Todd Kopriva - Live Interview

Todd Kopriva is the Documentation Lead for one of the most successful Computer Graphics software applications of all time, Adobe After Effects. Through this live webinar interview, he will be offering a unique insight into his career and position at CG software giant, Adobe...

Todd is passionate about helping people create a habit of turning to Adobe Help, forums, FAQ lists, and Community Help search to get answers. He spends an incredible amount of time and effort creating and collecting good materials and search engines for the Adobe user community.

He is constantly writing through his blog feed at blogs.adobe.com and is able to offer a unique perspective through his position as Lead Documentation guy for Adobe After Effects...

He is the man in charge of the Adobe After Effects Help and Support site, which is definitely one of the most definitive and useful resources for any After Effects user or operator. This site also includes the fantastic Adobe Community Help which brings together active Adobe product users, Adobe product team members, authors, and experts to give you the most useful, relevant, and up-to-date information about Adobe products...

This a unique opportunity to for you to interact live with Todd, who definitely has his finger on the pulse when it come to After Effects and Adobe. You may have some feedback or simply would like to know what is involved in managing the documentation and help resources for arguably the most popular compositing package on the planet....

Join us for this free, live, in-depth interview, with one of the industries gurus. Find out how this highly respected Adobe Lead, got into the world of CG, and the path he took to get to the highest level... Don't miss out as there are limited seats available and only live attendees will have the opportunity to ask Todd questions in a live, interactive Q+A session...

To register for this exciting live session simply click the registration link below. And did I mention, It's absolutely FREE...

Session Details:

• Live - 2pm Wednesday 23rd June 2010 - US Pacific Time (Click to Register)
  

Use the World Time Calculator to calculate your time zone...

Peugeot Celebrates 200 Years

Peugeot celebrates two centuries in existence this year. Whilst there may be much for the French firm to review – from the economy to the environment, we take a moment to plunder their image archive and just take a few excerpts from their own retrospective on their design heritage..
“Clearly bearing the imprint of Peugeot genes, this quest for emotion in style finds expression in models that have made their mark such as the 402, the 404, the 504, the 205, the 607, or the 406 Coupé, considered as a benchmark in terms of classic elegance, and more recently the RCZ.
This desire makes emotion an integral part of the motoring experience led to the beginnings of a styling department from the 1930s with Henri Thomas at its head. After the classic good looks of the 201, the new Director of Style gave the 2 series an aerodynamic style, the Sochaux streamlined profile. The 402, presented at the 1935 Paris Motor Show, appealed with its inclined front grille depicting a coat of arms and its streamlined wings.

“The “look” of a Peugeot is fundamental to the personality of the Marque’s models. It was at the initiative of Paul Bouvot, then Stylistic Director, and Gérard Welter, that the shape of the front headlamps of the 504 would evoke the feline look now characteristic of Peugeots.

“This visual signature is an essential feature of the Peugeot style, as is the dynamism that Gérard Welter gave to each of the models designed while he was in charge. This dynamism found echoes in the 205, marketed with the famous slogan “a manufacturer draws its claws”, and in the most prestigious saloons such as the 607 or the 5 by Peugeot concept car, presented at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show and the forerunner of a forthcoming production car.

“Veritable image creators that fire the enthusiasm of visitors to motor shows, concept cars offer stylists once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to express themselves technically and aesthetically.
By exploring new technological territory (Oxia), introducing new concepts (20coeur), or revealing the lines of a future model ‘5 by Peugeot’, concept cars are never far removed from a future reality.

“Developed at the initiative of Jean-Pierre Ploué and Gilles Vidal, the BB1 and SR1 convey strong messages for the future. The BB1 opens up new avenues in terms of urban mobility, (2.5 m, four seats, zero emissions), emphasising Peugeot’s unique innovative abilities. The SR1 for its part lifts the veil on the Peugeots of tomorrow, with an emblematic and inspiring body shape, the roadster.

“Peugeot has initiated successful styling collaborations that gave rise in the 1930s to superb 302 roadsters and coupés, highly regarded by discerning car lovers. The Peugeot style also drew inspiration from the Turin based coachbuilder Pininfarina. The arrival of the 403 in 1955 marked the beginning of collaboration with Pininfarina. This collaboration proved particularly prolific and gave rise to several of the Marque’s finest designs: the 504 coupé, 306 cabriolet and 406 coupé.

“Concept cars pave the way for future production models. For example the 20coeur, a stylistic blueprint for the future 206, immediately won admirers at the 1998 Geneva Motor Show and gave rise to the 206 CC. In Geneva in 2010, the ‘5 by Peugeot’ concept car with its pure and elegant lines prefigures the Marque’s ambitions in the segment of prestigious large saloons.

“Peugeot’s ability to propose an integral mobility offer with cars, scooters and bicycles is unique in the world. This strength gives Peugeot a head start.
Peugeot is diversifying its response to the challenge of the environment. As well as continuous improvements to the efficiency of naturally aspirated engines, supporting Peugeot’s leadership in low emission vehicles (50 % of cars sold in Europe emit less than 130 g of CO2/km), the Marque is exploring new avenues for the future.”

UpComing Book Review for "Blender 2.49 Scripting"

A new Blender book has just been released by Packt Publishing called "Blender 2.49 Scripting" (by Michel J. Anders). I'll be reviewing the book after I receive it and have had time to read through it.

I was a little bit hesitant at first because its focus is on Blender 2.49. However, when you consider that the Blender 2.5/2.6 Python API has quite a ways to go before it's as good as the Blender 2.49 implementation, it may be more practical to get up to speed with Blender 2.49 Python scripting.

There's a great deal of extra power and control that can be introduced into Blender via Python scripting and it's nice to see a book dedicated to the subject. I'm sure there will be an edition released for Blender 2.5/2.6 once it becomes stabilized.

Blender 2.5 Alpha 2 (texture bugfix) officially released!

This version fixes a bad bug in "2.5 alpha 1" causing texture images to not save in .blend files.

DOWNLOAD

Even More Moves: General manager mazda Design laurens van den Acker Leaves on April 10

Fresh on the heels of the news of Steve Mattin leaving Volvo for an as yet unknown destination, being replaced by his Volvo Predecessor Peter Horbury, who in turn will be replaced within Ford by Moray Callum (Pheeewww. what a lot of info in one sentence), comes word that Mazda’s General manager Design Division Laurens van den Acker will leave his function within Mazda on April 10.

We spoke with Laurens who said that he had a fantastic time at Mazda working with a superb team, and that further anouncements would be made on April 10.

suzuki r3 concept

Designed by Maruti Suzuki India's R&D Department, the Concept R3 is a compact Multi Purpose Vehicle created for the Indian local market. It features a B-pillarless design and can transport six people in three rows.






Maruti Suzuki launched its multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) called Maruti R3 at the 10th Auto Expo in New Delhi on 05th January, 2010. This latest launch Maruti Concept rIII or R3 is a next generation compact Multi purpose vehicle that is designed by a team of Indian young automobile engineers.

The R3 Concept is a compact MPV that can seat six people in three rows and has been designed as an example of a vehicle that could cater for India’s rapidly changing car market and where consumer lifestyles are quickly evolving.

R3 combines compact dimensions and stylish profiling with four wide opening doors without a central B pillar, allowing easy access for all occupants.

"The concept R3 (or rIII) is built on the theme of 'togetherness' and is targeted to users who need to move together in a big family."

As the Indian automobile production subsidiary of Suzuki, Maruti Suzuki has had a major presence in the local market since 1983 and currently holds around a 55 per cent market share of the passenger car market.

Dilip Chhabria's College of Automotive Studies

Well, its finally open for admissions. It's called the DYP-DC CENTER For Automotive Research and Studies. and is a joint effort by the D.Y Patil Group and DC Design. A first in India, it will be offering Automobile-centric education programs in the field of Design Engineering and Management. More details on the college and their courses below.


Courses Offered:

The following are the courses that will be offered to start with:

Undergraduate Program in Automotive Styling
Duration: 3 years
Eligibility: XII'th in any discipline of Arts / Science / Commerce
Fees: 7 lakhs per year

Postgraduate Program in Automotive Styling
Duration: 2 years
Eligibility: Graduation in any discipline of Arts / Science / Commerce / Engineering
Fees: 7 lakhs per year

Applications for admissions will be accepted in January and July every year. All applicants will have to will have to go through a specially designed entrance test. The student's creative ability will be given importance apart from the test scores obtained in the exam if he has to qualify for admission. The Center will also offer scholarships to talented and needy students.

There will be project work too where the students will be able to build an actual car at the end of the course. The final year project is even more interesting where students will get a chance to work on building an actually prototype right from from the design stages to the full working model.


The Center will also help the freshly graduated students to get internships and look at employment opportunities at the end of their course.

Accommodation:

The Center will also provide accommodation facilities for those students who wish to stay on campus. Shared rooms with common bathrooms will be available. The campus is spread over a 100 acres. Facilities include a 300 seat auditorium, aesthetically designed studios and classrooms equipped with state-of-the art video projection systems.

SolidWorks® Student Edition

With SolidWorks® skills, you’ll have a clear advantage in the engineering or industrial design job markets. The easy-to-use SolidWorks Student Edition lets you sharpen your skills outside the classroom as you learn to design better products.

SolidWorks^® Student Edition includes SolidWorks^® Simulation design validation tools.

SolidWorks^® Student Edition includes:

• SolidWorks^® Premium software
• Animation functionality
• Library of Standards
• Photorealistic rendering
• eDrawings^®
• SolidWorks^® Simulation Professional, finite element analysis tools (FEA)
• SolidWorks^® Motion, kinematic and motion simulation analysis tools
• SolidWorks^® Flow Simulation, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis tools
• Complete online documentation and tutorials
• 14 language options: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Polish, Korean, Czech, Brazilian, Portuguese, and Russian
• 12 month term-of-use license

SolidWorks Student Edition purchase eligibility

The SolidWorks^® Student Edition is available to degree-seeking students or full-time faculty members using the software for personal learning or academic purposes.

A “degree-seeking student” is defined as a student who can confirm enrollment in a degree-granting program, or who can confirm full-time enrollment in a certificate-granting program. Do not purchase this software if you're not a degree-seeking student or a full-time faculty member. Commercial and institutional use is prohibited.

Please note:

• Software ceases to function 12 months after registration
• Subscription support service is not included
• Your license may not be upgraded
• Email support is available for installation and registration
• Registration requires Internet access

Special terms

Although SolidWorks^® Student Edition is functionally identical to the SolidWorks software used by professionals in the workplace, certain features make it unsuitable for commercial use.

Institutional use of SolidWorks^® Student Edition is prohibited. Schools interested in licensing use should contact an authorized SolidWorks reseller.

SolidWorks^® Student Edition software may not be resold, transferred, rented, modified, or copied. Any misuse of the terms of the software license agreement will terminate the right to use this software.

iPhoneCar Sketch using Autodesk SketchBook Mobile

You'll be mesmerized by this video of 70 minutes of sketching by Kyle Runciman that's been sped up into this 4 minute short. Check out his techniques on an iPod touch for navigating around the canvas and building up his drawing using pencils, layers, and airbrushes.

DC Design Imperator and Ying Yang Design Concepts at New Delhi Auto Expo

DC Designs Imperator and Ying Yang - Click above for high-res image gallery

If you're not already familiar with DC Designs, let's refresh your memory. Founded by Dilip Chhabria, the Indian designer has been responsible for such autotrocities as the Amrierod and Cayenne Coupe, along with tuned versions of the Rolls-Royce Phantom and Tata Nano. Pleased with what he's done for other people's vehicles, Chhabria has turned his efforts towards developing two new vehicles, both of which debuted this week at the Auto Expo in New Delhi.



Without any hard details on what's underneath each concept, there's not much to say aside from analyzing the exterior designs. Despite its name, the Ying Yang struck us as a stylish amalgamation of the en vogue box aesthetic and a traditional minivan, while the Imperator is far too similar to the Lexus 2054 shown in the movie adaption of Philip K. Dick's Minority Report -- right down to the plummeting windows and red hue. Decidedly less swoopy than its silver screen inspiration, the four-seat Imperator (anyone remember the Isdera supercar by the same name?) is festooned with all the show car baubles you'd expect, including 24-inch wheels and gullwing doors, the latter of which are held up by massive hydraulic tubes that seemingly prove that opening the concept's doors was an afterthought.




You can check out both concepts in the gallery below thanks to Indianautosblog.com.

Tata Motors Displays Indica Vista Concept S At The 2010 Delhi Auto Expo

[2010 Delhi Auto Expo]: Tata Motors has a new concept model based on the Indica vista platform named Indica Vista Concept S. But what you see here is just a concept model but when it comes to production we don’t know what will happen.

Tata Indica Vista Concept S model carries a Safire Engine Petrol and Quadra Jet Diesel that get 5 + 1 gear with independent lower wishbone, McPherson strut with coil spring suspension in the front and Semi-Independent Twist beam with coil spring & shock absorber.

Tata Indica Vista Concept S Features:

• Internationally acclaimed Quadrajet & Safire engines
• World Class gearbox with cable shifting
• 2 DIN integrated music system
• Roof mounted antenna
• Tilt adjustable power steering
• Height adjustable driver seats

AUTOCAD 2010 BASIC 2D CONCEPTS FREE TUTORIAL

The numerous free AutoCAD video tutorials have been expertly put together by Apex Web Media and made by Shaun Bryant.

AutoCAD 2010 has new features that make tasks easier and faster too. This free AutoCAD VTC course enables CAD users with the fundamentals needed to learn AutoCAD 2010 with importance on how to get started with the basic 2D tools. Each link leads to a free AutoCAD video tutorial. This free AutoCAD video tutorial is available from Cadtutor.net

ZBrush

Is a digital sculpting and painting program that has revolutionized the 3D industry with its powerful features and intuitive workflows. Built within an elegant interface, ZBrush offers the world’s most advanced tools for today’s digital artists. With an arsenal of features that have been developed with usability in mind, ZBrush creates a user experience that feels incredibly natural while simultaneously inspiring the artist within. With the ability to sculpt up to a billion polygons, ZBrush allows you to create limited only by your imagination.Designed around a principle of circularity, the menus in ZBrush work together in a non-linear and mode-free method. This facilitates the interaction of 3D models, 2D images and 2.5D Pixols in new and unique ways.

One of the core functions of ZBrush has always been to provide artists the ability to create in an environment that allows for complete freedom of expression. The lack of technical barriers that make working within ZBrush feel like real world sculpting and painting is why so many have created such ground breaking work.

With GoZ there is no need to invest time in setting up shading networks for your normal, displacement, and texture maps. With a single click of a button, GoZ will transfer your mesh to a GoZ-enabled application of your choice, and instantly set up all the appropriate shading networks for you. Upon sending your mesh back to ZBrush. GoZ will automatically remap the existing high-resolution details to the incoming mesh, GoZ will take care of simple operations - such as correcting points & polygons order - as well as more advanced operations that require complete remapping. The updated mesh is immediately ready for further detailing, map extractions, and transferring to any other GoZ-enabled application.

READ MORE

Disposable Paper Laptops

I quite agree with Je Sung Park when he says that disposable cameras and cell phones have gained acceptance, so why don’t we take the next step and bring out a disposable computer. His Recyclable Paper Laptop is quite a raw version and could do with some refinement. It uses recycled paper or pulp material all packed in layers. This is so that you can easily replace the damaged portions (even corrugated paper will tear easy). The vibe of a Paper Laptop is intriguing, I kno eventually someone will figure out the tech bit, so let’s see who will take the bait.

Designer: Je Sung Park

The transition to more eco-friendly vehicles is relatively easy for mass volume vehicles but what about luxury manufacturers? How can they maintain their luxe and driving appeal while embracing the new “green”? The Aston Martin Volare proposes an easy fix by adopting fuel cells. The stacks are located in the front while the tanks are stored in the rear above the car’s axle - perfect weight distribution.

I like the idea but saying a vehicle will be powered by fuel cells is almost a no brainer. It’s been done so I just wished this concept offered a little something more than Vantage DNA. The proportions are slightly tweaked with much crisper shoulder lines and a floating rear deck but it’s not enough. In fact the rear looks almost Scandinavian. All in all, good idea.

Digital Art Masters: CALL FOR ENTRIES

3DTotal.com is currently looking for talented artists to submit their best 2D and 3D CG artworks for consideration of inclusion in our upcoming title, 'Digital Art Masters: Volume 5', which is to be published by Focal Press, an Imprint of Elsevier.

Below is a direct link to the Call for Submissions page on the 3DTotal website, where you will find all the information you need to prepare and submit your artwork for consideration of inclusion in Volume 5 of 3DTotal's Digital Art Masters book project.

Call for Submissions: http://www.3dtotal.com/damv5_callforsubmissions/

If you have any questions at all about this book project, or our previous volumes, or if you would simply like further information then please contact [email]dam@3dtotal.com[/email].

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

The 3DTotal Team

Rolling Down The Hill

ERinGo is predictably this rotund vehicle that can go from a one-wheel car to a three-wheeler, depending upon the deep curves you wish to take. The main central wheel balances the car while in motion, and its panels house the electric motors and other machinery of the car. The two-seater has two steering wheels, allowing either of the drivers to take control. Naturally when one steering is being used, the other gets locked. Two smaller-side wheels get deployed intuitively to stabilize the car when parking or hitting the curves.

As a concept “Green” vehicle it looks neat in this round avatar, but will the design functionality actually work, we really can’t predict.

Designer: Mohammad Ghezel

Protect Your Feet In Disaster

Designer: Huang Zheng

The Braun Post-Disaster Emergency Foot Protective Accessory is for the rescue workers who are there on scene of disasters like earthquakes. Due to the disturbed topography after such calamities, the feet of the rescue guys are most vulnerable and susceptible to injury and infection. Shards of glass, nails, debris etc. hamper the mission and walking over them always poses a threat. This handy contraption fits snugly over the shoe and protects the feet from accidental nips and cuts thanks to its sturdy structure. It’s a two-part thing with a steel and silica gel insole and an over-the-shoe strap-up.