Maya Tutorials

Basics

Download & Install Maya Product Help
Maya 1-Minute Startup Movies – Autodesk knowledgebase

Video Channel

Maya Mondays with Daryl Obert – Youtube Channel
Maya Learning Channel – Youtube Channel

Polygon Modeling

Cutting a hole using boolean and topology – ctbram0627, 24 min
Maya 2016 Modeling Improvements – Steven Roselle, 37 min
Maya 2016 Ext 2: Technical Modeling Improvements – Steven Roselle, 15 min
Maya 2016 Ext 2: Modeling and UV Editing Improvements – Steven Roselle, 36 min, silent
Meet the Experts: Modeling in Maya 2015 – Craig Barr, forward to 11 min, overall 53 min

Retopologizing

Modeling and retopologizing 1: Shrink wrapping a sleeve and torso – MLC, Maya 2016, 7 min
Modeling and retopologizing 2: Quad drawing the shoulder/collar – MLC, Maya 2016, 8 min
Modeling and retopologizing 3: Fine-tuning shape and topology – MLC, Maya 2016, 7 min
Modeling and retopologizing 4: UV creation and finishing touches – MLC, Maya 2016, 14 min
Creating usable topology from Marvelous Designer – Zeno Pelgrims, 12 min

Sculpting, Normal Baking

Make Irregular terrain with Sculpt and Soft Body Dynamics – Park Jin Woo, 14 min
Sculpting Clothes Part 1 – Wrinkles and creases, Normal map baking – MLC, Maya 2016, 12 min
Sculpting Clothes Part 2 – Patterns and symmetry – MLC, Maya 2016, 12 min

UV Layout, UV Mapping

UV Map and texture clothing – Mike Hermes, 27 min
UV unwrapping tutorial for Maya 2016 – James Taylor, 16 min, Auto Unwrap from 10:25
Maya Bonus Tools for UV workflows – Lesterbanks / Steven Roselle
Auto Unwrap UVs with Maya Bonus Tools – Steven Roselle, 3 min
Maya 2016 Modeling and UV Editing Improvements – Steven Roselle, 10 min
Maya 2016 UV Editing Improvements – Steven Roselle, 35 min
Maya 2015 UV Editing Overview – Steven Roselle, 20 min
UV Mapping in Autodesk Maya 2015 – Michael Swartz, 107 min
Creating the UV Snapshot Maya 2015 – Brain Puff, 11 min

Texture Transfer

Transfer textures to a new UV layout in Maya – Creative Bloq
Create texture maps with the Transfer Maps editor – Maya 2016 Help
Maya texturing, sculpting, baking – Blog, Aldo Vicente

Shading, Materials

Ocean Shader – Maya Mondays, 8 min
HOT for Maya plugin – Houdini Ocean Toolkit plugin for Maya 2016 Arnold + MR, free download
HOT for Maya ocean spray – basic tutorial – Houdini Ocean Toolkit, Igor Zanic, 10 min
deformer -type hotOceanDeformer;

Camera

Animation Principles in Staging – Digital Tutors Maya tutorial
Animating Camera Cuts – AnimationMethods, 13 min
4 Camera Tips – reaction, tracking, crane / boom shots, hand held, Bloop Animation, 5 min
Camera Path Animation and Following Objects – Mike Hermes, 8 min
Camera Sequencer in Maya 2014 – majentauk, 8 min
Camera Tips and Tricks – Maya mondays, 14 min

Animation, Rigging

Constraints 1 – What Can the 11 Different Types of Constraints Do – Nerdycreator Blog
Constraints 3 – How to Constrain Prop to Hand – Nerdycreator Blog
Easier Character Creation wit Quick Rig – Autodesk, Maya 2016 Ext. 2, 11 min
Rigging a bird with IK handles and curves – Maya 2016, Mike Hermes, 12 min
Maya 2017 Time Editor – Steven Roselle, 24 min
Quick Rigging and Skinning a character – Maya Learning Channel, 9 min

nCloth

Animate a waving flagpole – Mike Hermes, 8 min
Dynamic Curtain – Sangiemenla, 14 min (silent)

Instancing

How to use Duplicate and Duplicate special – Maya 2014 tutorial, 10 min
Instance geometry with nParticles – Autodesk knowledgebase
Instance Along Curve Maya Plugin – Free python plugin
Maya Bonus Tools 2012 – Paint Geometry Tool

XGen

Creating Topological Art with XGen – Maya Learning Channel, 12 min
Maya 2015 XGen Instancing Overview – Steven Roselle Maya 2015 tutorial, 27 min
Controlling complexity with Xgen in Autodesk Maya 2015 – Autodesk, 51 min
XGen – Spline output as curve – Maya Monday, 2 min
10 tips for using Maya’s XGen in production – cgchannel.com blog

Motion Graphics / MASH

Mainframe Mash – Vimeo channel, different examples of use
Motion Graphics / Mash introduction – Autodesk, 14 min
Ian Waters – YouTube channel with MSH tutorials
Creativemarket.com – MASH motion graphics examples
MASH end to end workflow – Maya Learning Channel, playlist

nParticles

Start Understanding nParticles with collissions – Digital Tutors free, 15 min
nParticles along motion path – Phil Radford, 13 min
Goal Oriented nParticles in Maya for Morphing – Simply Maya, 12 min
Create Snow with nParticles – Mike Hermes, 5 min
Change > Particle Shape > Shading to Multi Point or Multi Streak and render with Arnold – works
Create a Snow Cover with nParticles – Park Jin Woo, 14 min

Bifrost

Intro to Bifrost Fluid Sim in Maya – CG Swot, 39 min
Guided Simulations in Bifrost – Maya 2016, Autodesk, 7 min
Adaptive Foam in Bifrost – Maya 2016, Autodesk, 8 min

Smoke Effects

Maya 3D – Dynamic – Fluid Effect (Advanced Smoke) – Sangiemenla, 11 min, silent
Maya 3D – Dynamic – Fluid Effect – Smoke Effect – Sangiemenla, 25 min, silent

Paint Effects

Discover Paint Effects – Autodesk Maya 2013, 62 min
Maya 2014 – Paint Effects Enhancments – Autodesk Maya 2014, 14 min

Lighting

Add image based lighting with a preset or custom environment in the Material Viewer – Maya help
Image based lighting interior with HDR and portal light – James Taylor, Maya 2015, 6 min
3-Point Lighting – 3DRender.com, Blog

Color Management

Achieving accurate colors using Color Management – Maya Learning Channel, Maya 2015, 16 min

Viewport 2.0

Viewport 2.0 outdoor lighting tips in Maya 2016 – Autodesk Maya Mondays, 16 min
Shader FX (DirectX) in Viewport 2.0– Displacement and Reflection – PolyAsset3D, 9 min
Viewport 2.0 in Production | Lights, Transparency, ShaderFX – Lights, transparency, VFXpro Studio, 21 min
Maya 2013 Ext. DX11 in Viewport 2.0 – My Oh Maya, 16 min

Arnold

Arnold for Maya User Guide – Solidangle.com
Arnold for Maya Tutorial – Shaders – Solidangle, 16 min
Arnold for Maya Tutorial – Lights – Solidangle, 16 min
Arnold for Maya Tutorial – Image Based Lighting – Solidangle, 12 min
Arnold for Maya Tutorial – Render Settings – Solidangle, 15 min
Arnold for Maya Tutorial – Cameras – Solidangle, 14 min
Arnold for Maya Tutorial – AOVs – Arbitrary Output Variables, Solidangle, 20 min
aiStandard Material Basics | using Arnold with Maya 2017 – Arvid Schneider, 35 min
Displacement Workflow – from: ZBrush / Mudbox to: V-Ray / Arnold (Maya), Akin Bilgic, Blog

Bonus Tools, Extensions

Maya BonusTools 2016 Overview – Steven Roselle, 15 min
Maya 2016 Extension 1: 3D Type – Autodesk, 11 min
Maya 2016 Extension 1: Improved Vector Graphics Workflow – Autodesk, 8 min
Maya 2016 Extension 1: New Look Development Shading Nodes – Autodesk, 9 min

Cinema 4D Tutorials

Tips & Tricks

Introduction to Cinema 4D – Greyscalegorilla
Beginner Tutorial – shortcuts, tips, and tricks – Sean Frangella, 26 min
Chris Schmidt’s Favorite Cinema 4D Tips and Shortcuts – Greyscalegorilla, 22 min
Siggraph 2015 presentations – Advanced techniques, Cineversity
Helloluxx C4D Motion graphics tutorials
Soft body tutorial – Helloluxx, 38 min

Mograph

Introduction to the Multi-Shader in C4D – QuickVFX, 6 min
Using Mograph to Create a ‘Transparency Effector’ – EJ Hassenfratz, 6 min
Color Shader and Mograph Selections – Nick Hopkins, 10 min
RandomColors with Mograph ColorShader – ThePixelLab, 2 min
How to use the Spline Wrap Deformer object – Lynda.com, 10 min
Basic Cinema 4D tutorials Part 12 More Mograph Objects – Chris Schmidt, 16 min
Creating and animating a flower – Lynda.com, 15 min
C4D Essential Motion Graphic Techniques Class 1 – FXPHD C4D213, 45 min
Animate the growth of a plant with MoGraph Part 1 – You Mograph, 29 min
Animate the growth of a plant with MoGraph Part 2 – You Mograph, 6 min
Grow an object over time in C4D – 3dworld 7 min
Understanding the Inheritance Effector – QuickVFX, 7 min
Particle Morph Using Cinema 4D’s Inheritance Effector – EJ Hassenfratz, 28 min
2D FX with Tracer Object and Metaball – Matteo Forghieri, 1 min

Sound Effector

C4D Tutorial Xpresso + Sound Effector + Displacer Deformer – The Pixel Lab, 7 min
C4D Tutorial – Motion Drop + Sound Effector – mymotiongraphics, 21 min

Character Rigging

Rigging with the Character Animation Tool – R13, Rob Redman, 18 min

Motion Tracker (R17)

Motion Tracker – Greyscalegorilla, 7 min
Motion Tracker – Cineversity, 4 min

Camera

Camera Animation Tips, Tricks, and Tags – Sean Frangella, 17 min
Adding Depth of Field and Motion Blur – Sean Frangella, 13 min
Camera Crane and other 3D Camera Rigs – Sean Frangella, 13 min

Staging, Previsualization

Switching Cameras with Stage Object – The Pixel Lab, 2 min
Working with the Take System in C4D R17 – Sean Frangella, 10 min
Use C4D’s Doodle Tool to Quickly Plan Your 3D Animations – Pluralsight free, 8 min

Lighting

Natural lighting intro – R13, Rob Redman, 28 min
Global Illumination Settings In Cinema 4D R15 – Greyscalegorilla, 51 min
Time lapse animations using Physical Sky and Global Illumination – Konstantin Magnus, 11 min

C4D Plugins

How to use Motion Drop – Free C4D plugin, mymotiongraphics, 31 min)
Shadow Catcher Plugin – Shadows without compositing, free download + tut
Streetview 4D – Generate HDR panoramas from Google Streetview, free demo

Splines

How to Morph Between Splines in C4D – EJ Hassenfratz, 24 min
Align to Spline Tag with Xpresso in C4D – SweepNURB SplineWrap growth, EJ Hassenfratz, 32 min
Creating Cel Animation Style Paint Strokes in C4D – EJ Hassenfratz, 32 min

Particles

Writing Clouds with Pyrocluster in C4D – Tutorial, 10 min
Particle Type in C4D – Mograph particle on type, schoolofmotion, 61 min

Shading

Reflectance Channel – short intro – Greyscalegorilla, 8 min
The Reflectance Channel – Cineversity playlist

Microscope Shader

Make An Electron Microscope Scene In C4D – Greyscalegorilla, 15 min
NAB 2014 Rewind – Thomas Brown: Medical MoGraph – Cineversity, 48 min
AE and C4D: Brain Cell Animation – VideoFort, 16 min

Cartoon Shader

2d fx with tracer object and metaball – Matteo Forghieri, 1 min
Using the Cel Shader to Apply an Illustrative 2D Style to 3D Objects in C4D – EJ Hassenfratz, 31 min
Using Cappucino to Create Realtime Animation & Keyframe Reduction – EJ Hassenfratz, 16 min

Arnold Renderer

Arnold for C4D User Guide – Solidangle.com
Arnold introduction – Pingo van der Brinkloev, 13 min
Arnold tutorial with HDR lighting in C4D – Mograph Plus, 19 min
Studio Lighting with Arnold and C4D – Mograph Plus, 21 min

Formulas

Formula examples – French C4D Usergroup
3d-meier.de – XPresso tutorials and formula examples, German

Houdini Tutorials

Basics

Houdini Documentation – SideFX.com
Download Houdini – Including free Apprentice version, SideFX.com
Sidefx.com/forum/ – Houdini Official Forum
Odforce.net – Houdini forum, helpful tips and solutions, great community
Working with Attributes in Houdini – Johnny Farmfield, blog
Expressions in filenames – houdinitricks.com blog
Procedural Modeling and Animation in Houdini – Rohan Dalvi, 36 min
Houdini Quickstart Tutorial – Procedural modeling and destruction of a temple, 46 min
Houdini Quickstart Lessons – Basic lessons, perfect for for beginners, 2-5 min each
Gametutor.com – Many tutorials about procedural modeling, game assets, free
Houdini Training – Gianvito Serra, YouTube channel
Houdini for Beginners – Apple Soldier, Extrude text, break, RBD, shading, 8 min
Houdini 9 and 10 Tutorials – Apple Soldier, Short clips for beginners, 6-11 min each
Motion FX – audio driven deformation – SideFX Quickstart

Fluids

Ocean Waves – Houdini off the shelf, 21 min
Simulating and Shading Fire – Henry Medhurst, 23 min
Houdini Lava – BW Design, 46 min
Cigarette Smoke – Alessandro Pepe, Blog

Clouds

Cloud Collsion Tutorial – FX Hive, 14 min, silent

Procedural Modeling

Octopus Tentacle Modeling – vfxhomeland, 41 min

Houdini for Games

SIGGRAPH 2012 | Houdini Games Art Presentation – Freek Hoekstra on procedural game development, 20 min
GDC2016 | Realtime FX with Houdini – Steve Burrichter about his FX pipeline from Houdini to UE4, 19 min

Paper Folding

Sidefx Forum Entry – Blog
Houdini Origami – locator single – Vlad Yudin, 7 min
Making Origami in Houdini part 1 – nika ragua, 7 min

Geometry Transformation

Dry Sand – Houdini Quickstart Lesson, 3 min
RBD Fracture – Houdini Quickstart Lesson, 3 min
Cloud Tools – Houdini off the shelf, 20 min
Pyro to Fluid Simulation – Tim van Helsdingen, 28 min
Flip Fluids – Peter Quint, 20 min
Point transformation in Houdini – Rohan Dalvi, 22 min
Introduction to POP grains (sand solver) – Rohan Dalvi, 47 min
Geometry Slicer – Simon Fiedler, 46 min
Geometry Boiling Effect – Simon Fiedler, 41 min
Brickify Tool – SideFX, User Guide Nodes, Networks and Assets, 88 min
LIDAR Effect – Danil Krivoruchko, 24 min
Edge Displacement Shader – Lo_Fnatic, 21 min
Edge displacement on fractured pieces – Odforce Forum Thread

Advanced Setups, RnD

Entagma.com – Blog with video tutorials
Richardlord.tumblr.com – Example videos and Hip’s, Growing splines etc., Blog
Johnny Farmfield – Interesting solutions with scenefiles, Vimeo channel
Cgwiki – Matt Estela, Lots of ideas, Blog
Houdinitricks.com – Quicktips, tutorials, interviews, blog by motion designer & developer Erwin Santacruz

Expressions

Ryoji CG Memo – Expressions, blog
Math in Houdini – Manipuating the Range, hossamfx, 46 min

After Effects Tutorials

Animation

Introduction to Animation Curves in AE – schoolofmotion, 38 min
Animating Follow-Through in AE – secondary motion layer, schoolofmotion, 21 min
Feel the power… of precomps – schoolofmotion, 42 min
Make Text Animators work for YOU – schoolofmotion, 42 min

3D in After Effects

Make a 3D Scene from a Still – schoolofmotion, 42 min
Creating Depth in Landscapes – Rainy Robot Studios, 11 min
How to Use 3D Assets in Your AE Projects – schoolofmotion, 49 min

3D Camera Tracking

3D Tracking & Compositing Tutorial 1 – AE and C4D, Sean Frangella, 18 min
3D Tracking & Compositing Tutorial 2 – AE and C4D, Sean Frangella, 20 min

Paint Brush Effect

The Write-on Effect in AE – Creative Cow, 15 min
Paint Brush Transition in AE – Ian Killick, 6 min
Creating Reveals with the Eraser Tool – Wacom MasterClass, 7 min
Fractal Noise and Roughen Edges effects – Lynda.com, 7 min

Animatic

How to Make an Animatic – Bloop Animation, blog with example animatics and video tutorial, 6 min
Creating a Shot for an Animatic with AE – Wobbe Koning, 12 min

Mograph

Growing Vines and Leave – Trapcode Particular plugin, grow along spline, schoolofmotion, 43 min
Making Mograph in AE – Repetitive/cascading animation with expressions, schoolofmotion, 49 min
Introduction to After Effects for Motion Designers – Digital Tutors
Principles of Composition for Motion Designers – Digital Tutors

Lens Flares

Advanced 3D Light Rays – No extra plugins needed, Video Copilot, 21 min
Custom Lens Flares – No extra plugins needed, Ch-Ch-Check It, 20 min

Sound

After Effects Audio to Keyframes / Scale – RDKtutorials, 5 min
After Effects Audio to Keyframes / Blur – ECAbrams, 10 min
After Effects Audio Motionscript – Dan Ebberts Expressioneering Design Guide, Blog

AE Expressions

Intro to After Effects Expressions – schoolofmotion, 19 min
After Effects Motionscript – Dan Ebberts Expressioneering Design Guide, Blog

Displacement Effect

Displacement Map Tutorial – TheMrMenagerie2, 8 min
Fake 3D using Displacement Maps – Vale Productions, 11 min

CG General

Drawing

Saul Bass- Advice to Design Students – 1 min

3D Basics

The Guerrilla CG Project – 3D introduction, YouTube channel

Animation

Animation Dictionary
Khan Academy – Pixar in a Box

Photogrammetry

PhotoScan Wiki – Tips and Tricks
Photogrammetry – Introduction to Software and Hardware – Tested.com, Blog
Photogrammetry – How to take-your-photos – Tested.com, Blog
Photogrammetry – Agisoft Photoscan Workflow – Tested.com, Blog
How Accurate is Photogrammetry? — Part 1 – Blog
How Accurate is Photogrammetry? — Part 2 – Blog
PhotoScan Guide Part 1 – Getting Started with Basics – ClassyDogFilms, 5 min
PhotoScan Guide Part 2: Turntable Tutorial – ClassyDogFilms, 7 min
PhotoScan Guide Part 3: Natural Environment Scanning – ClassyDogFilms, 12 min
Head Scanning Webinar – Jeffrey Wilson, 105 min
Photogrammetric Game-ready Assets in UE4 Part 1 – Setup / Equipment – Unrealengine, Blog
Photogrammetric Game-ready Assets in UE4 Part 2 – Reconstruction / Delighting – Unrealengine, Blog
Bringing Scans Into UE4 – with Topogun, xNormal and 3DSMax, Blog
Photoscan Python Scripts – Agisoft
http://ir-ltd.net/blog/ – Infinite Realities Tech Blog
Examples
LiDAR example with HDR texturing – Pointcloud9, 30 sec
Photoscan showcase – Agisoft, showreels
In The Eyes of the Animals Teaser – Point Cloud / Art Example
Radiohead – House of Cards – Point Cloud / Art Example

Normal Maps

A Practical Guide On Normal Mapping for Games – Word document by Alexey Oshchepkovw
Normal Maps Tutorial – Christopher Albeluhn Blog
Normal Maps Tutorial Basics – Ben Cloward Blog
Normal Maps Tutorial Beyond the Basics – Ben Cloward Blog
Polycount Wiki

Displacement

High Res Face Texturing / Mari and Mudbox – Texturing xyz blog
Zbrush to Vray Maya 32 bit Displacement – Flippednormals blog

Remeshing, Optimization

Instant Meshes – Automatic Retopologizer, open source app by Wenzel Jakob, download link
Simplygon 3d scan optimization – commercial application

ZBrush

ZBrush ZRemesher – Pixologic ZClassroom, 25 min
zBrush Tutorial: Create 3D Assets From Photos – Jared Michael, 19 min
zBrush 4r6 zRemesher and reprojection – CGVILLA, 13 min
3DScans ZBrush Tutorial – 3Dsksupport, 4 min
Clean a 3D scan in zBrush – Jonty Hurwitz, 7 min
High Poly to Low Poly Workflow with Zbrush and Maya – Filmstorm Studios, 32 min
Low poly stones and rocks for games – stym, 24 min
Retopology Tutorial in Maya and ZBrush – Kerr Robinson, 35 min

Math, Code, Expressions

Betterexplained – Math lessons that actually explain concepts
First Steps – Expressions explained with graphs, Next Limit RealFlow 2013 Manual
Expressions Examples – Useful examples with parameters, Next Limit RealFlow 2015 Manual
Scratch – Ressources for professional development
Processing – Flexible software sketchbook and a language for learning how to code within the context of the visual arts
Nature of Code – Vectors, Forces, Physics Libraries, Neural Networks, etc. with Processing, ebook by Daniel Shiffman
Coding Rainbow – YouTube channel dedicated to fun and friendly creative coding tutorials by Daniel Shiffman
Worrydream – Thinking, visualizing, designing, Bret Victor, website
Making things with maths – Steven Wittens, Web Directions Code lecture, 54 min
Acko.net – Hackery, math and design, Steve Wittens, website
Doodling in Math – Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant, Vi Hart, YouTube channel
Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics – by Simmy Sigma, YouTube channel

Technology

ACMSIGGRAPH – Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH), YouTube channel

Motion Graphics

Basics

The Basics of Motion Design – general motion graphics introduction
Principles of Motion Design – animation curves explained
From Paper to Screen – typography introduction
Storytelling with Type in After Effects – Digital Tutors

Title Design Tutorials

Art of the title – Title design blog with great selection of examples and peek behind the scenes
The Art Of Film Title Design Throughout Cinema History – Blog, Dr. Calligari over Saul Bass to present
Pablo Ferro: A Career Retrospective, Part 1 – Blog with video, Art of the Title

Title Design Examples

Ocean’s Eleven (1960) title sequence – Title Designer: Saul Bass
Vertigo titles sequence – Title Designer: Saul Bass
The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1966) title sequence – Title Designer: Saul Bass
Saul Bass: Famous title sequences from Preminger to Scorsese – Saul Bass compilation, 66 min
Thank you for smoking title sequence – Title Designer: Gareth Smith and Jenny Lee
Seven titles sequence – Title Designer: Kyle Cooper
Fight Club titles sequence – 2 min
Fight Club Ikea scene – 1 min
“Eva”(2011) – Breakdown, blog with video, Art of the Title

Movie Studios Logos

Universal Pictures Full Logo History – Compilation, 4 min
20th Century Fox Logo History – 1914-2015 Compilation, 7 min
Movie Studio Logos Collection – Compilation, 15 min

Examples

XBox Rare Replay Pre-Order Trailer – 2 min
Banque Populaire Entrepreneurs – Making Of – Matt Frodsham, 3 min
Strange Reactions – Shane Griffin, 1 min
MPC Sky Arts, Rebrand Idents – VFX Breakdown, 3 min
denial of service – Vimeo channel, 3D, experimental, glitches
Zeitguised – Vimeo channel, algorithmic, generative, synthetic art and design

Typography

A Crash Course in Typography: The Basics of Type – noupe.com, Blog
A Crash Course in Typography: Paragraphs and Special Characters – noupe.com, Blog
A Crash Course in Typography: Principles for Combining Typefaces – noupe.com, Blog
A Crash Course in Typography: Pulling It All Together – noupe.com, Blog
Typography rules and terms that every designer must know – creativebloq.com, Blog
Making Sense Of Type Classification (Part 1) – Joseph Alessio, smashingmagazine.com, Blog
Make use of grids for typographical layouts – Jo Gulliver, Computer Arts 09/2010, PDF
Creating Exciting And Unusual Visual Hierarchies – C. Knight, J. Glaser smashingmagazine.com, Blog
Beginners Guide to Opentype – magnetstudio.com, Blog
Typography Introduction Lecture (BYU-Idaho Art Dept, 24 min)
Five guidelines for picking and using fonts (Blog)
Choosing and using a typeface (Digital Tutors)
Typophile Film Festival 5 Opening Titles (Visual typographic feast about the five senses, no CG effects)

History

La Historia de la Animación Abstracta (Marc Calvet Toro, 12 min)
Kreise (excerpt) (Oskar Fischinger, 1933-34)
Composition in Blue (excerpt) (Oskar Fischinger, 1935)
Dots (Norman McLaren, 1940)
Synchromy (Norman McLaren, 1971)
Autechre – Gantz Graf (Alex Rutterford, 2002)
Monocodes (Alex Rutterford, 2000)
Bacardi – Bass Bins (Alex Rutterford, 2007)
Vanishing Point (Takuya Hosogane, 2010)
Nokta (Onur Senturk, 2010)

Game

Gamegraphics

Game Oldies – Play Online
Evolution of Video Game Graphics 1952 – 2015 – Random selection, 13 min
UE 4 – Apartment Interior – Archviz – Roy Fredy R, 4 min
Cinematic image effects in Unity – Unity Blog
Making Realistic Materials in UE 4 – Blog
P.A.M.E.L.A. developer preview – Unity Blog
Adam – Unity realtime graphics demo
Enlighten GI in Unity and UE – Developer Website
Cryengine Sponza SVOTI Example – Sparse Voxel Octree Total Illumination, download demo
Cryengine Baron Haussmann SVOTI Example – Sparse Voxel Octree Total Illumination, demo3
How to Plan Level Designs and Game Environments – worldofleveldesign.com Blog
User Interface – Polycount Wiki
Game Dev Essentials: Game Interface Design – by Kevin Saunders, Jeannie Novake, Google Books
Realistic Snow Ground Creation in UE4 – Interview with Jacob Norris (PurePolygons), Blog
8 Bit Pixelize in UE 4 – Unreal Engine, 5 min

Shading

Substance for Unity 5 Tutorial

Gamedesign

Paola Antonelli – Why I Brought Pacman to MOMA? – TED talk, 19 min
Mosh Pit Simulator trailer – Sos Sosowski, 1 min
Antichamber – Full Walkthrough, 15 min
Antichamber – Gameplay with Comments, 20 min
Journey – Gameplay, 10 min
flOw – PS3 Full Walkthrough, 85 min
Portal – Gameplay, 7 min
The Witness – Developer Gameplay Trailer, 11 min
Firewatch – Gameplay, 184 min
Inside – Gameplay, 11 min
Super Mario Clouds – Cory Arcangel, Game Mod, 2002, Blog

WebGL, Web VR

Learningwebgl.com – WebGl tutorial, blog
bl.ocks.org – simple html viewer for sharing code examples hosted on GitHub Gist
p5*js Java Script Libraries – Procesing, NYU ITP
Aframe – open source framework for creating WebVR experiences with HTML
Shadertoy Seascape Example – Procedural computing with WebGL

Programming

John Romero’s development commandments – develop-online.net, Blog

Game Effects

Game Effects Using Houdini and UE4 – Stephen Tucker, Free Udemy Lecture, 45 min

Augmented Reality

Augment Desktop Tutorials – YouTube Channel, short introductory clips
Unity3D and Vuforia for MultiTarget Tracking – YuGiOh! Card Game, Edgaras Art, 29 min

Cinematography, Preprodution

General

Film Technique and Terminology Intro – Scott Bradley, examples from Fellowship of the Ring, 16 min
Pixar’s Tribute to Cinema – Edited by Jorge Luengo Ruiz, 5 min
The Lego Batman, Spider-Man, & Superman Movie – forrestfire101, 15 min
Cinematography of “The Incredibles”
Developing a cutscene: From start to finish – Sarepta Studio, blog

Creativity

David Lynch on Where Great Ideas Come From – The Atlantic Video, 3 min

Storytelling

Ken Burns: On Story – Redglass Pictures, 6 min
George Saunders – On Story – Redglass Pictures, 7 min
George Saunders – On Story Extras – Relationship reader and writer, Redglass Pictures, 2 min
George Saunders – On Story Extras – Tricks of the writing process, Redglass Pictures, 2 min

Cinematography, VR

Werner Herzog Talks Virtual Reality – New Yorker 12.1.2016, Interview
Close Range Aerial Filming – Skynamic & Alexa Demo Reel

Pipeline

“Previs” Directed by Daniel Gregoire & Jason Ragosta – The CGBros, 10 min
VFX of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Production pipeline, Weta Digital, 2 min
Pixar’s Animation Process
Production Stages – The Incredibles – Evolution of a shot from storyboard to final rendering
Halon – Previsualization company, website
The Third Floor – Previsualization company, website

Preproduction

Three Point Estimation – Wikipedia

Loglines

http://www.norman-hollyn.com/535/handouts/loglines.pdf

Storyboard, Animatic

THE THING – storyboard to film comparison (Vashi Nedomansky, 5 min)
Vodafone ‘Surprise’ 2D Animatic (Adam Hodgson, 1 min)
Ant Man Animatic (CG Meetup, 1 min)
Pixar Animation – Toy Story Storyboarding and Pitch
Trouble Shooter’ Storyboard Pitch – Eric Goldberg pitches an unproduced 1947 Donald Duck storyboard
Avengers: Age Of Ultron Hulk vs Hulkbuster – 3D animatic example, Marvel, 8 min
“World War Z – Previs REEL” by Halon Entertainment – 3D animatic example, 6 min
3D Animation Pipeline with Previsualization – Bloop Tutorial, 7 min
Create a 2D Animatic from a Storyboard – Bloop Tutorial, 6 min
Creating a 3D Previsualization – Bloop Tutorial, 8 min
Digitaltutors – Animation Principles in Staging – Maya Tutorial, 27 min
Storyboarding with Blender – Bloop Tutorial, 4 min
Storyboardthat.com – web based storyboard creator, free up to 6 cells / 2 storyboards per week
Cinematographydb.com – C4D plugin and Previsualization tutorials, Matt Workman

Composition

Understanding Composition – Blender Guru, 31 min
Shirley: Visions of Reality – Edward Hopper paintings as film sequences, Yatzer, blog

Cinematography, Camera

Cinematic Techniques Part1 (8min) Part2 (9 min) Part3 (10 min) – Different camera techniques
Cinematography Learn from a Master – Hugh Fenton Tutorial, 40 min

DSLR

DSLR Filmmaking – Lynda.com
Philip Bloom’s DSLR video tutorials – Vimeo

Montage

Cuts & Transitions 101 – Video Essay, RocketJump Film School, 14 min

Perspective

Linear Perspective: Brunelleschi’s Experiement – Khan Academy, 5 min
How one point linear perspective works – Khan Academy, 12 min
The Magic of Illusion: The Trinity-Masaccio – Art Babble, 8 min (stop at 2 min)
3D Joe & Max – 3D paintings, website

Light

Light & Shadow – Emmy winning film from director Steve Weiss, 20 min
Visions of Light (1992) – Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography
Visions of Light – HD remastered – 92 min
Goethe – Light Darkness and Colours (1998) – Documentary Based on Goethe’s Theory of Colours, 52 min

Color

The Colorscript – quick look at and how useful they are as a pre-production/previs tool, Pixar, 2 min
Color Theory for Cinematographers – Introduction with examples from Ridley Scott’s Somalia, Blog
Color Theory Lecture – BYU-Idaho Art Dept, 30 min
Colour script – Pixar Examples, blog
Tips for working with colors in AE – Adobe Kuler, some color theory, schoolofmotion, 52 min
Warm and Cold – Visual essay with warm and cold lighting in movies, 2 min
twitter.com/CINEMAPALETTES – color palettes used in memorable scenes from famous movies

Visual Effects

Pixels – Making of, CGsociety blog
Chemical Brothers, Wide Open – The Mill, Making of, FX Guide blog

Important Movies

2001: A Space Odyssey – Stanley Kubrick, 1968
Apocalypse Now – Francis Ford Coppola, 1979
Blade Runner – Ridley Scott, 1982
Blood Simple. – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 1984
Blow-Up – Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966
Bullitt – Peter Yates, 1968
Citizen Kane – Orson Welles, 1941
Dead Alive – Braindead (original title), Peter Jackson, 1992
Dog Days – Hundstage (original title), Ulrich Seidl, 2001
Dreams – Akira Kurosawa, Ishirô Honda, 1990
Drive (I) – Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011
Fahrenheit 451 – François Truffaut, 1966
Fight Club – David Fincher, 1999
Home (I) – Yann Arthus-Bertrand, 2009
In the Mood for Love – Kar-Wai Wong, 2000
Koyaanisqatsi – Godfrey Reggio, 1982
La Haine – Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995
Memento – Christopher Nolan, 2000
Mulholland Drive – David Lynch, 2001
Once Upon a Time in the West – Sergio Leone, 1968
Raging Bull – Martin Scorsese, 1980
Safe – Todd Haynes, 1995
Seven Samurai – Akira Kurosawa, 1954
Soylent Green – Richard Fleischer, 1973
Stalker – Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979
The Godfather – Francis Ford Coppola, 1972
The Ice Storm – Ang Lee, 1997
The Shawshank Redemption – Frank Darabont, 1994
Three Days of the Condor – Sydney Pollack, 1975

External Files, Software Downloads and Services

Google Research

How To Google Like A Pro – Top 10 Google Search Tips & Tricks – Epic Tutorials, 6 min
How to Search in Google: 31 Advanced Google Search Tips – Blog
Google Search operators – Google Help

Software Installers

Maya Offline Manual – Direct download link, 1,1 GB
Agisoft Photoscan – Photogrammetry software, free demo download
Cinema 4D – Free student license, application link
Instant Meshes – Automatic Retopologizer, open source by Wenzel Jakob, download link
Crazybump – Generates bump and normal maps from photos, download free Mac beta
Normal Map Online – Generates bump and normal maps from photos, browser based
Texture Generator Online – Generates tiled textures, terrains, clouds, noises, textiles, browser based
Xnormal – Free texture baking application, download link
Artomatix – Seamless tiles generator (Wang tiles), 10 download credits = 10 US$
Vectormagic – Convert bitmap images to vector images (EPS, SVG and PDF), web service
Thegrove3d – Blender tree growing plugin, 109 EUR

Textures

Texturelib.com – comprehensive library by Dmitriy Chugai (Crytek), unedited, 3-5k, free
Poliigon.com/ – PBR, seamless, 8 images 3k per day free, subscr. 17$/month, 25 img/ day up to 24k
Quixel Megascans/ – Textures and objects scanned with photogrammetry, free samples
Texturify.com – broad variety, by Agata Galewska, unedited, 3-5k, free
Textures.com – huge library, tileable and unedited, 1k – 15 free downloads per day
SideFX Free Texture Pack – 19 tileable textures, in. tif and also in .rat format for use in Houdini
nordicfx.net – Stian Ervik Wahlvåg – 13 texture packages with normal, spec maps etc., free download
David Gurrea – unedited photos ~2k, edited game textures, free download
Mtextur.ch – Buildingmaterials CAD- & BIM-Textures
Lugher Texture – broad variety, unedited ~3k, free download
Mayang Textures – broad variety, unedited ~2k, free download
Lostandtaken – some tileable, 2k, free download
Image After – Image database with textures and references, free download
Ben Cloward – Wood Textures, unedited, free download
Anniemation – Lots of nature textures, cutout leaves etc
Openfootage – 2k tileable, mostly free download
Plaintextures – 2k tileable, only low res free download
Animax – about 1000 textures, more arch viz related, free download
Joost Vanhoutte – 800 textures, free download / donation
Sketchbookpro Backgrounds – Grids, storyboard templates, paper textures, free download

Geodata

terrain.party – download height maps as 16-bit 1081×1081 PNGs, covering 18x18km area
Streetviewdownload.eu – Paste a Streetview URL and download the images or 360° panorama
SAS.planet – Sattelite imagery downloader
earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ – Download sattelite image tiles
Google Maps Area Calculator Tool – define an area and find out the measurement, website
Extraxt 3D
Extract Google Earth models – 7 min tutorial, run 3D Ripper DX as administrator
brian-horning.com – Google Earth to 3 D using 3D Ripper DX, Blog with Q&A
3D Ripper capture and export to C4D tutorial – Export from a game engine, John Burdock, 44 min

HDR Panoramas

hdrlabs.com sibl archive – about 100 sIBL sets, free download
3d-station.fr – about 150 HDR panoramas, free download
NoEmotionhdrs.net – 150 HDR panoramas, 15.000×7.500day, night (use mirror links), small watermark on the bottom, free download
hdr-sets.com – 3 free sets
Nordicfx.net – Stian Ervik Wahlvåg, 5 HDR panoramas with backplate images, free download
Bernhard Vogl – 15 HDR panoramas – free download
USC Institute for Creative Technologies – 6 HDR panoramas – free download
openfootage.net – 80 HDR pano, lowres 1000×500, 2000×1000 free download, highres 5 EUR each
Lugher Texture – 37 Interior, 135 Urban, 57 Nature
HDRI-Skies – 4096×2048 free download, 15000×7500 5 EUR each

IES Lighting Files

Josef Bsharah IES Files collection – about 150 IES files, free download
American Electric Lighting Photometry Lighting Files – about 1200 IES files, free download
Deltalight – about 840 IES files, free download

Visual Reference

letsmeltthis – Melting things one day at a time, YouTube channel
theslowmoguys – HD footage recorded with high-speed cinema cameras, YouTube channel
letsmeltthis – Macro Room, YouTube channel

3D Models

Xfrog – Plant models, free download of about 40 samples
Cgaxis.com – High quality models, free samples
TF3dm.com – Misc models, free download
3dexport.com – Misc models, free download
Archive 3D – Architecture related, furniture, etc, free download
cgtrader.com/free-3d-models – Misc models, free download
SketchUp 3D Warehouse – Architecture related, SketchUp models, free download
Turbosquid – Misc models, selection of free items
Oyonale.com – Some models, free download, C4D and OBJ
Renderstuff – Misc models, selection of free items
Threedscans.com – 3D scans of Sculptures and artifacts, free download
Grabcad – Engineering, Machine parts, CAD models, free download
3dcontentcentral.com/ – Machine parts, engineering related, free download
NASA 3D – Space related models and textures, free download
Smithsonian X 3D – iconic collection objects from the Smithsonian museum collections
Hondafan – Honda vehicle models, free download
Nefertitihack.alloversky.com – Nefertitis head, 3D scan, STL-file (100 MB), free download
Thepixellab.net/freebies – To gain access to these free models you need to join the e-mail newsletter
DMI-3D.net/ – Vehicle models, free download
3Dlapidary.com/ – Gems and Jewelry models, free download
GSG C4D Models – VW Van, Rolleiflex Camera, Lego Man, Space Gun, Tron Car, Cup, Light Bulb, free
GSG Daft Punk Helmets – C4D, free download
Astorza.net/category/freebies/ – Fully detailed 1953 Cadillac Eldorado model, XSI, OBJ, C4D

3D Humans

Makehuman – Open source 3D character creator
Adobe Fuse CC – 3D character creator

Mocap Files

mocapdata.com – comprehensive mocap library, Japan, partial free
MovLab – Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Lisboa – some free mocap files
BeyondMotion – free mocap files
MocapClub.com – some free mocap files
ACCAD – Ohio Univ. Adv. Computing Center for the Arts and Design – Mocap Lab – downloads
Animstreet – free mocap files
CMU’s motion capture database – 3dsMax-friendly BVH release, cgspeed

Icons

iconsdb.com – Well designed monochrome icons, free download 512×512 px
thenounproject.com – B/W icons, search function, SVG, free account
Iconfinder.com – B/W and shaded icons, SVG, free and paid
Iconarchive.com – Icon sets with B/W and shaded icons, different sizes, free download

Fonts

Fontsquirrel
Google Fonts
Dafont

Weblog

How to Make a Blogsite – Blog
host-ed.net – Free webhosting with SQL database

Tumblr, Selected Portfolio Themes

All Free Tumblr Themes
Indy Theme
Illustfolio Theme
Two Theme
Rewind Theme
Neat Theme
Minimal Theme
Espied Theme

WordPress, Selected Portfolio Themes

All Free WordPress Themes
Sketch Theme
Visual Theme
Canard Theme
Blask Theme
Pictorico Theme
Blogum Theme
Truly Minimal Theme
Afterlight Theme

Career

It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) – AC↯DC

Industry Specific

Careers In VFX – Escape Studios Webinar, 60 min
Digital Artist’s Portfolio Guide – by Dave Scotland (Download cmiVFX Edition, ZIP 10MB
100 things every game student should know – Kaye Elling, PDF

General Tips

How to Write a Cover Letter, According to Great Artists – theatlantic.com, Article
Cover Letter Tips – University of the Arts London, Video + Article
Landing That Job – Design Cinema, 63 min
Tips for Landing a Job with a AAA Game Developer – Gnomon School blog with example demo reels
The Animation Student’s Handbook – Introduction – Flippednormals blog with example demo reel
The Freelance Handbook – Computer Arts Book, PDF

Portfolio

Online Portfolio Tips – Design Cinema, 111 min
Alex Rutterford – Demo reel, 2015, 1 min

Job Portal Sites

Motionographer Jobs – Portal with recent job descriptions
CGsociety Jobs
Nerdeo – Portal to connect indie film or game producer with artists

Jobs Local

https://www.upwork.com/ – Freelancer database
Jobs in the Norwegian Games Industry – Google Sheet
Digipilot – Game Company, Mosjøen, Oslo
Gimpville – VFX and animation studio, Oslo
Qvisten – Animation studio, Oslo
Nordic – Office of Architecture, Oslo

Jobs Global

Animallogic
Base – VFX, Beijing, China
Disney Animation
Double Negative
Framestore
Frimastudio
Gimpville – VFX and animation, Oslo
Impossibleengine
Jonathan Post – Commercials VFX, Sao Paulo Brazil
Lucasfilm – Lucasfilm Animation, ILM, San Francisco, Singapore, Vancouver, London
Magicleap – VR, robotics, visualization, software, computing, user experience, US, Israel, New Zealand
Method Studios
MPCPixar
Pixomondo
Puppetworks – Character Animation and VFX, Budapest, Hungary
Rewind – Creative agency and digital production studio, VR, London
Rise FX – VFX, Berlin
Territory Studio
The Mill – VFX, Interactive, Commercials, London, NY, Los Angeles, Chicago
Trixter – VFX, Berlin, Munich, Los Angeles
Weta Digital – VFX, NZ

Festivals, Opportunities

Sundance New Frontier 2016 Festival – Immersive cinema, VR installations, documentary and narrative mobile VR experiences
Transmediale – Berlin-based festival between art, culture and technology
Ars Electronica – Linz (Austria) based Festival related to art, technology and society