Learn from Luis Pages an industry pro with over 12 years of VFX experience
Enrol in our FX Masters Program
FX Masters Program Course Description
Start Date I started recording the material on Friday September 16th 2016 and will upload each video as I complete them so you can start watching right away. So far I have released the entire 80 hours of the FX Power User Program plus 48 hours of the FX Masters Program and I expect to have all the 200 hours of the FX Masters Program finished by Summer 2017. I will also on a regular basis send invites to all the participants to join the support sessions in our virtual classroom
Instructor: Luis Pages
Duration: 200 Hours of video recordings. Includes the FX Masters Program, access to the live Adobe connect support group, certificate of completion and assignment scene files.
Prerequisites: No experienced required. The course is designed to take you from absolute beginner to an advanced level.
Price: $699
Software used: Autodesk Maya 2017
Get your free Student license of Maya here
Please watch this video to see how the FX Masters Program works
Favor ver este video para entender como funciona el FX Masters Program
Module 1: FX Power User Program 2017 - 80 Hours / Disponible en español
The FX Power User Program offers everyone interested in a career in visual effects an opportunity to access more than 60 hours of HD quality video training for Maya Dynamics. The contents of this course represent the core foundation of any Effects Technical Director regardless of your software of choice. The techniques learned in this program can be easily translated and applied to all major commercial and proprietary tools.
This training will take students from absolute beginner to an advance level in the area of dynamic simulations for film & TV. The content is divided in the following levels:
Intro to Maya for Effects:
A solid introduction to the basics of Maya functionality, UI, principles of modeling, lighting, rendering, rigging and animation. A perfect way to dive into Maya for the first time.
Maya Dynamics Level 1:
Perhaps the most important level, a solid foundation of Maya particles, softbodies, dynamic setups and MEL expressions.
Maya Dynamics Level 2:
Fluids, fluids and more fluids, learn how to control, simulate and render fluid simulations.
Maya Dynamics Master Class: The Art of Destruction:
Learn how to create believable rigid body simulations combined with interactive fluid effects, scene management for advanced simulations, nParticles and nCloth.
4 New Case Studies
The ultimate challenge, learn even more production techniques and procedures, determine the elements needed to recreate iconic shots from this films and get ready to land your dream job in VFX.
Topics Covered
- Projects, interface and navigation
- Menus, Shelves, Windows
- Poly / NURBS Modelling for Effects
- Joints, Skeletons and Deformers
- Principles of Animation
- Basic MEL Expressions
- UVs and Principles of Texturing
- Shaders and Shading Networks
- Cameras, Formats, Resolutions
- Lighting Fundamentals
- Rendering with Maya Software
- Introduction to Dynamics
- Particle Emission Fundamentals
- Fields & Simulation Fundamentals
- Geometry Instancing
- Particle Caching
- Effects Menu
- Particle Render Types
- Particle Goals & Collisions
- Soft & Rigid Body Effects
- Baking simulations
- Particle Rendering Techniques
- nParticles
- Nucleus Solver
- nCloth
- Maya Fluids
- Different Applications of Fluids
- MEL Scripting
- Creating Dynamic Rigs
- Thinking like an FX TD
- Advanced nCloth applications.
- nParticle setups.
- Fluid effects.
- nParticle/Fluids interaction.
- MEL Expressions and procedures.
- Geometry shattering techniques
- Camera Projection techniques
- Rigid body simulations with PulldownIt.
- Advanced fractures.
- Using Maya Particles, nParticles and Fluids on water simulations
- Exclusive RealFlow 2013 Preview
- Demo Reel / Job search tips and tricks
Module 2: Avatar FX Master - 80 Hours / Disponible en español
If you loved Avatar and are considering a career in VFX this is the course for you. Luis Pages FX Technical Director for Weta Digital during the production of Avatar will walk you through the different techniques used to create the eye catching simulations and effects on the best selling film of all time.
It will be a very intense program, we will use Maya 2017 to develop all the effects listed below, we will discuss the techniques used during production and we will find ways to adapt them in order to recreate them in class.
Assignment files will be given to all students so they practice in between sessions.
Effects Covered (Please watch reference video)
- Horse Splashes
- Waterfall Systems
- Dynamic Grass
- Falling Leaves
- Water Spray From Ships
- Tear Gas
- Missile Trails
- Explosions
- Fire Inside the Hometree
- Billowing Smoke
- Ash in the Air
- Falling debris
- Broken Hometree
- Falling Hometree
- Debris Rain
- Floating leaves after Hometree collapsel
- Neytiri´s Tear
- Ash over Jake´s Face and Environment
- Banshee Ash Disturbance
- footprint on ash
- waves
- Dripping Water
- Banshees Flying as a Swarm
- Banshee Waterfall Interaction
- Squibs
- Muzzle Flashes
- Bullets trails and Casings
- Crashing Helicopters
- Explosions in the Forrest
- Flamethrower
- Horse on Fire
- Crashing Shuttle
- AMP Suit Escape Through Fire
- Broken Glass
- Atmosphere
- River /Waterfall Transition
- Underwater Bubbles
- Jake on River
Module 3: FX Prototyping - 40 hours / Disponible en español
It will be an intensive course like all the others I ran in the past, its geared to students with little or no experience with dynamics. I will focus on the steps and knowledge that you will need to quickly develop proof of concepts for the initial bidding and RnD stages of a project. This will help you quickly prototype a particular effect to show to your client or supervisor in order to open discussions about the look and scalability of the dynamic setups.
The course is inspired on the BBC series Planet Earth and its structure is the following:
Topics Covered
- Penguin distribution
- Animal distribution and flow vs Wolfe (using fields)
- Creating the weak ones with MEL
- Compare animal distribution system with trees
- Snow system
- Flock of birds
- Fog distribution
- Curve flow for sea lions
- Shot deconstruction in elements (shark)
- Sandstorm evolution
- Recycle animal system for sandstorm from space
- Recycle again for clouds
- Talk about same system shifting into a sea of clouds (or even resembling a water surface)
- Reuse again for rain system
- Tornadoes
- Take tornado scene and change parameters to make other movies such as the Martian, jarhead, Pearl Harbor. Talk about stripping scenes down to make others
- Zebras trails and its potential use as missile trails, jet ski trails, etc
- Elephant steps in close up as a system for rigging and animation.
- Ocean of clouds over the Himalayas
- Footprint dust clouds on dry season
- Tornadoes over plains
- Buffalo flow as it resembles a river system
- Take water deformation and show how it can be a mountain system
- Take shark water example and change it to lava
- Volcano smoke
- Talk about mountain tops and its mist compared to wave peaks
- Avalanches and its similarity to waterfalls
- Rain system
- Bear catching fish compared to predator system from episode 1
- Clouds of flies over water compared to tornadoes
- Amazon fish groups jumping to avoid Dolphins
- Death of a tree
- Glow worm strings
- Roaches
- Bats flock compared with birds and fish systems (including predator)
- Sand flow over surface
- Sandstorms
- Dune creation using ocean system
- Swarm of locusts
- Bubbles (ducks underwater)
- Gazelle stampede
- Swarm of birds
- Whale bubbles
- Forrest mist
- Swarm of fish
- Coral reef life (fish motion)
- Sand kicked up by manatee eating under water
- Bird nest distribution
- Krill
- Sea lions fishing, fish swarm behavior and predator avoidance
- Towers of algae
- Starfish predator avoidance
- Cicada placement
