All,
I know there is some mad talent on these forums with regard to photorealistic rendering / animation. I am relatively new to this world - although I have been very fortunate to learn tons from Rob Rodriguez and, through his rendering contest, have had the opportunity to learn from others work...(Shaodun Lin - that Fender Strat freakin' rocked)
{If you are reading this message and don't know who Rob is - see his website - www.robrodriguez.com }
So my question(s)...
- What mags do you read (online/print)?
- Where do you go for inspiration (websites, etc.)
- How do you push your skills to the next level?
I am not really talking about your basic how to stuff...although that is excellent as well...I am talking about what have you read that has really helped you take your rendering to the next level. What is it that keeps you up to date with the industry, etc.
For example...I currently reading "Digital Lighting and Rendering" by Jeremy Birn. It is excellent. I have read my signed copy of the Photoworks Step-by-step guide and it was great as well.
Thanks - look forward to hearing...
I know there is some mad talent on these forums with regard to photorealistic rendering / animation. I am relatively new to this world - although I have been very fortunate to learn tons from Rob Rodriguez and, through his rendering contest, have had the opportunity to learn from others work...(Shaodun Lin - that Fender Strat freakin' rocked)
{If you are reading this message and don't know who Rob is - see his website - www.robrodriguez.com }
So my question(s)...
- What mags do you read (online/print)?
- Where do you go for inspiration (websites, etc.)
- How do you push your skills to the next level?
I am not really talking about your basic how to stuff...although that is excellent as well...I am talking about what have you read that has really helped you take your rendering to the next level. What is it that keeps you up to date with the industry, etc.
For example...I currently reading "Digital Lighting and Rendering" by Jeremy Birn. It is excellent. I have read my signed copy of the Photoworks Step-by-step guide and it was great as well.
Thanks - look forward to hearing...
N.A.
- Where do you go for inspiration (websites, etc.)
http://www.google.com
http://www.cgsociety.org
http://forums.cgsociety.org
http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum and many more...
- How do you push your skills to the next level?
Practice,Practice and Practice
Participant PhotoWorks Contest host by Rob.
I would like to mention as well I can't take all the credit for the PhotoWorks Guide. Jim Boland wrote the very first PhotoWorks Guide. For the 2008 and soon to be relased 2009 version I reformated the book for better flow (or what I thought was better flow) and provided Jim with camtasia video, rendered images and SW files for the exercises (some I developed from scratch some were updates from previously existing exercises). Jim converted the many forms of information I sent him to actual text on the page. I did write some portions of the new 2009 guide but 98% of the words you see actually printed on the pages were put there by Jim. It was a nice colaborative effort. I was able to work in a way I was comfortable with and so was Jim. In the end I think it worked well and I hope those of you that have purchased the book feel the same way.
A helpful resource I have used
http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com . There are some good lighting lessons here for real photography that can be transfered to rendering.
I also find myself frequenting the Maxwell Render Forums www.maxwellrender.com
I also watch the Hyperboards over at BunkSpeed www.hypershot.com to see if I can pick anything up. BunkSpeed has a webcast video series that has some good topics. Techniques carry over from one rendering package to another so you need not be a HyperShot user to learn things.
I've also been lurking at the Modo forums www.modo3d.com lately. It's a great place to learn about Modo but also be exposed to the CG world since most of the people there are more about CG than CAD. At the Modo forums you'll find links to all sorts of places which offer good info.
Thanks for the guidance...very valuable from 2 of the best. Anyone else out there?
Update:
Here are a couple of resources I recently found (Thanks to Mark Biasotti).
- Christian Bloch's book "The HDRI Handbook"
- "The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos" by Michael Freeman
I got them both on Amazon...I have a love/hate relationship there - way too easy to drop $60. But its all good.
The key thing is to do it! Rendering is still very much an art and the more you use it the better you become. Get yourself a monster multi core beast and render away! Nothing improves your learning faster than a fast machine where you can see your results quicker!
3D World (UK Mag) http://www.3dworldmag.com/
CGW - Computer Graphics world http://www.cgw.com/ME2/Default.asp
Both excellent Magzines for the digital artist - CGW is free, 3D world is about $90 a year but every month comes with a CD with many valuable tutorials and content on it.