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“I've watched Alex Alvarez's
training DVDs on Dynamics... and they are
amazing! I've learned so much from the lectures, they have
helped make me a better visual effects artist. I started
using Maya for effects animation when I joined Square USA
for the film "Final
Fantasy" about
4 years ago. I wish I had these DVDs then. Well, better
late than never. ”
- Andy Chen
Effects Animator
Dreamworks Feature Animation
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Dynamic springs exist in Maya
for two purposes: to keep particles together and to connect
particles to vertices. Neither application is softbody specific,
although in conjunction with softbodies many useful effects
become possible. The focus of this lecture is to demonstrate
how objects is Maya can be positionally and orientationally
constrained to softbody movement in order to create mechanisms
which combine both rigid and elastic objects. We begin with
the creation of spring-cams used for simulating hand-held and
ride-film camera effects. We then apply these techniques to
the creation of ‘Episode One’ style pod racers,
suspension rigs, bridges and softbody/character interactions.
Product Code: DYN11
Create Softbody
Springs
Fields
Cameras
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Constraints
Expressions
Component Editor |
 01:
Introduction
02: Spring Cams
03: Pod Racer
04: Hanging Crate
05: Bridge
06: Bridge Steps
07: Credits
Click here to
view a sample clip from this DVD. Note that while this
clip is 640x480 the actual movie size is 720x480 with
higher quality compression. View the stills to the right
to see the actual resolution.
Alex is founder and director of The Gnomon Workshop
and of Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood. Alex has been published
in industry magazines, websites, and books - plus he has taught courses
at several major trade conferences. His character animation projects
have appeared on many computer graphics websites, on the cover of the ‘Maya
Character Animation’ book published by New Riders, and his 'Zufuhr'
project was commissioned by Alias for their Siggraph stage presentations.
Alex is president of the Los Angeles Alias Users Group and sits on the
Advisory Board for Highend3D.com. Prior to Gnomon, Alex worked for Alias,
as a consultant and trainer for studios in the Los Angeles area. Alex
is an alumni of the Art Center College of Design and the University
of Pennsylvania.
For more of Alex's work, visit:
www.alexalvarez.com.
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