CG Academy News

Here's the latest News and information on CG events, sofware release and new tutorial releases here at CG Academy. If you have any tib-bits that would be of interest, please send them in to...

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Merry Christmas from everyone at CG Academy!!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Over the coming Christmas period CG Academy will be away on a well deserved holiday (Its been a very busy few months getting these DVDs out the door). So between the 21 st of December and the 10 th of January 2005 we will not be able to process or dispatch any orders.

So, please be patient if you do order any DVDs during this period. I hope everyone has a great New Years celebration also and I look forward to brining you even more excellent DVD titles (my customers words, not mine) in the coming year.

Cheers from Chris Thomas and the CGA Team!!!

Intermediate Rigging DVD3 by Paul Neale has been released

The third DVD in our Intermediate Rigging series deals with skinning our Ogre character. Paul uses the skin modifiers enveloping system to produce is basic skinning solution and then moves on to deal with problem areas such as the shoulder, elbows and groin using weight painting and weight blending. Later in the DVD, these areas are improved further via additional bones and stomach wobble is added via spring controllers. This DVD is a must for most riggers our there as it deals with the skinning topic at a level not seen before on the 3dsmax platform. Order it now for deliver after Christmas!

Reported By Chris Thomas On 20-12-2004 at 00:00:00

MAXScript Fundamentals by Laszlo Sebo has been released

We're very proud to announce the release of our first MAXScript DVD. MAXScript is a tool that opens up so much of the power of any 3D system. It can free up your workflow and make repetitive tasks a one button solution with a little effort. This is a must DVD for anyone that was ever curious about scripting, It explains its subject using a very clear, step by step approach that should have even complete novices producing useful scripts by the end of the DVD. An excellent first DVD from Laszlo Sebo.

Reported By Chris Thomas On 07-12-2004 at 00:00:00

Intermediate Rigging DVD2 by Paul Neale has been released

The rigging continues in the second DVD is this series with Paul showing how to create a custom spline IK system as an alternative to DVD1's FK Spine system. Setting up lower and upper arm twist solutions are dealt with via a variety of methods and the DVD concludes with a custom hand rig. Another great DVD in this very popular series.

Reported By Chris Thomas On 01-11-2004 at 00:00:00

MoneyGram offline payment system now available

Some of our customers have requested a system via which they can buy our DVDs without a credit card or bank account. We'll, we like to listen to our customers here, so we have done just that. MoneyGram is an internationally trusted organisation that can transfer your payments to us within 15 minutes of paying them. They have agents worldwide in over 150 countries and in all major cities and indeed most towns also. So, if you have not been able to buy our DVDs before, you should be able to now with the MoneyGram payment option.

WorldPay credit / debit card payment clearing system is now online!

Thats right, WorldPay integration is now live, which means that we can now take payment direct via most major debit and credit cards. This will be a real boon to those that have wanted to order our DVDs in the past, but have not had the time or inclination to setup a PayPal account. If your one of those people, why not pop over to our Training DVD page and order away.

Reported By Chris Thomas On 15-10-2004 at 00:00:00

Borislav (Bobo) Petrov joins the CG Academy team of Instructors

I'm very happy to announce that we have a new instructor team member here. Borislav Petrov, or as he is more commonly known Bobo has joined CG Academy with the aim of bringing more DVD titles to our MAXScript series. Bobo will be continuing the series started by Laszlo Sebo with a series of DVDs that will explore further fundamental principles and then move onwards into intermediate skills and beyond.

Reported By Chris Thomas On 14-10-2004 at 00:00:00

Intermediate Rigging DVD1 by Paul Neale has been released

Yes, DVD1 of Paul Neale's Intermediate Rigging DVD series has been released. This DVD deals with setting up the Ogre's spine using FK and control objects, his legs using IK, a full reverse footroll system, a stretchy Ik leg system and much more.Why not view the product description page for more information and also snippets of video from the tutorials.

Reported By Chris Thomas On 10-10-2004 at 00:00:00

New Rigging Series Comming Soon

Yes we have two new series coming your way pretty soon. The first is a series on Character Rigging by Paul Neale. Those familiar with Paul's skills will know just how special this new series is going to be to those that want to push their character rigging skills to new heights.

The first two DVDs in this intermediate series deal with rigging the body of an Ogre character, modelled specifically for the series by Paul. The DVDs tackle such issues as setting up the spine, spline IK, control objects, zeroing controllers to aid your animators, leg rigging, foot rigging with foot roll, scripting custom attributes, Look at and Position Constraints, Arm twist bones, hand bones, creating custom hand controls and many many more topics.

The third DVD in the series continues with Paul demonstrating the best practices and techniques for skinning the Ogre, using envelopes, paint weighting and weight tables as well as other methods of deforming characters.

DVD four completes the series with a study of rigging the Ogre's face to allow fast and expressive facial animation. Topics include using absolute and blend morph targets, Eye Rigs, Facial Bones, Modelling and Rigging Eyeball Pupils and scripted Custom Attribute Interfaces. Later in the year, Paul will also be producing a series of DVDs for the Advanced rigger, but more news on that later....

Reported By Chris Thomas On 19-09-2004 at 00:00:00

New MAXScript Series comming soon

The new Maxscript series has been designed to help both novice users and advanced level scripters that want to expand their scripting skills. The series opens with Maxscript Fundamentals 1 by Laszlo Sebo a DVD that is aimed at the total scripting and even programming novice. The DVD will guide you through the fundamentals of scripting by teaching you the basic concepts and then putting them into practice within 3dsmax.