Need a quick lighting solution to show off your models or animation? Physical Sun and Sky is different than most things in Maya and Mental Ray: it’s easy to use, and it looks good right out of the box. Continue reading the ‘Make Cool’ button: Maya Physical Sun and Sky tutorial
All posts by James Taylor
Maya 2015 Image Based Lighting
Image Based lighting is the technique pros use to create lighting for their film effects shots. And now that the Maya 2015 Image Based Lighting is easier to use and quicker to implement than ever before, you’ve got no excuse not to use it! Continue reading Maya 2015 Image Based Lighting
How to make Borderlands style art
Ever wonder how to make Borderlands style art in Photoshop and Mudbox? Look no further! I got around to creating a totally sweet VIDEO version of my original Borderlands art style tutorial. Continue reading How to make Borderlands style art
Face sculpting in Mudbox 2015
Art in games and film demand ultra-detailed surfaces. And the most important kind of surface is the skin on a person’s face. If you want to succeed as an artist, it is absolutely vital that you be able to create this detail. But how? Continue reading Face sculpting in Mudbox 2015
Sculpting muscles in Mudbox 2015
If you’ve played any recently, you know there are two types of guys in video games – ripped superheroes, and bulging Hulks. Check this vid for the process I use to sculpt characters like this in Mudbox. Continue reading Sculpting muscles in Mudbox 2015
MILA Scatter and subsurface scattering
Subsurface scattering is a complicated shader effect that makes skin look alive. But creating subsurface scattering shaders for skin has always been a little bit like black magic – until now.
Start using the new MILA material in Maya 2015
Mental Ray’s new MILA material in Maya 2015 is a layered library shader that improves performance and flexibility. Wait, why do you care? What’s wrong with Blinn??? Continue reading Start using the new MILA material in Maya 2015
Zipper stamp for Mudbox
Here’s another short video, I go over the process of creating a zipper stamp for Mudbox. I also include the stamp as a download! Continue reading Zipper stamp for Mudbox
Head Sculpting Vid
Here’s a short vid showing the creation of a character head in Mudbox, starting from the default base head.
Continue reading Head Sculpting Vid
SSD hard drive upgrades give a huge performance boost
[updated July 31 2017] I’d heard about SSD drives, but I just didn’t think that a hard drive could make that much of a difference in performance, you know? It’s all RAM and processor speed, I thought!
Now I am convinced it is the cheapest and easiest way to improve your system. ANY system! Continue reading SSD hard drive upgrades give a huge performance boost