Autodesk 123D Catch Beta

I was very excited to hear about Autodesk's 123D Catch. 123D Catch lets you take ordinary photos and turn them into 3D models. Here is a quick introduction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6aU2s85Zw3A

So I downloaded the software from here. The software comes with some good tutorials and the program is pretty straight forward to use. For the object I wanted to create I took 42 photos spinning around the object. I uploaded them and waited for Autodesk to email to let me know it was completed. A couple of the images were too dark so the object I received was not 100% but 42 images is probably the minimum I would suggest.

It looked pretty good if I do say so myself. Next, what I was most excited about was getting it into 3ds Max. This was simple, File, Export, FBX and import into Max, this is what I got below.

The scene contains cameras where all the shots were taken from, which could come in handy. I then opened up the Material Editor and selected the material from the object. There were two in this case. The file Autodesk emailed me contained to texture sheets which I remapped to the correct location and below are the 2 texture sheets and the result i got.

I then added a Mental Ray Daylight system and applied a smoothing group to the whole object and rendered. Below are the results. The mesh was very heavy and if I had more time I could have cleaned it up a lot and patched up any broken areas in the model.

Catch 123D is an amazingly powerful tool which I am sure will come in handy in future. Definitely give this free software a try and let me know how you get on.

Milan Furniture show and Top Marques

It has been a busy couple of weeks over here. On Wednesday I went to the Milan Furniture Show and returned to Monaco on the Friday night. Then I was off to Top Marques in Monaco on Sunday. Milan furniture show was great and so was Milan. I could have really done with a week there as there was so much to see. Top Marques is 'the most exclusive supercar show in the world' and it did not fail to deliver. Below are some pictures from Top Marques.

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iRay

A great Autodesk University class that converted me from Mental Ray to iRay for rendering. The talk by George Matos concentrates on how iRay is different from previous rendering technology and goes through the advantages and disadvantages. Later the talk moves on to cloud rendering with iRay and where it is all heading. Definitely worth a watch.

"Key Learning Describe the hardware required for iray and explain how to use cloud rendering with iray Explain what iray is List the advantages and disadvantages of iray Describe the differences between iray and previous rendering technology" ... Autodesk University

Art Monaco '12

Here are a few pictures from Art Monaco '12 which I attended on Friday...

My favourite Artist of the day had to be Natsuki Otake. Natsuki uses Silk, Pigment and Dye to create these beautiful images that are layered up. They can be built up to give a 3D feel to the piece.  Natsuki's batik pieces are of her idols.

Download Adobe Photoshop CS6 Beta

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Beta is available to download here. "The world’s best digital image editing software is about to get even better. Explore Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 beta for a sneak preview of some of the incredible performance enhancements, imaging magic, and creativity tools we are working on. Discover for yourself why Photoshop CS6 software will be a whole new experience in digital image editing."

In this video Julieanne Kost goes through her 6 favourite new features in Adobe Photoshop CS6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uBLXzDvSH7k

Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 Announced - New Features Videos

Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 has been announced and here are the latest New Features videos. Personally I am looking forward to using iRay Active Shade in a viewport (video below). I understand that iRay Active Shade was only available in 2012 in the subscription pack. I have started making the move from Mental Ray to iRay now and I suggest trying Niveda's iRay out if you have not done so already.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pji7hLREtoc Check out all the new feature videos here.

Copitor is a must have for a 3ds Max user

Copitor is a 3ds Max script by Mathieu Jacquin which allows you to copy and paste selected objects to another 3ds Max scene or to another window if you have more then one 3ds Max open. It is also useful to back an object up before you try something, such as booleans! You can download it here.

To install... Drop The file in max viewport and go to Customize ==> Customize User Interface ==> Category: zOffTy Tools ==> Copitor

Photoshop and Wacom Tablet tips

I have been doing a lot of post production work in Adobe Photoshop with my Wacom tablet recently. A couple of things I came across that I thought might be useful to share.  

1. Ring when tapping in Photoshop with a tablet. This can become very annoying. I believe it comes as default in Windows 7. This is how I got rid of the problem in Windows 7 x64 bit.

-In the Control Panel search for Edit group policy. -In here you need to go to administrative templates, windows components, tablet pc, cursors, turn off pen feedback. -In this window change from not configured to enabled.  -Click OK and your done. Update: There is a lot more information on this subject here.

2. Add a Layer mask shortcut. I am constantly using layer masks and do get feed up of going all the way to the bottom of the Layers pallete to click the button. In Photoshop there is no default shortcut. To add a shortcut click Edit, Keyboard Shortcuts, under Layer Mask> add a shortcut key (I used Ctrl+Q) to Reveal All.

Creating an ocean in 3ds Max using Wave Generator

Wave Generator is a Plugin written by Ruben Mayor and Philippe Jadoul for 3ds Max. Very quickly you can generate ocean surfaces including control over waves. The plugin is currently in alpha version. We needed a solution to create various oceans surfaces. Wave Generator gave me the ability to create the ocean as a 3d object then add materials or even export it to other applications.  I found it very straight forward to work with and in 3ds Max I just add a daylight system and a generic mental ray water material to create the image above.

You can download Wave Generator here.

Photoshop CS6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UrlsnQ32YhY

Adobe have realeased 6 sneak peek videos on Youtube of the upcoming Photoshop CS6. Video 4 'Content-Aware' was of most interest to me. In the video Product Manager Bryan O'Neil Hughes demonstrates how to move or remove an object from an image using the content- aware tool. See below for the other 4 videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pBIf9KljT68 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XLp1dR2sYkE http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zDfL021HkCg http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9wx8P-GQxOw

Fix Your Photo’s Exposure Problems in Seconds With This Simple Trick from Lifehacker

A great tip here from the guys at lifehacker to fix exposure problems really quickly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UyIHpRjaBic

• Open up the photo and duplicate the layer containing it.
• Invert the duplicated layer. (The shortcut is Control/Command+I in Photoshop and is likely the same in other image editors.)
• Set the duplicated layer's blending mode to Overlay.

• Optional: Reduce the opacity of the duplicated layer if the effects are too much.
• Optional: Merge the two layers and adjust the levels or curves to suit your taste. (If you're in Photoshop, you can just make a new adjustment layer to do this.)

NOX Free Render Engine

"Nox Renderer is a rendering software based on unbiased methods. Development is currently in beta stage." Evermotion.org

NOX Renderer is available for download here.

This is how I got on with NOX renderer in 3ds Max, this is not so much a review but my first impressions. Once the Renderer is downloaded and you have also installed the Material Library open up 3ds Max and choose NOX as the render engine.The next step was to set up the scene, I used the Fendi Dorchester Chair which you can download here. The Sunlight System is in the Standard Lights Menu in 3ds Max and Camera is in the Camera Menu.

Next up was applying the materials. Open up the Material Editor in 3ds Max and click on Standard and choose Nox Material. The material Libery that comes with Nox is very nice. I then applyed the fabric to the chair and wood to the legs and floor.

After hitting Render this is what I was getting, in fact it was a lot more over exposed. Also I turned off Real-World Scale in the UV Maps on the Chair. The problem was with the exposure, aperture and camera distance. Once I had adjusted these three I got the render below which took 21 minutes.I found Nox Renderer nice and simple to use and I am looking forward to working with it more in future and seeing it develop. NOTE. After writing this post Evermotion have posted some tutorials here. Check them out, there are some great features and you will probably get on better than I did.

Autodesk University

Just wanted to post about Autodesk University. This is a great site with content on most of the Autodesk products. Alot of 3ds Max which is great for me. With presentations in all fields of 3D and CGI I highly recommend checking it out. You can log in with an Autodesk or Facebook account. I particularly enjoyed Ramy Hanna's Is That a Photograph? Architectural Photography for 3D Rendering.

New Multi Control App, 3D Connextion, Wacom and the Ipad

Maide Inc have come up with this great way of using the ipad and iphone with 3ds Max and Maya.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BI_pnzES7F0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V7V-UkDQUQo

I saw this metioned on Evermotion in their monthly newsletter and gave it a go at work. Not being an Ipad or Iphone user the intuitive functionality did not come as easy as if I had experience with the 2 devices. The Maide Control needed a bit of a learning curve but does have a lot of potential. I got very excited and thought about purchasing an Ipad instead of the Space Pilot Pro I have been dreaming of for a while now. I am currently using the Space Navigator and a Wacom Intuos 3

I started looking into Ipad/Wacom alternatives, there was not as many as I thought there would be. I found a few things of interest then I stumbled upon this actually made by Wacom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tbuZ_ulQfLA So being very comfortable and happy with both my Space Navigater and Wacom, but being due an upgrade at some point this year is it worth combining the 2 and having only one device on the desk, plus having all the other functions the ipad has? Is it worth the learning curve? Or should I look at this as great potential and go for what I know and love. I have been looking for an excuse to get an Ipad for a while now and as I am looking for a mobile phone contract to use in Monaco, maybe an Ipad could be the way to go instead of an Iphone.

Monaco Rally Vintage Car Show

On the way to the port I stumbled across the Monaco Rally Vintage Car show. Here are a few pictures + the VW spotted in Menton!

Night HDR Images

I am currently in the South of France and this is the view from my appartment in Menton, Italy is on the left.

This image is from back in April 2011 of Montreal.

Work featured in 3d World Issue 150

Sable Vivant, Brighton White Night

It was White Night Nuit Blaunche here in Brighton on Saturday night. It was great fun, one of the highlights was getting to use Sable Vivant's project - Third Eye.  "ThirdEye is a simple and portable motion capture. Although we have originally designed as a tool for analysis of sign language, we quickly found that this base allowed us to many other applications. This extension of the project resulted in several devices. An example of these applications is the installation that we call 3D and calligraphy that allows for real-time enrollment in a three-dimensional space. The calligraphic gesture is released from the constraints of paper and took possession of the third dimension. Beyond its attractive technology, the installation invites the viewer to continue his action in a virtual space, blurring the boundaries between the real world and that of numerical simulation."                                                                                                                            Sable Vivant - Third Eye

VW Camper Van

After seeing all the VW Campers in Brighton (see post here) the other week I decided to create this one. The Camper Van was modelled in 3ds Max and rendered in Mental Ray using the HDR lighting technique I described here in HDRI Reflections. I applied all the materials using a multi-sub object.

iPad Product Design Work

Here is a iPad model. It is part of project I have recently been working on. It is modeled and rendered in 3ds max using Mental Ray.