Autodesk’s 2011 Creative Suite: The Epitome of a Creative Future

When the term technology was coined who would have ever thought what scale it would reach. It is the future or a more humble way to put it is a tool that helps us act and think faster and better. Autodesk has the best tools for and at the artist's disposal.

Singing "(You're)-(Autodesk) a Genie in a bottle" all the way... An artist can dare to dream. With Autodesk's 2011 Creative Suite that consists of Autodesk Maya (or 3Ds Max or Softimage) Mudbox, Motion Builder, an artist can surf through the software due to their interwoven architecture at the tip of a button, and make most use of its tools. Autodesk 2011 Creative Suite therefore can be called a tool in its purest form that opens new avenues of creativity and dissolves boundaries that artists faced formerly.

Autodesk is forging ahead, showing us the possibilities of the future. Before Autodesk brings a "2012" let us take an overview of "2011"! Read More...

Tasi brings the Crest Pack - A Detailed Behind the scene of Alpha and Omega

Red carpet limousines caviar and bling! Nah that's not what we got to see at the TASI event on the MAKING OF ALPHA AND OMEGA! On 6th October "animationwalle" came face to face with the artists of Alpha and Omega, the behind the scene guys. TASI had the entire team-Layouts, Set design, Character Design, Modeling, Rigging, Animation, Texture, Fur, VFX, Lighting, Compositing, Rendering... did we miss out on anything, did we? No! They did not... They definitely did not. The event must have been the most comprehensive makings ever seen. Read More...

Making of Architectural Visualization Part 1 by Maxim A.Ganzha

Maksim Ganzha, does the name ring a bell? He is the Czar for Architectural Visualisation. After an experience of 6 years, his works are more believable than reality itself. Here is the Making of Architectural Visualisation by Maxim A Ganzha himself.

This is the most comprehensive making and spreads over a number of chapters. We have divided it into four stages. They are:

1. The Lights and adjustments
2. Material Setting
3. Final Render Setting
4. Composition and Post Processing

Today we take you through The Lights and Adjustment chapter, over to Maksim Ganzha. Read More...

Making of Zerg Hydralisk by David Chung - CGTantra Modeling challenge Winner

David Chung the contestant of Starcraft Fanart a few days back, is now the winner. There was a winner in the making all the way... we at CGTantra bring to you how David emerged to be "The Winner". And he gives an in depth making of his winning work The ZergHydralisk

According to Starcraft Wikki, the StarCraft franchise is a series of real-time strategy computer games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It is similar to Blizzard's previous hit franchise, Warcraft, except that it has a space opera setting rather than a high fantasy setting. StarCraft was the best selling video game of 1998, and was so successful that Blizzard estimated in 2004 that 9.5 million copies had been sold since its release (4.5 million copies in South Korea) making it the third best-selling computer game in history. Read More...

NVIDIA yet again has hit the fast forward button

NVIDIA yet again has hit the fast forward button. They are on a roll to revolutionize visual computing and this time with NVIDIA's recently launched line-up of the Quadro Fermi family cards, professionals have a treat awaiting.

The top end of the Quadro Fermi cards includes the Quadro 4000 (2 GB 256 cores), Quadro 5000 (2.5 GB 352 Cores) and Quadro 6000 (6 GB 448 Cores).

Built on the innovative NVIDIA Fermi architecture, are the first professional graphics solutions to integrate high-performance computing with advanced visualization. Read More...

Ramayana The Epic Challenges/Contests

Click here to Enter the Contest

Jeff Kleiser : Visual Effects supervisor of Some Spectacular Award winning movies

"Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things" – Theodore Levitt

Jeff Kleiser creates and innovates and as rightly put in his mini biography: Jeff Kleiser's pioneering work in computer animation has spanned the history of the medium. His journey of 34-36 years has seen taking up challenges and create visual effects that set a benchmark, we can put it as: "It all begins from here".

We take immense pride in connecting you, the readers with one of the leading men in the animation and visual effects arena - Watching Jeff Kleiser's work is like sitting in a time machine and watch the roots of animation and visual effects unfold into a tall tree, and it still continues to unfold into the future. Read More...

CGTantra Matte Painting Challenge

Hi Friends,

Here we are back with our very own digital matte painting contest.

This is called "VICTORIAN STREET 1880"

Below is the guideline for the contest:

Victorian Shop Test

Here are two images; one photo to work on and one photo with red highlighting the areas to modify.

The photo is of a modern street here in London, and the brief is to change the street in to a Victorian street, so around the time mid to late 1800's.
You will need to remove anything that is modern and replace it with something authentic to the Victorian period. You'll need to research the era first to see what is typical of a Victorian shop front including awnings, advertisements, etc. Read More...

CGTantra Rigging Challenge # 4

CGTANTRA RIGGING CHALLENGE is back in action.The task is even more tougher this time with feature quality output expected out of the character Rig.The challenge involves setting up an animator friendly Character Rig with eye-catching Mesh Deformation Quality.

SUGGESTION -The solution should be innovative, which means the candidates are expected to come up with some setup that has not already been covered in tutorials.

This Challenge will be moderated by Chand (CGT ID - Chand) and Anoop A. K (CGT ID - crackerjack)

We would like to mention our special thanks to our member Savio Fernandes (CGT ID - crunk) for helping us with the mesh for this challenge. Read More...

Despicable Me: The making and transformation of a VILLAIN into HERO

Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment

Producer CHRIS MELEDANDRI (Ice Age, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!), JANET HEALY and JOHN COHEN

Directors are Oscar®-nominee CHRIS RENAUD (Annie Award-winning short No Time for Nuts, director of upcoming Dr. Seuss' The Lorax) & PIERRE COFFIN (Pat et Stanley).

STEVE CARELL of Get Smart, Horton Hears a Who!, television's The Office for the Voice over of GRU

Leading the talented behind-the-scenes team are editors PAMELA ZIEGENHAGEN-SHEFLAND (Open Season, The Emperor's New Groove) and GREGORY PERLER (Enchanted, Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit) Read More...

Talk to the Pro - Vivek "Hell's Angel" Ram

Post your questions, queries for Vivek Ram or Hells Angel as known on CGTantra.

Vivek began his career 9 years ago as a freelancer dabbling in all the various segments of 3d animation. He has worked with Rhythm and Hues as a Senior Digital Artist for a few years before moving on to the Dreamworks Dedicated Unit as a Modeling Lead where he wore multiple hats and moved between many departments during his tenure. He currently works as an Independent Animation Consultant, again playing the role of VFX Supervisor, Designer or Art Director on both feature and game projects for a variety of studios and production houses. Check his website for more about him - WWW.MARKEVIV.COM
Read More...

RAMAYANA the epic - A Sneak Peak

You have watched Ramayana. There is no one who will say that they haven't. Every Indian knows the EPIC. Then what must be the conviction of the film makers to make another Ramayana?

You have to agree, it is a story that every child wants to hear again and again and a Story teller loves to NARRATE.

Maya Entertainment Studio essays the story in the most beautiful landscape that you have ever seen. They are ready to narrate RAMAYANA to YOU.

Your Journey with them Begins here! Read More...

An Interview with Dhaneesh Jameson on making of Wilson Periera

Born and Brought up in Kerala ( God's Own Country unearthing brilliance in an artist ) the World's inspirations etched on his mind translating into a sketch on his canvas, Dhaneesh today has a story to tell. The story of Wilson Periera! Read More...