Friday, March 31, 2017

3D Artists:

We now have 2 pipelines for this team; Quick-Turnaround and Advanced Animation.
The Quick-Turnaround pipeline uses a mix of softwares and modeling styles to create 3D scenarios when little time is provided. We have 1 position for this pipeline. This position also helps out for our gaming assets.
  • Models are built, textured, and rigged in Maya 2017.
  • Textures are created with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
  • Models then brought into 3Dxchange to add to our library.
  • Models then imported into iClone 7 for scene setup, lighting, animation and rendering.
  • Post production on 3D videos is done with Adobe After Effects.

Where do we sit now?

  • Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite We have the EDU licensing.
    • Maya 2017 is now on Version 3. Version 3 has been out for about 2 weeks.
We just use default shading networks as placeholders for textures.
iClone6 and 3Dxchange6. However we purchased the iClone 3DXChange 7 Pipeline.  The iClone7 early access was released today (3/27/2017). I am hoping the new iClone7 Bundle will be released soon since we are currently stuck without an advanced rendering system.
  • Adobe Creative Suite CC 2015.5 We have the EDU licensing.
  • Z-Brush 4r7 is an older version since it is not used much.
  • Substance Design Studio 5.6.2  is an older version since it is not used much. However, Anthony is looking into it more for creating better iClone Shaders. We cannot upgrade any further with paying. It’s not worth it at this time.
  • Unity3D is on 5.5.2 which was released Feb 24,2017. We have the EDU licensing.
  • TortoiseSVN 1.9.4, Build 27285 - 64 Bit
The Advanced Animation pipeline uses a few 3D softwares and modeling styles to create 3D scenarios, Game Assets, and video elements when advance notice is giving. We have 1 position for this pipeline.
  • Models are built, textured, and rigged in Maya 2017.
  • Textures are created with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
  • Z-Brush and Mudbox are used when the artist needs to sculpt high resolution meshes to create HD normal maps.
  • Scenes are rendered with either the Arnold rendering system or with Pixar's Renderman. These are very new to us since Autodesk recently discontinued Mental Ray. So far, only 1 person knows how (still learning) to use them. Arnold is very expensive if we want to go past our free version. It currently only allows rendering on clients pc. We obtained multiple licenses of Renderman from Pixar. (to be used for educational purposes only) We still need to get Pixar’s TRACTOR software working on our render farm. It is challenging since it requires Linux to control it, but needs Windows to run it.
John will be  working with our networking department to resolve this issue this week.
  • Post production on 3D videos is done with Adobe After Effects.
  • Game assets must use standard shaders (as placeholders) when creating models for Unity3D. (for gamification) Models and/or animations are then tested in Unity3D before being placed into the game that they are intended for.


Where do we sit now?
  • Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite We have the EDU licensing.
    • Maya 2017 is now on Version 3. Version 3 has been out for about 2 weeks.
We just use default shading networks as placeholders for textures.
  • Renderman is now on Version 21. We have the full commercial license. However, it was given to us since we are a non-profit institution.
  • Adobe Creative Suite CC 2015.5 We have the EDU licensing.
  • Z-Brush 4r7 is an older version since it is not used much.
  • Substance Design Studio 5.6.2 is an older version since it is not used much. However, John is looking into it more for creating better Unity Shaders.We cannot upgrade any further with paying. It’s not worth it at this time.
  • Unity3D is on 5.5.2 which was released Feb 24,2017. We have the EDU licensing.
  • TortoiseSVN 1.9.4, Build 27285 - 64 Bit
Programmer Analysts:
Currently,  now have 2 positions held for this team. They create / edit learning objects, create web applications, program everything for the Gamification learning, and will be developing for our Mixed Reality projects. They also do research and development on new technologies; software and hardware.

Where do we sit now?

  • Unity3D is on 5.5.2 which was released Feb 24,2017. We have the EDU licensing.
  • Sublime Text – Free Version Build 3126
  • Visual Studio Code – Version 1.10.2
  • WinMerge – Version 2.14.0
  • Eclipse Java Neon.1a Release 4.6.1
  • Microsoft Office 2010
  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2010
  • Adobe Creative Suite CC 2015.5 We have the EDU licensing.
  • Adobe Acrobat Professional We have the EDU licensing.
  • Audacity 2.0.5 (Free)
  • ATOM 1.14.4 ia32 (Free)
  • VLC Media Player (Free)
  • Xampp - Version 3.2.2
  • Filezilla - Version 3.25.1 (Free)
  • TortoiseSVN 1.9.4, Build 27285 - 64 Bit

Rarely Used:

  • Substance Design Studio 5.6.2 is an older version since it is not used much.
  • Blender 2.78. Only 1 of the P/A’s uses it. He uses it rarely. This software is Free.

  • Maya 2017 is now on Version 3. Version 3 has been out for about 2 weeks. Only 1 of the P/A’s uses it. He uses it rarely. We have the EDU licensing.
  • 3D Max 2017. Only 1 of the P/A’s uses it. He uses it rarely. We have the EDU licensing.
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