3D Development Software

In the 3D world there are loads of software’s used:

True Place (Caligari Coporation)
Cinema 4D (Maxon)
3D Max (Autodesk)
AC3D (Inivis)
Electric Image Animation System (El Technolgy Group)
Form Z (Autodessys , inc)
Houdini (Side Effects Software)
Lightwave 3D (NewTek)
Massive
Maya (Autodesk)
Sketch Up (Google)
Modo (Luxology)
Vue 6 (E-On)

3D Max (Autodesk):
This 3D software is developed by Autodesk. there are 10 versions to 3D Max since being released in the early 1990’s

3D Studio DOS (1990) 3D Studio Max 1.0
3D Studio DOS 2 (1992) 3D Studio Max R3
3D Studio DOS 3 (1993) Auto-desk 3D Studio Max 9

 

The main features about using 3D Studio Max is that There’s MAX Script meaning that plug-in modules can be created in MAX Script. also in 3D Max you can also use Scene Explorer. With Scene Explorer the user can analysis the scene data and you can work in more complex scenes. DWG lets the user import a bigger capacity of data into a scene with modeling objects.

Price: £2695

• Sketch Up ( Google)
  This 3D software is developed by search engine company Google. Sketch Up is designed for professional Architects, Civil Engineers, Film Makers, Game Designers. its also used to design building that can be displayed on googles application ‘Google Earth’. it’s considered to be very flexible and easy to use .It was first designed in 1999 by a company called @ Last Software but it was released in August 2003. The features that come with the software :
  Drawing Tools: Line, Arc, Free Hand, Circle, Polygon, Rectangle,

• Editing Tool: Push/Pull (it grabs the 2D shape and grabs it to make it a 3D shape) Rotate, Move, Link

Price: £256

Lightwave 3D(New Tek)
This program was 1 of the first programs to have the standard 3-D package that included
Render Engine With plug ins such as Fprime & Kray, also  CCTV, Mesh Editing, Mirror X,Y & Z, G Troggle, IK Booster.

Allen Haisting  created a  program called Videoscap, the program included rendering and animation and his friend Stuart Ferguson created Modeler, Modeler is a program that specialists in 3D modling., both models being sold by Aegis software. both softwares eventually evolved into which we call Lightwave 3D to this very day.
Price: $1,499

Vue 6 ( E-On)
Vue 6 is a 3D program software that have worked with some of the worlds biggest companies, companies such as
Sony Pictures Imagworks
Walt Disney Pictures
Warner Brothers
Dreamworks Animation
BBC
Sky
FOX
E.A (Eletronic Arts)
With products out such as Vue 6 Infinate and Vue 6 xStream Vue 6 Espirt Vue 6 Easel.

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CGI (Computer Graphic Industry) The Timeline

 Brief Timeline History:

1960’s:

• Initial experimentation with 3D graphics      

• Key figures Charles Csuri & John Whitney Sr

1970’s:

• Many animation & rendering algorithms used today were developed in the 1970’s

• Image & Bump textures developed

• Hand & face animation improved

• First use of 3D CGI in movies

1980’s:

• Raytracing rendering developed

• Video became most common output method for animation

• Luxo Jr (Pixar 1985) was the first computer generated animation up for an academy award

 1990’s & 2000’s:

• Notable success  of 3D CG imagery in Harry Potter & Lord of The Rings

• Games developement  grows with the release of many game consoles such as  Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube/Wii

 —————————————————————————————– 1960’s:

CGI (Computer Graphic Industry) has come a long way since the 1960’s. John Whitney Sr founded the company Motions Graphic inc in the 60’s. Spacewars was the first game created and developed by Steve Russell

<——– Space Wars

the first CGI use for commercials MAGI for IBM. GUI (Graphic User Interface) was developed by Xeron.

 

——————————————————————————————1970’s:

Lillian Schwartz produces pixellation at Bell Labs (Pixellation is an effect caused by displaying a bitmap section at a large size that individual pixels that comprise the bitmap)

The Intel 4004 4-bit processor was introduced. it was the considered to be the worlds first commerical single chip microprocessor. it could execute 60,000 instructions per second

 <—— Intel 4004 4-bit processor

Many animation and rendering algorithms used today were developed

The 8″ floppy disc was created by IBM—————>

(The floppy disc was in many formats 5.25″ & also 3.5″. its been enjoyed for many years but but now thay are becoming less popular because of the introduction of the flash drives )

Hand in face animation improved

 

The @symbol was introduced and selected for e-mail address by BBN (Bolt Beranek & Newman)

The C was introduced by Ritchie (Dennis)

The Intel 8008 8- bit processor was created it was an early microprocessor designed & manufactured by Intel. It could execute 500000 instruction per second.  

Intel 8oo8 8- bit processor ——————>

The video game Pong was developed for Atari , Atari produced many versions of the game pong with some of the games having more than 1 game on it, also that had updated versions where u could have a maximun 4 players on some of the games.

 

<—–Pong for Atari

the Intel 8080 (Zilog) was introduced

 Future World (the sequel to Westworld) used 3D CGI 

         Futureworld ———->

 

Sony introduce Betamax Recorder 

 

 The Sony Betamax Recorder  ———–>

The Altair 8800 computer was introduced                                           

 

The Altair Computer———–>

 

Mr Bill Gates creates Microsoft

Bill Gates The creater & owner of Microsoft——–>

The apple 1 came about. it was an early personal computer. it was apple’s first computer  product to be sold                                                                                                      

The Apple 1 ————> 

VHS (Video Home System) format by Matsushita

JVC VHS home system  was released

The apple 2 came out   ————–>        

IGES graphic format file  specified

 

Atari 8-bit computers where intorduced to the world 

George Lucas hires Ed Catmull, Ralph Guggenhiem and Alvy Ray Smith To form Lucas Films ——–>

 

————————————————————————————————————–1980:

Donkey Kong was introduced by Nintendo & Mario was released in the US

Seagate brought out their Hard drive

The Sony Walkman Came Out

Sony & Philips intorduce the first CD player

Adobe Illustrator was created

Disney & Pixar develope CAPS ( Computer Animation Paint System)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit mixed live action with animation

—————————————————————————————————————————————–    1990

3D Studio Max came out
Windows 3.0 also came out

Quicktime was introduced by apple

 

 

 

Nintendo brought out the N64

Reboot used 3D characters

 

Toy Story came out

 

Sony introduced the Playstation 1995 

 MP3 format was developed

 Ebay launched

 

Google launched

 

 Silicon Graphic Incorporated changed the name to SGI

Napster was introduced

 

 Toy Story 2 came out

 

Fantasia came out

Stuart Little came out

 

—————————————————————————————————————————-2000

Playstation 2 was released

 

The Applei-pod was released  

 

AOL & Time Warner merged together.

AAC ( Advance Audio Coding) was introduced byDolby labs

 

Windows XP was released 

Nintendo Gamecube was released

 

Microsoft released the XBOX

 

HP/Compaq merged

Adobe buyout Micromedia for $3.4bn

 

Disney accuire Pixar for $7.4bn

 

 

 

George Lucas Syllabus

            The Pioneers: These visionaries saw the possiblities of the computer as a resource for making and interacting with pictures and pushed the limits of an evolving technology to take it where  computer sciencetists never imagined it could go. there work motivated the work of others as they tried to relized the potential of this new vision. artist & researchers include: Chuck Csuri, John Whitney, Ivan Sutherland and Ken Knowlton.

 

          The Inovators : Many of the inovators were housed in unerversities and research labs and were working towards solving fundamental problems of making picturesof data using the computer. work from many ofthese facilities including Bell labs, Ohio State,

 

         The Early Adapters: The late seventies to mid- eighties saw a second wave of adapters, which were primarily special effects production companies, equipment and software developers, universities, motion pictures companies  and so on.

 

        The Followers: As the technolgy advanced and the acceptance of this new approach to image making increased the industry likewise evolved and many of the current contributors or followers came into being. these included effect production companies such as Pixar,Disney,Metrolight,Rhythm and Hues, ILM, Sony, Digital Domain and so on.

I believe that George Lucas is a Early Adapter & a Follower. I believe this because he created the film Star Wars which became one of the best selling films of all time, ILM (Industrial and Light Magic) which is Georg Lucas Company  played a big part in the film , creating  scenrios and background  which look realistic in the film and i think it open up a whole new world to different Visual Effect companies  because it’s getting very common in films.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cartesian Co-ordinate System

The Cartesian Co-ordinate System

When working in 3D design or graphics, we are working with the illusion of 3D space in a 2 dimensional environment. Its also uses the same co ordinate system for teaching algebra.

<——— Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

“Cogito Ergo sum” = “I think,therefore I am”

Rene Descartes a French mathematician developed the Cartesian Co ordinate System in 1637 He published Geometry which was a combination of algebra and aswell as geometry . He was one of the most important western philosophers in that century. he was called ‘Father of Modern Mathermatics

when working in 3D graphics we are working in a 2D enviroment. which to us would be a computer screen. to allow us to do this, 3D software such as 3Ds Max and other programes, allow us make use of the Cartesian Co-ordinates system to create the illusion of working in a 3D space. its also the same method for teaching algebra.

 

2-Dimensional Cartesian Co-ordinate System
The 2Dimensional Cartesian system consist of 2 axis, the X and Y axis. They are both perpendicular to each other. on the diagram to the X axis is labeled at the bottom and the Y axis is labled at the top left of the screen. Another way to remember this is X facing the bottom and Y heading to the sky. The X & Y axis form the XY plane. the values on the axis can be a positive or a negative (+) (-) depending on it’s location, reason being is because the arrows on the axis can go on for ever. the point were both axis meet is called the meeting point, on the map that would be represented with the number 0.

3-Dimensional Cartesian Co-ordinate System
The 3-Dimensional cartesian co-ordinates system started early in the 19 century. this axis was know as the Z axis (Depth axis). This axis lets us locate any point in 3-Dimensional space. The reason why this is popular the the 2-Dimensional is because it can represents width, height & length (3D)

3D Software Using 3-Dimensional Cartesian Co-Ordinates
Most 3D software use a series of viewports to view shapes, for example 3D Studio Max uses Top Viewport,Left Viewport, Front

Viewport & Perspective Viewport.

 

 

The Left/Right-Hand Cartesian Co-Ordinates System

How to remember the directions for the XYZ axis

• Make sure that your right hand is flat and the palm side facing up
• Pointing right extend the thumb out to the side, that represents the X axis
• leave the index finger extend the finger fully away from you, that represents the Y axis
• Point the middle finger to the sky, that represents the Z axis

 

 

 

 

George Lucas

Name: George Walton Lucas Jr

D.O.B: 14 May 1944

P.O.B: Modesto California USA

 

Achivements:

1991:

• The Academy’s  Irving G Thalberg Award

2005:

• Life time achivement award in 2005

• Voted the 100 Greatest Americian by Discovery Channel

• Nominated for 4 awards including:

Best directing  & best writer for the film Americian Graffiti &

Best directing & best writing  for the film Star Wars (Great Film)

filmography: Producer, Writer, Director, Editor, Actor, Sound Department

& Visual Effect.

George Lucas started his career as a film director in 1967 creating small films including THX-1138, he was awarded a solarship at the famous Warner Bros company to observe the film Finians Rainbow in 1968 which was being directed by Francis Ford Coppola. George Lucas & Francis Coppola became good friends and formed a company called American Zoetrope in 1969. the companies first full project was George Lucas’s THX-1138 in 1971 but the company was short lived because Francis Coppola went in to he production of the Godfarther (Brilliant Film) so George Lucas formed his own company called Lucasfilms LTD. from 1973 to 1974 he began  writing the screenplay for the film Starwars. he was inspiried to write the film by watchhin the films Flash Gordan & Planet of The Apes . In 1975 he established ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) to produce the visual effects for the film. Sprocket Systems did the  editing and mixing for Star Wars but later on the were renamed Skywalker Sounds. His movie was turned down by serveral movie studios until Twenthieth Centry Fox gave him an chance to develope his idea. the move went on to break all box office records and earned 7 acandemy awards. He’s also worrked with William Reeves on the film Return of The Jedi

 

   

Pixar:The Way We Make Films:

 

 The Story Idea:

a member of the pixar company get together with the other members of the development team and that person shares the idea with the team. with this company they want the audience to believe in the film that they’re creating so you could say that they are a family company.

 

The Text Tretment:

A treatment is a short document to summerise the main ideas for the story/film. many treatments sometimes of the same idea will be developed to find the right balance between soild and open possibilities. 

  Storyboards are drawn:

Storyboards are like hand written comic books versions of the movie. Its the blueprint for the action & dialouge. the storyboard artist recives script pages &/or a beat outline a map of the characters emotional changes

Cast/ Voice Overs & Recordings

At first artist from  the Pixar team will do the voice overs for the storyboard reel, when the dialouge & storyboard is at a latter stage they bring in the professional (the big guns), they start to record their voices normally reading from script or improvising . they record the lines & voices in several different ways to ge their emotional  reactions and expressions.

Editing & Making Reels:

REEL: (Is like a video tape that allows the clean up storyboard sequence to stand alone) the edit artist job is to use the information to fix the length & other elements of each shot in a sequence.

 

The Art Development Creates The Looks & Feel

They create inspiratioinal art illstrusting the world & the characters. also their jobs is to create the set.

 Models: Sculpted & Articulated:

by them using the art department models a set of informational drawings, the characters sets and props are either sclupted by hand then scanned in 3D directly in the computer, they are given avars/hinges  in which the animator will be able to move the character

 

 The Sets are made:

Once the sets are built they must be dressed with props made, the chairs,curtains, the carpets and so on, it to create a may believe world, a set dresser works with the producer and director to ensure that the director vision for the enviroment in being relized

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

3D Production Pipeline

 Concepts:

Storyboards
Ideas
Sketches
Brain Storms 
Draft

Modeling:
Creating the conceps and turing them into 2D & 3D

Materials:

Adding texture,
Enviroment
Mapping

Scripting:

Rigging the Characters,
Reaction,
Contol Animation
Deformations
Skin Morph,
Skin Warp,
Parameter Controller

Lighting:
Scene assembly
Layers,
Texture,
Camera angles
Rendering- Find Render,
Find Touches,
Composition