SOFTIMAGE|3D Animation Tutorials






Tutorial #1
Animated GIF tutorial(English)
Create a simple animated gif using Either SOFTIMAGE|XSI or SOFTIMAGE|3D and Adobe ImageReady.

Tutorial #2

Camera Control Rig (English)
(This tutorial is also avaliable in French)
Control the Camera and Interest (Translation, Rotation, Rolling, Aperture...) with 1 or 2 objects.

Tutorial #3

Character Setup "Beyond the Basics"(English)
By Stefan Andersson
"As an animator you despise all technical bullshit, you just want to animate and not care about the rest." This tutorial will help you do just that. =)

Tutorial #4: SOFTIMAGE|3D

SOFTIMAGE|3D Modeling and Animation Video(English)
By "Chinny" =) Thanks to www.sumatra.pe.kr
Chinny shows you some of the cool modeling functions in SOFTIMAGE®|3D and uses them to turn a box into a scorpion. Then he uses some other cool tools to animate it.

Tutorial #5: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Human Facial Animation (English)
by Anthony Rossano - Mesmer
Set up Facial Animation based on real humbn bone structures.


Tutorial #6: SOFTIMAGE|3D

AnimatingClusters, ClusterCenters, and the WaveEffect (English)
by Anthony Rossano - Mesmer
Clusters have a useful purpose - they can be pinned to other objects, and other objects can be pinned to them. This solves a very thorny problem in character animation: how do individual objects stay attached to another object that is deforming without deforming themselves?


Tutorial #7: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Shape Animation, Clusters, and QuickStretch (English)
by Annesa Hartman
- Mesmer
From Play-Doh to Softimage: Using Shape Animation, Clusters & Quick Stretch to Bring Your Characters to Life


Tutorial #8: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Global Enveloping & Weight Modification(English)
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
Through the use of the ACTOR module, as well as an intricate understanding of parent - child relationships, this lesson will aid you in understanding how the Global Envelope works in helping to create living, breathing organic characters. Weighting techniques and aids examined in this tutorial will include; Modify Weights, Bounding Models, Ressigning Manually, Reassigning Automatically, Showing Vertices.



Tutorial #9: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Squash & Stretch Cartoon Eyes
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
The Branch Lattice is a perfect method for the creation of these very cliché eyeballs. As is the case in many of these tutorials, a solid understanding of parent - child relationships and rotational axes is essential for this method to work. After we have finished off the creation of the eyes, we will use directional constraints to control the movement of the eyes.



Tutorial #10: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Softimage Recipe The Character Rig (English)
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
Through the use of Hierarchies, Position Constraints and Orientation Constraints, we will construct a rugged character rig using primitive null objects, to withstand the hostile environment of Cartesian space, as well as to stand up to the demands of 3D Animators.



Tutorial #11: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Lo-Res to Hi-Res Animation Swaps (English)
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
By using two different characters, whose bones are of the exact same configuration, with the same names, we will be able to animate the bone hierarchy of the first low resolution character, save its animation file, and then associate that same animation file to the second high resolution character.



Tutorial #12: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Storing and Recycling Animation Files (English)
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
The Softimage Database structure is extremely dynamic. Each element in Softimage is stored in its own separate database. Lights, Materials, Animation, etc. This tutorial deals with saving animation files, and then being able to recall them at any given time. This method allows you to re-use any actions that occur repetitively throughout your animations.



Tutorial #13: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Animation Pre-Production with Softimage 3D (English)
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
Before we begin, we need to ask ourselves if we are prepared? There are a few tools we need to put into our belts before beginning any animation.



Tutorial #14: SOFTIMAGE|3D

The Dope Sheet In Aid Of Step By Step Animation (English)
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
Using the Step By Step Method of Animating a character, you will block in your animation, and then utilize the powerful Softimage Dope Sheet to tweak the timing of the actors in your scenes.



Tutorial #15: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Animation Blocking in Softimage 3D (English)
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
One of the first things you must do as an animator is get a feel for the scene and its effect upon your character(s).



Tutorial #16: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Breakdowns and In-Betweens in Softimage3D
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
As you begin this tutorial, it is assumed that you have possession of a full working 3D character, and have completed the blocking phase of your animation described in the previous tutorial, Animation Blocking in Softimage 3D.



Tutorial #17: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Interacting With Scene Objects in Softimage|3D
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
Using a combination of strategic object placement, key posing, constraints and the dopesheet your character can easily manipulate objects in the world.



Tutorial #18: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Lip Sync Setup in Softimage 3D (english)
by Adam Sale
- Joncrow Entertainment
Softimage can use any object as a skeleton. In this tutorial we will be using a primitive spline as the control for our lips.



Tutorial #19: SOFTIMAGE|3D

Skis part 1: Creating the skis
(English)
Skis part 2: Cycling the skis(English)
Skis part 3: Moving the skis(English)

By Bernard Lebel - Website
This three part tutorial presents a technique I learned in school, thanks to Marco Beauchemin, my Softimage|3D teacher. The skis is a technique that allows the animator to animate the feet of a character in a very convenient way and solves problems related to feet. Basically it consist of few bones that are added to the feet and and take control of them. This is ideal to create walk cycles.




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