Launching the 2014 product line...

In case you missed it, tonight is a "launch event" for the 2014 products from Autodesk Media and Entertainment, which includes some work I've done. I will be blogging more in detail later about what we added. 

Here is the launch site:

http://area.autodesk.com/2014unfold/

You can also find the list of new features for 3ds Max. This is a very simplified list, though, and misses a LOT of stuff, like:

• Unified Sampling
• Image Based Lighting
• iRay 3.1
• Automatic Gamma Correction
• And more...

It also skips a lot of the "Small Annoying Things" we've fixed in the last year (where in our team alone nearly a 100 'tiny little things' and bugs and whatnot have been slain. Like for example:

• "Zoom about Mouse" is now the default - and works!
• mental ray thread priority no longer hangs your computer!
• New exception handling causes error handling to be much more robust
• Bugfixes. Bugfixes! BUGFIXES!!
• Etc. etc. etc.

Did we get to all I'd wanted to fix? For sure not. Max is a big product, and things like killing every bug related to gamma correction... well... that takes time :)

I'll blog on these things as we move forward. For now, have a fun Easter and enjoy the new release.

/Z

Appearing at Meet and Greet 3D

On Sepmber 30:th 2011 I will be speaking at the Meet and Greet 3D event in Berlin.

I will do a small sit-down session about Linear Workflow at 2 PM, and a big-hall presentation about the physics of light at 11.50AM. <=== UPDATED TIME!!!

Venue info etc. available at www.MeetAndGreet3D.com

Location:

• Forum Adlershof, Rudower Chaussee 17, 12489 Berlin

See you all there. :)

/Z

Singapore Sling: SIGGRAPH ASIA 2008

In December, I am flying to Singapore to attend SIGGRAPH ASIA.


Singapore. I think.


This will really be my first visit to this corner of the world, so it will be interesting. Assuming the current planning remains, you can most likely find me around our mental images corner of the NVidia booth, as well as doing mental ray demos in the Autodesk booth. I'll be tweeting as well, as usual.

Among other things, one thing I will be doing at SIG' ASIA is to do a re-run of my masterclass from SIGGRAPH 2008 in Los Angeles, entitled "Miracles and Magic".

It was clear I had tried to cram way too much stuff to fit in the 1.5 hours I had; I had to skip every single live demo, and leapfrog little gems to just to get through it all. But I did get through it all, at a breakneck pace.

The Audience looked somewhat like this:





So... the idea here is to re-do pretty much the same masterclass, but as a 3 hour version. This would give us a more ... relaxed... pace, and the demo bits would actually fit!

So, to be totally clear. If you were at my Autodesk masterclass (not the "SIGGRAPH Course" on "HDRI for Artists") held at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles, you already saw this, but very ... quickly. :)

So if you weren't in L.A, and are interested in the same topics, feel free to attend. The blurb for the class reads as follows:

• The course will focus on photo-realistic rendering in mental ray in the context of visual effects, as well as for product and architectural visualization. The session will open with a quick introduction to photometric concepts followed by a practical guide to a linear workflow and why proper gamma correction is imperative. It will then move on to efficient techniques for achieving highly realistic results when combining CG and live action by combining existing tools together (e.g. the architectural and production shader libraries), techniques for rendering flicker-free animations with Final Gathering, and tips for conserving memory.
  

For more information about attending the Autodesk Master Classes, go here.

/Z

SIGGRAPH 2008 talks

Phew. I just finalized the course notes for my SIGGRAPH talks.



As mentioned before, I will be holding an Autodesk masterclass with the title of "Miracles and Magic: mental ray technology in Photo-real Rendering for Production". This will - on popular demand - be a lot about gamma and linear workflow (I actually clocked the pure presentation "talky" part on this segment alone at 30 minutes, sans practical demo bit!).

Beyond the LWF/Gamma stuff, it'll talk about CG/Live Action integration, and tips for rendering flicker-free animations, and some other stuff (assuming I can get through it all in time ;) ).

Unless things change, the masterclass itself is from 1:30PM to 3:00PM on Thursday, August 14:th. There is also a "QA with all the masterclass presenters" on Wednesday, August 13:th at 9:00AM that I will also participate in. The full agenda and more info is here.

Furthermore, I will also be co-teaching a SIGGRAPH course entitle "HDRI for Artists" together with Kirt Witte (Savannah College), Hilmar Koch (ILM), Gary Davis (Autodesk) and Christian Bloch (HDRLabs).

The class is set for Monday, 8:30-12:15 in room 502A.

To make it easier to track these things, I've added a twitter feed, plus I gave this place a new, short, easy-to-remember URL:

www.mentalraytips.com

Enjoy.

/Z

Quick Informal Poll on Gamma Stuff

"Sponza Overgrown" (more here)

A discussion recently came up on CGTalk about gamma correction.

Since I have an Autodesk Masterclass at SigGRAPH 2008 which touches briefly on the subject, I was thinking if I should, by "popular vote", actually expand that section of the masterclass, perhaps shave off some other things and talk more about Gamma?

Technically, the agenda is already "set" but I could perhaps be flexible?

What do you think? Do you plan to go to SigGRAPH 2008 in L.A.? Would you attend the Masterclass, and if so, would you want to hear more about Gamma stuff? Or would you rather hear about the other things?

Please post a reply to this blog post with your preference.

To be clear: This question is about SigGRAPH in particular. Gamma is a topic I'll be adressing quite a lot here, to the point of making a whole website about it. So it's not like there will be any shortage of online info.

(Btw, I also co-teach on a "HDRI-for-artists" SigGRAPH course)

/Z