Learning 3D in Maya and Max

3D modeling and animation is something that I really wish. We have learned a bit of Maya in class, but I wish we could have taken more time to really go in depth with the program and make more 3D animations using it. But thanks to this class I have scratched the surface of Maya, and I am planning as a personal project to learn as much about it as I can to take my VFX to the next level.

But besides Maya, there is another program that I have been desiring to learn and try: 3Ds Max. Its another program very similar to Maya (they both come from Autodesk). And in some ways, I feel like I know how to use this program, and I haven't even used it yet. 

I think the reason for this bold claim is because I watched this particular mini series on YouTube from BrandonJLA about learning 3Ds Max. Brandon is famous for being the 2nd in command to Freddie Wong on YouTube back in the early 2010s. They post a lot of cool videos that have a lot of VFX and 3D animations. The programs that they use to make their videos are After Effects and 3Ds Max. Both of these programs are very comment among YouTube and Independent filmmakers. But like any 3D program, many have found it intimidating to learn 3Ds Max. So Brandon takes the audience through the program, how to use it, how he learned it, and some of the pitfalls of 3Ds Max.

I've watched this series of videos a few times, and somehow I feel like I really understand 3Ds Max on at least a basic level. But I just find it humorous that I feel like I know it, and yet I haven't even used it yet. But I am planning to very soon. 

The only problem is that 3Ds Max is exclusively on PC. You cannot download it for Mac (unless you dual boot your Mac to run a Windows operating system, but that process can be very annoying). And as a Mac user, thats kind of annoying, especially when Maya can be used on both Mac and PC (which is ironic since both programs come from the same company). But hopefully I can dowload it on my familys PC back home (if the specs are at least the minimum that I need to operate it).

But that is a project that I plan to do over the break: learn more about and practice 3D in 3Ds Max and Maya.

If you want to learn 3Ds Max in the future, I highly recommend watching this mini series from Brandon: 

    

Maya

Here are a few videos I found that used Maya. I thought they were very interesting to watch.

Autodesk Technology in the Film Industry

One of the most interesting aspects in my enrollment in this class is the ways in which my education can be applied to the motion graphics industry. Even though we've predominantly working with After Effects, the work that can be done using Autodesk's Maya is just astounding. Within the last two days, it has been announced that all 5 of the best VFX and 7 Best Picture Academy Award nominees were designed using Autodesk and Shotgun Software. It has become increasing evident that the role of technology in the service of great storytelling continues to evolve. As the creators of some of the best CG tools in the world, Autodesk has allowed animators rise to the top of the global computer graphics industry. Some of these films are as follows:

                                                                        Big Hero 6

                                                    Captain America: The Winter Solider

                                                         Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

                                                          How to Train Your Dragon 2

Even though we haven't started using Maya, I'm intrigued to learn how animators take full advantage of all of the tools that Autodesk has to offer. This is definitely a type of animation that I want to pursue in the future.

5 Great Movies and Maya

This week, I was completely blown away and excited by Autodesk's program Maya. I have watched several different "behind-the-scenes" documentaries on several different films, and was able to watch as they created environments and creatures. For example, I loved watching how they made the creatures of the Lord of the Rings, and it is only now that I realized that they used the program Maya! I was so excited, and still am, to learn different aspects of Maya, even though there is so much depth and jobs involved in it. As I was researching I came across this article about 5 other movies that used Autodesk programs and the one thing they all had in common?: Maya.

The first was Inception, where they folded over the streets of Paris and had amazing settings.

Then there was Avatar, which was truly amazing with it's ability to combine live action 3D and CG effects. The actors of Avatar were so talented to be able to be on a virtually empty set and still perform as if they were in that actual environment.

Third on the list was Alice In Wonderland, which ties in my previous blog! Not only did they green screen most of the movie, but to find out that they used Maya as well really brought both concepts together in a way I never expected.

Fourth, was Iron Man 2. This was really cool to read because they not only used Autodesk 3D programs, but also made parts of the suits in actual life around the actors. Then they molded the suits later in computer graphics.

 Finally, and least expected, was Black Swan, when Natalie Portman turned into the swan.

Reading this article was eye-opening. There were a few that I suspected used Autodesk programs like Maya, but there were others that I never expected to find. After my brief experience, I can't imagine the amount of time it would take to do the things they accomplished in these films. It is truly incredible to continue to learn how "movie magic" is done.

By Amber Capogrossi

Catch Me If You Can

In my sophomore year at Ithaca College, my production class's teaching assistant talked about the opening title sequence of Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can. He discussed with us how it was one of the most simple and brilliant uses of motion graphics. With the use of just basic vectors and motion, the opening sequence essentially tells the story to the audience before the actual story even begins.

A little research into this title sequence shows that the creators used Autodesk software to create the scene. The style, font, and everything else about the entire sequence takes the viewer back to the time period in which the film takes place, the 1960s. There is a beautiful use of the moving lines in the scene to not only tell the story, but to also write out the title itself, as well as the cast and crew in the opening credits.

The scene shows how motion graphics even in the most simplest of ways can do an incredibly effective job in an opening sequence, and leave a profound impact on the audience for years to come!