Cgarena Feb06 Issue

CGArena
Get Attention in Computer Graphics Community
ISSUE 01 FEBRUARY 2006
Illustrator
Photoshop Tracing the Photo
Change the Mood
of the scene Composition
The Rule Of Thirds
Interview with 3ds Max
3DAliens Making of “A Passage”
After Effects 3D Challenge
My Heart Goes Mmmm Sunlight
contents Advertiser’s Index
iStockphoto................................04
05 Interview with 3dAliens

Daz3d.........................................08
Maxon........................................14
Santiago Redendo & Jesped Pedrosa
Corel......................................20,21
16 Composition Sony..................................25,33,50
The Rule of Thirds e-on Software.............................26
VFS............................................27
18 3D Challenge: Sunlight Gnomon School of VFX............48

Worth $445 Prizes
22 Photoshop
Change the mood of the scene
28 Illustrator
Tracing the Photo Editor : Ashish Rastogi
Email : contact@cgarena.com
30 After Effects
My Heart Goes Mmmmm
34 3ds Max
Making of “A Passage”
There’s something for everyone on the CGArena Forum http://forum.cgarena.com
Page www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

industry news
Disney buys Pixar Prime Focus Plans for
Walt Disney payed $7.4 bil- Rs117cr Expansion
lion in stock to acquire Pixar
Animation Studios--a deal Prime Focus, one of India’s lead-
that puts Apple Computer ing integrated end-to-end post pro-
CEO Steve Jobs on Disney’s duction and visual effects services
board of directors. house, has chalked out an expan-
sion plan involving an investment
For the venerable animation giant, the move is a significant of Rs 117.25 crore (Rs 1.17 bil-
bet on Pixar’s digital approach as the successor to the pen- lion), according to a release.
and-ink industry popularized by Walt Disney. Pixar will re-
main in its San Francisco Bay Area headquarters. The plan includes setting up of high-end digital studios at
Los Angeles, London and Dubai and expanding its domes-
Jobs said Pixar’s main choices came down to selling out to tic operations. To part finance this expansion, the company
Disney or working with another studio under a deal like Lu- soon proposes to enter the capital market with a public issue
casfilm has with Twentieth Century Fox, in which the larg- of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) through a 100% book building
er studio gets only a distribution fee. The latter option was process. Prime Focus IPO is likely to hit the market at the
somewhat attractive, Jobs said, but would still result in an end of February or beginning March.
arrangement with “two companies with two separate sets of
shareholders and two different agendas.”
Buzzword of the Month

Digital Intermediate - The process of shooting on film and finishing in the digital realm has been available to the TVC
production community for many years, but the problems associated with moving massive amounts of data required to finish
a feature film the same way has meant that films have tended to only use the process for specific sequences.
That has all changed - breakthroughs in data management and film recording technology have created new opportunities to
finish features entirely in digital. The process is called Digital Intermediate, and involves the original camera footage, film
or tape - being scanned as data, the images digitally manipulated through colour grading and vfx , then the project recorded
back to film negative in HD, 2K or 4K resolution.
Another major advantage is a greater control over colour grading. While optical colour timing allows only basic control of
the red, green and blue light sources during the duplication process, digital colour correction can affect aspects like satura-
tion and contrast to an infinite degree. Many different colours within the frame can be isolated at any one time, allowing
complex visual colour effects to be created easily.
There are also other benefits, including the protection of the original camera negative. Edits, re-edits, multiple versions
and even short promos can all be done without reverting to the original neg. The OCN is scanned once and then stored for
safe-keeping, the edit is performed digitally and thus always seamlessly. The digital intermediate path can also be taken for
productions shooting on HD or SD tape formats although the overall resolution will only ever be as good as the acquisition
format.

interview
AN INTERVIEW WITH 3DALIENS

SANTIAGO REDONDO & JESUS PEDROSA
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi, my name is Santiago Redondo and I am 38 year old, Telecommunication

Engineer. I started the 3dAleins Ltd in 2003. I am the programmer of the plu-
gin Glu3d which is used for fluids simulation in 3ds Max and Maya.
Can you tell us from where you got the idea for Glu3d?
Yes. The idea of making fluids with particles by applying the SPH formalism
was initially coded and applied in a Spanish company called REM Infografica
in 1997, the Company that developed well known plugins for 3dsmax like
metaReyes, clothReyes, NPR, etc. First test and source code were made there,
in REM Infográfica under the management of Javier Reyes Moreno. The team
leader, I and other people from REM Infografica leaved the company in 1998
to found a new company called NEXT LIMIT S.L. This company continued
the fluid project and named it RealFlow. However every founder of the com-
pany did not have the copyright of the program: although I contributed in
RealFlow program with a 33% , I had no rights on it, because it was registered
by the other two co-founders. After three years of continuous development,
I was fired from there. I lost all my rights on the Company and the program
and after a period of mobbing actions, I had to sell my Company stocks for
nothing.
After a year, I decided to start a new fluid project from scratch. I called it
Glu3D. It was in the early 2002. Every single line of source code added to
Glu3D was new. Nothing was taken from the old project RealFlow. A new
concept of fluid simulator integrated in 3dsmax and Maya was in mind; based
on the SPH formalism as RealFlow, but with a new user interface, completely
integrated in the 3D platform.
As soon as they came to know that I founded a new company, Next Limit
decided to sue me, arguing that I used the same realflow sources. After three
years in the Court, and after comparing every source line of both programs,
the conclusion of the Court was that Glu3D is a completely new program with
no comparison with RealFlow.

interview contd.

Can you give us an overview of the core tech-

nology being used in Glu3d?
Glu3D uses a CFD method called SPH - Smoothed

Particle Hydrodynamics, to calculate inter-particle
interactions. Lots of references about this model
can be found by searching in ‘Google’. SPH is
a method that uses particles to sample 3D space
with some fluid properties, as density, pressure
and more. Fluid properties in any 3D point can
be interpolated from those particle sample values.
Once animation is calculated, a surface polymesh
can be added to visualization purposes. The origi-
nal algorithm purposed by SPH authors, has been
simplified and adapted to the 3D problem. These
improvements continue in each Glu3D version.
What has been the biggest challenge in the

Glu3d so far?
The aim of Glu3D developers is to bring a high

level algorithm to the 3D community by simpli-
fying the complex physical model to adapt it to
the 3D animation requirements. Other commercial
approaches run outside the main 3D package (3ds-
max, Maya) and make it difficult to adapt current
scene to a proprietary environment. People prefer
to cook at home: Users love to run simulations in-
side its 3D package. We try to make it easier to
the users.
What’s coming next in glu3d, you are also plan-

ning a plug-in for Softimage and Houdini?
We have plans to provide with ports to other pack-

ages. XSI is in our list. Some useful functions will
be available outside glu3D; for example PWrap-
per: a particle envelope plug-in.

interview contd.

Can you tell us about the team working on the

Glu3d? How many people are working on it and
from what backgrounds does everyone comes?
For Now, only two people are working on this project:

Jesus Pedrosa and me. Other people collaborated in
this project. We are already in the 3D business for a
long time. In future we will add more people to the
team.
How do you rate your plug-in on the scale of 10?
hmmm, 9
Would you like to say anything to CGArena E-Zine

readers?
Hello to all CGArena E-Zine readers. I hope glu3D

will help you in your work.

interview contd.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself & family?
Tough one, I usually don’t like to talk about myself :)
I am a 30 year (sigh) guy from Galicia, a region in NW Spain. My fist

contact with computer graphics was at a very early age with a Spec-
trum +2 in the 8 bit era. I started doing videotext adventures with
graphics, later I moved to the pc, where I was blown away with 3d stu-
dio and Animator Pro. Then came windows, 3dsmax and many others.
After doing work as a freelancer I started to work for Pyro Studios (Com-
mandos developer) in 1998. Unfortunately the team I was working on was
a totally management disaster (the project, called “Cimmeria” was totally
renewed from scratch every 6 months or so) so I became tired of the Span-
ish videogame industry pretty soon (“Cimmeria” became “Praetorians”… 4
years later!). We are the 4th videogames buyer country in the world, but our
production industry is in the lowest part on the list, so you can imagine how
the videogame companies here are…
After that, I started working at Next Limit, the makers of RealFlow. At first
we were just 4 guys, the 3 coders and me. I did beta testing, promotional
stuff, web design, tutorials, customer support, etc.
It was a very cool job. I wasn’t well paid at all but I

was very happy working with creative freedom and
a tight team in a very familiar environment. I met
Santi Redondo at that time, but some months later
the other company partners kicked him out, giving
me very few explanations about that move.
After some time Next Limit got financial aid and

the company started to grow. That was a good time,
at last the company got the resources we need to
go further in the development and CG production.
Unfortunately we had to do some boring stuff like
architectural previz and stuff like that but it was a
good time, I learned a lot and met a lot of cool guys
there. But you know… that good things don’t last
much time.

interview contd.

The problem with the company was the new Mar-

keting guy. It is understandable that there are always
some frictions between the production and market-
ing teams, but this guy… goes beyond imagination.
He had (and still has) problems with almost every-
one there except the company owners. I was the
production team manager at that time, and tired of
stupidities, bad treat and hoax marketing maneuvers
I explained the situation as unacceptable to the com-
pany owners. Result= I got illegally fired… typical
Spanish After that I sued the company and as I had
conversations recorded where the company owners
recognized illegalities and shameful behavior they
preferred to pay before entering court (maybe I’ll
publish that some day, hehe)
Regarding Next Limit, I think now people can see

their policies with the Maxwell render product: hoax
marketing, an almost unusable product that doesn’t
match the expectative, buyers that ask their money
back and get denials from the marketing team, etc…
I feel sorrow for the people working there (coders,
CG artists and even marketing people), as all of this
isn’t their fault. People should ask Oscar Monzón
Fabregat (who changed his name to Oscar “Mon” to
avoid being exposed from many people he cheated
all over the years. Believe me; the list goes very-
very long). After him, they can ask Victor Gonzalez
and Ignacio Vargas, the company owners and one
of the most coward people I ever met in my whole
life.
Once I was out Next Limit I realized that I was on

the “dark side” so I contacted Santi and started to
help him in the Glu3D development. We’ve been
working together for 2 years now, and I’m happy
with the results. I think Glu3D is a good product, it
could be much better, but we are just 2 guys trying to
fight our way in this monsters industry without any
financial help.
Page 10 www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

interview contd.

Explain the role of a Plug-in Designer - what do you do?
As I was the main beta tester of Realflow since version 1 I’ve

spent many years working with fluids on a daily basis. I was
perfectly aware of what is a good idea and what it is not regard-
ing a fluids tool, so I started to feed Santi with all the ideas I
had in mind for years but Next Limit people refused to accept.
My main goal was that the tool should be easy to use. I was
very used to RealFlow workflow after many years working
with it, but it was perfectly clear that RealFlow is a hell of a
tool to learn and make good use. So at 3Daliens we always
had in mind an idea “Make it good and powerful… but keep it
simple!”. That is and will always be our motto.
In which movies Glu3d used, till today?
Although 3Daliens is a modest company, the quality of Glu3D

convinced some great studios like Blur, Troublemaker, Cafe-
Fx, Sony, etc
We already know that Glu3D has been used in Sin City by

Troublemaker Studios and CafeFx (both tried RealFlow and
turned it down after trying Glu3D), “Sharkboy and Lavagirl”
by CafeFx and works from Blur Studios (they turned down
RealFlow too).
latest Starforce, FlexLm, C-Dilla, ... hackers will always
There is more movies where Glu3D has been used but we are crack it sooner than later, and you will be wasting your
not aware of the titles, as some big studios doesn’t like to pro- time and annoying your legal customers with complex li-
mote little companies and they just tell “we used Maya” in the censing stuff.
interviews (but for real production they buy all kind of software
tools). Glu3D is being used by Weta Digital, Digital Dimen- We think that there is a much more important thing that
sion, Encore Hollywood, Frantic Films and many other Film can’t be cracked or downloaded from Emule or BitTorrent:
and TV companies from many countries around the world. GOOD SUPPORT.
As you know, Online Piracy poses a major threat for all Freelancers and Companies working seriously want a good
companies, what you are doing to save Glu3d from this? support, so we are always there to answer questions, fix
bugs to meet the deadline, etc …day or night. I think that’s
We belive that if the software is good enough and it have a one of our most valuable work, and letters from our cus-
good price the people that use it to make profit will buy it. We tomers prove it...
know that piracy is unstopable, it doesn’t matter if you put the

interview contd.

“I have no plans at all to use (or continue to use) Real Flow for any fluid simulations. From what I have seen, I believe that
Glu3D is better suited to our needs than Real Flow. It seems to be every bit as capable as Real Flow, but has the advantage
of running inside of Max (something we have asked Next Limit to do for YEARS!). Also, the level of customer service that
we receive from you simply cannot be topped. It is very clear to us that you have a genuine desire to make Glu3D a great
product, and you are always willing to hear suggestions of how to make it better. It is really great to use a product that has
such enthusiasm behind it.
I’m sure we would probably have used at least PWrapper on about 9 out of the last 10 projects that we have done (it’s really
great for blood splatters and stuff like that). PWrapper is absolutely AWESOME and extremely fast compared to any other
type of metaballs that we have.
I really hope things work out for your company. It’s very frustrating to know that you have a better product than your com-
petitor, but not have the resources or the opportunity to prove it. It would really be a shame to not have Glu3D continue in
development.”
Kirby Miller
Blur Studios

interview contd.

What are your hobbies?
I like films a lot. I really mean it, my BenQ hi-res projector is pos-
sible the best buy I did in many many years. I spent a lot of time
watching good films from all times (undubbed versions, of course ;)
, getting HD versions and freaky stuff like that. A quick brief list of
my favorite movies will be: Blade Runner, Fear and Loathing in Las
Vegas, Alien, Donnie Darko, Oldboy, The Fellowship of The Ring
(extended), Usual Suspects, The Incredibles, Yojimbo, Annie Hall,
Apocalypse Now and Fight Club.
I also studied Film and TV production, as I was much more inter-

ested in the whole process than just the fx part. Right now I’m in the
process of making a short film with some friends, although I reckon
that everybody does that these days. I am a computer freak too, I go
to demoscene parties and I am always checking the new and latest
software versions, playing games, etc. I like to read a lot too, mainly
fictional books but classical too (greek, chinese, etc).
I can assure is that when we will have more resources

Where you see yourself after 5 years? from a bigger company Glu3D will be much better,
and we will make more CG tools based on the same
I would love to keep on working in software design and fx produc- “powerful and easy” philosophy.
tion, but frankly I am becoming less and less interested in the fx part
of movies. I would like to be involved in film production, but in a Would you like to give any message to CGArena
more creative way. Members?
Start working with Glu3D! we don’t care if you don’t

How anyone can contact you and ask for support or help? have money to buy it, the demo version is FULLY
FUNCIONAL, and we will always give free licenses
Anybody can reach me at the Glu3D user forums (http:// to people that shows good results using our tool, as
www.3daliens.com/glu3D/forum2), my personal contact details are simple as that. If you can make an fx movie test or
there (email, msn, icq and yahoo) illustration using Glu3D that can call the community
attention you’ll have a Glu3D free license granted
How do you rate your plug-in on the scale of 10? so… hands on mates!
Being honest, I will rate it with 8. Glu3D is easy to use and cheap.
It could be more powerful, and we are always working on improve-
ments, optimizations and new features, but remember that we are INTERVIEW: CGARENA
just a 2 guys company that lack financial help for everything. What

www.cgarena.com
CGArena brings you latest news and happenings 24 hours a day.
Plus, join in our interactive forums to showcase your work, and

get attention in the computer graphics community Email: contact@cgarena.com
composition
The Rule
Of Thirds
There are times when you need to place your sub-
ject in the centre of the frame, you can create more
interesting, balanced and powerful compositions by
placing the subject off-centre in your photograph. A
technique that can help you visualize your shots is the
rule of thirds. The rule of thirds means to view your
shot through a grid made up of three equal parts, both
vertically and horizontally.
This immediately cause the viewer’s eye to move

around the image – centrally placed subjects tend to
focus attention in the middle of the image and leave
it there, making pictures feel flat as a result. If you’re
trying to create an abstract or graphic representation
of reality, this might be exactly the technique you’re
looking for. This rule is a basic principal often used
in photography, video and film.
One of the most frequently used ways of directing the

viewer’s eye to the centre of interest in a picture is by
following the rule of thirds. Infact, there are lenses
you can buy for cameras that makes this rule visible
through viewfinder and allows you to visualize where
to place your characters and subjects.
Visualizing your shots in thirds is like adding graph

paper over your camera lens, allowing you to align
and balance subjects. In order to know if you are us-
ing the rule of thirds properly, think of sight lines or
readings. When you are presented with a new image,
for example, the eye goes to the most prominent shape
in the frame, which is called the first read. Then the
eye wanders to a secondary shape, the second read,
and so on. Keep practicing it, and the rule of thirds
will start to work itself into each of your shots.

Source: Morgue File

challenge
CGArena is proud to present the Sunlight Challenge (3D Challenge), 09 Feb - 12 Mar 2006, sponsored by
Corel, iStockphoto and Daz3D. We want lots of different ideas and approaches in a more creative way.
Photographed By: Arlene Gee
Your Mission
Create an image which shows Sunlight in a creative way. This Challenge is a Work-In-Progress Challenge -- all contestants
are required to post their work-in-progress images for community to critique/comment in order to qualify.
How the Challenge will be Run

This challenge will be a WIP (Work in Progress) Challenge. Each challenger is required to submit Work In Progress (WIP)
images, from the initial concept sketch to the final render. The purpose is that everyone can learn from each other, offer
feedback and critiques.
1. Enter the Challenge by registering yourself on CGArena forum.

2. Submit your work in progress images in forum on a regular basis.
3. Participate in the community by critiquing other challengers works in the respective forums.
4. Submit your final entry till 12th March 2006.
Note: You are required to submit work in progress images, obtain feedback and give feedback to other challengers in the
WIP challenge. This is a requirement of the challenge and failure to do so may result in penalties during final judging. Com-
munity interaction is a must!
Rules
1. All CGArena members may enter the CG Challenge. Membership is free of charge.
2. Employees of Corel, iStockphoto, Daz3D and CGArena are not allowed to enter this challenge.
3. The Challenge starts 09 February 2006 and will run until 12 March 2006 Midnight GMT.
4. There will be 2 winners in this 3D Challenge and CGArena, Sponsers and Judges decision will be final.
5. Winners have to submit a tutorial within 10 days and answer the few interview questions for eligible to prizes.
Final Image Size
- Your final image dimensions should be print resolution. Do not
send in a low-resolution placeholder and ask us to get back to you,
as we won’t.
- A guideline is 2657 pixels wide and/or 3636 high, JPG, 300 DPI.
First Prize
CorelDRAW X3 Graphics Suite - $399USD
With this comprehensive graphics suite, you can confidently tackle

a wide variety of projects - from logo creation and Web graphics, to
multi-page marketing brochures, or eye-catching signs.
From new bitmap-to-vector tracing in Corel PowerTRACE, new

photo-editing features in PHOTO-PAINT, new suite-wide learning
tools, and enhancements in illustration and page layout, this suite
combines design capabilities, ease-of-use, and affordability that
cannot be matched by any other graphics software. Photographed By: Victor Kapas
Second Prize
This 3D Challenge is proudly sponsored by:
DAZ3D - $25 Gift Voucher
DAZ strives to bring 3D art directly to the masses by delivering the

highest quality digital 3D content and software at the most afford-
able prices. DAZ also offers premier 3D software programs such
as Bryce 5 (a 3D environment package), Mimic Pro (a 3D lip-sync
program), and DAZ|Studio (a 3D posing application) all at rock-
bottom prices.
and
iStockphoto - $20 Gift Voucher
iStockphoto is the world’s fastest growing collection of royalty-free

images, at the world’s best prices. Just the best Stock Photography,
Vector illustrations, and Flash files online, at prices for everyone.
photoshop
1) Open the Salma Hayek Image and duplicate the exist-
ing layer.
Change the
mood of the
scene 2) To create a romantic mood, ‘warm up the image’. To
do this, create a Image > Adjustments> Photo Filter. In this
dialog box select “Warm Filter 85” and set the density to
60%.
Valentine’s Day is near, so why don’t change
the girlfriend image in a more romantic mood.
So in this issue we will change the mood of
the existing photo in Photoshop.
photoshop
5) Adjust the levels in the “Red” channel.
3) Apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the blur to
10 pixels. Experiment with the value according to your image
requirement.
6) Duplicate the second layer and change the
mode back to normal. Apply Filters > Distort> Diffuse
Glow and choose the settings as Graininess = 4, Glow
Amount =1 and Clear Amount = 20 and reduce the
opacity of the layer according to requirements.
7) Apply some touchup color on the cheeks and

lips. Flatten the image and use the Levels command
again. If required use the Image > Adjustment > Bright-
ness & Contrast. If you done everything correct then
4) Change the layer mode to multiply and adjust the opac- your girlfriend will be definitely happy otherwise
ity slider according to requir ement. In my image keep to #&$%@
75%.

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Pro Musicals, 25 Casa Major Road, Egmore, Chennai-08 | Email: promusic@vsnl.com | Web: www.promusicals.com
from
mice
to
men Digital
Character
Animation
at VFS
Vancouver Film School is the place to be for everything you see,

hear, and experience in entertainment – and that definitely includes
Digital Character Animation.
At VFS, your classroom is a production studio. Your creativity is the

lesson plan. Let our faculty of industry professionals help bring
your best ideas to life. VFS covers all aspects of Computer Character
Animation with a focus on Technique, 3D Modeling, Cinematography,
and Acting Fundamentals. Students achieve creative proficiency on
MAYA software, an essential tool for all aspects of 3D rendering.
Every program at VFS is designed to prepare the next generation of
talent for specific careers in the most exciting and creative industry
in the world. How? Every student graduates with a demo reel or a
Vancouver Film School
portfolio of original work – the ultimate calling card. Where Results Matter
For more information, contact: Dorothy Mathias
International Admissions Advisor
Mumbai, India
+91 22 2604 3770
dorothy@vfs.com
www.vfs.com
illustrator
Tracing the Adobe stopped upgrading its vector conversion appli-

cation Streamline some time ago, and the Trace Tool
Photo
included in Illustrator has always been sadly lacking.
That is, until now! With the new CS2 version, Illustra-
tor users finally have a great trace tool.

What are Raster Images?
Raster images—use a grid of small squares known as pixels

to represent images. Each pixel is assigned a specific loca-
tion and color value. Raster Images or Bitmap Images are
the most common electronic medium for continuous-tone
images, such as photographs or digital paintings, because
they can represent subtle gradations of shades and color.
What are Vector Images?
Vector graphics are made up of lines and curves defined by

mathematical objects called vectors. Vectors describe an im-
age according to its geometric characteristics. Vector graph-
ics are resolution-independent—that is, they can be scaled to
any size and printed at any resolution without losing detail
or clarity. As a result, vector graphics are the best choice
for representing graphics that must retain crisp lines when
scaled to various sizes—for example, logos.
1) Create a new document and to place a image in Illus-

trator, use the File > Place command.
2) After Placing a image in the Illustrator, Live Trace

button appears in the top control pallette or you can
also use the Object > Live Trace Menu. Choose a pre-
set from the dropdown Preset menu, which is accessed
from the small arrow to the right of the Live Trace button.
3) After clicking the Live Trace button, you will have

many more options on the control palette. Next to the Presets
is a button that opens many more options. From this dialog,
you can control the number of colors, the preset, the mini-
mum size that will be traced, and even choose to output to a
swatches file.
This is one of the best new features in Illustrator CS2. With

this tool you will be able to trace logos, sketches, scans, and
many other bitmap images that were time-consuming and
difficult to reproduce.
after effects
My Heart Goes
Mmmmmmmm
In this tutorial we will use the Adobe After Effects and Trapcode Particular plug-in to create this heart.
1) Create New Composition, size = 640 x 480, Frame Rate = 25fps or

30fps, Duration = 5 sec. New Features in AE 7
1. Newly Designed User Interface.
2. Animation Presets for everything.
3. HDR Color Support
4. Timewarp - Can be used in place of Time

Remapping for accurate results.
5. Accurate Lens Blue Effects.
6. Freeze Frame
7. Dynamic Link
New Keyboard Shorcuts in AE 7

1. Remove Title Bar - Ctrl + Backspace(\)
2. Maximize any window - Tilde (~)

2) Create New Solid layer (Ctrl + Y) Layer > New > Solid. Choose
any color and press button Make Comp Size.

after effects
3) Apply Trapcode Particular Plug-in on the solid layer. Effect > Trapcode > Particular.
4) Set the key frame on 0sec for Emitter – Particles/sec and leave the value to 100
5) Go to 1 sec and change the value to 400, set another key frame on 4sec with same value, set value 300 on 4:10 sec,
set value 0 on 4:20sec
6) We also need to change the Position XY settings but we talk about that later.
7) Set Direction to Directional, velocity to 10.0, Velocity Random to 100.0 and Velocity from motion to 5.0
8) Particle Life[sec] to 5.0, Particle Type to Smokelet, Size over life and Opacity over life as in the following image,
Opacity of Particles to 40 and set the color of particles of your choice, if you want a random colors in the heart then also

after effects
change the setting of Color Random[%]
9) Now, talk about the Position XY settings. There are three ways to do this…
a) Move the position anchor point at different places according to the shape desire at regular intervals but required lot
of tweaking.
b) Create a mask in the AE or Illustrator and copy the vertices then paste those vertices in the Position XY.
c) Or create any shape in Photoshop and save with alpha channel. And use Layer> Auto Trace feature, this will also
create a mask then once again copy and paste the vertices in the Position XY. If the image don’t have alpha channel then
still you can use Auto Trace and select the channel in the dialog box as desire like R-G-B channel or Luminance channel.

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Pro Musicals, 25 Casa Major Road, Egmore, Chennai-08 | Email: promusic@vsnl.com | Web: www.promusicals.com
3ds max
Making of “A Passage”
All the modeling in the scene was done using 3ds max 6. For texturing I used around 20-25 medium resolution pictures and
combined them in Photoshop. Light Tracer was used for the rendering.
My intention was to create a work that depicts my love for art. This is not very detailed scene and modeling wise it takes
only few hours to get the stage set. But, lighting and texturing is very important to convey the meaning of the image. I was
inspired by a painting I saw in book few months back. I was so moved by it that I drew a sketch in my drawing pad later
that evening. It ended up something like the one I attached below.
That painting depicts a lonely corridor running in between two walls, staying neglected for ages and stood guarded by two
dampen walls.
A staircase at the end of the corridor also serves a special meaning. The scene ends there but it gives kind of suspense feeling
as to what lies after that. In this sense the scene makes someone to think a lot.

3ds max
Modelling
Modeling this scene involved very little time. But to get the
concept and idea to the drawing board took longer than actual
modeling.
I started with a box and converted it to poly and made the two
main walls on the right side. These are the walls where most of
the drama will take place. I was very particular in the height and
their joining angle. I used a camera from the beginning to de-
termine the exact placement, since; the angle will play a major
role. As you can see in the picture below the placement of the
walls and how the camera is placed. I also added a ground.
Then I modeled the top portion of the wall using same poly modeling method. I also used Tessellate command and noise
modifier to make the edge more random. The picture below shows the close up.
Then I turned my attention to the wall on the left side that will make it impossible to see the other side of the scene. Although
very small part of this wall is actually seen from the camera angle but it serves as a barrier between the passage and the light
source.

3ds max
I had to add light source at this point to determine the exact light and shadow angle and made adjustment to the height and
orientation of the wall.
Thefollowing picture shows how the wall is actually placed and the light source behind it.

3ds max
Next I was concentrating on making the backdrop. The backdrop has to be interesting enough to catch the attention and at
the same time should convey the basic meaning the image in proper synchronization. I did lots of experiment before coming
to make this object. The wall is placed in such way so that it shows the two windows from the camera angle. This picture
shows the walls of a building positioned in the scene.
The next picture shows a close up of the window with shutters like we have in old buildings built around the first quarter
of 20th century.

3ds max
Next I added the staircase at the end of the corridor. The edge is again made random and rounded to showcase the weath-
ering and aging.
When I was almost satisfied with the scene setup I

added some pot with plants and wooden planks near
the wall. The picture below shows a close up of the
pots, one broken partly.

3ds max
Texturing
Texturing was a challenge in this particular scene. I used Unwarp UVW in most cases. For the wall first I added an Unwarp
UVW and then took the map into the Photoshop and placed several layers of texture maps on the base. The picture below
shows how base layer containing the Unwarp UVW grid is placed.
I used around 20-25 medium resolution maps for the entire texturing procedure. The process went like this way; I took a
base texture for the wall from my collection and placed on top of the Unwarp UVW layer. Then I added moss layer, stain
layer and water mark layer accordingly.

3ds max
Once this major texturing is done I added some special
layers that contain a tic-tac-toe and graffiti sign. I used
various layer blending method to seamlessly match the
layers with the base layer, for example Multiply, Screen
and Overlay.
The backdrop is given a blue colored wall. I was trying

with different color and found blue color quite appealing
for this scene. For the window and shutter I used an aged
wood texture with lots of variation in color.
Lighting
I used one target light and one omni light as fill light in
the scene. The picture shows the placement of the lights.
I placed a sky light to used with Light Tracer. There was

something more with the light setup. I needed to create a
nice shadow in the foreground area. That was achieved
using a light blocker in front of the light path. As shown
here a box is placed so that to cast a good shadow in the
corridor.

3ds max
Post Processing
Rendering process involved some tweaking with the light and shaders to get the proper mood in the scene. I tested with
various light settings and shaders for couple of hours before coming to a satisfactory level.
I used Light Tracer of Scanline renderer with Bounce value 2. Then I took the raw render image in Photoshop and did
some color correction. I mainly work with Curve, HSL and Channel Mixer to correct the contrast level. Beside these I
also had to manually use Dodge and Burn tool for perfection.
I hope this article will be interesting to read and also be informative for you. Thank you for your time. Feel free to com-
ment on this and send me your queries at my email address.
Pradipta Seth
pradiptaseth@yahoo.co.in
http://pra-seth.3dup.net [Personal Site]
http://www.3dallusions.com/forums [I am moderator at this site]
For discussion on this tutorial please click here

gallery
VLAD THE IMPALOR

Harshdeep Borah, Canada
harshdesign@gmail.com
Maya

gallery

gallery
ALL ROAD
Neil Maccormack, Geneva, Switzerland
Neil.Maccormack@mccann.ch
Lightwave 3d
ANDO - CHURCH OF LIGHT

Karunakaran, India
karun@cnt-semac.com
3ds Max

gallery
PICASSO TOWER
Juan Carlos, Spain
jcjimenez@render3d.net
3ds Max

gallery
FRODO
Vishal Pawar, India
vishalpower@yahoo.com
Photoshop
For Detailed Tutorial on Making of Frodo Click Here

gallery
SPIDER & TANKLOW

Marco Antonio Delgado, Spain
webmaster@pixeltale.com
Softimage XSI

gallery
A PASSAGE
Pradipta Seth
India
pradiptaseth@hotmail.com
3ds Max

submission
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Upload Images through Website

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CGArena

Get Attention in Computer Graphics Community

ISSUE 01 FEBRUARY 2006

05 Interview with 3dAliens

The Rule of Thirds e-on Software.............................26

18 3D Challenge: Sunlight Gnomon School of VFX............48

There’s something for everyone on the CGArena Forum http://forum.cgarena.com

Page  www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

Buzzword of the Month

Page  www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

AN INTERVIEW WITH 3DALIENS

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi, my name is Santiago Redondo and I am 38 year old, Telecommunication

Page  www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

AN INTERVIEW WITH 3DALIENS

Can you give us an overview of the core tech-

Glu3D uses a CFD method called SPH - Smoothed

What has been the biggest challenge in the

The aim of Glu3D developers is to bring a high

What’s coming next in glu3d, you are also plan-

We have plans to provide with ports to other pack-

Page  www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

AN INTERVIEW WITH 3DALIENS

Can you tell us about the team working on the

For Now, only two people are working on this project:

How do you rate your plug-in on the scale of 10?

Would you like to say anything to CGArena E-Zine

Hello to all CGArena E-Zine readers. I hope glu3D

Page  www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

AN INTERVIEW WITH 3DALIENS

Could you tell us a bit about yourself & family?

Tough one, I usually don’t like to talk about myself :)

I am a 30 year (sigh) guy from Galicia, a region in NW Spain. My fist

It was a very cool job. I wasn’t well paid at all but I

After some time Next Limit got financial aid and

Page  www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

AN INTERVIEW WITH 3DALIENS

The problem with the company was the new Mar-

Regarding Next Limit, I think now people can see

Once I was out Next Limit I realized that I was on

Page 10 www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

AN INTERVIEW WITH 3DALIENS

Explain the role of a Plug-in Designer - what do you do?

As I was the main beta tester of Realflow since version 1 I’ve

In which movies Glu3d used, till today?

Although 3Daliens is a modest company, the quality of Glu3D

We already know that Glu3D has been used in Sin City by

Page 11 www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

AN INTERVIEW WITH 3DALIENS

Page 12 www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

AN INTERVIEW WITH 3DALIENS

What are your hobbies?

I also studied Film and TV production, as I was much more inter-

I can assure is that when we will have more resources

Start working with Glu3D! we don’t care if you don’t

Page 13 www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

Plus, join in our interactive forums to showcase your work, and

This immediately cause the viewer’s eye to move

One of the most frequently used ways of directing the

Visualizing your shots in thirds is like adding graph

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Page 17 www.cgarena.com Issue 01 February 2006

Photographed By: Arlene Gee

How the Challenge will be Run

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