PEN Productions Master Classes featuring Paul Neale
Five new Master Classes have been added so far and will be held on Wednesdays mornings starting
February 15 2012 at 10am. Sign up to your favorite class today.
Joystick Lite Alpha/Beta Starting soon:
If you have been waiting for the alpha/beta to start on Joystick Lite keep an eye out here or on one of the social
media. Development of the tool is underway again and will be heading into late alpha as soon as I can get a forum
up and running.
I will be looking for a select group of testers that will be able to push it through its paces and make sure
that it is production ready. If you are interested in joining in drop me an email at
Email: info@penproductions.ca
letting me know what sort of work you do and how you would like to be using it.
Joystick Lite..
Developing .Net Tools In Max Script: Success!
Developing .Net Tools was the sixth Online Master Class pressed by PEN Productions and it was a resounding
success. During the class we developed a Max Script/DotNet based animation joy stick control that can
work with any number of controls and characters in a scene.
Here is a quick demo of what was created in the three hour class.
Master Class - Developing .Net Tools In Max Script:
Developing .Net Tools In Max Script
Wednesday, Sept 28th. 9:00am to 12:00pm EST
Sign up today to reserve your seat.
Please drop into the web site to see what other classes are being offered.
Master Classes..
Master Class - Master Class - Facial Rigging Blended Morphing:
Facial Rigging Blended Morphing
Tuesday, September 21th. 9:00am to 12:00pm EST
Sign up today to reserve your seat.
Please drop into the web site to see what other classes are being offered.
Master Classes..
Master Class - Character Skinning / Tips, Tricks and Refinements:
Character Skinning / Tips, Tricks and Refinements will be delivered on
Tuesday, September 14th. 9:00am to 12:00pm EST
Sign up today to reserve your seat.
Please drop into the web site to see what other classes are being offered.
Master Classes..
Master Classes:
PEN Productions and Paul Neale now offer Master Classes that will cover many topics including Max Script,
Character Rigging and Mudbox. Many more will be added in the coming months.
Please drop into the web site to see what is being offered and read more information about the classes.
Master Classes..
MX Driver now has a new low price
MX Driver has a new low price of just $199 CAN.
MX Driver has been designed as an animators tool for working with Car, Truck and Trailer animations.
It is not a vehicle simulator that calculates its own trajectory and rollover. It has automation built in
that will aid in the creation of realistic and even cartoony vehicle animations.
Read more about it.. MX Driver 2
PEN Licensing System Now Only $99
I have reduced the price on the PEN Licensing system. It can now be purcased for $99 CAN. License all your
Max script tools for just the price of one license.
PEN License System
PEN Licensing System available for 2012
The PEN Licensing System is a generic tool that can be used by any Max Script tool that needs to be protected.
The system is easy to implement and simple for clients to use. A key generator is included that allows for
tracking of generated licenses and license keys.
PEN Licensing system was developed to address the need for a quick, easy and secure way to license Max
Script tools. Without a licensing system it is very easy for wares sites to provide free versions of
the tools that you have worked hard to create. With this system any vendor can provide encrypted and secure
licensing for scripted tools of all kinds.
PEN License System
Preset Manager: (New Script)
Gives the user the ability to save presets for nodes and modifiers so that on creation they use the presets.
An example would be to always have Turbo Smooth added with the iterations set to 2 and isolineDisplay set
to true.
Preset Manager
Tutorial: DotNet, Numeric Up Down
This was a real quick tutorial that shows how to create a numericUpDown work like a Max spinner.
DotNet NumericUpDown
Tutorial: Compositing in 3DS Max Composite
This is a series of three video tutorials that takes you through compositing a simple scene that has been rendered
from 3DS Max 2011. The tutorial doesn't cover the steps taken in 3DS Max how ever and may be added to this tutorial
in the future. At this time it will assume that you are comfortable with setting up render passes and render elements
to be able to split each of the needed elements that are needed.
Compositing with 3DS Max Elements in Max Composite
Autodesk Master Class: Mechanical Leg Rig:
For Siggraph 2010 Paul Neale created a Master Class for Autodesk on the subject of rigging a mechanical leg in 3DS Max 2011.
With many complex issues involved, such as, multi jointed, planer and spherical joints, dynamic tubing and flexible
animation controls the rig shows many solutions to problems faced while setting up mechanical characters and systems.
This tutorial isn't just for the entertainment industry as it covers many tricks of the trade for any dealing with
mechanical components in production.
Check out the Master Class at the-area.com or follow the direct link
below.
Autodesk Master Class: Mechanical Leg Rig
Tutorial: Gears
In this tutorial I show how to set up gears using proceedural methods so they are easy to create and fast to setup.
Bezier Curves:
A new tutorial has been posted that demonstrates how bezier curves can be derived using Max script and
the theory behind how they are built.
Bezier Curves
WPF is here for Max 2011:
If you are a Max script developer it has been hard for you to resist learning how to implement Dot Net into
you every day work flow. Dot Net has opened up doors that were not possible in Max script alone and made things
possible that you would have other wise had to do in the Max SDK and C++.
One of the added capabilities of using Dot Net in Max script has been the
GDI+ drawing methods.
GDI (Graphical Device Interface) as allowed for more robost and customized user interfaces to be developed. PEN Productions
has used it extensively in production tools and even used it to develope a animation control interface
for mechanical systems.
Now that Max 2011 has arrived it is now possible to use the next generation graphical subsystem in Dot Net called WPF
(Windows Presentation Foundation). Max 2011 has been updated to use Dot Net 3.5 so any development in the area of WPF is
stricked to Max 2011 and up only. WPF works directly on DirectX which means that it is hardware excelerated and will be
far faster then GDI+ for complex graphics on screen. It is also possible to use XAML for defining dynamic UI items.
James Haywood has posted one of the first Max script/WPF tutorials that I have seen on the web to date
on his blog site here that covers how to implement a WPF
interface in Max 2011.
PEN Watermark has been released:
PEN Watermark is a utility used for watermarking the Max viewport for demos, Camtasias or screen grabs.
It is free for down load.
Watermark..
PEN Productions works with premier animation house Pasozebra Producciones:
Pasozebra Producciones resides in Valencia Spain and is currently working on a series of TV commercial spots for
Actimel de Danone. PEN Productions is working with them on custom character tools and animation rigs.
Parameter Wire Copying by Mathieson Facer:
Mathieson Facer has posted a new tutorial on how to copy parameter wires in 3DS Max. If you have ever tried you
would know that it is not possible through the UI and with Max script using the same metheds that would be used
for any other controller will not work either. Mat shows us how it is done.
Parameter Wire Copying..
FFD Mirroring by Mathieson Facer:
Mathieson Facer has just posted a tutorial showing a very unique way to mirror an FFD space warp for use in cartoon
eye setups without ending up with a negative scale or other issues. Visit his site for more information.
FFD Mirroring..
Mat joined PEN Productions as Senior Technical Director and Production Supervisor in 2009. Mats expertise from working on feature films,
game titles and broadcast projects has allowed PEN Productions to provide even better service to our clients.
DotNet Form Tutorial:
A new tutorial on using dotNet forms and maxCustomControls.maxForm has been added to the tutorials page.
DotNet Tutorials..
An updated verison of Walter and Oliver:
An update to the Walter and Oliver rigs has been uploaded. There are small code fixes and the license file
has been updated to last another year. Each year the license expires, this way I know that every one
that is using the characters have the most up todate version.
Any one linking to Walter or Oliver should do it to the page and not directly to the download file
as the version number will update from time to time.
PEN Animation Characters Download..
PEN Rigging Utils has been updated to support Dot Net and 64 bit.
PEN Rigging Utils has been updated to work with Dot Net and 64 bit versions of Max. Version 5.00 is ready for
down load from the scripts page and will work on Max versions from 2008 and up. It should also work on Max 9,
please let me know if you have any problems.
Thanks goes to
Kevin Ala-Pantti for updating the code
for me, Kevin is a student at Humber College and will be graduating at the end of August 2010 and will be looking
for work as a technical director. Please visit his site for more information.
MX Driver 2 and Animation Characters now run on Max 2010 Sp.1:
Service Pack 1 has shipped for Max 2010 and Max Design 2010. This now insures that MX Driver 2
and the free animation characters, Walter and Oliver, will load correctly on start up. To be able
to run either of these tools from PEN Productions you will have to down load and install Service
Pack 1.
Download:
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 SP1
Download:
Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 SP1
Morpher Tutorial Posted:
A quick tutorial has been posted that covers how to use soft selections to control which parts of a morph
target are used by the Morpher modifier. Using a method like this allows for creating a full face target
and then creating several targets from it.
View the tutorial here
Roary The Racing Car Production Focus:
Roary The Racing Car is a Britsh production about a racing car and his friends.
Chapman Entertainment, the creators of Roary and Fifi and the Flower Tots
started the series in UK and it has now spread around the globe.
Read about the production and how PEN Productions worked with Studio Liddell to help create the second season of
Roary The Racing Car.
Bioshock 2:
Jeff Weir talks about reinventing the under water world in Bioshock 2 in a
CG Talk production focus written by Peter Rizkalla.
PEN Productions Inc. worked closely with 2K Marin and Jeff Weir to create the character animation tools and
pipe line for handling the new characters in Bioshock 2. PEN worked on 17 of the characters for Bioshock 2 starting
with Big Sister seen in the illustration above. The character system developed by PEN was a hybrid of the
RAIC system used in
many projects done for clients in the last two years. A facial animation system was developed as well that incorporated
dot net joy stick controls and pose capture system.
Read the article at CG Talk where Jeff describes the process of creating the world of Bioshock 2.
Pinky Dinky Doo Production Focus:
Pinky Dinky Doo is a Sesame Workshop / Cartoon Pizza production about a young girl that likes to make up outrageous and bizarre stories.
Sesame Workshop and Cartoon Pizza first created this project using Flash technology in a completely two dimensional world.
Read more about it.
RAIC System Information:
The RAIC (Referenced, Autonomous, Intelligent, Control) System has been developed by PEN Productions Inc. to help ease the animation process
in character based productions. This system is not a character rigging system but a character control system that can be built into any
type of character setup. Biped, multiped, basketball or a sack of flour, it doesn't really matter what the character is, RAIC will help
make managing your character during animation easier and faster.
The RAIC system handles motion capture data, saving and loading poses, space switching and much much more.
Read more about it on the RAIC page.
PEN Animation Characters Ready for Download!:
PEN Productions Inc has released two in a series of animation characters designed for the budding animator as a learning
tool.
With the new release to the public there have been several new bugs found especially when using Max 2010. Please
read the bug list and report any others that you may find. Note the version that you have installed when reporting
bugs and please let me know which version of Max (Max, Design, Version number, Service packs) and windows version that you are using. I'm not
able to test on all possible combinations of Max and windows that are available so I'm relying on users like your self to help
us at PEN to produce a product free to the masses that works as well as possible.
DotNet Tutorial / Tab Control:
A new dotnet tab control tutorial has been added to the totorials page.
DotNet Tutorials..
Reset X Form tool has been updated to V:2.01.02R
Thanks goes to
Jon Seagull for passing on a bug that was slowing down the searches with many objects. The update
can be down loaded from the scripts page.
Reset X Form
Ryan Trowbridge site updated!
Ryan has been working on tutorials for Max and Maya on his site and has now added a one that shows how to
setup and use Python in 3DS Max. Python is a powerful scripting language that is now an industry standard
and can be used to tie Max, Maya, XSI and other packages together or build pipe lines for any type of production.
python-in-3ds-max
MX Driver 2 Released!
MX Driver 2 has now been released and will be packaged with the MX Driver bundle free of charge. Existing users of
MX Driver 1 can contact us and have
MX Driver 2 emailed to them. Version 2 is a whole new system and not just an
upgrade to Version 1. It is easier to manually control on top of automation or with no automation. Ground detection
methods have improved and more options added for setting up the system. Body dynamics are still being worked on but the system
has been proven in production durren a new season of Roary the Racing Car, Fifi and the Flowertots and other broadcast work.
Happy New Year! 2009
Paul Neale
CEO.
is back for another year to provide the best possible 3D technical support, modeling and
pipeline devleopment to our old and new clients.
PEN has a wide range of experience working with clients all over the world in almost every area of 3D out there.
Currently PEN is working with multiple game companies and broadcast television companies on projects for kids to
adults.
If you are interested in what PEN can do for you and your production please call us or drop us an email. Contact..
Hatch Studios and PEN Productions create eye catching Toblerone Christmas:
PEN Productions supports Hatch Studios on the recent Toblerone Christmas commercial. Read more about it
here.
Hatch Studios does it again with Robin Hood!
Hatch Studios contracts PEN Productions to create the character rigs and facial system for the next installment
of the award winning Robin Hood commercials. Read more about it
here.
Dead Space 2008 / No Known Survivors
PEN Productions worked with Stuart Simms and team, including production guru Joe Gunn to create
Dead Space 2008 / No Known Survivors trailer. PEN Productions created the character rig that would be used in
multiple characters for two trailers. This rig incorporated some of PEN's latest character system tools, called RAIC,
that allows for such things as real time motion capture conversion in 3DS Max from TRC files and a host of
other tools for working with characters in complex animated shots and productions.
Technical write up has been posted here.
New wing rig demo videos up for viewing.
I have created three new demo videos of the wing rig that was developed for Eyeball NYC for the Bella Sara
project. The first shows the animation work flow and has a brief description of how it works. The second and
third are showing a simple animation test using the dynamics on the feathers.
Bella Sara and Wing Rig Demos..
PEN Reset X Form V:2.01 R 64bit
I have finaly updated PEN Reset X Forms to be compatable with 64bit versions of Max. I have also added a
couple of new tools. Read more about it
here.
Pete Addington now has a web site: lonerobot.com
Pete hangs out at CG Talk a whole lot sharing Max script and Dot Net wisdom to all that will listen. He
has finaly launched a web site with great reference for Max script and Dot Net scripting in 3DS Max.
http://lonerobot.com
DotNet Tutorials: Button
Forth part of the DotNet tutorials is complete. A simple example of using a DotNet button control.
DotNet Tutorials..
DotNet Tutorials: XML Writing & Reading
The frist half of the DotNet XML tutorial is up. This covers the use of xmlDocument to write scene
object data out to an XML formated file using the scene hierarchy.
The second half of this tutorial covers how to read XML files and recreate the data that was stored
in the first half.
XML Writing Tutorial..
XML Reading Tutorial..
DotNet Tutorials..
DotNet Tutorials: TreeView
In this tutorial I cover how to setup and use a dotNet treeView control to display the
hierarchy of objects in Max and select objects using the list.
DotNet Tutorials..
DotNet Tutorials: ListView
In these tutorials I try to explain how to use dotNet controls and objects in Max script to enhance
UI design and functionality of scripted tools. I have completed the first tutorial on dotNet listView
control and how to create, populate and access it.
DotNet Tutorials..
Facer FX:
This tutorial will show you how to get Z-Depth and fog in compositing out of the same render pass.
PEN Productions works with New York based Eyeball NYC.
PEN Productions worked with Eyeball NYC on several productions in 2007 working on character rigs and motion capture conversion tools.
The Bio Shock trailer done by Eyeball was in need of advanced rigs that would handle motion capture and hand animation.
The base character rig used Puppet Shop from Lumonix and the muscle and
deformation systems were handled with standard 3DS Max tools all driven with custom code and tools. Read more about it here or watch the full trailer here.
Bella Sara is a fantasy style commercial that was in need of a wing setup for the horse. PEN Productions
created a solution that incorporated real time dynamics to drive the feathers that also had full manual control.
Read more about it here.
