FEATURING...
COVER STORY (DOUBLE FEATURE)
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
Jump behind the scenes and see how ILM rebuilt its in-house Zeno software and
added exciting new technologies that breathe fresh life into the future of CG
actors.
by Tim "Aurora" Dunn
COVER STORY (DOUBLE FEATURE)
OPEN SEASON: BOYS ‘N THE WOOD
Sony Pictures Animation delves deep into the woods to create a unique vision
for their first major CG-feature, Open Season. With a visual design based on
the unique style of Eyvind Earle, they push the boundaries of the misfit animals
animated film. Using the latest in off the shelf and proprietary software, Sony
Pictures Animation stands poised to rock the CG world.
by policarpo
BIG BAG OF LITTLE TRICKS
RANDOM MODELER PLUGINS FROM THE UTILITIES MENU
A few neat plugins make short work of some otherwise tedious tasks.
by Andrea Carvey
HANDY TRICKS WITH NOISE TEXTURES
2D and 3D noise textures can have their noise functions displaced by connecting
another noise shader to them. This article explores connection methods and also
looks at looping noise functions over time.
by Christopher Mills
DRIVER’S ED 101:
CREATING A CAR RIG WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM RELATIVITY
Introduction to the relativity expression engine.
by William "Proton" Vaughan
AFTER THE STORM
PART FOUR IN A SERIES ON MATTE PAINTING–
CHANGING SUMMER INTO WINTER
This is a Photoshop tutorial on how to change a summer scene into winter.
by Briar Lee Mitchell
CREATING CLOTHES WITH SYFLEX–
THE CLOTH SIMULATOR
This article takes the reader through a step-by-step approach to creating cloth
dynamics with Syflex.
by Peter Ratner
RADIANCE EFFECT WITH GRADIENTS
Learn tips and tricks to apply this new lighting/surfacing technique in your
own scenes to achieve quicker renders with a global illumination look.
by Gerardo Estrada
INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW FERRER
A new series highlighting computer graphic artists and how they broke into the
business.
by Brad Carvey
THE UGLY TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FIRST JOB
What you need to know before working in post production.
by Betty Post
STUFF
Dell 24" Monitor, Part 2, and Smart Sound Sonicfire 4
by Brad Carvey
PLUG IN TO YOUR VISION
A quick tip guide to take your creative thoughts and ideas to your demo reel.
by Douglas L. Brown
DIARY OF A FILM PRODUCTION
A CG crew is strategically assembled, the production plan is artfully implemented.
And then things go wrong, horribly wrong.
by Lawrence O’Reilly
SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER…
At one time or another, most animators have probably indulged a childhood fantasy
by attempting to create a CGI space scene. Here are some helpful suggestions
for making the most of those scenes.
by Michael Struck
A DASH OF THIS, A PINCH OF THAT–
A RECIPE FOR DESTRUCTION
A culinary delight of visual effects in X-Men: Dark Tide.
by Mike Rizzuto
Gidgets And Gadgets
VoluMedic by Media Studio Graz
by William "Proton" Vaughan
...and more!