Pixhell: 2006

6.06.2006

Filter Forge

I ran across a site this morning called Filter Forge. Filter Forge is a program that is currently in beta. It let's build your own filters inside of PhotoShop or all on it's own in a standalone program. The results are pretty amazing and it's got a fully visual node-based editor. If that's not enough it can output all types of maps for use in 3D texturing including bump and normal maps. It also generates seamless and resolution independent textures along with a host of other things. Check out all of it's features here.

The best part ... since it's in beta you can download it for free!

6.04.2006

2 DVDs to Watch For - June 28th

In the Coming Soon section of Gnomon Workshop is a couple of interesting DVDs that are going to hit their online store on June 28th.

Ian Joyner of Blur Studios is doing modeling and texturing tutorial DVDs which include using Max, Polyboost, ZBrush, Photoshop, DeepUV, ZappLink, Zmapper, Bodypaint and more. If you're interested in "next-gen" character art this sounds like a really good place to start learning or refine your current talents. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on these!

NeverWinter Nights 2 Concepts by Nivbed

Nivbed posted a lot of his concept artwork that he did for NeverWinter Nights 2. Nivbed is my office mate at Obsidian Entertainment, Inc., he's an awesome guy and an amazing artist.

Hopefully if all works out as planned he and I will be working together again on our next project at Obsidian. This is really exciting since we're going to get to really drive the visuals for this project. Once it's announced (which won't be for awhile) I'll be able to say more, but visually I think it's going to blow people away.

Here's some of Nivbeds stuff from NWN2 ... check out the link above to see more stuff in his post.

Using DirectX Shaders in 3ds Max

A solid article on GamaSutra talking about Using DirectX Shaders in 3ds Max, useful stuff if you're using Max in a development enviroment. There's nothing better for artists than being able to see what they're working on before they get art into the engine.

Gamasutra - Book Excerpt - "Better Game Characters By Design"

An book exerpt over on GamaSutra is up called "Better Game Characters By Design". Has some interesting bits in there.

The Escapist - Issue #47

The Escapist - Issue #47

A new Escapist is up tackling the issues of American Corpatism meets Gaming Company. Good stuff.

Modo 201

Modo 201 is released. Modo is brought to you by some of the guys who created the program Lightwave. It works similarly but with a lot of new features and a new and slicker interface. Find out more about Modo 201.

X-Men 3 Visual Effects Coordination

John Bruno talks to CG Society about coordinating the visual effects on X-Men 3.

CGS: How many visual effects shots were there in the film?

JB: 900. They started with 600, but they wanted to go out with a bang on the series.

900 special effect shots created within 9-10 months!?

CGS: How did you accomplish so much so fast?

JB: You have to divide it up. If you have two companies doing 900 shots, that’s 450 each. If you have four companies, well, do the math. We ended up with 10 that had a couple hundred shots or less. Also, we divided it up smartly. Everyone managed their shots quite well and picked the right techniques, whether part model or all CG or in camera. We had the right combinations and the right people in areas they could handle. I told them in the beginning, “If you can’t do these shots, please tell us. It will help us. It won’t look bad if you took on work and have to give some back. If you can’t do it, we’ve got to know.”

Multi-Touch Interaction Research

Bi-manual, multi-point, and multi-user interactions on a graphical interaction surface. This is pretty nifty. How long until we see this stuff at home?