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Autodesk Maya 2012
by MarcoG
Maya is a commonly used piece of software in the Computer Graphics, Film, TV and Games industry. It can do a lot of things. It is primarily used to create 3D objects in a virtual space. It can also be used for animations. Regarded as "the" piece of software to get your head round and master, in order to get on and be successful ... in the industry.
Every year the software gets rereleased and updated, I'm currently using 2012, but 2013 is already being used and absorbed by users and studios across the world. From what I can gather, updates can be subtle and things could be changed based on user feedback. I've been shown work from 2008 and it looks very, very different to my 2012 edition. So each edition, stands alone.
I've been used Maya for 2 months now (the software is named after the god Maya - creature of creation and beauty), and I'm only just scratching the surface, in finding out what this amazing piece of computer invention can do. I would guarantee that something you've seen on today was created using Maya.
This kit is incredibly advanced and I marvel at the multitude of things it can do. One of the things I've learned is that there are lots of different ways to do the same thing! The software has a lot of hot keys and shortcuts, as well as menus containing the same capabilities, as well as the same method for doing the same thing can be found in another area of the programme. There doesn't seem to be a absolutely correct way to do something, it's really down to the individual and what works for them. Only thing to remember is, always reset your settings for every tool you use.
The downside to Maya is that it crashes a LOT - we're constantly taught the mantra "save save save"... if you don't you stand to lose a lot of hard work, which of course can be devastating. Maya is buggy and can just crash on you, for no rhyme or reason, which is incredibly annoying, but you can easily forgive this downfall because its capabilities are so immense.
There is a lot of support to help users of Maya. Forums galore. As well as the trusty F1 button which will lead you to the interactive help menus. An invaluable resource and I can't imagine anyone would be very adept at using Maya without it. It's near on essential.
The layout and functions, after some getting used, are pretty intuitive. The look of it is rather industrial, lots of blacks and grey (as you may assume from their dragon like, black and grey logo). You might this this is a bit chic and trendy, and somewhat style over substance, but it's incredibly useful - chances are what you are creating uses more than just shades of grey, so your work stands out and can easily see what you are modelling or animating.
To get the most out of Maya, I would imagine you would have to be taught how to use it by an expert, unless you have the patience of a saint and are prepared to put in hours of work and research to teach yourself...which technically you can as there are videos all over the web that will show you tutorials (I have a few links on my blog, if you're keen to do this, link below, might be helpful, might not). The other question of course, is actually getting the software. If you're enrolled at a college learning how to use it, you can get a free student license with Autodesk, otherwise you could look to pay in the region of £3000 for the software (now, when you get over the shock of the price, go and clean your screen after spitting out your tea everywhere).
If you're looking to get into 3D computer graphic modelling and manipulation, this is the software to use. Of course there are plenty of other programmes the industry uses too, but in the world is CG, knowing and being able to use Maya is like being able to use PowerPoint in a regular office. It's not absolutely essentially but it's a definite advantage!
I've been thoroughly impressed so far with how it looks, and more importantly how it works, and would recommend it to any would-be 3D computer graphics professional.
© MarcoG 2012
**Written for the Dooyoo Triathlon competition**
p.s. You can also find my blog, about becoming an animator, and see some of the work I've done on Maya here: http://becominga3danimator.blogspot.co.uk (don't forget to say hi, when you visit)
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Claymation Studio 3.0 Deluxe
by broxi3781
After watching a number of stop motion videos on You -tube, including some from dooyoo member Michelle's son, we decided to give stop motion a try ourselves. Michelle did mention we could do this only with windows movie maker - but I'm not sure if we even have that, or how to get it. We decided to go for a programme specifically made for ... young children in the hopes that if I could not figure it out - my 7 year old could. I am not very technical, and often struggle with computer programmes and such so we wanted something very simple. After a bit of research I determined that we needed a web cam, and a software programme. There are a few packages designed for this purposes. We chose this one because at £29.99 from Maplin it was one of the least expensive options, and the children liked the dog shaped camera.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX?
Dog shaped web cam
Software cd
A very short usb cable
WHAT'S NOT IN THE BOX?
There is no microphone, and the webcam does not have sound capabilities. If you wish your movies to have sound, you will need a separate microphone. You will also need subjects, but this can be anything from children's toys to a piece of fruit with google eyes and a mouth drawn on, or a bit of plasticine shaped into anything you like. You may want to create background scenes or pictures as well. If I were buying this as a gift, I think I would consider a package of googly eyes, and a bit of plasticine as well. I would also note that there really isn't much in the way of instructions. I ended up buying The Klutz Book of Animation, which I feel would be the perfect addition to this set.
GETTING STARTED
We wanted something simple, and thankfully that is just what we got with this set. The dog camera is plug and play, there was no set up required, the cd loaded easily and we were ready to shoot in no time. The programme is easy to use and we had no problems figuring out how to work the various functions. You can choose how many frames per second you wish from 1 fps to 70 fps. The higher the number, the smoother and more professional your movie will look, but the longer it will take. We chose 7 fps, which gave us a reasonably decent flow, and ended up taking us an hour to shoot 17 seconds worth of film.
PROBLEMS
I did have to dig out another usb cable to get started. I'm afraid I tossed the one that came in the box into my cable box, and I am now not sure which one it is, but it was far to short to film anything. It would not reach from the computer to the table, and I did not fancy having to crawl about on the floor to arrange the set a few inches from our pc. If you are buying this as a gift, to want to be sure it can be used right away, please take a look at the cable and see if you think you can make do with this. I would recommend just buying another cable at the same time unless you have spares at home.
We were not able to try sound as we don't have a microphone yet. This isn't a major issue as we haven't been able to record a long enough film to bother with sound yet. This is obviously going to take a lot of time and effort to produce anything long enough to really enjoy watching, but we are planning to keep at it. My son has a good idea for a film "Pants ( as in underpants) vs Zombies".
I was also disappointed that the software did not include any ready made back grounds. I really think this would have been easy enough for them to include and would have added a great deal to amateur productions.
OVERALL
We have a few minor issues with this, but overall this was just what we were looking for. A very simple, easy to use programme for beginners. My sons really did love this, and they do want to try more films. I was disappointed in how much time it took to create such a very short film, but that isn't the fault of the programme, it is just our own inexperience, and the fact that stop motion is a much more time consuming process than I first thought.
I do think this set is very educational. It teaches children the basics of how many of their favourite programmes have been made and it certainly encourages creativity. It is a wonderful way to spend a rainy day. It is a bit expensive in my opinion. Maplin's price on this is the lowest anywhere, and I spent hours searching. It is still £29.99 with them, but will cost more if you require delivery. Amazon is £39.99 including postage. That said a lot of toys are expensive now, and at least this is something that I feel will get years of use.
ROBODOG
The small dog shaped camera is intended as a gimmick, but it is so popular in our house, I felt it deserves it's own section. It is of course, just a glorified web cam, and likely not the best one at that. I did read a professional review before buying this The reviewers felt the image quality was not up to scratch, at least not by their standards. They used their own cameras instead ( you can use any web cam with this product), but they felt the image quality would be fine for younger users.I don't think I qualify as younger anymore, but it suited me just fine. True we weren't trying anything advanced and we were not looking for studio quality images. While you really don't need the dog - it is quite adequate for children's films, and it does make everything more fun.
My youngest son immediately named the camera "Robodog" and you'd think the poor child never had a real pet the way he took to this. Robodog has been trailed all over the place, gone on holiday and once ended up under the covers kicked down tot he bottom of my bed. Robodog has poseable legs and neck, which is intended to allow you to position him just right for your shots. In our house, this feature is used more often to make him sit at the edge of the bed for story time, or run about with his new best friend Yoshi. I am quite certain the manufacturers did not anticipate this camera being used quite so extensively as a toy, but it has held up perfectly and still looks as good as new.
RATING
My sons both say this should get 5 stars. I did consider knocking it down one for the short usb cable, but this is a minor issue and easily corrected so I am going to go ahead and give this the full five stars. And if and when the children ever out grow this, Robodog will still have a place on my computer desk :) A robodog is for life after all.
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Autodesk AutoCAD 2010
by bilbobaginz
I study a degree which requires its students to utilise the many features of Autodesk software for design purposes - It is AutoCAD software which we use most frequently, and since release of the 2011 and 2012 versions, I have continued on using this (2010) version to complete my studies. This isn't because I dislike the new AutoCAD's, ... rather that I think they're incredibly similar, and feel the new additions to the software's don't help me to improve my technical drafting quality or ability... but I have tried them all!
For those who don't know, 'drafting' is the process of drawing through computer software; plans, sections, elevations and 3-dimensional views of structural entities - be them houses, bridges or tea-cups. Anything goes. Now there are many industry standard software packages available, but Autodesk have (as far as I know) led the way since the mid-1980s, and the version being reviewed here is their 24th release since the original 'AutoCAD 1.0' in December of 1982.
I use AutoCAD predominantly for the drafting of 2D elements (plans, sections and elevations) of buildings only. Though this does include some experience of landscape design, I haven't used the software for 3D production - because for that I use Revit and Sketch Up. I think that AutoCAD is more set-up for 2D drafting, and here's why:
LAYERS:
This is the first thing you're prompted to learn about the software, how to set up layers. Layers are the names, headings or groups under which lines are drawn. Before you draw a line you select which pre-defined layer you wish to categorise that line under - be it 'external wall', 'insulation', 'fencing', etc. - then when you draw that line it will appear on the page with the properties of its layer. Layer properties are easily set-up and defined in AutoCAD, and they include line colour, thickness (mm), type (i.e. continuous, dotted, dashed, etc.), and many more. What isn't written into the layers properties is the lines length or shape (path) as these things are decided when you actually draw the line in the space. I think AutoCAD does an excellent job at keeping this process simple and straightforward. Using the layer icon at the top a separate window will open listing all the layers and their properties (and there is no limit to the amount of layers you can create) with another icon allowing you to make more.
LINES:
Of course, lines are what make up drawings. Be them curved, straight, hatched, coloured, faded, thick/thin; they are the substance to a drawing, and they have to be clear, concise and contain all the right properties so that they are not mistaken by professionals reading the drawing for the wrong type. AutoCAD has an icon for drawing lines (located at the top left) though the software allows you to draw without even touching the mouse through keyboard commands. A common process of drafting would be: Pressing L and enter (begin a line at a point), typing 1200 and enter (the length in mm), pressing <90 (the line direction - 90 degrees - straight up), enter. Of course, before you draft you select your layer. AutoCAD makes it easy to draw lines and after just a few hours of use it becomes second nature - as does a lot of stuff within the software!
Poly-lines are used commonly within the software, they are lines which are connected so that when selected they highlight together. So a shape like a square can be clicked on and moved around as that shape instead of as four separate lines. Poly-lines make manipulating a drawing less confusing and easier. Lines can be grouped into poly-lines after having been drawn too.
HATCHING:
When drawing technical details like a section (cut-through) of an internal wall, certain parts of the drawing will be 'hatched'. For instance, a standard masonry brick is always filled in with the same pattern of lines, as is a section of insulation board. Hatching helps people reading the drawing to clearly see what's what. Usually I'll assign hatching as one of my layers so that I can set the properties as very thin and faded so that the lines aren't confused with structural lines. The hatching icon opens a new window where the type of hatching can be defined; so that's its pattern, scale, and several other things to do with its appearance. Once defined another icon ('pick points') leads you back to the drawing space where you select the inside of a closed circuit of lines to be hatched. AutoCAD can get very irritating at this stage, as for some reason the software always seems to suggest there to be a gap in the lines when clearly there isn't. It can take a lot of fiddling about to get the hatching covering the right area.
DIMENSIONS:
Usually once a drawing is complete (all the lines and hatching is in the right place) you will add dimensions to give the detail visual scale when reading it. Dimensioning is critical as it allows readers to accurately set out works on site, any mistakes can be very costly indeed. Luckily AutoCAD's dimensioning tool is very simple and easy to use (like the rest of it), within the window which pops up, scale, line type, arrow head type, text font, and much more can all be set through the properties. Drafting the dimension lines onto the drawing is straight forward. Often though, at this stage you'll start to realise some of the lines are the wrong length or shape and amendments will be needed - but this is 100% human error and isn't a fault of the software.
ANNOTATIONS:
To give drawings depth and greater meaning, AutoCAD allows you to add text which is automatically connected to (crucially) curved lines with arrow heads to point to certain areas of the drawing. They must be curved so that they are not mistaken for construction or structural lines and hatching. They are usually faded to blend with the background and are often grey in colour as well. AutoCAD allows you to change the options and properties of the annotations similarly to the dimensioning - in a logical and straightforward way.
LAYOUTS:
When it comes to printing your drawings, you need to 'set them out' on a screen which shows them within the measured boundaries of a page. Usually technical drawings will be set out onto A3 and A2 pages, but AutoCAD caters for all sizes (even ones not universally used) - you set the boundaries. These 'layout' pages appear as tabs at the bottom of the drawing page and can be accessed at any time. Right-clicking on a tab and selecting properties will allow you to set the size and characteristics of the space. When you actually click onto a layout, you can then draw out what's called a 'viewport', which is essentially an invisible box acting as a gateway into the drawing space. You can then manoeuvre into view the drawing (or section of a drawing) you wish to be displayed on the sheet. Multiple viewports can be created on one sheet as well which is great. Once you have your drawing within the confines of the viewport gateway you can adjust the scale they will appear on the sheet when it is printed via a drop down list on the bottom right - new scales can be created if the one you need isn't present (i.e. 1:500, which I think is missing). You have to remember that before you start laying out your work, all stages of work previous have been completed in the general drawing 'space' which doesn't work to any 'scale'.
You can also draw objects and create annotation and text boxes within the layout space, so borders, drawing information, drawing notes, etc. can be created with ease.
THE 'SPACE':
All parts of the software I have described above are drafted within an unlimited theoretical 'space'. The scale (size) of individual lines and drawings can be as vast and as tiny as imaginable - there are no limits. So, theoretically you could have a 2-dimensional square measuring 1 million mm x 1 million mm in size, with another square 2 million mm to the left, measuring just 0.01 mm x 0.01 mm - all the 8 lines used to draft those two squares would be within the space of the AutoCAD file, but you would have to zoom and negotiate about the space to bring them into focus.
This scenario brings up the question of, how?. How can you possible negotiate into view (so that you can add detail and expand on those squares - manipulating them into new shapes with additional lines of different properties perhaps) those two squares? This is something AutoCAD software has mastered. Using your mouse wheel you can efficiently zoom about the drawing, with wherever your curser happens to be, being the point at which the zoom is aimed. Also, pressing in the mouse scroll will bring up the 'pan' curser head so that your view can be changed whilst staying at the same distance from the drawing - bringing parts you wish to see into view.
Different keyboard and mouse buttons can be assigned to different abilities in the options panel within the software. Everything is inter-changeable making the software ever more flexible.
When you save a drawing everything is saved, the drawings within the file, the layouts and viewports, the individual set-up you have... everything. It's all saved as a DWG file, and the more detail you put into your work the greater the file size will be. Another good system in operation within AutoCAD is the Auto-save function. Every 5 minutes (this time limit can be changed in the options panel) your work will be saved automatically into a file within the 'program files' of AutoCAD on your PC. This is to help prevent work being lost through PC failure - because even in just 5 minutes a lot of work can be completed within this efficient software if you are a professional drafter. One annoyance with this system is the tendency for the drawing to 'lag' or jolt every time a save occurs.
CONCLUSION:
I hope I've covered all necessary areas of the 2-dimentional element to the design software. This is a very detailed platform from which very detailed drawings can be quickly and accurately drafted to a high standard. This is software which breaks cultural boundaries, regarding language and ability - it takes time to get into it and to understand it, and I hope this review helps, but believe me once you're in you're hooked. It is addictive in a strangely productive way!! Give it a go (even just for fun); it may even lead to a career some day.
AVAILABILITY: Legally this software has to be downloaded from the Autodesk website (available in multiple languages) but it has leaked to other places.
PRICE: What's fantastic is that if you're in education this software is completely FREE. If not it is over £1000! So basically you have to be a company with proper funds to set up your design studio (and it is the same with other software CAD).
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