Inside trueSpace

Introduction.


Inside trueSpace4 Chapter by Chapter. Extra Goodies. Keep in Touch.

I. INTRODUCTION.

1. What's New, Features at a Glance.


Modeling. Animation. Render Engine. 3D Widgets and Menus. Other Improvements. Summary.

2. Getting in the Right State of Mind.


Viewing the World Around Us. Viewing the World Through trueSpace. A Brief Look at the trueSpace Interface. 3D Object Construction Basics. About the Tutorials in This Book. The trueSpace Manual. Take the Time to Observe. Unbottle Those Creative Juices. Summary.

II. MODELING.
3. Modeling.


The trueSpace Modeling Environment. Selecting Vertices, Edges, and Faces. Manipulating Selected Surfaces: The Point Edit Panel. The Point Draw Tools. Away with Those Superfluous and Redundant Polygons. Modeling by Extruding Surfaces. Modeling with the Surface Sculpt Tool. Modeling and the Deform Object Tool. Modeling with Metaballs. Understanding NURBS. Modeling with NURBS. Summary.

4. Character Modeling.


Modeling Frankenstein's Monster. The Simple Method. Modeling a Superhero from Spheres. Modeling the Human Form with Metaballs. Modeling a Cybernetic Marine from Simple Primitives. Summary.

III. SURFACING AND TEXTURING.
5. Surfacing.


Surfacing 101. Surface Attributes: Exploring Reflective Surfaces. Understanding UV Space. UV Projection Per-Face. Surfacing Groups of Faces. Decaling. Procedural Textures. Adding Fine Details to Surfaces. Material Libraries. Selecting Images, Things to Consider. Summary.

6. Texture Creation and Management.


Acquiring Images. Other People's Stuff. Post-Production Modifications. Creating Seamless Textures. Creating Bump Maps. Creating Alpha Channel Textures. Using Textures in trueSpace Scenes. Summary.

IV. ANIMATING.
7. Animation.


Creating Your First Animation. Animating with Deform Primitives. Animating with the Deform Object Tools. Bones. Animating with Spline Paths. Summary.

8. Secrets of The KeyFrame Editor.


KeyFrame Editor Basics. The Toolbar. The Object Tree. The Animation Track Pane. Editing Keyframes and Actions. Scene Keyframes. Function Curves. Summary.

9. Advanced Bones.


Bones and Humanoid Characters. The Skeleton Panels. Editing Joints. Attaching Skin to Skeleton. Flexing Some Muscle. Attaching an Object to a Bone. Summary.

10. Character Animation.


Plan, Plan, Plan Your Character First. Posing Your Characters. Animating Franky. Tweaking a Walk Cycle to Change a Character's Mood. Skeletal Animation and Reusability. Summary.

V. LIGHTING AND CAMERA.
11. Rendering Precursor, What Are Your Options.


Understanding 3D Light. The Render Options Panel. The Radiosity Panel. Hybrid Radiosity. Preview Scene to File Panel. Summary.

12. Lighting in trueSpace.


The Light Control Panel. Light Types in trueSpace4. The Ins and Outs of Shadows. Effective Lighting. Color and Mood. Putting It All Together. Summary.

13. Atmospheric Effects and Advanced Lighting.


Creating Particle Effects. Enhancing Effects with Photoshop Filters. trueSpace4's Lens Flares and Glow. Effects Compositing. Object Generation for Atmospheric Effects. Using Shaders to Create Atmospheric Effects. Fog. Volumetric Lights. Summary.

14. Previsualizing Pyrotechnic Effects.


Previsualization. The Explosion. The Aftermath. Black Rising Smoke. Summary.

15. Radiosity.


Radiosity Basics. The Radiosity Panel. Working with Radiosity. Modeling Considerations. Correcting Radiosity Artifacts. Summary.

16. trueSpace Cinematography.


The Camera Tool. Thinking Like a Cinematographer. Following the Action. Motion Blur. Summary.

VI. TAKING THE NEXT STEP.
17. Creating a Short Film.


Tell a Story. The Storyboard. After the Storyboard: The Workflow. Budget. Managing The Tomb Project. How Does It End? Summary.

18. Creating Your Very Own 3D Media Studio.


Tools of the Trade. What Can Be Done in Your Digital Studio? Input Devices: Working with the Real World. Output: The End Result. Summary.

VII. APPENDIXES.
Appendix A. Creating Games.


Games Are Serious Business. Game Design I: Refine Your Idea. Game Design II: Implementation. Target System Concerns. Summary.

Appendix B. Shading Formulas.


Transparent Objects. Ceramics. Metals.

Appendix C. Getting Your Work Viewed by the Masses.


Contests. Mass Market Videos. Magazines.

Appendix D. What's on the Resource CD.


Actions. Adobe. Animator. Artbeats. VCE. Bitmap Genesis. Chapters. Codecs. DarkTree Textures. Exploder. Games. Images. Plug-ins and Filters. Textures. Marlin Studio.

Glossary of 3D Terms.
Index.