In this training you will learn from several Digital-Tutors instructors, each of whom will be guiding you through a portion of the entire production pipeline used to create our final motion graphics piece. We will begin by exploring many of the powerful modeling tools found in 3ds Max, and utilizing these tools to build our 3D motion graphics elements. From there, we will look at a number of animation tools and features that will allow us to quickly add movement and life to our 3ds Max elements. From there, we will learn how to incorporate dynamic elements such as flowing cloth, smoke, and sparks into our scene. Finally, we will learn how to render out our elements from 3ds Max, and utilize After Effects for final compositing and sweetening of our motion graphics spot.

Throughout this tutorial, we'll learn how to create a Particle Flow Source and how to navigate the Particle View interface. We'll also learn how to use many of the most commonly used operators to create a particle system that fits our specific needs in our project. We'll also learn how to utilize space warps like gravity and wind with particle flow to modify the behaviors of our particle systems. Finally, we'll learn how to apply collisions to our particles and even cause our particles to spawn new particles when they collide with a deflector.

Each video in this collection of tutorials is a self-contained lesson centering on one of 3ds Max's object space modifiers. This means that these tutorials can be viewed in any order you wish, allowing you to jump straight to the content that is most beneficial to you. Over the course of these lessons we will discuss all of the parameters and options found in 3ds Max's object space modifiers.

Each video in this collection of tutorials is a self-contained lesson centering on one of 3ds Max's world space modifiers. This means that these tutorials can be viewed in any order you wish, allowing you to jump straight to the content that is most beneficial to you. Over the course of these lessons we will discuss all of the parameters and options found in 3ds Max's world space modifiers.

Planning, reference materials, and imagination will be addressed, so that students are led to optionally create their own version of the tutorial, equipped with the methods they learn in the video. Included is creating a 3D set to scale, how to make models appear large and dramatic, and maximizing the use of 3 simple tools -- extrude, inset and bevel in polygonal modeling. We will create textures for variation in tones of buildings. Cloning of buildings and attention to staging will be discussed and demonstrated, to maximize the use of a limited number of models to achieve a sense of scale, without sacrificing variety. The fly-through will include creating and animating a camera as it travels with a vehicle flying through the model city. Textures will be from the 3ds Max libraries. A procedural map will be used to create a futuristic sky around the scene. We also cover mental ray rendering and the daylight system for sophisticated shadows, ambient lighting and reflections for glass.

We'll start the course off by learning how to navigate through the 3ds Max interface, and navigating in its viewports. We'll then begin exploring many critical aspects of 3ds Max, such as creating and manipulating primitive objects, understanding the various sub object modes of 3ds Max geometry, animating objects in 3ds Max, working with lights and shadows, adding materials and textures to our scenes, rendering out animated sequences, and many other concepts that will provide you with a solid foundational understanding of 3ds Max and it's capabilities.

Using Particle Flow alongside some basic animation principals, we are going to put together a scene from concept to finish. Dabbling into the some special effects using pflow fundamentals, forces, and operator overview. Then, we will put together all the elements into a scene.

What is Staging? How can it be used to improve the quality of your animations? We will answer these questions as we cover tips and techniques for using this principle to make sure your animations are presented in the clearest way. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a deeper understanding of the principle of Staging, which will help add more entertainment to your work.

Introducing the Beginner Guide to Animation in 3ds Max. In this course, we will start off by covering some ways we can view animation in 3ds Max. We will then take a look at how to create and edit keyframes on the 3ds Max trackbar. After that, you will learn about the powerful animation editor in 3ds Max, the Curve Editor. And to wrap up this project, we will go over how to create animated sequence files for previewing your animations in real-time. By the end of the tutorial, you will understand essential terms and definitions and build a solid foundation for animating in 3ds Max.

What is Solid Drawing? How can this 2d concept be implemented in 3d? Throughout this course, we will define Solid Drawing and work through a variety exercises to help explain it. By the end of this course, you will understand the meaning behind the principle of Solid Drawing, which will help you to polish your animations to attain believable movements throughout the actions of your character.

This course will delve in the animation principle of Anticipation in 3ds Max. Without anticipation, a viewer can totally miss what we are trying to communicate through our characters. So in this course, we cover a few examples of when and how to add this essential component, and, by the end, you will be more knowledgeable of anticipation, which will, in turn, improve your ability as an animator as you use this principle to make sure all actions are clearly conveyed.

In this course, we will explore the animation principle of ease in and ease out in 3ds Max. Why are ease in and ease out so important? Do our characters always need to cushion in and out of their movements, or are there special cases where doing so will just not work? We will answer these questions as we cover tips and techniques for using this principle to help enhance the sense of authenticity in characters. By the end of this course, you will have a deeper understanding of the principle of ease in and ease out, which will help your characters become more life-like to the viewer.

In this course, we will explore the animation principle of follow-through and overlapping in 3ds Max. What should be considered when animating follow-through and overlap? Can follow-through be automated to save time? We will answer these questions as we cover techniques for using this principle to help add more realism to our animations. By the end of this course, you will be more knowledgeable of follow-through and overlapping action, which will help you create more natural-looking animations.

In this tutorial we are going to help you get a good understanding of how to work in 3ds Max. You will be able to learn from several of the instructors here at Digital Tutors as we go through many of the major parts of the software. We are going to cover a wide range of topics in this course. We will start out exploring the user interface and finding our way around 3ds Max. Then we will start to create our own custom model, a pod racer, using a number of powerful modeling tools. We will paint and texture our model, and then take it through the process of rigging and animation. We will finish up by adding dynamic effects to the scene and rendering out a nice result. Once you are finished, you will have exposure to a wide range of disciplines in 3ds Max and be able to start working on your own projects and building on the knowledge you have gained.

This course covers tools and techniques for animating props in 3ds Max. We will discuss methods that are animator-friendly for prop animation. We will learn how to animate constrained objects, and how to blend seamlessly between our space-switches. At the end of this course, you will have the knowledge you need to overcome the challenges of prop animation.

This course will venture into the animation principle of arcs in 3ds Max. What are arcs? Why is this subject so vital in animation? These are but a few questions we will answer as we learn techniques that will assist us in checking for and fixing arcs in our animations. By the end of this course, you will know how to improve your arcs, which will help you become a stronger animator, as you use this principle to add an extra level of realism to the movement of your character.

This course will venture into the animation principle of secondary action in 3ds Max. What is secondary action? Is it another way of describing follow-through and overlap, or is it much more? Throughout this course, we will define secondary action and work through a variety exercises to help get the point across. By the end of this course, you will understand what the principle of secondary action boils down to, which will help you enhance your animations by adding an extra level of realism to your characters.

In this course we will build an animation of a character climbing over a wall from scratch, using techniques that can be implemented in any animation. Step by step, we'll create this climb while covering various techniques like: how to block in your extremes so that finalizing the animation becomes a faster process, strengthening poses to get a more entertaining outcome, and we'll also learn how to work smarter by utilizing Animation Layers to tweak pre-existing animation non-destructively, so that by the end of this course, you'll have the knowledgebase you need to create animations quickly and proficiently.

This course will delve in the animation principle of pose to pose and straight ahead in 3ds Max. The goal of this course is to, not only learn the differences between both pose to pose and the straight ahead approach of animation, but is also for you to learn the advantages of bridging the two methods together. We’ll even look a different technique for animating with Pose to Pose than we've used in the past. That way you can find which workflow is more suitable for you. By the end of this course, you'll have a firm understanding of pose to pose and straight ahead, so that your animation skill-set can be expanded as you use this principle to rough-in and refine your work.

This course will delve in the animation principle of timing and spacing in 3ds Max. Throughout this course, we'll define timing and spacing and work through a variety exercises to help get the point across. We'll even discuss techniques we can use to make sure our animations are timed accurately. By the end of this course, you'll have a deeper understanding of the principle of timing and spacing, which will help you become a better animator.

This course will delve in the animation principle of Exaggeration in Max. The goal of this course is to give you a clearer understanding of what exaggeration is all about. We will explore various ways exaggeration can be implemented successfully. We'll also cover how and how not it should be used, which will, in turn, strength your ability as an animator as you use this principle to refine your work for a more entertaining end result.

This course will delve in the animation principle of squash and stretch in 3ds Max. The goal of this course is to provide you with a deeper understanding of what squash and stretch is all about. We'll cover everything from learning a technique for automating squash and stretch that computes fast, to exploring ways it can be used to add more flexibility to characters.

This course will delve in the animation principle of appeal in 3ds Max. The goal of this course is to give you a greater understanding of what appeal is. We will explore various ways appeal can be added successfully, which will, in turn, strength your ability as an animator as you use this principle to refine your work for more captivating results.

One step at a time, we'll break down the body mechanics of a walk. We'll learn the main positions that one goes through in a walk, we'll learn how to create seamless cycles and we'll also explore ways we can add convincing follow-through and weight to produce a walk that is natural and has a little personality.

We'll cover everything from creating turntables, to techniques we can use to add more entertainment to our shots by camera animation alone. We'll learn various ways we can rig cameras and even discuss shot composition to make sure the audience knows who the significant players and objects of interest are in our scene. By the end, you'll have the knowledge you need to animate the camera confidently, producing results that can captivate an audience.

Why does my character's motion look so unnatural and unappealing? How can my animations captivate an audience? What is missing in my character's movement that will enable it to be more convincing and entertaining? These are a few questions that will be answered throughout this training, all with the help of the 12 fundamental rules of animation. Principle by principle, we'l venture through understanding the meaning behind each question asked above, as well as how each can and should be implemented for success. By the end of this course, you will have the knowledge you need to create magnetic, natural, and memorable character performances.

Popular highlights include: Overview of Animation Tools in Max; Manipulating Animation with Curve Editor; Methods for Fine-tuning Animation; Ghosting Animation; Animating with Expressions; Wiring Parameters; Real-time Previewing; Cloning Key-frames; Exploring Dope Sheet; Path Animation; Layering Animation; Seamlessly Cycling Animation; Saving and Loading Animation; Trackbar Menu; Understanding Trajectories; Motion Mixer Overview; Creating Track Sets; Filtering F-curves; Scaling Keys in Time and Value; Breaking Continuity of Tangents for Weight; Animating with Link Constraint; Setting Default In and Out Tangents; Understanding the Time Configuration Dialog.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Creating the illusion of weight; Creating believable animation; Using the Curve Editor; Solving a floating issue; Setting tangents using Fast Preset. For more information on 3ds Max check out Introduction to Rigging in 3ds Max, a comprehensive resource to establishing a solid rigging foundation.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Creating secondary dynamic effects; Learning how to apply the Spring controller; Discussing the properties of the spring; Using the Tension and Dampening features. For more information on 3ds Max check out Introduction to Rigging in 3ds Max, a comprehensive resource to establishing a solid rigging foundation.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Creating a skeleton to scan our character; Generating motion cycles including walks, runs, and jumps; Using the Motion panel; Bending and scaling our path. To learn more about 3ds Max check out Introduction to Animation in 3ds Max, an in-depth guide to learning the animation tools available in 3ds Max.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Adding twirl deformations; Controlling the twist angle and axis; Limiting the twist; Using the Gizmo and Center features. For more information on 3ds Max check out Introduction to Rigging in 3ds Max, a comprehensive resource to establishing a solid rigging foundation.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Applying the Flex modifier ; Using virtual springs; Creating realistic follow-through; Utilizing the default setting. Learn more about 3ds Max check out Modeling Interiors in 3ds Max, a complete guide to learning a production workflow to interior set modeling and time-saving for use in film, games, and architectural visualizations.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Leaning how to move our object forward and backward; Assigning a float expression; Increasing the speed of our object; Adding keyframes; Automating our object with rotations and rolls. To learn more about 3ds Max check out Introduction to Animation in 3ds Max, an in-depth guide to learning the animation tools available in 3ds Max.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Using a helix to create our path; Creating a path constraint; Orienting our object to the path and the correct axis; Making our object travel smoothly along the path . To learn more about 3ds Max check out Introduction to Animation in 3ds Max, an in-depth guide to learning the animation tools available in 3ds Max.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Filtering function curves; Using the Curve Editor; Focusing on specific tracks; Working with Track Sets to . Learn more about 3ds Max check out Automotive Modeling in 3ds Max, a comprehensive guide to learning automotive modeling for use in film, games, and design.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Modifying our animation ; Creating cushions on frames; Adding ease in and ease out; Controlling the interpolations of our animations. For more information on 3ds Max check out Introduction to Rigging in 3ds Max, a comprehensive resource to establishing a solid rigging foundation.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Linking one objects to multiple objects; Applying the Link constraint; Learning how to quickly animate objects. Learn more about 3ds Max check out Modeling Interiors in 3ds Max, a complete guide to learning a production workflow to interior set modeling and time-saving for use in film, games, and architectural visualizations.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Using a helix to create our path; Creating a path constraint; Orienting our object to the path and the correct axis; Making our object travel smoothly along the path . To learn more about 3ds Max check out Introduction to Animation in 3ds Max, an in-depth guide to learning the animation tools available in 3ds Max.

Topics covered in this tutorial: Using the Curve Editor; Influencing the length of our keys; Stretching out the tangent handle; Working cleanly to achieve a desired outcome. For a complete overview of 3ds Max check out Introduction to mental ray in 3ds Max, a complete guide to learning an essential workflow to rendering with mental ray.