Maya Educational License

For newcomers to the animation industry, it's important to remember that Autodesk, who make the software Maya, offer an education copy of Maya for free, which can be downloaded from the official Autodesk site.

Autodesk Maya has been the dominant software package in 3D animation for over 20 years. I first used Maya 1.0 on "The Iron Giant", back in 1998. And today it remains the most powerful package for the creation of 3D animation, widely used in industry.

Storyboarder - Free Storyboarding Software

Now more than ever, animators need to be able to source the best (and cheapest) animation software for home use. 

We're recommending this free Storyboard Software from developers WonderUnit. Titled simply "Storyboarder", it works on both a Mac and a PC and is free to download for everyone.

Autodesk Certified Instructor

Recently I got an unexpected present in my Inbox - a badge of accreditation from Autodesk, the makers of Maya, as an official Autodesk Certified Instructor.

The badge of accreditation is a recognition of many years experience both using Maya on film productions (I learned to use the very first version, Maya 1.0, on Brad Bird's The Iron Giant) and also decades of experience in the classroom.

So thanks Autodesk for the vote of confidence, and the official accreditation - it is much appreciated.

OBS - A Free Tool for Online Delivery of Classes

Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) offers a useful option for our lecturers and tutors at Bucks, who are switching to online delivery of our courses. OBS is easy to install and completely free to use, for Windows and Mac devices.

Maya Student License - Free Download

Now that our students are transitioning to online study, it's important to remember that Autodesk, the makers of Maya, offer free education licenses for teachers and students.

You can download the latest version of Maya from the official site here, in the education section.

Panel Forge Pro - Free Storyboard Software

At last week's Blue GFX Expo, Blue Zoo’s Tom Box announced that Panel Forge Pro, their new storyboard and pipeline tool, is now available for free for student use.

Panel Forge Pro, extensively tested at Blue Zoo on Miffy the Rabbit and Digby Dragon, makes use of 3D Layouts to save time in Storyboarding, allowing board artists to use low resolution 3D assets to help set up camera angles and layouts.  Good news then for storyboard artists, who can now learn to use this new software for free.

Mental Ray Is Back - And It's Free!

Mental Ray is back! 3D Render by Amaru Zeas

Mental Ray is Back! NVIDIA, makers of the classic ray tracer - it used to come bundled free with Autodesk Maya - have now released a version of their software which is free for student use.  This is great news for animation students, because Mental Ray has a number of advtantages over its successor Arnold.  In particular, you can achieve some very quick and attractive lighting setups in Mental ray using Physical Sun & Sky, the closest thing Maya has to a "Make It Look Cool" button.  So, how can our students get a free copy of Mental Ray?

Nicky Brown Brings Compositing Masterclass to Bucks Today!

Compositing made easy

Bucks welcomes visual effects compositor Nicky Brown today to teach our students the secrets of Nuke, now the VFX industry's leading compositing software. Nicky has extensive experience working in the visual effects, animation and games industry, having worked on projects at the BBC, on Planet Dinosaur, and on app games such as Walking With Dinosaurs.

Free VFX Tutorials at Our Next Open Day at Bucks - Saturday 21 February

Model your own Gul Dukat at Bucks for free! Image: Wikipedia

Saturday 21 February is not just any old Open Day at Bucks. As well as the usual tour of our state-of-the-art facilities, Bucks tutors Dave Creighton and Nick Brown are offering free tutorials in specialist VFX software Mudbox and RealFlow, giving our prospective students a unique insight into the digital pipeline of the growing animation and visual effects industry.  So, if you come along on Saturday, what exactly can you expect to learn?

Handbrake - a Great Way to Reduce Video File Sizes

Handbrake. Free to download.

What is Handbrake? Handbrake is a video transcoder,  a tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs. It's super useful for reducing the size of big video files without losing quality, and best of all - it's completely free.

Maya 2015 Bugs - Problems and Solutions

Last year Autodesk released Maya 2015, free for students and universities, and another leap forward in what has become the leading software for the animation industry around the world.  However, like many new releases, it is not without its bugs and glitches. Here are some of the main bugs, and some possible solutions.

How to Make a Quick Time Movie in Adobe Premiere

In this short video Bucks tutor Dave Creighton explains how to import images into Adobe Premiere and then export a movie file. For anyone who has not used Premiere before, this simple video explains the basics in a very clear way, and show you how to export a movie file in simple steps.  It is especially useful for animation students who have created a series of images in Maya, using the batch render procedure, and want to turn those images into a movie file that can be uploaded to YouTube. Thanks Dave!

Calling all 3DS Max users - 3DS LONDON meets tomorrow, Wednesday 2nd July

3DS LONDON is monthly conference for users of 3DStudio Max conference, which takes place at the first Wednesday of every month. It is a meet-up group for digital artists working in the architectural, animation and advertising industry - and it is completely free. Many experienced Max users, leaders in their fields, attend, including artists who  have written articles for periodicals such as 3D World magazine.  In June the Autodesk team from America came, offering a sneak preview of 3DS MAX 2016.

What is the best platform for animation in Maya - a Mac or a PC?

 

One question we get asked a lot at Bucks is this: "What should I use for animation - a PC or a Mac?" The good news is - you can use either one. The bad news is - you should really use a PC. Here at Bucks our classrooms have both PCs and Macs, but in general we recommend our students use a PC for several reasons.

Firstly and most importantly, the vast majority of animation and visual effects houses work on PCs. Secondly, a number of free (and very useful) Maya plug-ins will only work on a PC. In particular, the Parent Master plugin, which is seriously useful for attaching and un-attaching objects in Maya, does not work on the Mac. Finally, audio playback in Maya can be troublesome on a Mac. All in all, the PC wins because it is a broad-backed platform that will help prepare you for a successful career in the animation and visual effects industry.

How long does it take to get good at something? 10,000 hours? Or 20?

Author and polymath Josh Kaufman gave an excellent talk at TED recently where he discusses the horror of trying to invest 10,000 hours in a new skill in order to get really good at it. He's just become a father to a baby girl, and (like many of us) he hasn't got 10,000 seconds - let alone 10,000 hours - to invest in learning something new. So his theory (which should cheer us all up) is that the whole 10,000 hour thing is a big exaggeration. Try doing something new for 20 hours - and you should be able to master the basics.

New Year's Resolutions for Animators

What should an animator's new year's resolutions be? Animation is a huge and growing business, a far cry from the cottage industry it used to be even twenty years ago. But it is a competitive world, and good animators need to work smart to stay on top of their game. So here's a checklist for some simple ways to maintain your edge.