VAST - XSI Learning Movies on YouTube

[AceMastermind]

This is the old XSI 4 Production Series videos.
These videos can be viewed in fullscreen at 720p HD

Modeling

• Selection
  • Selection overview
  • Selection options
  • Selection tools
  • Selection filters
  • Component selection
  • Selection loops
  • Selection explorer
  • Selection wildcards
  • Parenting
  • Changing selection
• Manipulation
  • 3D style manipulators
  • 3D SRT manipulators
  • Local and global modes
  • Additive mode
  • Reference and planes
  • Proportional
  • Snapping
  • Temporary pivot
  • Symmetry
  • Child compensation
• Components
  • Points, polygons and edges
  • Cluster overview
  • Cluster overlaps
  • Cluster editing
  • Cluster groups
  • Edge smoothing and creasing
  • Weight maps overview
  • Face maker weight maps
  • Display modes
  • Relative mode
• General Modeling
  • Modeling sections
  • Construction modes
  • Topology operators overview
  • Contextual menus
  • Extrude and duplicate
  • Adding components
  • Symmetry modeling
  • Transferring properties
  • Polygon modeling, part 1
  • Polygon modeling, part 2
• Modifiers and Deformers
  • Polygon topology
  • Dissolve and collapse
  • Knife
  • Bevel
  • Curve, cage, spine, surface, volume
  • Lattice
  • Deforms and weight maps
  • Waves and particles
  • Relax and smooth
  • Shrinkwrap
• Surfaces and Curves
  • Topology types
  • NURBS topology
  • NURBS to mesh
  • NURBS modeling, part 1
  • NURBS modeling, part 2
  • Curves topology
  • Curves editing
  • Lofting
• Object Tools
  • Subdivision surfaces overview
  • Duplication options
  • Clones
  • Instances
  • Army maker
  • Particle instancing
  • Groups
  • Reference models, part 1
  • Reference models, part 2

[AceMastermind]

Texturing

• Materials and Textures
  • Materials
  • Material Editor relational view
  • Texture projections, part 1
  • Texture projections, part 2
  • Polygon texturing
  • UV dataset
  • Multiple projections
  • Texture projections camera mapping
• Texture and Layer Editor
  • Texture Layer Editor introduction
  • TLE overview
  • TLE map lookup mask
  • TLE clusters
  • Texture Editor introduction
  • Head texturing
  • Unwrapping UVs, part 1
  • Unwrapping UVs, part 2
  • Unwrapping UVs, part 3
  • Contour stretching UVs

[AceMastermind]

Animation

• Animation Structures
  • Where animation lives, part 1
  • Where animation lives, part 2
  • The model structure, part 1
  • The model structure, part 2
  • Child compensation
  • Marking Sets
  • Function Curve Editor overview
• Transformations
  • Transforms
  • Transform setup
  • Pivots and neutral pose
  • The rolling cube
• Animation Mixing
  • Introduction, part 1
  • Introduction, part 2
  • Introduction, part 3
  • Mixing with f-curves
  • Mixing with expressions
  • Transitions
  • Bridge transition
  • Equalize
  • Templates
  • Static poses
• Sources and Clips
  • Sources
  • Clip properties
  • Time properties
  • Relations between clips
  • Offset map, part 1
  • Offset map, part 2
  • Offset effect
  • Parent clipping
  • Pose offset
• Shape Animation (morphing)
  • Introduction
  • Construction modes
  • Cluster shape combiner
  • Shape mixers modes
  • Shape reference mode
  • Animation to shapes
  • Plotting shapes into animation clips
  • Selecting and replacing shape keys
  • Shape merging
  • Cluster and weight maps
• Working with Audio
  • Audio options
  • Markers
• Constraints
  • Position
  • Pin
  • Curve Path
  • Orientation, Direction
  • Object to Cluster
  • Multiple points
  • Bounding Volume
  • Pose, Distance, Scaling, Symmetry
  • Up Vector
• Skeletons and IK Solvers
  • Chain concept and behavior
  • Move joint tool
  • 2D vs. 3D chains, Preferred angles
  • IK rotation plane, joint limits, stiffness
  • IK-FK blending
  • Setting joint axes, mirroring limbs
  • Shadow bones
  • Neutral pose and pivot
  • Chain constraining
• Enveloping (skinning)
  • Introduction
  • Envelope setup
  • Weight editing
  • Multiple envelopes
  • Reference pose
• Character Rigs
  • Proportional guide
  • Foot roll
  • Arms, hips and fingers
  • Symmetry, chest and spine
  • Shoulder, belly and ears
  • Character setup
  • Roll and skin options
  • Shadow rigs
  • Dog leg rig
  • Quadruped rig
• Character Development Kit
  • Tail creation
  • Tail spring
  • Tail parameters
  • Tail animation
  • Tail IK-FK blend
  • Control spine creation
  • Control spine example
  • Scripting commands
• Animating Deformations
  • Introduction
  • Interpolation of enveloping shape
  • Cluster material and UV interpolation
  • Corrective shape modeling
  • Quaternion roll distribution
  • Pose based deformers
  • Relaxing geometry
  • Cage deform
• Setups
  • Link keys
  • Device drivers
  • Blending constraints
  • Constraints example
  • Linking constrains
  • Camera blocking
  • Animation mixer – Hand setup

[AceMastermind]

Simulation

• Rigid Body Dynamics
  • Rigid body environment overview
  • Establishing scale
  • Laying out your components
  • Active vs. passive objects
  • Applying constraints
  • Setting collisions
• Rigid Body Dynamics Concepts
  • Animation and initial state
  • Working with center of mass
  • Ghosting
  • Hierarchies: managing rigid rigs
  • The dynamics operator
  • How adaptive collisions work
  • Collisions settings
  • Caching simulation to the mixer
  • Optimization technique
• Rigid Body Dynamics Examples
  • Self-propelled multi-leg rig, part 1
  • Self-propelled multi-leg rig, part 2
  • Walking machine, part 1
  • Walking machine, part 2
  • Walking machine, part 3
  • Drawbridge, part 1
  • Drawbridge, part 2
  • Drawbridge, part 3
• Hair Concepts & Workflow
  • System overview
  • Surface hair
  • Spline hair
  • Building a mesh to work with Hair
  • Transferring and using weight maps
  • Working with combing
  • Working with clumping
  • Proportional and general deformers
  • Adjusting parameters for fine tuning
  • Creating curly hair effects
• Hair Examples
  • Working with symmetry
  • Working with dynamics
  • Obstacles
  • Transferring UVs
  • Texturing surface hair using scalar state
  • Texturing spline hair using scalar state
  • Hair shader: volume vs. geometry
  • Hair shader: settings overview
  • Hair geometry shader
  • Using detail shadow maps
• Hair Optimization
  • Hair operators
  • Volume vs. geometry render times
  • Pipeline optimization technique
• Particle Introduction
  • System overview
  • Event overview
  • Accessing the data
  • Creating a simple smoke trail
• Particle Concepts
  • Sketching particles
  • Inter-particle avoidance and collisions
  • Sprites
  • Sprite animation controls
  • Sprite render times
  • Object instancing
  • Particle goals
  • Particle goals: curves
  • Particle shader basics
  • Gradient
• Particle Examples
  • Scripted events: reading data
  • Scripted events: writing data
  • User parameters
  • Scripting goal behavior, part 1
  • Scripting goal behavior, part 2
  • Scripting goal behavior, part 3
  • Render tree: gradient control using vector info
  • Render tree: gradient control using UVs

[AceMastermind]

Rendering

• Render Tree Basics
  • Introducing the Render Tree
  • Extracting position information
  • Extracting rotation information
  • Extracting UV information
• Render Tree Techniques
  • Applying UV perturbation
  • Creating a Wipe Mask
  • Adding perturbation to the Wipe Mask
  • Using the mask in FX Tree composite
  • Using weight maps to control displacement maps
  • Baking lighting information into color at vertices
  • Color at vertices continued
  • Altering rendering based on raytracing state
  • Introducing the Color Matte shader
  • Using Color Matte to change surface shading
• Creating Effects with the Gradient Shader
  • Introducing the Gradient Shader
  • Caustic effects
  • Flame animation
  • Instanciating the flames using the Sprite Shader
  • Distance and layered fog
  • Custom illumination with the Incidence Shader
  • Non-realistic illumination models (toon)
  • Rim light effect on skin-like shading
  • Fake subsurface scattering look
• Elliptical Filtering
  • Introducing Elliptical Filtering
  • How Elliptical Filtering works
  • Why flickering and shimmering occur
  • Using Elliptical Filtering
  • Converting a texture to a Memory Map
  • Creating a Memory Map with pyramidal levels
  • Extracting pyramidal levels from a Memory Map
• Bump Mapping
  • Introducing Bump Mapping
  • How shaders relate during Bump Map computation
  • Applying a local Bump Map
  • Global vs. local Bump Mapping
  • Object scaling vs. Bump Map parameters
  • Resolving flickering with Elliptical Filtering
  • Resolving flickering with distance-based modulation
  • Creating surface water drops with Vein
  • Using procedural shaders as a Bump Map source
  • Blending and mixing multiple Bump Map sources
• Lighting
  • Light types
  • Area lights
  • Shadow Maps
  • Volumic Shadow Maps
  • Volumic Shadow Maps for hair
  • Introducing Caustics
  • Caustics in use
  • Introducing Global Illumination
  • Global Illumination in use
  • Radiance Control
• Final Gathering
  • Introducing Final Gathering
  • Final Gathering accuracy
  • Final Gathering radius
  • Accuracy vs. radius
  • Setup and workflow
  • Radiance Control on indirect light levels
  • Image-based lighting
  • Using auto-compute to set Final Gathering
  • Photon & Final Gathering management for render farms
  • Using ray type to optimize Final Gathering
• Render Passes Explained
  • Introducing Render Passes
  • Controlling the Pass Camera
  • Render options
  • Shader stack
  • Partitions
  • Overrides
• Render Passes in Use
  • Matte pass
  • Ambient and diffuse pass
  • Specular pass
  • Shadow pass
  • Volumic light pass
  • Caustic pass
  • Global Illumination pass
  • Final Gathering pass
  • Image-based pass
• Antialiasing and Adaptive Sampling
  • What is aliasing
  • How aliasing works
  • Render resolution vs. antialiasing
  • How adaptive sampling works
  • Antialiasing tuning tips, part 1
  • Antialiasing tuning tips, part 2
  • Different filter types
  • Filter types illustrated
  • Diagnostics
  • Threshold example
  • Jitter example
  • Rapid motion shading rate
• Motion Blur
  • Introducing motion blur
  • How motion blur works
  • Motion blur theory – recap
  • Introducing motion blur threshold
  • Motion blur threshold example
  • Motion blur modes
  • Rapid motion and motion blur
• BSP Tree
  • Introducing BSP tree
  • BSP tree parameters
  • How BSP tree works
  • BSP tree and render performance
  • BSP tree statistics
  • BSP tree tuning setup
  • BSP tree render tests
  • BSP tree render test results
  • Using the BSP tree tuner script
• Rendermap: Concept and Examples
  • Introducing rendermap
  • Using unique UVs
  • Multiple objects to a single texture
  • Multiple objects to multiple maps
• Rendermap: Extracting Normal Maps
  • Manually extracting normal map
  • Applying the normal map
  • Optimizing normal map extraction
  • Using GPU Surface FX
• Rendermap: High Resolution Maps
  • Introduction
  • Basic setup
  • Calibrating the camera
  • Extracting the displacement map
  • Applying the displacement map
• Displacement Maps
  • Introduction
  • Simple displacement
  • Discontinuity
  • Tessellation parameters
  • Tuning the parameter
  • Fine approximation
  • Scaling vs. length view
  • Displacement math introduction
  • Math nodes: Unary, Basic, Bias gain
  • Extracting displacement using scalar math

[THEWULFMAN]

Great work, these will be very helpfull.

Btw, to any and all people not understanding, if you cant click on a link, then its because he hasn't uploaded it yet. Just forsaw someone commenting on this and did not want it to come up.

[Fiodis]

At last, I can pause/rewind! That always bothered me about the ones in the FAQ.

Hidden/Spoiler:

[quote="THEWULFMAN"]Just foresaw someone commenting on this and did not want it to come up.[/quote]

[Cerfon Rournes]

WoW! This is just what I needed! Thanks Ace!

Hidden/Spoiler:

The Animation guides should be very useful..

[naru1305]

wow ace, thank you sooo much. this is so helpful

[Anakin]

THX

that's what i was waiting for so long
even it's in English it's relative easy to understand.




==EDIT==

for some reason the snap options didn't work for me. i can resize the grid with the eye -> visibility options but not the snap size

==EDIT==

i cut a disk but i want the cut only at one site and not at the other so can i delete??

[Lephenix]

Congratulations , you have uploaded all the vids , thanks .