More info in the posts below. Again - this is a re-run, so it is the exact same classes as before... but I will be available in the FXPHD forum for students to ask crazy questions.
See you on FXPHD!
/Z
Showing posts with label fxphd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fxphd. Show all posts
2011-01-17
The Re-run-run-run, the Re-run-run (FXPhd class on again!)
For those of you who missed my FXPHD course the other two times it was run... HERE SHE IS AGAIN!
More info in the posts below. Again - this is a re-run, so it is the exact same classes as before... but I will be available in the FXPHD forum for students to ask crazy questions.
See you on FXPHD!
/Z
More info in the posts below. Again - this is a re-run, so it is the exact same classes as before... but I will be available in the FXPHD forum for students to ask crazy questions.
See you on FXPHD!
/Z
2010-07-02
MRY201 mental ray FXPHD course to be RE-RUN for July 2010 term
For those of you who missed my FXPHD course back in January, fear not, because it is being run AGAIN this upcoming July term!
Scroll down to my previous postings about the course for more info! Now, this is a re-run, so it is the same classes as before (with some minor updates and corrections, especially to Class #1), but I will still be available in the FXPHD forum for the new students to ask their questions!
For more info about the course click here or just go to www.fxphd.com
For now, though, I'm off on some vacation, coming back in time for SIGGRAPH 2010 in Los Angeles! More about that in a later post!
/Z
Scroll down to my previous postings about the course for more info! Now, this is a re-run, so it is the same classes as before (with some minor updates and corrections, especially to Class #1), but I will still be available in the FXPHD forum for the new students to ask their questions!
For more info about the course click here or just go to www.fxphd.com
For now, though, I'm off on some vacation, coming back in time for SIGGRAPH 2010 in Los Angeles! More about that in a later post!
/Z
2010-04-09
FXPHD, closed, done, complete, over. PHEW
Well, that was an interesting ride of 10 weeks of doing FXPHD. And while I really enjoyed doing it, well, it was quite a lot of work (since I'm such a nerdy perfectionist and want to embellish everything to the border of insanity) so I won't be doing it again any time soon....
I have not heard if the FXPHD guys plan to re-run the course, at least it is not being re-run immediately for the current April term starting up in the next few weeks. And of course, if/when it is re-run, it's the same classes run again, so all I have to do then is to hang around in the forums for questions, which is much easier....
It was quite fun to see the progress of the students and I saw quite a few nice renders done by them. I think I made several people see the light of linear rendering... :)
I'll let you guys know when more similar stuff happens. Next up is EUE (more in a future post)
Also, expect some trickle-down effect for the blog. I created some nifty Phenomena for the FXPhd course that I will post here after some polish.... stay tuned!
/Z
2010-02-04
FXPHD update/FAQ - it's still on!
Hello!
Some updates bout my FXPHD class:
I just released Class #4 of my FXPHD course 'production rendering techniques with mental ray'. We are currently having fun doing SteamPunk Robots in a real SteamPunk location:
Perhaps you want to Join the Fun?
The questions I get most often about the FXPHD classes are:
No. The term may be called "January10", but it is not until 8:th week of the class (sometime in early March) is it actually "too late".
Classes are released once a week over 11 weeks (there's a break week in there), and you can download them at your leisure... however, the advantage of taking the class "live" is the interaction in the forum between the teacher (me) and the students (you, and many others).
NO. As a matter of fact, beggining Class 4 I've taken steps to include explicit information for both Maya and Softimage users, as well as amended one of the earlier classes with specific Maya and Softimage info.
I still do run the major demos in Max, though.
Not really. There will be some, but I spend a lot of the time in the class teaching theory and the why of things. How you see the world, why you need to do X, Y and Z. The actual mechanics of doing X, Y and Z is also shown - but frankly, that's in the manual! UNDERSTANDING WHY you do X, Y and Z, and UNDERSTANDING when not to do Y but Q, is where the real information lies. THAT is what I teach.
I had students that doesn't even use mental ray take the class (poor lost souls... just kidding) and enjoy it!
FXPHD has nice introductory information on their site, but here's the short Zaptronic description of how it works:
FXPHD supplies 41 courses this term (called "January10", even though it stretches over three+ months). One of these courses is my course, "production rendering techniques with mental ray".
To join a term, you pay $330. For this money you get to pick 3 courses freely out of the 41 available, plus are given on mandatory "Background Fundamentals" course, so four courses in all.
Each course has, as said, 10 classes, each class being a 30-60 minute video that you can download when you want (i.e. the class itself is not "live" per se). What is "live" is the FXPHD forum behind the class where studends (you) and the teacher (me) interact and discuss the classes.
Also, on top of your 4 * 10 classes you have chosen, you get access to the first two classes in ALL courses (so you can make up your mind before you choose the 3 you want to take). So that's 37 * 2 EXTRA classes that you get thrown in.
I once computed that this alone is actually 3 solid 24 hour days of video content! Not too shabby :)
Hope this straightens out some ?'s that people may have!
/Z
Some updates bout my FXPHD class:
I just released Class #4 of my FXPHD course 'production rendering techniques with mental ray'. We are currently having fun doing SteamPunk Robots in a real SteamPunk location:
Perhaps you want to Join the Fun?
The questions I get most often about the FXPHD classes are:
Is it too late to join now?
No. The term may be called "January10", but it is not until 8:th week of the class (sometime in early March) is it actually "too late".
Classes are released once a week over 11 weeks (there's a break week in there), and you can download them at your leisure... however, the advantage of taking the class "live" is the interaction in the forum between the teacher (me) and the students (you, and many others).
Will this class be "Max Only"
NO. As a matter of fact, beggining Class 4 I've taken steps to include explicit information for both Maya and Softimage users, as well as amended one of the earlier classes with specific Maya and Softimage info.
I still do run the major demos in Max, though.
Will there be a lot of button pushing in Max that I will not have use of in Softimage or Maya
Not really. There will be some, but I spend a lot of the time in the class teaching theory and the why of things. How you see the world, why you need to do X, Y and Z. The actual mechanics of doing X, Y and Z is also shown - but frankly, that's in the manual! UNDERSTANDING WHY you do X, Y and Z, and UNDERSTANDING when not to do Y but Q, is where the real information lies. THAT is what I teach.
I had students that doesn't even use mental ray take the class (poor lost souls... just kidding) and enjoy it!
What does it cost me? This isn't free, right?
FXPHD has nice introductory information on their site, but here's the short Zaptronic description of how it works:
FXPHD supplies 41 courses this term (called "January10", even though it stretches over three+ months). One of these courses is my course, "production rendering techniques with mental ray".
To join a term, you pay $330. For this money you get to pick 3 courses freely out of the 41 available, plus are given on mandatory "Background Fundamentals" course, so four courses in all.
Each course has, as said, 10 classes, each class being a 30-60 minute video that you can download when you want (i.e. the class itself is not "live" per se). What is "live" is the FXPHD forum behind the class where studends (you) and the teacher (me) interact and discuss the classes.
Also, on top of your 4 * 10 classes you have chosen, you get access to the first two classes in ALL courses (so you can make up your mind before you choose the 3 you want to take). So that's 37 * 2 EXTRA classes that you get thrown in.
I once computed that this alone is actually 3 solid 24 hour days of video content! Not too shabby :)
Hope this straightens out some ?'s that people may have!
/Z
2010-01-01
Introducing - my FXPHD Course - 10 weeks of mental ray training
Welcome to the new year, I hope the holidays were nice to you all....
...so. I have some news:
It has been in discussion for some time (I think I may have mentioned it before), but now, it has finally come to pass:
In the January term of FXPHD, I will be teaching a mental ray course named "Production oriented rendering techniques with mental ray". Yay!
FXPHD is an online training site run by Mike Seymour, John Montgomery, Jeff Heusser and friends (who also are the people behind FXGUIDE, a VFX oriented news site I suggest you also check out if you havn't already)
Note that these courses are not free, but they are not extremely expensive either - and considering the classes run for ten weeks with full participation of the professor (that's me, in this case) in the forums for questions about the class, it's really a pretty good bargain, IMHO.
The standard FXPHD deal is that you pay for a package where you get to sign up for three of their courses. But the cool thing is that you get to see the first two classes of each course anyway, so you can spend your first two weeks of the term browsing around before you make up your mind to pick a (set of) class(es). Also, a freebie "Background Fundamentals" class is always included, with all sorts of topics.
(If you sign up as a new user, and there is a refferal field, fill in "MasterZap".
Here's my teaser clip for the class:
(If you want the FULL FXPHD orientation video (from which the above is my "segment"), it can be downloaded here.)
This course will teach techniques and concepts for rendering realistic, physically based CG elements in a visual effects context (i.e. for integration into live action shots). As it is a hands-on course in using Mental Ray to do these things, it will start with a fundamental treatment of everything from light and pixels through to cameras, response curves and compositing, as well as "learning to see". The course will be performed using the 3ds Max application, but most things apply to Maya and Softimage as well.
The ten classes will be rougly divided like this (subject to change based on feedback):
Class 1:
Pixels vs. Light - What is a pixel? The units of light, and how they map to the RGB values we encounter every day. Shows how the math we apply to pixels can break, and how, if we are not careful, two plus two can end up ten.
Class 2:
Lighting - Understanding the quality and quantity of light. Understanding how real-world lights map to computer graphics lights. Understanding how light gathers and reflects off a surface.
Class 3:
Cameras - Understanding how a real world cameras function map to their computer graphics counterparts. Understanding what film and digital cameras do to the image before you even see it.
Class 4:
Materials I - Using the physically based Arch&Design material to simulate real world surfaces. Learning to see the world, so that one can translate it to CG.
Class 5:
Materials II - More about materials. Using the mental ray skin shader for realistic characters.
Class 6:
Interaction between CG and the Real World - Using the production library shaders to seamlessly integrate CG objects in real-world background plates with reflections, bounce light, shadows, etc.
Class 7:
What Not To Do - Computer Graphics is full of old "traditional" techniques that has stuck around for many years, but that are in conflict with proper physical rendering, and should be avoided. Just because the button is still there doesn't mean you should push it.
Class 8:
Compositing - How stuff that comes out of the renderer goes together, and what can (and should) and can't (and shouldn't) be delegated to compositing.
Class 9:
Technical topics such as sampling, flicker elimination, memory management. These classes may also adress issues that has come up in the forum as needed.
Class 10:
Continuation of class 09
Check it out! I am very excited to do this class, and I welcome you all to join FXPHD!
/Z
...so. I have some news:
It has been in discussion for some time (I think I may have mentioned it before), but now, it has finally come to pass:
In the January term of FXPHD, I will be teaching a mental ray course named "Production oriented rendering techniques with mental ray". Yay!
FXPHD is an online training site run by Mike Seymour, John Montgomery, Jeff Heusser and friends (who also are the people behind FXGUIDE, a VFX oriented news site I suggest you also check out if you havn't already) Note that these courses are not free, but they are not extremely expensive either - and considering the classes run for ten weeks with full participation of the professor (that's me, in this case) in the forums for questions about the class, it's really a pretty good bargain, IMHO.
The standard FXPHD deal is that you pay for a package where you get to sign up for three of their courses. But the cool thing is that you get to see the first two classes of each course anyway, so you can spend your first two weeks of the term browsing around before you make up your mind to pick a (set of) class(es). Also, a freebie "Background Fundamentals" class is always included, with all sorts of topics.
(If you sign up as a new user, and there is a refferal field, fill in "MasterZap".
Here's my teaser clip for the class:
(If you want the FULL FXPHD orientation video (from which the above is my "segment"), it can be downloaded here.)
This course will teach techniques and concepts for rendering realistic, physically based CG elements in a visual effects context (i.e. for integration into live action shots). As it is a hands-on course in using Mental Ray to do these things, it will start with a fundamental treatment of everything from light and pixels through to cameras, response curves and compositing, as well as "learning to see". The course will be performed using the 3ds Max application, but most things apply to Maya and Softimage as well.
The ten classes will be rougly divided like this (subject to change based on feedback):
Class 1:
Pixels vs. Light - What is a pixel? The units of light, and how they map to the RGB values we encounter every day. Shows how the math we apply to pixels can break, and how, if we are not careful, two plus two can end up ten.
Class 2:
Lighting - Understanding the quality and quantity of light. Understanding how real-world lights map to computer graphics lights. Understanding how light gathers and reflects off a surface.
Class 3:
Cameras - Understanding how a real world cameras function map to their computer graphics counterparts. Understanding what film and digital cameras do to the image before you even see it.
Class 4:
Materials I - Using the physically based Arch&Design material to simulate real world surfaces. Learning to see the world, so that one can translate it to CG.
Class 5:
Materials II - More about materials. Using the mental ray skin shader for realistic characters.
Class 6:
Interaction between CG and the Real World - Using the production library shaders to seamlessly integrate CG objects in real-world background plates with reflections, bounce light, shadows, etc.
Class 7:
What Not To Do - Computer Graphics is full of old "traditional" techniques that has stuck around for many years, but that are in conflict with proper physical rendering, and should be avoided. Just because the button is still there doesn't mean you should push it.
Class 8:
Compositing - How stuff that comes out of the renderer goes together, and what can (and should) and can't (and shouldn't) be delegated to compositing.
Class 9:
Technical topics such as sampling, flicker elimination, memory management. These classes may also adress issues that has come up in the forum as needed.
Class 10:
Continuation of class 09
Check it out! I am very excited to do this class, and I welcome you all to join FXPHD!
/Z
2009-09-30
My appearance on the FXGuide Linear Workflow Podcast
FXGuide Linear Workflow Podcast
Mike Seymour of FXGuide/FXPhd lost in China
I was recently interviewed by my good friend Mike Seymour over at FXGuide.com about linear workflow and linear compositing in a visual effects context.
You can listen to us ramble on the topic for nearly an hour by right here, or you can read a bit about it and comment here where you can also subscribe to the podcast for more glorious FX geekiness.
In the podcast, I mention Stu Machwitz about 1024 times. You can find Stu's blog over at ProLost.com (He doesn't consider it profound - get it?), and Stu even wrote a very lovely note on his blog in response, very heartwarming, thank you Stu! *wipes tear from eye*
Errata
Of course, as is when I ramble several run-on sentences for almost an hour, som errors creep in. After listening to it, I realize I misspaketh on a couple of places (disregarding some grammar snafu's, after all, I'm Swedish, darnit!)
- I incorrectly attribute the creation of the EXR format to Pixar, I of course meant ILM. Apologies to both parties.
- When describing the math of the "screen" composit operation, I say "sum" where it should be "product", i.e. the correct sentence should be "one minues the product of one minus each of the components". Duh. I.e. (1 - ((1 - A) * (1 - B)))
FXGuide and FXPhd
If you guys don't know about FXGuide, and their companion training site FXPhd, I suggest you check them out. These guys are very passionate people with a great knowledge of visual effects techniques, and they do some very nice stuff.LinearWorkflow.com
Going to LinearWorkflow.com today isn't terribly interesting, but some stuff is coming up in a not too distant future. I just have other higher-priority work happening right now... stay tuned... :)
And, BTW, don't buy that stupid T-shirt, it's CafePress and it actually came out not-so-pretty.
/Z
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