T0545 - XSI PRODUCTION SOLUTIONS AND TIPS - 7 CDs

What's Inside:
XSI - Production Solutions and Tips by Bernard Lebel is a 12 hour and 50 minute project focused,
video based, self-paced multimedia training series aimed at the beginning to intermediate level
Softimage XSI user.
This is a 7 part instructional desktop digital video series that takes an in-depth look at the
topics of Shading, Lighting, Rendering and Compositing, all using Softimage XSI and mental ray.

This tutorial series doesn’t just tell you what to do, it shows you using 3dtutorial.com’s unique
and innovative multimedia desktop video player technology. No codecs to worry about,
no nasty dll’s to clog up your computer. Just run our application and watch the video movies on
your desktop, it’s simple.

For these lessons, Mr. Lebel has designed and modelled an intricate photorealistic bathroom scene
(also included) and will take you step-by-step through the production process.

In section 1 & 2, shading, you will learn shader theory and definitions, how to find and apply shaders,
how to create shaders (materials & textures) for many of the objects found within the bathroom scene.
You will learn how to create and manage materials such as: chrome, generic metal, plastic, glass,
porcelain, paper, cork, tile, melamine, wood, light bulbs, etc. You will be introduced to and learn
how to use XSI’s many powerful features such as property pages, proxy parameters, and the render tree.
Bump mapping and procedural textures are also discussed in depth.

In section 3 & 4, lighting, you will learn about traditional lighting theory, using point, infinite and
spotlights. Shadow theory, using raytraced shadows, shadow maps and area lights. You will be introduced
to 3 point lighting and learn to use key lights, fill lights and back lights. You will introduced to
soft lighting effects using source light multiplicity. Also discussed is faking area lights, using
separate specular and diffuse, negative lights, inclusive/exclusive lights, shadow cards, darkness
reduction lights, shadow only lights and much, much more.

In section 5, Mr. Lebel will show you step-by-step how to light the bathroom scene for both daylight
and night time realism. You will be introduced to global illumination (radiosity) theory and practice.
You will learn how to set-up and use final gathering both with and without global illumination, and
much more such as skydomes, final gathering plates and HDRI.

In section 6, rendering, you will learn how to properly render images with XSI using Mental Ray.
This section Mr. Lebel will discuss the rendering options available within XSI, single machine versus
network rendering, and how to optimise your renderings for speed and efficiency.

You will learn to create passes, partitions, overrides, etc.

In section 7, compositing & effects, you will learn exactly what compositing is and how to best make use
of it. You will be introduced to XSI powerful built-in compositor, the FX Tree.

Mr. Lebel will introduce you to FX tree workflow and operators and you will learn how to take all the
discreet elements that you’ve created within this series and combine them into a finished final
photorealistic image.

Lastly, you will be shown how to create several special effects such as glow, light scattering and fog
to add the extra level of realism to your images.

XSI Production Solutions and Tips is a “must have” training item for anyone who is serious about learning
to create photorealistic images using Softimage XSI.

Author: Bernard Lebel