Whatcha gonna learn?

In this two-disc set, Mark Lefitz creates a fully realized 3D model from an original concept painting by Feng Zhu. He discusses the analysis and setup of the shot, and demonstrates his techniques for efficiently creating a 3D environment using Maya’s polygon and NURBS tool-kit. Mark explains scene blocking, using animated cameras and their attributes, and how to integrate an animated object in the scene. He manipulates Maya fluids to show how to achieve the desired 3D sky environment, and shows some of his techniques for using painted textures and properly applying UVs. With a painted map from the scene, Mark breaks down the various components and shows how to apply layers to Maya shaders for maximum effect. In Shake, Mark demonstrates the use of Depth, Normals and Occlusion passes, and how to manipulate them in the comp to achieve atmosphere and zblur. Lastly, he explains how to use ambient occlusion as a method for Global Illumination, and discusses the initial setup and optimization for this pass and its integration into the final comp.

About Mark Lefitz

Mark Lefitz is a visual effects artist with over ten years of computer graphics production experience in architectural visualization, television and film. He has been using Maya and Alias products extensively throughout his career. Mark graduated with a Masters in Architecture from UCLA, and began working at Frank O. Gehry and Associates, primarily on the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Soon Mark made the jump to entertainment and worked on various projects including The Rug Rats Movie, Futurama, Bicentennial Man, Mission to Mars, 102 Dalmations, Reign of Fire, Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, Bad Boys II and Spider-Man 2. Mark is at Disney Feature Animation where he recently completed work on Chicken Little. He is currently working on Meet the Robinsons as a Lighting and Compositing Technical Director.