Project XBR Webinar
I attended the 9am EST “Project Excalibur Webinar” yesterday. For those who do not know, what has been named “Project Excalibur” is the future of Autodesk’s 3DS Max. It is a major overhaul of Max’s core that is being done in three phases. The first phase was the Max 2010 release.
Some photographs were leaked in recent months from an private conference discussing these future plans. Autodesk came out and confirmed the leaked photos as well as provided the information that could be seen in the blurred photos in text format so things were more clear. Then, they held this webinar yesterday to inform people even further of the plans.
Read MoreSticky Lips
A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to take a stab at creating the “Sticky Lips” effect. I saw a few tutorials out there, but they were only for Maya and didn’t translate too well to 3DS Max. I decided to play around a bit and try to come up with a method for Max on my own.
After a bit of RnD time I came up with a method for getting the sticky effect. I think the solution is a pretty good one, but I am still working on getting the sticky effect to only be active when the lips are opening. I got something working for the example below, but its not as good as it could be. I plan to continue developing that aspect to try to get something nice and solid.
Read MoreIntro C++ Course
I decided, back in July, to take a C++ introduction course during the upcoming semester. I initially registered for an in-class course at Durham College, but I found out the day before the first class that the course had been cancelled due to low-enrollment and instead ended up taking an online course with Ontario Learn, through Durham College.
The semester is now over and I’ve just received my marks. Overall I am happy with the outcome of the course. I feel like I have a good base that I can build on. My reason for taking the course is to gradually learn Max’s SDK. I have been told that the SDK is a beast in itself, so I’m taking things one step at a time. I am going to try to get a slight grasp of the SDK next, and then if I feel like it I might go back for the Intermediate C++ course. That won’t be for a little while though.
Read MoreNew laptop!
I bought a new laptop from Dell just before the new year, and it arrived today!
Finding the right laptop for me was pretty tough. I did a lot of shopping, and the options in Canada are very lacking compared to the US. The main thing I was looking to upgrade from my old laptop was the graphics card. The last machine had an integrated graphics chip and although the computer wasn’t great in the first place, the graphics were by far the weakest link.
Unfortunately, graphics cards seem to be the most difficult thing to find for laptops in Canada! You’re either looking at bottom of the barrel or top of the line, and almost nothing in between. My desktop computer is my main workstation, and my laptop is more for personal use, when I’m on the road, and the odd time I am working on location or providing training. For these reasons, I was looking for a graphics card that was more middle ground.
Read MoreNew Year, New Site!
Happy New Year everybody! I felt it was about time for me to make an update to my website, as in overhaul it. I found I wasn’t updating as much as I would have liked, and I thought the reason might be because it just was too much of a hassle. I decided to look into what this whole “blogging” thing is that the kids these days are raving about, and I’m glad that I did.
As you can see, my new site design follows a blog format. It is using WordPress, and although I am still new to it I like it a lot. Everything is handled through a WYSIWYG editor and the visual style is taken care of by a theme (I purchased from Elegant Themes. Really pleased with their products and service so far!) I am confident that this will all make it easier for me to update and hopefully, in turn, will lead to me updating more often. Time will tell.
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