Hi guys,
I’m happy to announce my second Advanced Training: Breaking the Ice in Houdini.

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Get it from here: http://training.adrianlazar.com/breaking-the-ice-in-houdini/

Training description
Spreading across more than 6 hours of full-hd video, this Advanced Training Course is based on a real production CG shot I did for a commercial some time ago – a submarine submerging under on a frozen see. We’re going to build the 3d scene in Houdini and setup the render-passes to have maximum flexibility in compositing. Fix it in post will also be taken into consideration but to a smaller degree than usual since this training is focused on Houdini.

The video includes only the 3d part of the production but at the end we’re going to briefly discuss the steps that were done at the compositing stage.

While I tried to keep as much of the original recording as possible I did had to edit out some of the render times and a few crashes happened here and there.

Bellow is a quick preview for Breaking the Ice in Houdini:

We’re going to start with quickly modeling a proxy version of the submarine that we’re going to use until we receive the high-rez version from the shot supervisor. Then we will create the ice using a combination of procedural and classic poly-modeling techniques. Based on the feedback from the shot supervisor we will then tweak the high rez submarine we received and we’re also going to do some changes to the ice. Besides some modeling tweaks for the ice we’re going to animate the broken pieces that are left behind the submarine and we’ll do this using dynamics. Also based on the feedback we’re going to quickly model a ground object.

After the modeling part is done we’re going to focus on lighting the submarine and the ice keeping in mind that we’re going to rely heavily on render passes. We’ll set up rim-lights, fill-lights and all that’s necessary for our submarine to look the best.

Then we’ll work on the shaders, again focusing on the ice and the submarine. And since we’re under deadline we’ll search for a good balance between looks and render times.

Next we’re going to setup the render passes to offer maximum flexibility in post and we’re going to finish this training with talking a bit about the final result and the steps that I made in compositing.

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Note that the Training Course can be both downloaded to be watched offline or it can be streamed online. Also, for easier access the video is split into 5 parts.

Content
Introduction - few words about me and this training course.

1.0 – Modeling

1.1 – Modeling: Submarine (proxy)
1.2 – Modeling: Ice
1.3 – Modeling: Ground
1.4 – Modeling: Submarine
1.5 – Modeling: Proxies
1.6 – Modeling: Ice Tweaks and animation
1.7 – Adding Custom Parameters

2.0 – Lighting

2.1 – Lighting: Submarine
2.2 – Lighting: Ice

3.0 – Shaders

3.1 Shaders: Ice
3.2 Shaders: Submarine

4.0 Render Passes

4.1 Render Passes: Ice
4.2 Render Passes: Submarine
4.3 Render Passes: Sun rays
4.4 Render Passes: Z-depth
4.5 Render Passes: Ground

5.0 Final Image and Conclusion

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This Video Training Course is released directly by me, the artist, so there’s no middle man to charge half of the price – and this is the reason I’m able to keep the price so low.

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What you’ll get
After I receive the email from PayPal that the order was successful I’ll send you a link with instructions about how to get the video. Please note that it can take up to 2 days for the payment to be processed but usually it takes only a few hours.

You will get a download link for the training in quicktime .mov format compatible with PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone and probably other smart-phones and tablets. You will also get a link to download the project files.
The links will never expire and once you downloaded the training to your computer it’s yours for ever to watch as many times you like.
If for some reason you prefer to watch the video streamed online you can do that on Vimeo using a password that you will receive in the same email.

I hope you will enjoy the training,
-Adrian Lazar

Demo Reel – lighting, compositing and grading artist for Hitman Absolution

Hi guys,
This is my demo reel from Hitman Absolution where I worked as lighting, compositing & grading artist for the game cinematics.

It was a crazy year and definitely the most special project I was involved so far and I was lucky to work with some very talented people.

So here is the full cutscene team:
Associate Producer: Teis Anker Mikkelsen and Eddy May
Cinematic Director: William Stahl
Animators: Chris Wilson, Frederik Budolph-Larsen, Mads Johansen, Bert Zierfuss, Stefan Fjeldmark
Environment Artist: Adam Rishede
Lighting, Compositing and Grading Artist: Adrian Lazar

And of course Tore Blystad – game director and art director – had a huge contribution with he’s great feedback.

Make sure you check Hitman Absolution at: hitman.com
And if you want to join the great people at IO Interactive visit: ioi.dk

Demo Reel 2011

Hi guys,
This is my last year demo reel. It has both personal and commercial work included. Houdini, softimage, nuke and fusion are the tools that I’ve used.

I was responsible with modeling, shading, lighting, rendering, vfx and compositing for most shots. For a detailed list view the demo reel breakdown: adrianlazar.com/stuff/demoreel_2011/AdrianLazar_Demo_Reel_Breakdown.pdf

Hope you like it,
-Adrian

Advanced Lighting in Houdini

Hi guys,
I’m happy to announce my first Advanced Training: Lighting in Houdini.

Get it from here.

Training description
During almost 4 hours of video training we are going to discuss how to work with lights inHoudini 12 but also what a lighting artist job is in a cg production.

Using a real production scene I’m going to show you that relying just on Global Illumination is not enough to get the job done and that every asset in the scene requires special attention. In this training course I tried to cover both the artistic and the technical side of what a lighting artist has to know since I think both are necessary to be successful in this job.

Note that this video can be both downloaded to be watched offline or it can be streamed online.

New Free Tutorial and new website for training

Hello,
I recorded a new free tutorial video for creating a Counting Frame in Houdini that you can watch here.
I also launched a website where I’ll put all the training, find out more here.

Hope you will enjoy the tutorials!

Houdini Tutorial – creating a plant pot

Hi all,
I recorded a short video tutorial creating a plant pot in SideFx Houdini that you ca watch here.
It shows the modeling, the shading and a very basic rendering stage. It was a live recording and if sometimes it feels slow that’s because I had to resize Houdini to 1280×720 and work in this small size = no fun.

It doesn’t have any voice over but from time to time short tips are displayed on screen.

This plant is just one of the assets I am currently creating for Class Dismissed, a short film I’m making with a friend of mine.

Hope you like it and for more tutorials visit my Houdini training page here.

 

 

Short talk about the CookOff Training

Hi guys,
Here is a short talk about my winning entry for the Cook Off contest held by Side FX.
I talk about my background as a 3d artist, how I started to learn Houdini and how I approached this contest.

If you like to know more I’ve put together with cmiVFX an almost 5 hours long training course. Find out more about the course and get it from here: cmivfx.com/tutorials/view/389/Houdini+Cookoff+Recipe