Alex Alvarez是好莱坞Gnomon特效学校，the Gnomon Workshop，Gnomon Gallery, SketchTheatre，还有Gnomon Studios的创办者与校长。在过去的15年里面致力于教授来自全球的学生与专业人士。Alex帮助改变了电脑图形设计与设计教育的面貌，他出现在很多杂志，网站与书本中。他一如既往的参与了个人与专业项目的制作，最近又以生物设计师的身份参与了阿凡达，星际迷航，绿灯侠，普罗米修斯的制作。在GNOMON之前，他是Alias|Wavefront的一名顾问与培训师。Alex毕业于宾夕法尼亚美国艺术中心设计学院设计系。

Founder, Director The Gnomon Workshop Gnomon School of Visual Effects

Alex Alvarez is the founder and president of the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood, the Gnomon Workshop, Gnomon Gallery, SketchTheatre and Gnomon Studios. Having dedicated the past fifteen years to educating students and professionals around the world, Alex has helped change the face of computer graphics and design education. He has been published in industry magazines, websites and books, plus he has taught workshops at several major trade conferences. He continues to work on personal and professional projects, recently as a creature development artist on Avatar, Star Trek, Green Lantern and Prometheus. Prior to Gnomon, Alex worked for Alias|Wavefront as a consultant and trainer for studios in the Los Angeles area. Alex is an alumnus of the Art Center College of Design and the University of Pennsylvania.

在本教学中,Alex将为大家讲解如何使用MAYA，Paint Effects还有mental ray来创建真实的植物。我们将先来学习基本的paint effect库，然后学习使用mia材质将笔触转换为可渲染的几何体。使用物理的太阳与天空，我们能够创建更多照片级真实的渲染结果。教学中详细讲解了如何详细的创建一个带有真实的有光泽的反射与透明效果的双面的shader。我们将通过diffuse,bump,reflection,还有translucency来为更多令人信服的shader映射参数。包括了如何组织UV进行拼贴得到各种不同的叶片纹理。我们将深入学习如何使用PAINT EFFECTS还有Ivy Generator tool工具来创建常青藤，还有如何将常青藤与植物分布到悬崖上的技术。所有相关的Paint Effects的设置都会被讲解到，这样我们就能创建自定义的植物库，最终我们就得到了一个照片级的森林小路。我们从零开始制作了各种蕨类植物，地面植被，吊兰等等，讲解了如何将它们继承到一个复杂的环境中。

In this DVD, Alex thoroughly covers how to create realistic plants using Maya, Paint Effects and Mental Ray. We begin by evaluating the default paint effects library and how to convert the strokes into renderable geometry with mia Materials. Using Physical Sun/Sky, we create more photorealistic renders through the creation of our own materials in a tonemapped workflow circumventing the default shaders created by Paint Effects. Everything necessary to create double sided shaders with realistic glossy reflections and translucency is demonstrated in detail. We look at mapping all relevant paramaters for more believable shaders via diffuse, bump, reflection and translucency, including how to organize UVs into tiles for variety in our leaf textures. We take an in-depth look at creating ivy with Paint Effects and the Ivy Generator tool and incorporate the discussed techniques for plants and ivy into a cliff scene. All relevant Paint Effects settings are then discussed so that we can create our own custom plant library, all of which culminates in a photorealistic forest trail. We create a variety of plants from scratch including ferns, ground cover clover, spider plants and more, demonstrating how to incorporate them into a complex environment.

In this DVD, Alex covers how to create realistic grass using Maya, Paint Effects and Mental Ray while also sharing his techniques for developing a complete natural environment. We begin by evaluating the default Paint Effects grass library with discussion on the basic adjustments needed to make grass more natural. Techniques for covering large areas with grass are then explored via curves and instancing. Through the use of instancing, particles and surface emitters, Alex shows how to populate large scenes with grass geometry, rendering millions of polygons with a minimal RAM footprint. Included is an expression based technique for orienting instanced geometry with the normal of the generating surface, an issue less important for plants or trees but often very important for grass. When elements need to be interactively and precisely placed, Alex also demonstrates the use of a freely available geometry paint script, as well as how to bake particle instances to geometry. Generating textures, miaMaterials and workflow in conjunction with Physical Sun/Sky is thoroughly discussed. Alex also demonstrates how to render and utilize zDepth passes to add post depth-of-field and fog effects, how to render true volumetric fog effects, as well as Photoshop and After Effects post techniques to increase realism through the use of color correction and plug-ins, including Magic Bullet, LensCare and Sapphire.

In this DVD, Alex demonstrates how to use the Paint Effects engine in Maya to create realistic trees. We begin by looking at the default PFX library, which has been converted to polygons for a Mental Ray workflow in an interactive instancer driven scene. Alex then thoroughly demonstrates how to customize a tree, using a library preset as a start point. All relevant paint effects attributes as discussed so that it becomes clear how to create trees that match the desired look for branching, leaves and behavior. Creating custom textures in Photoshop and setting up miaMaterials is then explored using Physical Sun/Sky and photographic camera exposure. Tree animation with wind turbulence, including how to create a randomized library from a user-defined preset, is generated in preparation for incorporating trees into a high-poly park scene. Techniques for populating the park with trees, as well as plants, grass and ground leaves, are discussed in a dynamic and flexible workflow via surface emission, instancing and particle expressions. Alex renders the animated scene, including his ZDepth workflow, compositing the final result in After Effects using the Lenscare, Magic Bullet and Sapphire plug-ins. He also shares his techniques for using volume primitives to create volumetric fog effects, rendered as a separate pass, creating a final 4k comp of the park scene. In conclusion, a variety of tips for creating custom trees are shared in order to make the default library a more useful start point for professional projects including broadleaf, palm, pine, willow and bamboo.

本DVD告诉了大家如何将Onyx Tree suite集成到MAYA与MENTAL RAY的工作流程中，并且讲解了适用于任何对自然环境感兴趣的场景布局与渲染技术。我们先从Onyx Broadleaf讲解，它是一个快速创建各种不同的物理上正确的树木的工具。在讲解如何输出几何体到MAYA中的时候也讲解了它的用户界面，还有风力动 画，以及一个导入ONYX动画的自定义的MEL代码。除了Onyx动画，我们还讲解了如何使用softbody lattices来手工的让树叶动起来。接着深入讲解了physical sun/sky，final gather，还有mia材质，还深入详细介绍了如何通过扫来创建自定义的树叶。我们使用Broadleaf技术来制作了一个植被繁茂的公路，这是使用 AE合成的4K大小的渲染结果。包括了beauty，Zdepth，fog等层，还使用Lenscare，Magic Bullet与Sapphire等插件得到了后期特效。接着我们就研究了Onyx的Conifer, Palm与Bamboo，详解讨论了library与每种树的渲染技术。最后我们讲解了Mental Ray的proxies技术，这个技术允许艺术家在一个场景中拥有数十亿的多边形。

This DVD explores how to incorporate the Onyx Tree suite of programs into a Maya and Mental Ray workflow, while demonstrating scene layout and rendering techniques that apply to any artist interested in natural environments. We begin with Onyx Broadleaf, an invaluable tool for quickly creating a diverse library of physically accurate trees. The user interface is explained while demonstrating how to export geometry to Maya, including wind animation and a custom Gnomon mel script for importing Onyx animation. Beyond Onyx animation, we also look at how to use softbody lattices to manually animate tree leaves for quick turnaround animation. A thorough demonstration of physical sun/sky, final gather and miaMaterials for trees is then provided including a detailed review of how to create custom leaf textures from scans. Broadleaf techniques culminate in the creation of an overgrown Highway scene with a final 4k composite in After Effects that includes beauty, Zdepth, fog passes and post-process effects with the Lenscare, Magic Bullet and Sapphire plug-ins. Moving on, we then explore Onyx Conifer, Palm and Bamboo in equal detail discussing library and rendering techniques for each type of tree concluding with a photorealistic bamboo forest that introduces final gather techniques for deep shadow environments. We wrap up the DVD with a demonstration of Mental Ray proxies, allowing environment artists a methodology for populating scenes with billions of polygons. Suited to both students and professionals, Alex shares his in-depth knowledge hoping to inspire artists to delve further into the world of natural CG environments.