We are shipping the first batch of APU Tutorial dvds (twin pack) on the 21st of June, with regular shipments after that. If you would like to be on the first run of shipments then order before that date. We currently do not own a multiburner, so we will be building stocks up until release date.
Here is the link you will need;
http://www.3d-palace.com/shop_dvd1.php
And for those of you who are clueless as to what you get Theres a lot here;
What do you get with this fantastic set then? Two data DVDs packed (literally) with video tutorials (with audio voiceover) showing everything you need from end to end to produce everything. The Animated APU, the Sentinel Swarms, the bullets, the environment...everything. Not a stage skipped anywhere, no-non standard plugins (ie, nothing that doesnt come with Max allready) and no massive cuts where the model is replaced by another completely different one.
APU SET
1- Centre Toe
2 - Second Toe
3 - Sidetoes
4 - Shin Lower
5 - Ankle
6 - Finishing the foot
7 - Lower Leg
8 - upper leg (p1)
9 - upper leg (p2)
10 - rear leg mounts
11 - completing cables and leg
12 - lower pelvis
13 - pelvis cage
14 - upper pelvis and control cage
15 - lower torso ammo dump
16 - Engine block
17 - Engine to shoulders
18 - Main Shoulder
19 - Shoulder hydraulics
20 - upper arm
21 - wrist
22 - gun
23 - fingers
24 - cabin shape
25 - control yoke
26 - finishing up
appendix a - Ammobelts
appendix b - Dynamic bullet ejection and muzzleflash
APU ANIMATION
1 - Setting up for rigging
2 - Rigging the Legs
3 - Rigging the Body
4 - Rigging the Arms
5 - Rigging the Arms part 2
6 - Completing the body rigging
7 - Rigging gun reciol
8 - Animation of walking and pointing guns
9 - Merging files
10 - Starting the animation sequences
ENVIRONMENTAL MODELLING
1 - The Walkway
2 - The Area Doors
3 - Detailing
THE PILOT (Pending confirmation this evening)
1 - The Torso
2 - Arms
3 - Hands
4 - Legs
5 - Feet
6 - Head
7 - Fitting to the APU cabin
THE SENTINEL
1 - Main Eyes
2 - Main eyes to Carapace
3 - Upper Front Carapace
4 - Side Mounted Eyes
5 - Large Tracking Eyes
6 - Hear rear top
7 - top of the head eyes
8 - sides and bottom of the carapace
9 - platelets and mouth area
10 - Front mandibles (small)
11 - large mandibles
12 - lower underbelly mandibles
13 - tentacles and claws
SENTINEL TENTACLE RIGGING
1 - Rigging a Tentacle
2 - Animating a Tentacle Swim Cycle
SENTINEL SWARMING TECNIQUES
01 - The Swimmer Setup
02 - Using the Swimmer in a Particle System (High Poly)
03 - preparing the sentinel for use in facing polygon solutions
04 - Facing Polygons for fast results
CAMERAS AND LIGHTING
01 - Setting up Cameras
02 - Setting up the lighting
03 - Renderers
04 - Command line rendering
SPECIAL
01 - Introduction to the project
02 - Resources
03 - Team management via the web
04 - Project management tecniques including data safety
Production Gallery - APU
Production Gallery - Sentinel
Production Gallery - Environment
Animation Gallery - APU Animation Tests
Overall there are over 60 parts with over 40 hours of lessons and training
QUESTIONS.
Why did we use the APU and the Sentinel piece?. First up, we use these peices as examples according to the worldwide "Fair use" copyright policy. This tutorial is not here to show you how to rip off the Wacowski brothers, Warner Brothers or anyone else, it is here to show you the METHODOLOGY involved in creating a production piece in Max. The original works in the Matrix series were created in Maya incidentally, not max.
Why does the tutorial show how to make two hero pieces? Simply because the difference in modelling between them was so vast.
Why does the tutorial set not cover texturing in great detail? We felt that to spend another 2 months producing 3 more Data DVDs of repetative texturing advice would delay the set too much. In the near future I will be releasing an addon pack showing how to texture the two hero models.
What specification machine was this made on? I aim to keep my specifications as low as possible, so this tutorial was created on an Advent P4 3.02 HT with 1.5 Gigs of Ram and a Nvidia 980GVX 128. To buy one of these costs less than £1500 uk. In the world of workstations, this is v cheap.
What do you reccomend before starting the tutorial? Get pictures from
www.whatisthematrix.com, go buy the Matrix Revolutions from Amazon or your local store. Get the Special Edition as it has a pile of stuff about the APUs and Sentinels. Go on Ebay and buy the Todd McFarlane series 2 deluxe box sets. You dont NEED to do any of this, however it will make it a LOT easier for you.
Why should I buy a DVD set from you? I have no idea who you are! Well.. I dont know who you are either buddy, however I'll still sell the DVD set to you. However for those wanting to know, I am Cris Robson, CG Artist and senior tutor over at
www.3d-palace.com as well as the senior administrator. I have worked in the past on several freelance projects, including remakes of classic UK childrens TV series, advertising crap and the occasional freelance sci fi piece for movie use. In addition I have produced more 3d Studio Max video tutorials than anyone I have ever met, have 15,000 registered downloaders of my tutorials and frankly have a damn fun time doing it. Oh, and I trained as a primary school teacher and used to be an Andersen Consultant. I know that isnt very helpful...
Models are copyright of their prospective owners. No ownership is implied in whole or in part for any actual CG Models created relating to origin or original use. The models produced in this pack are produced for the purposes of teaching how to produce high end CG according to the laws and rules of the US "Fair Use" policy and its according segments used in Euopean law. The tutorials were created in house by 3d-palace.com using 3D Studio Max 6 and Techsmith Camtasia and the TSCC codec.
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