't a good package or something that wouldn't be good to learn, but as a starting package I'd have to say it's not the best. I kind of over exaggerating a teensy bit in that post. *cough* Name another large package that's as truly node-based as houdini is. I think there's a reason why there's a lack of talent, and that's because in my opinion it's a hard starting point. You get so much information, and a lot of it is info you won't really use until you do ridiculous things like your Hulk setup. (also, I saw some of the hulk R&D stuff at rhythm, man that stuff was in fact insane.) So people learn the easier packages that still get things done, and leave Houdini to the people that really know how to use it. Also the fact that very few smaller shops use it would put a strain on someone finding a job. I do know that pretty much every houdini desk I walked by at DD was making sparks for speed racer. But if it's just for fun, I guess that last part doesn't really matter, and you'd have an infinite amount of time to learn new packages anyway. I've also heard that saying about trackers, and in my experience, it's not true. drat you Boujou I hate you! Everyone should use the much cheaper and better syntheyes.
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# ? Jun 20, 2008 09:29 |
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Man I was so close to getting an internship with Side F/X. One of the alums of our grad program worked there and gave me an in road and I went through the interviews only to get to the final one and have the interviewer realize I still had a year of grad school left: Him: "Ohhhhhhhhhh.....we want somebody that was just about to graduate so we can hire them after we train them." Me: "ohhhhhh.....I still have a year of school left..." Him: "Yeah....." Me: "Yeah......*cough*" Him: "Well...have a good day!"
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# ? Jun 20, 2008 16:02 |
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BonoMan posted:Man I was so close to getting an internship with Side F/X. One of the alums of our grad program worked there and gave me an in road and I went through the interviews only to get to the final one and have the interviewer realize I still had a year of grad school left: Working for side FX is the fastest way to get a job at a studio. Half the houdini td's I work with worked at side fx at one point. The best bit though, is not to mention it to SESI [aka sidefx]. They usually have interns and staff people that stick around long enough before they get some crazy offer from a studio. Funny they have high turnover like that .
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# ? Jun 20, 2008 17:08 |
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# ? May 15, 2024 04:25 |
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BigKOfJustice posted:Working for side FX is the fastest way to get a job at a studio. Half the houdini td's I work with worked at side fx at one point. drat ...yeah I still kinda want to do it at one point. He told me to give him a call when I graduated but I never did. Kicking myself now. But I have a good job with good work so I guess it's not all bad.
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# ? Jun 20, 2008 17:53 |