Task 5 - 3D Development Software

3D Stuido Max

Autodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio Max, is 3D computer graphics software for making 3D animations, models, and images. It was developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It has modeling capabilities, a flexible plugin architecture and can be used on the Microsoft Windows platform. It is frequently used by video game developers, TV commercial studios and architectural visualization studios. It is also used for movie effects and movie pre-visualization.
In addition to its modeling and animation tools, the latest version of 3ds Max also features shaders (such as ambient occlusion and subsurface scattering), dynamic simulation, particle systems, radiosity, normal map creation and rendering, global illumination, a customizable user interface, and its own scripting language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_Studio_Max

• Geometry: Represented by an image of a sphere, selecting this subset lets you draw any three-dimensional geometry. The default is Standard Primitives (box, sphere, etc), but using the dropdown menu you can select Extended Primitives, Compound Objects, Particle Systems, Patch Grids, NURBS Surface, and Dynamic Objects.
• Shapes: Represented by a shapes icon, this subset gives access to the drawing tools for flat, 2D objects: Splines (circles, rectangles, etc.) and NURBS curves..
• Lights: Subset represented by a “flashlight” with the tools to create light sets: Target Spot, Free Spot, Target Direct, Free Direct, and Omni. The dropdown menu for this subset contains only Standard types.
• Cameras: Represented by a graphic of a camera, this contains the camera types: Target and Free. The dropdown menu for this subset contains only Standard types.
• Helpers: The icon for this subset looks like a small tape measure, and like a tape measure the tools contained within are useful to the construction of your scene. The dropdown options for this subset are Standard (dummy, tape measure, compass, etc.), Atmospheric Apparatus, Camera Match, and Manipulators. You may see other options here if you have certain plugins (like Reactor or Shag Hair).
• Space Warps: This subset (represented by an icon depicting several waves) lets you create forces and other environmental factors in your scene. The dropdown options include Forces (motor, push, vortex, etc.), Deflectors, Geometric/Deformable, and Modifier-Based. Like the above, you may see other options if you have additional plugins.
• Systems: This subset, whose icon depicts two gears, lets you create complex systems with the push of a few buttons: bones, sunlight systems, full biped systems, and ring arrays. The dropdown menu for this subset contains only Standard types.
• The last in the four panels displayed above is merely an example of the selection dropdown menus on the various subsets. This one displays the options available on the Geometry subset.
• Pivot: Adjust the pivot points of objects, including how the move/rotate/scale tools affect them (such as setting them to affect only the pivot points affect the object only, or affect the entire hierarchy), which will change the results of using those tools; you can also set the alignment in relation to each other and the “world”, or change whether or not changes made to a “parent” object affect that object’s linked “children”. This is key to “forward kinematics” (a method of animation where you move things in a straightforward fashion, one pivot-point at a time).
• IK: Here you can control your IK (inverse kinematics) settings. IK is an animation method that can control the behavior of an entire chain of objects at once, as though they truly were attached and affected by each others’ forces (for example: if you pull on a human wrist, the wrist alone will not move; it will pull the forearm with it, which will in turn draw the upper arm, then shoulder, then body behind). We’ll talk about this in more detail in a separate lesson on IK.
• Link Info: This subset is very simple; it lets you either lock or unlock movement, rotation, or scaling on an axis, and determine on which axes motion, rotation, or scaling is inherited.
• Parameters: Here you can assign a controller to your motion (such as position, rotation, or scale), create keys for those controllers, or edit your key frame information to set motion to ease into a key, ease out of a key, or various other settings.
• Trajectories: This lets you view the path an object travels over time, and use that visual to control the path.

http://animation.about.com/od/3danimationtutorials/ss/3dsmax_less1p3.htm

Lightwave

LightWave is a software package used for rendering 3D images, both animated and static. It includes a rendering engine that supports such advanced features as realistic reflection and refraction, radiosity, and caustics. The 3D modeling component supports both polygon modeling and subdivision surfaces. The animation component has features such as reverse and forward kinematics for character animation, particle systems and dynamics. Programmers can expand LightWave's capabilities using an included SDK which offers LScript scripting (a proprietary scripting language) and common C language interfaces.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LightWave_3D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPIwySOil2s

Maya

Autodesk Maya, commonly shortened to Maya, is 3D computer graphics software that runs on Windows, Mac OS and Linux, originally developed by Alias Systems Corporation (formerly Alias|Wavefront) and currently owned and developed by Autodesk, Inc. It is used to create interactive 3D applications, including video games, animated film, TV series, or visual effects. The product is named after the Sanskrit word Maya, the Hindu concept of illusion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk_Maya

Cinema 4D

Cinema 4D is a 3D modeling, animation and rendering application developed by MAXON Computer GmbH of Friedrichsdorf, Germany. It is capable of procedural and polygonal/subd modeling, animating, lighting, texturing, rendering, and common features found in 3d modelling applications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_4D

Sketch Up

SketchUp (also known as Trimble SketchUp) is a 3D modeling program for a broad range of applications such as architectural, civil, mechanical, film as well as video game design — and available in free as well as 'professional' versions.
The program highlights its ease of use, and an online repository of model assemblies (e.g., windows, doors, automobiles, entourage, etc.) known as 3D Warehouse enables designers to locate, download, use and contribute free models. The program includes a drawing layout functionality, allows surface rendering in variable "styles," accommodates third-party "plug-in" programs enabling other capabilities (e.g., near photo realistic rendering) and enables placement of its models within Google Earth.
In April 2012, Google, the previous owner of SketchUp, announced it would sell the program to Trimble, a company best known for GPS location services.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketchup


ZBrush

ZBrush is a digital sculpting tool that combines 3D/2.5D modeling, texturing and painting. It uses a proprietary "pixol" technology (see below) which stores lighting, color, material, and depth information for all objects on the screen. The main difference between ZBrush and more traditional modeling packages is that it is more akin to sculpting.
ZBrush is used as a digital sculpting tool to create high-resolution models (up to ten million polygons) for use in movies, games, and animations. It is used by companies ranging from ILM to Electronic Arts. ZBrush uses dynamic levels of resolution to allow sculptors to make global or local changes to their models. ZBrush is most known for being able to sculpt medium to high frequency details that were traditionally painted in bump maps. The resulting mesh details can then be exported as normal maps to be used on a low poly version of that same model. They can also be exported as a displacement map, although in that case the lower poly version generally requires more resolution. Or, once completed, the 3D model can be projected to the background, becoming a 2.5D image (upon which further effects can be applied). Work can then begin on another 3D model which can be used in the same scene. This feature lets users work with extremely complicated scenes without heavy processor overhead.
ZBrush was created by the company Pixologic Inc, founded by Ofer Alon (also known by the alias "Pixolator") and Jack Rimokh. The software was presented in 1999 at SIGGRAPH. The demo version 1.55 was released in 2002, and the version 3.1 was released in 2007. ZBrush 4 for Windows and Mac systems was announced on April 21, 2009 for an August release, but was later postponed. Version 3.5 was made available in September the same year, and includes some of the newer features initially intended for ZBrush 4.
Through GoZ ("Go ZBrush"), available in Version 4, ZBrush offers integration with Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, Cinema4D NewTek's LightWave3D and Modo.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZBrush