Category: tutplus

Set extension and/or CG integration with live action footage is a key aspect of Visual Effects work, and it’s our job as CG artists to ensure that we use a suitable workflow for the job at hand. In this detailed 3-day tutorial series, Alvaro Castañeda shows us one possible workflow, moving from PFTrack for tracking, to Maya for modelling, texturing and rendering, and then compositing the result in Maya Composite, having used AE along the way! ‘The Skateshop’ is an unmissable tutorial for anyone looking to get into VFX .

Tutorial Series Details

• Author: Alvaro Castaneda

• Software: Autodesk Maya

• Software: Adobe After Effects

• Software: PFTrack

• Difficulty: Intermediate

Other Parts In This Series

• “The Skateshop”

Download The Skateshop: Part 3 (Autodesk Maya)

Set extension and/or CG integration with live action footage is a key aspect of Visual Effects work, and it’s our job as CG artists to ensure that we use a suitable workflow for the job at hand. In this detailed 3-day tutorial series, Alvaro Castañeda shows us one possible workflow, moving from PFTrack for tracking, to Maya for modelling, texturing and rendering, and then compositing the result in Maya Composite, having used AE along the way! ‘The Skateshop’ is an unmissable tutorial for anyone looking to get into VFX .

Tutorial Series Details

• Author: Alvaro Castaneda

• Software: Autodesk Maya

• Software: Adobe After Effects

• Software: PFTrack

• Difficulty: Intermediate

Other Parts In This Series

• “The Skateshop”

Download The Skateshop: Part 2 (Autodesk Maya)

Set extension and/or CG integration with live action footage is a key aspect of Visual Effects work, and it’s our job as CG artists to ensure that we use a suitable workflow for the job at hand. In this detailed 3-day tutorial series, Alvaro Castañeda shows us one possible workflow, moving from PFTrack for tracking, to Maya for modelling, texturing and rendering, and then compositing the result in Maya Composite, having used AE along the way! ‘The Skateshop’ is an unmissable tutorial for anyone looking to get into VFX .

Tutorial Series Details

• Author: Alvaro Castaneda

• Software: Autodesk Maya

• Software: Adobe After Effects

• Software: PFTrack

• Difficulty: Intermediate

Other Parts In This Series

• “The Skateshop”

Download The Skateshop: Part 1 (Autodesk Maya)

This tutorial follows Houdini artist Alvaro Castaneda as he walks you through the creation of this awesome animated pinboard effect in Houdini. Part 1 covers the creation of the model, while part 2 covers the animation and rendering of the pinboard effect.

Tutorial Series Details

• Author: Alvaro Castaneda

• Software: Houdini

• Difficulty: Beginner/Intermediate

Other Parts In This Series

• “Pinboard Effect”

Download Create a Pinboard Effect in Houdini: Part 2 (Software)

This tutorial follows Houdini artist Alvaro Castaneda as he walks you through the creation of this awesome animated pinboard effect in Houdini. Part 1 covers the creation of the model, while part 2 covers the animation and rendering of the pinboard effect.

Tutorial Series Details

• Author: Alvaro Castaneda

• Software: Houdini

• Difficulty: Beginner/Intermediate

Other Parts In This Series

• “Pinboard Effect”

Download Create a Pinboard Effect in Houdini: Part 1 (Software)

Photoshop can be used to create interfaces for all sorts of applications in addition to websites. In this premium tutorial, author Diego Monzon will demonstrate how to create a retro style electronic safe lock interface using both Photoshop and Illustrator.

Download Create a Retro Electronic Safe Lock Interface (Adobe Photoshop)

In the third and final part of this monstrous, 10 hour tutorial series CG artist Ben Tate, will demonstrate how to create realistic high resolution textures for his high-end Mac-10 sub-machine gun model. This series is a must see for any artist that wants to level up their skills in high quality CG weapon creation, or just become better at texturing in general!

Over the course of this 10 hour monster of a tutorial, you will gain access to time saving professional gun modeling tricks and techniques that are universal to any 3d modeling application. We’ll give you an in-depth look at using the revolutionary and intuitive Headus UVLayout to quickly and effectively lay out all of the gun’s UVs, and finally, some tried tested and true texture painting techniques that use a careful balance between diffuse, specular, and bump maps to create realistic and convincing final metal textures. Follow professional CG artist and Cgtuts+ Co-Editor Ben Tate, as he demonstrates his entire process of modeling, UV mapping and texturing an extremely high quality Mac-10 sub-machine gun.

Tutorial Series Details

• Author: Ben Tate

• Software: Autodesk 3Ds Max 9

• Software: Adobe Photoshop

• Software: Headus UVLayout (Trial Version)

• Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced

Other Parts In This Series

• “Mac10 Sub-Machine Gun”

Download Mac-10 Submachine Gun: Part 3 – Texturing (Autodesk 3Ds Max)

Follow CG artist Ben Tate, as he demonstrates how to use a combination of 3ds Max’s traditional UVW Unwrap modifier, and Headus UV Layout’s innovative and intuitive UV tools, to quickly slice up his model, and lay each piece down with minimal distortion and in record time! Don’t have UV Layout or 3ds Max, not a problem. Throughout the entire process, the emphasis will be kept firmly on universally transferable UV mapping approaches and techniques, that can be easily be achieved using any 3d application that is capable of UV mapping.

Over the course of this 10 hour monster of a tutorial, you will gain access to time saving professional gun modeling tricks and techniques that are universal to any 3d modeling application. We’ll give you an in-depth look at using the revolutionary and intuitive Headus UVLayout to quickly and effectively lay out all of the gun’s UVs, and finally, some tried tested and true texture painting techniques that use a careful balance between diffuse, specular, and bump maps to create realistic and convincing final metal textures. Follow professional CG artist and Cgtuts+ Co-Editor Ben Tate, as he demonstrates his entire process of modeling, UV mapping and texturing an extremely high quality Mac-10 submachine gun.

Tutorial Series Details

• Author: Ben Tate

• Software: Autodesk 3Ds Max 9

• Software: Adobe Photoshop

• Software: Headus UVLayout (Trial Version)

• Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced

Other Parts In This Series

• “Mac10 Sub-Machine Gun”

Download Mac-10 Submachine Gun: Part 2 – UVMapping (Autodesk 3Ds Max)

In the first part of this mammoth series, we will discuss a variety of efficient and innovative modeling techniques to create a medium density model. You will learn how to break the model down into into its respective parts in the blockout stage, and the approaches and tools to use when crafting the more complex shapes and parts.

We’ll also discuss where and where not to use subdivision modeling to speed things up further. This tutorial is intended for intermediate to advanced CG artists who are looking to take their skills up a notch, or maybe learn a new trick or two.

Over the course of this 10 hour monster of a tutorial, you will gain access to time saving professional gun modeling tricks and techniques that are universal to any 3d modeling application. We’ll give you an in-depth look at using the revolutionary and intuitive Headus UVLayout to quickly and effectively lay out all of the gun’s UVs, and finally, some tried tested and true texture painting techniques that use a careful balance between diffuse, specular, and bump maps to create realistic and convincing final metal textures. Follow professional CG artist and Cgtuts+ Co-Editor Ben Tate, as he demonstrates his entire process of modeling, UV mapping and texturing an extremely high quality Mac-10 submachine gun.

Tutorial Series Details

• Author: Ben Tate

• Software: Autodesk 3Ds Max 9

• Software: Adobe Photoshop

• Software: Headus UVLayout (Trial Version)

• Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced

Other Parts In This Series

• “Mac10 Sub-Machine Gun”

Download Mac-10 Submachine Gun: Part 1 – Modeling (Autodesk 3Ds Max)

If you want to learn how to create branding suitable for a young boy’s bicycle line, then we have an awesome tutorial for you. Use Illustrator CS5 to create a classic war plane filled with boyish character. Follow this professional workflow that takes ample advantage of Illustrator’s Width Tool, among others.

Tutorial Details

• Adobe Illustrator CS5
• Intermediate
• 1.5 Hours

This tutorial is written by Tim Kyde.

Download Create an A-10 Warthog, Character Illustration (Character Design)

If you want to take learn how to create an elegant female portrait from a photo, then we have an awesome tutorial for you. The reference photo in this tutorial is used mostly for structure and some color points, a dramatic transformation takes place through the vector drawing process. Learn some key cosmetic tips as well.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator & Adobe Photoshop CS4 +
• Advanced
• 7-8 hours

This tutorial is written by Sharon Milne.

Download Create a Backlit, Elegant Female Portrait (Illustration)

Hey guys, We’ve got a nice one for you today…. yes, another butterfly tutorial. We will be creating a “non-realistic-semi-fantasy-looking-3d” butterfly from an insect point of view, but the main focus in this tutorial will be more on the final composition of all the different parts… how to get the final look.

Download Whimsical Grassy Field Butterfly Scene Part 2 (After Effects)

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to use AS3 ’s PaletteMap feature to create a character customization interface for your next game.

Why Palette Mapping?

In the past, whenever I wanted to attempt dynamic asset coloring Google searches inevitably led me to the ColorTransform class. ColorTransform works fine for modifying solid colors, but if you’re trying to color a complex piece of art the result is typically not what you want.

With palette mapping we can analyze each pixel of an asset and change the color appropriately to retain the highlights and shading of the original image. It’s not immediately clear from the documentation for paletteMap how to make use of it, so that’s what I’m going to cover here.

Download Customizing Game Characters with Palette Mapping (ActionScript)

Hey guys, We’ve got a nice one for you today…. yes, another butterfly tutorial. We will be creating a “non-realistic-semi-fantasy-looking-3d” butterfly from an insect point of view, but the main focus in this tutorial will be more on the final composition of all the different parts… how to get the final look. We’ll post Part 2 tomorrow.

Download Whimsical Grassy Field Butterfly Scene Part 1 (After Effects)

The ‘Civil War Cannon” is 3D Studio Max tutorial series by Cgtuts+ Co-Editor Chris Tate. This tutorial series focuses on the creation of a detailed, high resolution Civil War Cannon model using 3D Studio Max, xNormal and Photoshop. The entire pipeline is covered in detail, starting with the creation of the model and then moving onto Uvmapping and texturing.

Throughout the project, we’ll utilize a wide range of tools and techniques, including basic poly modeling and spline work, to more advanced subdivision modeling. We’ll also make use of many of 3ds Max’s modifiers and uvmapping tools.

After completing the modeling and Uvmapping, we’ll move over to xNormal to bake out an Ambient Occlusion Map and then into Photoshop to create our Diffuse, Bump and Specular maps. Lighting the scene, shader creation and completing a final render are also covered in detail.

Tutorial Series Details

• Author: Chris Tate

• Software: Autodesk 3Ds Max 9

• Software: Adobe Photoshop

• Software: xNormal (Free)

• Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced

Other Parts In This Series

• “The Civil War Cannon”

Download The Civil War Cannon: Modeling – Part 4 (Autodesk 3Ds Max)