Here's another update from Project Dogwaffle. 

• More tutorial videos

• Puppy Ray - a First Look
  

If you're currently using the Artist edition, you know that you can't do much in terms of animations. PD Howler can do much more for you with animations and video, as shown in some of the tutorials below. We do offer discounts for upgrading from Artist edition to Howler edition, just contact us to ask for it. You can upgrade from earlier versions too, such as PD Particles, PD Pro 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, even from PD Artist 8.2c, and switch over to Howler. PD Howler is currently at v8.2d.

It's a good time to use Howler too. We're developing some new tools, such as a raytracer. It may be a few more months before it is released, so you can certainly expect a lot more features coming by the time v9 rolls around. If you'll get into PD Howler 8.2d now, you'll have just enough time to become proficient with all it has to offer already now, just in time for v9.

For now, enjoy the sneak previous, and thanks for waffling and howling!


As usual, you can also find the html version here:

http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/newsletter
 
   

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More Tutorial Videos

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Here we show a technique (amongst several possible other ways) to add wavy long hair to a walking character, perhaps one rendered as a 3D animation in Poser. This includes motion tracking on the head to follow subtly movements and stick the wig on the head. This is just a short summary video, not the tutorial. It may become a future mini series.

Short Feature Video - Adding a wig that's waving in the wind to a walking figure
- http://youtu.be/UWSBovA0YT0


 

In the prior newsletter we talked about a few tutorials that represented the start of a mini series, with Palm trees and selections thereof, to create assets for billboard polygons and compositions with the palm trees where the background skies was turned transparent.

We have added a few more parts to this mini series, and then some, that expand into animation, i.e. animated palm trees. Here are a few of the most recently added tutorials and videos:
 

Mini series - Selection masks on Palm trees

Here is a recap of the first parts shown last time:
 
part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z777bqy1vjw

part 2 - http://youtu.be/xmRtKYb3EI8

part 3 - http://youtu.be/7OVJhGknsqM

part 4 - http://youtu.be/UcHO7Y-wa0k
 
 
Here are the additional parts, further exploring the ground terrain and skies too.

part 5 - http://youtu.be/njr8zFwqkIQ   -  palm tree selection masks

part 6 - http://youtu.be/aAXgytuvG7A   -  animated skies with the terrain modeler!

part 7 - http://youtu.be/wQ4h_18hMLc  -  How to composite multiple skies


We also have a series on using animated palm trees (short video clips)

part 7.1 - http://youtu.be/5MY8nmPciZw  -  Animated Palm Tree

part 7.2 - http://youtu.be/ZURdquOQnXs

part 7.3 - http://youtu.be/EPsNo366Nnc

part 7.4 - http://youtu.be/Vei6svj7OZY



And finally, last but not least, if you use Poser, Carrara, DAZ STudio or other character animation or 3D rendering tools and want to add an artsy cartoony look or a painterly hand sketched appearance to a walk sequence or a still image, you could find this of interest:

from 3D Render to Cartoony Art Styles   -  http://youtu.be/WPxHArAOk7w

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Sneak Peek - Puppy Ray

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As a paint and animation program, Project Dogwaffle is, you guessed it, a slightly dog themed one. So when Dan started writing this new feature, it didn't take too long to find a fitting name for it. This is fresh and new, young and with a lot yet to explore. It's a Puppy. It's a Ray Tracer...... It's Puppy Ray!

Puppy Ray is a ray tracer that, like 3D Designer, works from the current image that it interprets and treats as an elevation map. It is currently aimed to boldly take the 3D Designer where no 3D Designer has gone before. It adds shadows, terrain replication, global illumination and a lot more.

You can learn more about it on Dan's blog here:




There you'll also find a few test render examples of what we're currently exploring.

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