3D Buzz's Fundamentals?

[ParkerF]

Hi, I'm Parker from 148, and I'm looking into starting 3DS Max whenever the new licenses come out. Our team currently only has one animator who happens to be a senior, so we'll need some knowledgeable people for next season. Anyhow, I was Youtubing videos for 3ds, and came across a 12 minute intro for a DVD-series that 3D Buzz has put out. I know someone mentioned that website on a thread around here. I was just wondering whether anyone here had used the DVDs, and whether or not you guys think it would be worth the money.

Here's a link to the page discussing the set. Clicky...

Thanks,
Parker Francis

[lukevanoort]

The tutorials that come with 3DS Max are VERY good--better than those of other software I have used. Spending money on other 3rd party tutorials is a waste of money, Autodesk/discreet's are excellent as is. I imagine you might learn some tricks and cool practices from the DVDs that 3DS Max's tutorials don't teach, but that info could probably be found by just reading a few forums and stuff on the internet.

[alex1699]

i have no clue what you are talking about but i do no buzz...

buzz if your out there 1699 will be on you all the time we can get on you...
it was funn tring to keep you to a min score (aka impossible) you do got to amit in NH we where on you a lot and you broke are drive X2 thank that was my favort compiton i have been to becuase of you guys even thow we were almost dead last.... haha o ya i heard you were terminated at Atalanta sorry to here that bye who i just wondering

[BuddyB309]

Originally Posted by lukevanoort

The tutorials that come with 3DS Max are VERY good--better than those of other software I have used. Spending money on other 3rd party tutorials is a waste of money, Autodesk/discreet's are excellent as is. I imagine you might learn some tricks and cool practices from the DVDs that 3DS Max's tutorials don't teach, but that info could probably be found by just reading a few forums and stuff on the internet.

I have to disagree with part of that. The tutorials are great if you don't know anything about 3ds max. If you are starting out and learning the basics, the tutorials that come with it are meant for you. Rarely are you going to find good enough books that cover the same amount of material than what 3ds max comes with.

But thats where it abruptly ends. It will tell you what everything does, but not how to use them in such a way that makes your work look astounding. I have not found techniques in the tutorials that come with 3ds max. Some of you will get to a point where you know what everthing is but not how to use them effectivly. I found that third party tutorials are GREAT for this. For example, If you look up character animation in 3ds max it will probably direct to the biped (shudders). And as i have come to find THE BIPED DOES NOT MAKE A GOOD RIGGING SYSTEM FOR CHARACTER ANIMATION!

whew! anyways... 3ds max will only tell you how it works and how the skin modifier works and yadda yadda yadda. We all know that there is more to character animation than just moving pecies. If your character doesn't move correctly its is the one thing that will destroy a animation. (Yes boys and girls, fancy metal materials will not save you from the fate of a badly animated robot. Where as a badly textured robot, but very well animated, will lead people to believe that you meant to have the robot look that way.)

So your looking for techniques to make your characters move and jump to the beat. I found many books on character animation that explain the mechanics of human motion. And believe me... There is a whole lot of character you can express by walking a certain way. and how many types of walk does the biped have? one.

If you are starting out with 3ds max dont go off and spend your money. Many of these books and third party tutorials assume you already know the basics of 3ds max and animation and don't bother explaining it.

[xrabohrok]

3d Buzz is good for showcasing work and asking questions to a knowledgeable base. Their DVD's I'm not so sure about. They have free videos for download anyway, I would start with those.

The way I learned was through the included tutorials. I would use the directions to something of my own. (examp: on the "make a 3d logo" tut, I made the half-life logo instead of the one they wanted me to make).

[Testament-Doom]

Yeah, the tutorials are very useful IF you can understand the concept from doing those tutorials, and work your own magic int the mix later on, apply what you learn into your own projects. Of course the default 3ds max tutorials don't show you that important part, and what separates the good from the bad is just how the information is handled and understood. Mess around, play with what is available, and if you wanna learn how to do something, the best way (in my case that is) to learn it is to see whatever you want to learn, done visually, then follow along with it, and try to understand "What the heck is action REALLY doing, and how can I apply it with other things in 3D studio max", or some similar question like that, then apply the knowledge plus your own creativity into the mix by making something simple, and see that you have achieved something!

Every time I create a piece or animation, I learn something new, ALWAYS. Even if it's just little bits of information or just understanding a certain concept, or a big plethora of information, or whatever, you still learn something. Then, when you apply what you've learned into another piece after that, you learn even more! And it repeats... You see the trend I'm trying to make here? Practice makes perfect, and it's all because of this.

BuddyB's point is dead on. We both have a similar mind structure of how animations and renders and whatnot need to have in order to get "the look" that the big people up in Dreamworks or something get and understand, we talk to each other a lot ;D. Hmm, to put it best, the difference between "third-rate" and "first-rate" is thinking of "Well move camera here, then there, and uhhh, oh, tween this through the screen to make a nice effect, and I guess if the color matches, then it's alright, doesn't really matter, I have the texture to wood, so yeah, it should be fine" for a third-rate render or animation and thinking like "Well does the whole animation flow very well? Is the camera having really nice transitions? Does the materials fit in the scene very well, fit together? Am I utilizing the best possible way to show that the animation that I am delivering shows the story very well along having everything even with itself, nothing jerky or anything?". I like to put all of THAT kind of thinking like a professional and how it's all applied into an animation, all of that called flow. The flow of an animation is of the upmost importance when it comes to ANYTHING. Notice all those 3D movies like Shrek, Monsters Inc., etc. are all so smooth and even and flow just like how we would flow in real life? It draws us into the animation, makes it feel "just right", very normal, cause that's how we in the world are animated. Any animation with jerkiness or uneven movement or whatever is subject to drawing away the attraction right there, and that's BAD for any animation. Just maintain flow in whatever you're doing, understand that concept, and you're one step closer to becoming a professional animator or artist or whatever .

(Oh, and if I babble like this, I may go off-course at times, if I have, I'm sorry, lol XD)

[BuddyB309]

I agree with David in flow. (we do talk allot to each other online). One thing that can help out with stories is going to the library and finding books on traditional art, cinema, and composition. The same principals to those books can be directly applied to your animation in 3ds max. Cause when it you boil down to it, what are you really trying to make in a AVA competition? A story. Even though you have 30 secs to tell it, you can do a whole lot of things to get your point across by just picking the right takes and camera angles. Just look at any well done commercial on TV, (especially bud light commercials) The don't stand there and say "Buy our product. Cause we would like to make a profit." Instead they show characters in funny situations.