Rob Redman takes a look at Autodesk’s latest iOS app for sculpting creatures on the move

PRICE: £2.99 / $4.99 / €4.49

PLATFORM: iOS (iPad only)

MAIN FEATURES

• Large-scale modelling
• Fine-detail sculpting
• Texture painting

DEVELOPER: Autodesk

When Autodesk released 123D Sculpt, I was impressed with its usability, but I also knew that something even more impressive was coming down the line. So when 123D Creature was finally released, I was quick to get it in for review.

This new release walks you through a number of stages to create a creature. You start by drawing out a skeleton using simple joints and bones. You then define the large volumes before moving on to the sculpting section, where fine details are added. Once happy with the geometry you can paint textures and – in a limited way – render out lit versions.

Where this app really shines is in its presentation. The excellent ‘first-time use’ guides explain the user interface perfectly. The UI itself is simple but effective. Creating your first creature takes minimal learning – if you get stuck, you can access the training with one click. You can save, duplicate and open projects easily, as well as export your mesh or share models with the community via the built-in browser.

The final icing on the cake is Autodesk’s partnering with Sculpteo, the 3D printing company. From within the app you can order a print of your model, even in colour, which can be with you in just two days – and there’s nothing quite like seeing a model you’ve created in real life. The quality of the prints is good, with a decent level of detail. You can choose from a range of sizes, with larger prints having better detail.

123D Creature is a fantastic app for creating critters on the move. It isn’t high-end, but it’s fun and intuitive to use

RATING 4

3D World’s technical editor Rob Redman is a 3D artist and trainer

More creature design tips and tutes

• Creature design is both exciting and daunting in equal measures. Mike Griggs helps you get started with this Creature Design tute
• Step-by-step ZBrush workshop by Ryan Kingslien on sculpting and painting a bust of the mythical monster Medusa
• Sculpt a biomech figure in ZBrush with Scott Spencer
• ZBrush Tutorial: Scott Spencer shows you how to create an insectoid alien
• Discover Aaron Sims Company’s concept artist: Luca Nemolato

Check out dates, rumours and videos which show some of the new features in the forthcoming Autodesk software releases

March is a big month for Autodesk, putting the finishing touches to its main products and preparing to tell the world about them. Here we have sneak peeks of new features and details of the Unfold event in Montreal at the end of March but check back on our website later this month as we reveal everything you need to know about new versions of Maya, 3ds Max, Softimage and Mudbox. Check back for rumours of new features as we’ll be updating this page as and when we hear anything!

Unfolding the new Autodesk product line

The Unfold event takes place in Montreal on Wednesday 27 March 6pm EST and you can watch it online. Autodesk is showing a behind-the-scenes look at a new project, running Autodesk 2014 workflow demonstrations, and a state-of-the-industry panel where experts will debate the future of the 3D industry.

Getting your Autodesk product questions answered

Ahead of the Unfold event, on Tuesday 26 March you can join an online exclusive where you can see the new Autodesk 2014 animation products in action. You’ll be able to browse the new interactive site and get Autodesk product managers to answer questions about the new products. If you have a very specific question to ask, you can register for a The Expert Challenge session to ask your question live. Details on the website of individual sessions.

New tools, new features in Autodesk 2014 products

Here are six videos that show a sneak peek at some of the new tools in the forthcoming releases. Check back to this page as we add more information in the coming weeks.

3ds Max: Populate

3ds Max: Nitrous part 1

Softimage: Sequencer

Maya: Grease Pencil

Maya: Modelling Tools

Mudbox

▲ Maya is more than a jack-of-all-trades package. It can achieve any visual style you require

PRICE:£3,050 / $3,495 / €3,900
Upgrade: £1,525 / $1,725 / €1,950

PLATFORM: Windows / Mac / Linux

MAIN FEATURES:

• Character animation toolset
• Integrated nucleus dynamics system for particles, cloth and hair
• Customisable through MEL and Python scripting and C++ or Python API capabilities
• Core modelling tools for polygons, NURBS or subdivision surfaces
• Viewport 2.0

DEVELOPER: Autodesk

Maya has been an industry-standard 3D modelling, animation and VFX tool for more than a decade. Over the last few releases there hasn’t been much to suggest that Autodesk is trying to reinvent the wheel, but there have been small but significant changes – and Maya 2013 is set to continue this trend. While the basic navigation, tools and workflow remain the same, there have been additions and improvements made to try to speed some tasks up and make others easier.

Maya is widely used as a character animation package and this latest incarnation strengthens the tools available to animators. The joint, skinning and muscle systems of past versions are still available, as well as the editable motion trails that emerged in Maya 2012. Now you also have access to ATOM (Animation Transfer Object Model), an XML-based file format that enables you to transfer animations on rigs between scenes. You can export a template of the entire animation or select ‘views’ – specific portions of the animation, such as leg or arm movements. These can be used separately or exported as a separate part of the main file. As ATOM is XML-based, it allows modification of elements of the file, either manually or through the in-built search-and-replace function on import. This means you can build up a library of animations or poses that can be imported for use with any character or scene.

The new Heat Map Skinning feature is again typical of the Maya upgrade as a whole. While it doesn’t signal a major change in workflow, it’s significant and will make character setup a lot easier and quicker. The new algorithm calculates the relationship of vertices to particular joints when skinning. Nothing new there perhaps, but it allows vertices on opposite legs, for example, to be overlapping in world space but still be skinned to the correct joint, without the need for excessive weight painting.

INTERFACE IMPROVEMENTS

Maya’s interface has often been seen as a little bloated and visually crowded. While this may still be the case for some, the inclusion of a new Node Editor is a step in the right direction: it incorporates the functionality of the Hypershade, Connection Editor and Hypergraph into one node-based window. It has three levels of complexity (basic node names, active connections and all possible connections), so viewing and connecting elements has become much simpler. When rigging a character, a common workflow was to jump between the Connection Editor and Hypergraph because of their ease of use in different situations. To combine their operations into one space should prove to be a huge timesaver. The Hypershade window was always painfully slow, and the Node Editor seems to have addressed this issue too.

As a modelling package, Maya is really broad. You can create primitive shapes as polygons, subdivision surfaces or NURBS surfaces. The modelling and UV toolsets and processes are the same as previous releases and similar to the core tools of any 3D package – you work in Object, Face, Edge or Vertex mode and extrude or add more detail as necessary. The core tools are good but it’s an area in which I wouldn’t have expected Autodesk to rest on its laurels, and Maya is still without a solid, working symmetry mode. There are workarounds but none of them work universally with all of the tools.

UPDATED DYNAMICS

Another area that’s been tweaked is Maya’s dynamics tools. The nDynamics system was introduced four years ago and incorporated nCloth and nParticles, joined under a common Nucleus system. Maya 2013 sees the old Maya Hair system updated and brought under the umbrella of the Nucleus system. This allows bi‑directional interactions between hair and the other elements of the nDynamics system, while drastically speeding up sim time. It also allows for self-collision between hairs, which maintains much more of the hair’s volume than the original Maya Hair system.

Maya 2013 also sees the introduction of the open-source Bullet dynamics engine. This allows a mixture of rigid‑body dynamics, soft-body dynamics and ragdoll simulations all in the same scene. It’s fairly easy to use and, while Autodesk is one of the last major companies to incorporate Bullet, it’s a huge improvement on the limited DMM system that was available in Maya 2012.

Import and export of the Alembic file type for caches has also been incorporated. This is a huge plus for Maya. It allows simulations and animations to be cached into an application-independent file type, which means it can easily be transferred along a studio’s pipeline or used to ease the computational burden on single machines. It also means huge and often unwieldy scene files don’t have to be hauled around. Alongside this is the introduction of the GPU cache; while this enables you to import Alembic data it does so by creating a GPU Cache node that isn’t built out of a standard mesh, and bypasses the dependency graph altogether. Instead it’s sent directly to the GPU and so allows you to create hugely complex reference scenes.

Overall, Maya is far more than just a jack‑of-all-trades; it has long been an industry standard and it’s easy to see why. There’s not much it can’t do once you know your way around. There may be a steep learning curve for some elements, but unique and impressive work never comes easily, no matter what the medium. This update has strengthened Maya as a character animation package, but without a doubt it will continue to improve in other areas release after release.

VERDICT

PROS

• Alembic file cache makes transfer simpler
• Movement of animations between scenes

CONS

• Modelling tools are due an upgrade
• The interface is still a little overcrowded

Maya is a hugely detailed package for almost any visual style or effect, but you will have to spend some time learning it

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patrick Finn is a freelance Maya generalist. A background in mathematics and scripting led to him working with MEL, Maya’s dynamics system and its modelling toolset

• Why not follow Patrick’s excellent Maya tutorial on building a steampunk model?
• We will be reviewing Maya 2014 as soon as the new version comes out

All you need to know about Autodesk’s animation software is here. Find out what’s new and check out loads of 3D art and animations created using Maya. Make this page your destination for all things Maya…

UPDATED: 25 Sept Check out 3D World’s Maya 2013 review

Autodesk’s Maya has proved invaluable to the CG industry. Here you’ll find useful information on Maya-related content, from reviews and tutes to animations and arkwork. Enjoy!

Maya 2012 review

Find out whether the improvements and enhancements in the latest annual update to Maya 2012 justify an upgrade.

Maya 2013 review

Patrick Finn looks at the new release of Autodesk’s animation software and discovers that it’s good news for animators.

Remember to bookmark this page to get the first news for Maya 2014.
We’ll be bringing you any rumours about Maya 2014 new features and the Maya 2014 review as soon as we get an preview copy.

Now it’s time to fire up your copy of Maya and get creative:

Maya tutorials

1. How to create effects using Force Fields
In a series of four videos, master of Maya Eric Keller shows you how to use a texture map to control nParticle effects. Sounds complicated, but it’s actually much easier than you might think.

2. How to render a mirrored normal map in mental ray
Antony Ward helps you overcome a tricky rendering issue in Maya that can show an unsightly seam on a mirrored object. Ever had that problem? Here’s how to fix it.

3. How to create dynamic smoke trails
Maya tutorials guru Eric Keller returns to explain how the software’s powerful fluid emission tools can help you animate a realistic smoke trail following a flying rocket.

4. How to create a brushed metal material in Maya
Some Maya tutorials are essential to building up your core skills. In this one, Firat Enderoglu shows you how to easily and quickly achieve a realistic metallic finish that you can apply to your 3D models.

5. Gimbal explained in Escape’s free Maya tutorial
Escape Studios has released its latest free tutorial in which VFX tutor Lee Danskin covers Gimbal and rotation order, explaining what it is, what causes it, and the issues it has within Maya-authored animations.

6. How to create models that look like clay
To make a model look like clay you have to find a good balance of model detail and displacements. Not only that, but you need to have materials and lights that support the look. Everything is explained in this tutorial.

7. How to create your own TV ident
Use Maya and After Effects to create your own channel ident for a fictitious TV station.

8. How to create a robot and rig tank tracks

In this series of nine videos, Antony Ward creates a cute robot to demonstrate the principles of rigging a rotating track.

9. Free Escape Studios tutorial: Volume caustics for Maya
Escape Studios has another new free tutorial for Maya users. Learn how to set up a complex scene and generate lighting effects through volumetric material.

10. How to create a switchable IK/FK character rig
Another member of our Maya tutorials team, Chad Robert Morgan, shows you how some clever scripting can help you establish a character rig that transitions smoothly between animation states.

11. Build a steampunk model in Maya
Patrick Finn shows you how to use hard-surface modelling techniques to create a stylised mechanical bird.

For a collection of Maya tutes, head to our sister site Creative BloQ and try out one of these mighty Maya tutorials, which include working with mental ray, guide curves and character rigging.

Maya tutorials: 30 awesome CG projects you should try today

Art created using Maya

Here’s a selection of the best new 3D renders created using a variety of software including 3ds Max, Cimena 4D, V-Ray, Photoshop, Nuke, Lightwave, Blender, Maya, mental ray and ZBrush. Find out how the 3D artists created these awesome 3D images…
See CG art created using Maya and other 3D software

Top Maya animations

Find out how this epic animated short about monsters vs robots was created using a combination of Autodesk’s Maya, Adobe’s After Effects and Photoshop.
Watch Godaizer and read the making-of article

Find out how this comedic animated short about a guy with a passion for working nine-til-five was created using a combination of Maya, Nuke and Mental Ray.
Watch Waking Gus

Watch this short black comedy animation about the Reaper’s attempts at claiming a soul and find out how it was created using Maya, Mental Ray, Fusion and Photoshop
Watch Temps Mort

Find out how 3D animation The Cursors Curse was created using Maya, Nuke and After Effects as director Richard Gillies takes us behind the scenes.
Watch The Cursors Curse

Useful Maya 3D animation software sites

Autodesk
Autodesk Area

Bookmark this page as we’ll be regularly updating it with all things Maya.

Find out whether the improvements and enhancements in the latest annual update to Maya 2012 justify an upgrade

This Maya 2012 render tests the capabilities of Hardware 2.0, utilising depth of field and the normal maps, with maximum anti-aliasing settings

Price:
£3,050 / $3,495 / €3,900
Upgrade
£1,525 / $1,745 / €1,950

Platform:
Windows / Mac / Linux

Developer:
Autodesk

Main features:

• Viewport 2.0 improvements
• Enhanced HumanIK
• Render passes in Hypershade
• Improved fluids and nDynamics
• Third-party procedural textures, plus vehicle animation, DMM and PhysX plug-ins

Reading Autodesk’s press release, Maya 2012’s new features struck us initially as underwhelming.

Later, however, more details emerged and the prospect seemed rosier.

With the new release now available, it isn’t immediately clear where Maya 2012 sits on the scale ranging from ‘must-have upgrade’ to ‘maybe wait for the next release’.

Maya 2011 brought substantial improvements to the existing toolset, including a fantastic overhaul of the skinning system; new features like the Camera Sequencer and Viewport 2.0; and, of course, a new look with the versatile Qt interface.

Over the following year, a lot of initial bugs and glitches were ironed out of 2011: the last update was extremely solid.

It’s been reported that there’s an effort within Autodesk to improve communication and co-operation between the separate development teams working on its 3D and compositing applications.

It’s not surprising that this has resulted in all the 2012 releases benefiting from greater interoperability, as well as (for the first time) their simultaneous release….

Autodesk’s sculpting tool for the iPad is great for artists on the go, says Rob Redman

PRICE: Free
PLATFORM: iPad
MAIN FEATURES:

• Gesture control
• Sculpting and painting
• Community galleries

DEVELOPER: Autodesk

Spend a few minutes with 123D Sculpt and you’ll see the impact tablet computing can have on an artist’s working life.

123D Sculpt is essentially a cut-down version of Mudbox that’s been built for the iPad. On first launch you’re greeted with a simple but effective tutorial, which does a good job of getting you up and running.

• Read a review of Mudbox

The tools are straightforward and predictable, with push, pull, smooth and so on, but it’s how they work that really makes this little app shine.

Swipe, pinch or twist with your fingers off the model and you navigate the scene. Select a tool and draw directly on your model (or one of the supplied meshes) to sculpt.

The tools work well but beware of odd creases on the reverse side. Much of the time these won’t be an issue because 123D Sculpt has a useful symmetry mode.

Despite being a free app, 123D Sculpt has some great features: notably texture imprinting

One great feature of this app is the texture imprinting. You can paint with straight colour, or load an image into the view.

Line up your model underneath the image and paint the mesh where you want it, and the app transfers pixel data onto the polygons. It’s very clever and very fun.

You’ll also find a save section where you can upload to a user gallery online, or save models and renders locally.

The experience with this app is one of fun, quick sculpts, and it’s great for using on the train or doodling while watching TV. 123D Sculpt is no powerhouse, but that’s to be expected, because the best feature is that it’s free.

VERDICT

123D Sculpt is a great app for concepting on the move, with a usable selection of tools and an innovative method for texturing. Thoughtful design and links to community galleries are nice touches

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rob Redman has been in the animation and VFX industry for over a decade, and has worked with clients ranging from pop stars to governments. He is also 3D World’s very own Technical Editor
3dworldmag.com

This Wednesday the 3ds South Wales and wider area User Group will be meeting in Cardiff. Find out how you can get involved and win prizes…

The first 3ds South Wales and wider area User Group meeting will be held on Wednesday 20th June from 7pm-10.30 at the Cardiff office of consultant engineers Arup. (4 Pierhead Street, Cardiff Bay, CF10 4QP).

“The aim of the group is to bring together like minded people where we can share ideas, techniques and experiences of 3ds Max and visualisation in general, as well as have a bit of fun,” says Senior Visualisation Designer and organiser Colin Hanford.

“For future meetings however we will look for somewhere more ‘social’ ”

There’ll be an opportunity to go for drinks after the event too, says Colin. Sound like our kind of event!

Guest speakers include Jamie Gwilliam

Autodesk’s 3D Solution Specialist Jamie Gwilliam will be talking about the latest version of 3ds Max and sharing some tips and tricks.

Jamie run’s the Jamie’s Jewels blog where you can find all sorts of useful 3ds Max tips, tricks and industry news.

• Read a 3ds Max review

Showcase your 3ds Max art

You can also take along your own visualisation content to show at the meeting.

Win prizes

There will be an number of prizes given away at the event including a £400 render farm credit from Render Nation as well as software from Itoo Software.

For more information head over to the 3ds Max South Wales blog

Find out how this epic animated short about monsters vs robots was created using a combination of Autodesk’s Maya, Adobe’s After Effects and Photoshop. Watch the film here too

As Indie Film Week continues, we catch up with Hillary Yeo, director of the short film Godaizer, to find out how he managed to fund his ambitious project.

• Find out more about how Hillary Yeo funded his project in issue 155 of 3D World

At 19-minutes long, Godaizer is not your average animated short. It tells the story of a young boy names Ah Seng, who lives and works with his elderly grandfather. Together they run a storage warehouse, which houses all kinds of robots in various states of repair.

As the pair go about their daily routine, an experiment in a nearby secret government facility goes wrong and a giant monster escape. With the military unable to destroy the creature, Ah Seng and his grandfather use their robot Godaizer to stop it.

“The film started out when I quit from Lucasfilm Singapore in 2007,” Yeo says. “I always wanted to do a 3D fight scene between a robot and giant monsters, so I tried to build a decent story around that.”

This led to the introduction of the film’s two human characters, which were inspired by actors in old Kung Fu movies.

“I am always drawn to the relationship between an old grandfather and his grandson,” Yeo explains. “A mentor-student relationship. And it’s kind of based on Mr Miyagi and Alfredo from Cinema Paradiso and a Hong Kong actor called Law Yar Ying. I was keen to explore the different types of relationship dynamics within this construct.”

Early sketches were made of the film's environments in order to finalise the overall style and mood. The designs were heavily influenced by Yeo's love of artists Kazuo Oga and Yoshiyuki Takani

Characters and environments set, the next thing for the director to decide was the overall style of the film, which was heavily inspired by the background paintings that feature in Studio Ghilbi movies. “Kazuo Oga, who painted many of these, was a huge influence on me visually. To me his work always triggers an emotional reaction and I desperately wanted to capture that.

“Another inspirational source was Yoshiyuki Takani whose cover art feature prominently on the old Japanese toy box covers. Something about his paintings evoke a sense of awe and believeability of those robots. Absolutely brilliant.”

Click Next to read more

The new built-in Animation Store makes hundreds of characters and thousands of animations available within 3ds Max’s viewport!

The Autodesk Animation Store is a new feature found in 3ds Max 2013 and 3ds Max Design 2013.

• Read our initial thoughts on 3ds Max 2013

It is driven by the online animation store Mixamo, and offers the highest quality 3D characters, but also automatically applies animation to any 3ds Max Biped or CAT rigged character.

Motion clips in the animation store are automatically applied to the Biped or CAT control rigs.

They can be customised in real-time and previewed for free in the 3ds Max scene, so you can quickly test multiple animations on a given character and see how the motion will perform before making a purchase.

After purchase, you can take advantage of 3ds Max software’s support for animation layers to non-destructively edit the animations as required. For more information on animation layers in 3ds Max, visit Mixamo.

Interview with Mixamo

“The Autodesk Animation Store was built for a range of 3ds Max users including game developers, architects, and broadcast teams,” says Mixamo’s Product Manager Allison Tinney.

“Anyone using 3D character animation in their pipeline can leverage the Autodesk Animation Store to speed up production times, and cut down on animation cost.”

“The idea to build the Animation Store was a mutual idea between Autodesk and Mixamo. Mixamo’s partnership with Autodesk reaches back to Mixamo’s launch in 2009″ she continues.

“We have always worked closely with the Autodesk team to ensure that our 3D animation services work seamlessly inside the Autodesk suite of products. Because of this history, it only made sense that a deeper integration would be beneficial to both Mixamo and Autodesk customers.”

Mixamo had to develop some new tools in order to deliver this service: “The Animation Store features a new 3D character store selling top-notch 3D characters from global partners,” says Tinney.

“We have also built additional back-end features to ensure seamless automatic animation for all 3ds Max Biped and CAT characters.

“We also put a lot of time into creating two scripts for 3ds Max users, the Auto-Biped and Auto-CAT scripts, which can automatically create Biped and CAT rigs out of any Mixamo Auto-Rigged character. You can find the scripts on the Mixamo website.

“Mixamo is currently working on building more animation and character content as well as phase two for our Auto-Rigger, an automatic rigging system for bipedal 3D meshes,” adds Tinney.

“We have had many feature requests from our customers including facial animation and automatic quadruped rigging and animation. We are exploring many possibilities for the future in order to become the world’s number one animation solution.”

You can see how the Animation Store works via the YouTube video below.

Press release excerpts

The Autodesk Animation Store can be accessed from the 3ds Max products to provide a simplified animation workflow that allows users to search, customize and purchase licenses to characters and motion clips without leaving the software.

Powered by Mixamo, the Autodesk Animation Store offers hundreds of characters and more than a thousand editable animations for 3ds Max Biped and CAT characters. The content is aggregated from top-quality providers, such as aXYZ design, Original Force, Winking, Radiance and China West Coast.

“At Autodesk, we are removing technical barriers to creativity by providing more iterative streamlined workflows, and offering powerful creative tools like the Autodesk Animation Store,” said Ken Pimentel, Autodesk director of product management for media design. “The animation store is a great resource for users who don’t have the time or expertise to create quality 3D animation from scratch.”

“Now, broadcasters can quickly assemble an animated clip in response to today’s news, and casual game companies can reduce production time by licensing motions targeted to their game and characters,” said Pimentel. “Architects can also use the service to license animated characters in order to more easily populate architectural visualizations.”

Read more about Autodesk’s Animation Store

The latest versions of 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage and Mudbox are now available via Autodesk’s online store and local resellers

Autodesk has begun shipping the new versions of its digital entertainment products.

3ds Max, Maya, MotionBuilder, Mudbox and Softimage have been updated to offer new creative toolsets, more interactive viewports and workflow enhancements.

The 2013 editions of 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage and Mudbox are now available via Autodesk’s online store. (Bizarrely MotionBuilder wasn’t on the list at the time of posting.)

Visit Autodesk’s online store