Larry Shultz's Professional Character Courseware : Feedback from a satisfied student!

[ahs]

hi,

very impressive !

but i'm short of money in the moment (bought G2) :blush:

i take a closer look

cheers
andreas

btw: thanks for your very long description

[SplineGod]

Im running a Siggraph special on the course here:
http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/professionalcharacterseries.htm

[ahs]

hi larry,

this is a nice offer, but i've no jobs in the moment (the right time to learn !)
and i preordered lw8 (please show me the moneytree )

i hope for money and jobs till end of september !

cheers
andreas

[kevman3d]

Yeh, its not cheap - But you get your money's worth IMHO.

I was happy that I had all my old character images lying about on my HardDisk - It mean't I could really show the 'Before' and 'After' images which is why I'm so excited and happy with Larry's courseware.

It gave me that 'booster' and helped me catch-up on a few years of lost time and practise. I can't believe I've wasted so much time NOT doing character stuff, now I know how easy it actually is!! :)

[ahs]

you are right,
the character stuff is missing in my collection. i would be happy if i can learn this.

can i use the cd's qithout any online help ?

cheers
andreas

[ronaldomiranda]

Hey Larry, Can I order it from Brazil???

I dont have Visa cards...

send me info to ronaldomiranda@mail.com


thanx man!

[timsvw]

I would also have to agree that it is a lot of money but it is worth every penny. I got a lot out of the series. Before I used the cd's I had just switched from maya and was not getting as good in lightwave as fast as I would have liked. Larry's courses got me up to speed real quick.

Tim
http://www.dinoadventures.com

[LittleFenris]

Man, your review sounds more like an advertisement than a review. ;) Glad to hear its good, I just can't afford $800 right now. I'm in the process of looking for a new job. Maybe once I find a new job I can get them to buy it for me as "training". :D

[SplineGod]

Im running a siggraph special on the course for the next month and a half. This means any module from the course for $150.00 AND any of the FXSeries CDs for free or
The whole course for $600.00 and any of the Tour CDs for free (10 hours extra). Thats a great deal and nobody has anything that touches this course in terms of information, support and cost/hour. Its 70+ Hours of training just on the CDs.
Check it out here:
http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/professionalcharacterseries.htm
The course is over 60 hrs of quicktime movies and unlimited online support since the courses are self paced. :)
Im also running a Siggraph special on my Intro to Lightwave Course. Its over 30 hrs long and covers modeling, texturing, lighting, rigging, animation and FX on a project. The course is over 30 hrs of quicktime movies and is self paced with unlimited online support as well. The Siggraph Special Price is $295 AND you get any of the LW Tour CDs for free. This means you get over 40 HOURS of training and online support for only $295.00.
Nobody has anything like this. The techniques I cover are things Ive used on TV, Film and Video Game projects. You can sign up here: http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/introtolightwave.htm

Here is a List of topics covered in the Character Series

Character Modeling - approximately 15 Hours
Modeling the Head
1. The Face
2. The Nose
3. The General Eye Region
4. The Lips
5. Facial features and proper Flow
6. The Back of the Head
7. The Neck
8. The Base Ear
9. Detailing the Ear
10. Finishing the Ear
11. Adjusting deatils on the Head
12. The Eyeballs
13. Starting the Eye Sockets
14. Finishing the Eye Sockets
15. Upper Teeth
16. The Lower Teeth and Mouth Interior

Modeling the Torso
1. Laying out the Basic Torso
2. The Shoulders
3. The Chest
4. The Buttocks
5. The Abdominals
6. The Arms
7. Leg Details
8. Leg Muscles
9. Final Adjustments

Modeling the Hands
1 The Base Hand
2 The Index and Middle Finger
3 The Rest of the Fingers
4 Finger Nails
5 The Palm
6 Finishing the Hand

Modeling the Feet
1 The Base Foot
2 The Toes
3 The Finished Foot
Putting it all Together
1 Attaching the Hands and Feet to the Torso
2 Attaching the Head

Modeling with Splines
1 Laying out the Head
2 Laying out the Face
3 Forming Correct Patches
4 Correcting Patching Techniques
5 Creating Polygons from Patches
6 Working with SubD's
7 The Back of the Head
8 Creating a Torso with Splines

Character Texturing - approximately 20 Hours

Setting up surfaces and UVs:
1. Head and Arm Setup
2. Body Setup
3. UVMap Basics
4. UVMap Basics pt2
5. Head UV Setup
6. Head UV Setup pt2
7. Torso UV Setup
8. Arm UV Setup
9. Hand UV Setup

Texturing the Head:
10. Basic Head Textures
11. Head Skin Color
12. Head Skin Color pt2
13. Head Skin Color_pt3
14. Head Skin Color pt4
15. Head Skin Color pt5
16. Head Skin Color Final
17. Head Wrinkles
18. Head Wrinkles pt2
19. Head Wrinkles pt3
20. Head Eyebrows
21. Head Eyebrows pt2
22. Head Eyes
23. Head Veins

Sasquatch Hair

24. Head Hair
25. Head Hair pt2
26. Head Hair pt3
27. Head Hair pt4
28. Head Hair pt5

Texture Hair

29. Head Hair Textured
30. Head Hair Textured pt2
31. Head Hair Textured pt3
32. Head Hair Textured pt4
33. Head Hair Textured pt5
29. Head Eyelashes
30 Head Eyelashes pt2
31. Head Blending UVs
32. Head Ears
33. Head Mouth

Texturing the Hands:
34. Hand Details
35. Hand Texture Blending
36. Hand Flip UVs

Texturing the Arms:
37. Arm Textures
38. Textures Palm
39. Palm Wrinkles
40. Arm Details
41. Arm Veins Bump Maps
42. Arm Wrinkles Bump Maps

Texturing the Torso:
43. Torso Color Maps
44. Torso Color Details
45. Torso Bump Maps
46. Torso Last Details

Clothing:
47. Clothing
48. Clothing pt2

Character Rigging - approximately 15 Hours

Bones basics

1. Bone Basics pt1
2. Bone Basics pt2
3. Bone Basics pt3
4. Bone Basics pt4
5. Bone Basics pt5

Basic Weightmaps

6. Basic Weightmaps pt1
7. Basic Weightmaps pt2

Boning in Layout

8. Layout Boneing pt1
9. Layout Boneing pt2
10. Layout Boneing pt3
11. Layout Boneing pt4

Skelegons and Mocap

12. Skelegons pt1
13. Mocap pt1
14. Mocap pt2

Deformations

15. Deformations pt1
16. Deformations pt2
17. Deformations pt3
18. Deformations pt3A
19. Deformations pt4
20. Deformations pt5
21. Deformations pt6

Weightmaps

22. Weightmaps pt1
23. Weightmaps pt2
24. Weightmaps pt3
25. Weightmaps pt4
26. Weightmaps Vertex Paint pt5

Introduction to IK Setups

27 Setting up IK

Rigging Philisophy - The "Whys" of rigging

28. Philosophy
29. Philosophy for Feet pt1
30. Philosophy for Feet pt2
31. Philosophy for Knees
32. Philosophy for Hips and Head
33. Philosophy for Eyes
34. Philosophy for Arms FK pt1
35. Philosophy for Arms IK pt2
36 Philosophy Tips

Motion Mixer and Morph Mixer
37. Motion Mixer
38. Morph Mixer pt1
39. Morph Mixer pt2

Character Animation - approximately 15 Hours

Basic Motion

1. Basic Motion _Pt1
2. Deceleration Render Pt2
3. Acceleration Render Pt3
4. Basic Motion Bounce_Pt2
5. Basic Motion Bounce_Pt2A
6. Basic Motion Damped Bounce Curves Pt3
7. Squash and Stretch Pt4
8. Squash and Stretch Render Pt7
9. Anticipation and Follow Through Pt5
10. Overlapping Motion Pt6

The 12 Principles of Animation

11. 12 Principles of Animation

Lesson 1 - Anticipation

12. Anticipation Lesson 1

Lesson 2 - Follow Through

13. Follow Through Lesson 2
14. Follow Through Lesson 3

Lesson 3 - The Walk Cycle

15 Walkcycle Lesson 3 Pt1
16. Walkcycle Lesson 3 Pt2
17. Walkcycle Lesson 3 Pt3
18. Walkcycle Lesson 3 Pt4
19. Walkcycle Lesson 3 Pt5
20. Walkcycle Lesson 3 Pt6
21. Walkcycle Lesson 3 Thin Pt7
22. Walkcycle Lesson 3 Thin Pt8
23. Walkcycle Lesson 3 Heavy Pt9


Lesson 4 - Animate to Audio

24. Line of Action Lesson 4 Pt1
25. Animate to Audio Lesson 4 Pt1
26. Animate to Audio Lesson 4 Pt2
27. Animate to Audio Lesson 4 Pt3
28. Animate to Audio Lesson 4 Pt4


Lesson 5 - Lip Sync

29. Animate to Audio Lipsync Lesson 5 Pt1
30. Animate to Audio Lipsync Lesson 5 Pt2

[ahs]

yes, yes

go on talking and i can't stay any longer :scream:

cheers
andreas

[LittleFenris]

Larry, whats the difference between the 2 courses? The $600 and $295 ones? I guess the first is more extensive? Not sure I could stand to watch/listen to ANYONE for 60 hours! ;)

[SplineGod]

The Intro Course is really an Beginner to Intermediate course.
It consists of over 30 hours of quicktime movies and the course is self paced
like the Character Course with the same unlimited support.

Its project based and centers around an all CGI TV series I worked on
called DAN DARE (http://www.splinegod.com/dan_dare.htm) . The show was based on a British comic book hero and has
a very retro style (Imagine a 1950's view of the 21st century).

I wanted to do a project which focuses on and teaches the use
of many of the most widely used tools in Modeler and Layout as
well as allow someone to become all around proficient at:
Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, Rigging (setting up anything to be animated) and Animating
I also wanted the project to be something that would be typical of a real project, be challenging and fun. :)

The project centers around a space port, with a spaceship, launch ramp, transport aircraft etc.
As I said before, the whole thing will be modeled, textured, rigged and animated.
I post additional quicktime movies when I want additional assignments done. I spend
a good deal of time helping, advising students and critiquing WIPs.
Like the Character Course this one is self paced. Most of the students are
still in the modeling and texturing stages.

Heres a few things that I cover:
1. How to properly set up a content directory for a project
2. Navigating Modelers interface - Where things are and how to locate tools.
3. Working in 3D space - The cartesian system
4. Points and Polygons - the basic building blocks
5. Selecting and Deselecting - basic modeling techniques
6. Loading and using reference images
7. Creating and modifying primitives
8. Basic Modeling tools and techniques such as:
Sphere,Box, Tubes, Pen tool, Splines, Bevel, Extrude,
Smooth Shift, Boolean, Solid Drill, Copy, Paste, Move,
Rotate, Size, Stretch, Rail Extrude/Clone, Layers, etc etc
9. Surfacing techniques and tricks
10. Texturing - Image maps, Procedurals and Gradients
11. Texture Projection types - Planar, Cylindrical, Cubic, Spherical, UV etc
12. Texture channels - Color, Diffuse, Spec, Luminosity, Transparency, Translucency, Bump etc
13. Using Texture Layers - Stacking textures and blending modes
14. Precision Texture Placement
15. Basic Lighting - 1, 2, 3 point Light setups
16. Strategic Light Placement - Putting Lights where they do the best job
17. Sculpting with Light and Shadow
18. Controlling Shadows and using Light exclusion
19. Using Lights to create a mood or atmosphere
20. Creating reuseable Light Kits
21. Using different Light Types
22. Radiosity , HDRI and Image based Lighting
23. Skytracer
24. Animation Timing
25. Keyframing
26. Graph editor
27. Spreadsheet, Motion Mixer and Scene editor
28. Navigating Layout
29. Rendering out stills and animations
30. Particles
31. Hypervoxels
32. Volumetric Lights
33. Special F/X tips and tricks
34. Inverse Kinematics, Motion Modifiers and Expressions
More then this is actually covered but this highlights much of what is covered.
Heres some examples of the reference used:
http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/intro_reference/ddcover1.jpg, http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/intro_reference/ddcover2.jpg
Heres a couple of quick examples of some student modeling and texturing:
http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/intro_reference/examples.jpg

[kevman3d]

Originally posted by VWTornado
Man, your review sounds more like an advertisement than a review.

So buy it now, and you'll get a set of invisible Ginsu Steak knives absolutely FREE! :)

Narf! Narf! Sorry - I sorta get a little 'enthusiastic' with my reviews... :scream:

[mr_nebel]

Heh, I just remembered I have a bunch of old Dan Dare comics sitting up the top of my book shelf, now I might have to drag them out to model stuff. :applause:

[SplineGod]

LOL, I thought it was pretty informative Kev. Ive seen far more commercial sounding reviews believe me. The ginsu knives sounds like an interesting idea though. ;)

Mr Nebel,
How old are those issues?

[mr_nebel]

There in a bunch of Eagle Annuals, the oldest one is 1956 from what I can decipher.

[tjnyc]

Larry,

You forgot to mention that the LW 8 training update for the Character Serier will be free for those who get the CDs now. :thumbsup:

Just made my order, and I have to say Larry was a patient and helpful guy to deal with.

- T

[SplineGod]

Oops! Thanks for the reminder Tony! :)
That includes BOTH courses BTW. :)

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by mr_nebel
There in a bunch of Eagle Annuals, the oldest one is 1956 from what I can decipher.
Youre kidding! Where did you get those?
I have a reprint which cost a pretty penny. :)

[Insider]

Most of the LightWave users in Hollywood, working on television commercials and movies have used (and still use) my Inside LightWave books. The feedback from those users has helped create the 3D Garage Signature and Advanced Courseware CD's.

The 20 hour Signature Course is one of the best ways you can learn LightWave. We take you through every panel and button, so that you clearly understand what you're doing, and how LightWave works. Here's a breakdown of the movie files which contain many topics within each:

Disc 1 Getting Started in Modeler Viewports 30 Minutes

Disc 2 Modeler Create and Modify Tabs 34 Minutes

Disc 2 Modeler Multiply Tab part 1 22 Minutes

Disc 3 Modeler Multiply Tab part 2 13 Minutes

Disc 3 Modeler Multiply Tab part 3 18 Minutes

Disc 3 Modeler Construct Tab part 1 21 Minutes

Disc 4 Modeler Construct Tab part 2 24 Minutes

Disc 4 Modeler Detail Tab 21 Minutes

Disc 5 Modeler Map Tab part 1 13 Minutes

Disc 5 Modeler Map Tab part 2 21 Minutes

Disc 5 Modeler Display Tab 23 Minutes

Disc 6 Getting Started in Layout Options 20 Minutes

Disc 7 Layout Items Tab 27 Minutes

Disc 7 Layout Objects Tab 19 Minutes

Disc 7 Layout Lights Tab 27 Minutes

Disc 8 Layout Camera Tab 36 Minutes

Disc 9 Layout Scene Tab 36 Minutes

Disc 9 Layout LScript and Display Tabs 18 Minutes

Disc 10 Projects Simple Modeling 31 Minutes

Disc 10 Projects EPS Importing 12 Minutes

Disc 10 Projects Biz Card Logo Tracing 26 Minutes

Disc 11 Projects Surface & Texture part 1 37 Minutes

Disc 12 Projects Surface & Texture part 2 40 Minutes

Disc 13 Projects Surface & Texture part 3 40 Minutes

Disc 13 Projects Ocean Creation 34 Minutes

Disc 14 Projects Moving Ocean 18 Minutes

Disc 14 Projects Landscape Creation 32 Minutes

Disc 15 Projects Cartoon Plane Modeling 25 Minutes

Disc 15 Projects Boolean Stencils 40 Minutes

Disc 16 Projects Parenting & Keyframing 40 Minutes

Disc 16 Projects Inverse Kinematics 36 Minutes

Disc 17 Projects Cabinet Making 31 Minutes

Disc 17 Projects Particles & HyperVoxels part 1 32 Minutes

Disc 18 Projects Particles & HyperVoxels part 2 33 Minutes

Disc 18 Projects Simple Deformations 40 Minutes

Disc 19 Projects Car Modeling part 1 36 Minutes

Disc 20 Projects Car Modeling part 2 37 Minutes

Disc 21 Projects Lighting and Radiosity part 1 35 Minutes

Disc 21 Projects Lighting and Radiosity part 2 31 Minutes

Disc 22 Projects Lighting, Caustics and Refraction 30 Minutes

Disc 23 Projects Compositing part 1 33 Minutes

Disc 24 Projects Compositing part 2 26 Minutes

Disc 25 CONTENT and CODECS

Our course comes to you all at once, not over time. Your support (if you need it) is always free, for as long as you like. It's not limited to the time you're using the course. And what is support? Support is asking me personally any questions you might have about the course, or other projects you're working on.

We're offering a free CD to anyone that orders our Signature Course now - the CD is a LightWave 8 QuickStart CD, with over an hour of new tutorials covering just LightWave 8. This will ship to you at the time LightWave 8 is released from NewTek.

Don't be fooled by the amount of material - be concerned with the quality.

Please visit www.3dgarage.com and download our samples, and read the quotes from a few students.

Keep on wavin'!

Dan Ablan
AGA Digital Studios, Inc.
WWW.3DGARAGE.COM

Editor-in-Chief - Keyframe Magazine
Author of 7 best selling international LightWave books for New Riders Publishing.

[mr_nebel]

Originally posted by SplineGod
Youre kidding! Where did you get those?
I have a reprint which cost a pretty penny. :)

There my fathers collection so I've had them for as long as I can remember.:cool:

P.S. Still trying to save enough money to have some spare for at least some of these CDs

[Mike RB]

I'm not really sure what Dan's course's have to do with Larry's student talking about his experience with Larry's course.... Lets not make this a advertising fiesto.

Mike

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by Mike RB
I'm not really sure what Dan's course's have to do with Larry's student talking about his experience with Larry's course.... Lets not make this a advertising fiesto.

Mike
Im pretty sure it has nothing to do with Kevins experience and appears pretty unprofessional. Im sure Kevin wouldnt complain if Dan removed it.

[LWD]

Having lots of training options is a good thing.

[Hookflash]

Originally posted by LWD
Having lots of training options is a good thing.

Right, but hijacking someone else's thread to try and steal some of their customers seems pretty underhanded, imo.

[LWD]

Ironic, isn't it?

[Roger Eberhart]

I'm guessing he meant to post to this thread: http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=81892&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

Just looks like a simple mistake.

[CB_3D]

Originally posted by LWD
Ironic, isn't it?

hehe, got it! LMAO

[SplineGod]

I dont think too many people will complain about Dans books.
Theyre good books because many of those same people in Hollywood wrote much of the material in those books.

One thing Im sure Kevin will attest to is that none of my courses are a rehash of the manual. Its all very production oriented. Kevin took this course and you can see the dramatic change in his work.

Ive worked for years in production enviroments as a lead artist, Technical Director and so on. My experience is that the kind of work Ive been exposed to is what people want to learn how to do. I think people expect to be taught a production ethic when
they pay money.

All somebody has to do to determine if I know what Im talking
about it look at my work which is posted online.
The vast majority of my posts on this forum and others are less advertising and more actual free useful information. A keyword search will bear that out.

Kevin also knows that my online support is unlimited. Hes been on my forums for over a year and a half. Kevin has also been a great help to others. Hes taken the information that hes learned and helps others on the forums as well. My students know that Im available on a daily basis via the forums, email, ICQ, MSN, AIM and even telephone.

If people want the whole course up front they get it. I encourage people to take their time (since its unlimited) and do it right.
I dont just tell people what they want to hear and Kevin will tell you that Ive had him and others redo things many times.

Students expect me to teach them tools, skills and techniques that are typical fo what they would find on the job.
I agree that people should be concerned about quality. Thats why I encourage anyone who is checking out my courses or anyone elses to SEE what kind of work the instructor has done. Check with actual students and get it first hand.

Look at reviews (if they exist) that students have posted. Theres plenty of comments and reviews on this and other forums about my courses and CDs. I encourage people to compare the reality with the advertising. I would also suggest taking Dans list of things covered in his courseware and compare it to the material in my Tour CDs.

Kevin just attended The World Wide Community Tour and recieved 4 CDs. He can tell you firsthand what the CDs are like. Those two CDs are over 20 hours of material and its definately not a rehash of the manual but lots of information not covered anywhere. Both of those CDs are only $125.00 or free if you
attend the seminars.

Heres whats on the World Wide Tour CD:
LightWave Conventions
LightWave Interface
Customizing the Interface
Color Requestor Tricks
Viper and Image Viewer
Understanding Gradients
Particle Basics
Particle Motion
Particle Trails
Particle Snow Storm
Expressions
Bounce
Gears setup
Tricycle setup
Modeling a complete Character
Rigging a Complete Character
Walk Cycle
Motion Designer Basics
Lighting Basics
Intensity Versus Diffuse
Lights and Falloff
Multiple Sources
Multipass Renders
Pro Character Series Teaser
Modeling a Face
Modeling a Nose

Heres whats on the Next Dimension Tour CD:
Beveling tips and tricks
Enhancing logos with bevels
Magic Bevel
Modeling a head
Head - Face
Head - Nose
Head - Eyes
Head - Lips
Head - Flow
Particle Basics
Particles & Hypervoxels - Voyager effect
Hypervoxels - Using sprites
Hypervoxels - Tips and Tricks
Graph Editor
Expressions - Gears
Expressions - Tricycle
Modifiers - Channel Follower, Oscillator
Modifiers - Noisy Channel, Master Channel
Character Rigging - Motion Mixer
Character Rigging - Morph Mixer
Character Rigging - Bone Basics
Saslite Basics
Creating grass
Animating fur
Hair Guides
Wind Effects
Texture Displacement
Surfaces by Scene
Alternate Savers
Compositing
Normal Displacement
LScript Commander
SkyDome Lighting
Advanced Motion Designer

Many of the tips and tricks in here Ive shown people in one form or another directly online here.
Im offering far more then an hour on a free CD (heck you can get that right now on my site HERE (http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/support/sampler.htm) and some very useful Rigs HERE (http://www.splinegod.com/rigs.htm) )
Im offering ANY one of those Tour CDs to anyone who signs up and were talking 10 HOURS of extra material.

[lwbob]

So how is it OK when you spam Dan's threads with your crap?

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by lwbob
So how is it OK when you spam Dan's threads with your crap?
Funny how the same entourage always seems to pop up.
I guess getting kicked off Neweks forums isnt enough for you.
Kindly point out where Ive hijacked ANY of "Dans" threads.

[Howzat]

Wow okay... I think I better get in before this thread gets closed...
Larry have you shipped any CDs to Australia? If so, can you remember what the shipping costs were? I'm considering buying your character modelling module, but hoping its cheap enough to avoid customs troubles.

[SplineGod]

Hey Howzat,
Sorry about the noise in here. :) I hope they dont close the thread. You expect professionals to behave professionally. Hopefully theyll just stop on their own.
I do and have shipped lots to Australia and New Zealand. Most of my students in New Zealand seemed to be Kevins. :)
The S&H is around $10.00 for the whole course.
Thanks! :)

[lildragon]

People please, don't let me have to take out my whip again :shame: If you have any doubt as to what I'm speaking of, refer to the top thread in this forum and our policy.

-lild

[SplineGod]

Thanks lildragon. :)

[Howzat]

Originally posted by SplineGod
Hey Howzat,
Sorry about the noise in here. :) I hope they dont close the thread. You expect professionals to behave professionally. Hopefully theyll just stop on their own.
I do and have shipped lots to Australia and New Zealand. Most of my students in New Zealand seemed to be Kevins. :)
The S&H is around $10.00 for the whole course.
Thanks! :)
sold!
When I go to pay through Paypal it only has $ 5 as postage and handling though... how do I pay the extra $ 5?

Edit: or is $ 5 enough if I'm just ordering one module?

[Insider]

Hey Larry,

when you ship internationally, mark down $5 charged for customs. Also mark it as a gift.

This ensures that the recipient doesn't pay anything on their end.

Have a great night!

Dan

[Monty]

Larry, how long does a typical student take to finish one course? Is there such a thing as a recommended timeline and schedule?

Is there a DVD version of the materials?

Thanks.

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by ahs
you are right,
the character stuff is missing in my collection. i would be happy if i can learn this.

can i use the cd's qithout any online help ?

cheers
andreas
some people do that. If you mean do I discount it?
I havent done that yet but let me know via email what you have in mind. :)

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by Howzat
sold!
When I go to pay through Paypal it only has $ 5 as postage and handling though... how do I pay the extra $ 5?

Edit: or is $ 5 enough if I'm just ordering one module?
Its automatically factored in. :) Also be sure to let me know
what extra CD you want. Thanks again. :)

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by Insider
Hey Larry,

when you ship internationally, mark down $5 charged for customs. Also mark it as a gift.

This ensures that the recipient doesn't pay anything on their end.

Have a great night!

Dan
Thanks for the advice Dan, thats good to know. :)
You have a good night too!

[Howzat]

Originally posted by Insider
Hey Larry,

when you ship internationally, mark down $5 charged for customs. Also mark it as a gift.

This ensures that the recipient doesn't pay anything on their end.

Have a great night!

Dan
Does that get around customs duty Dan? If so that sounds good...

Just ordered thanks Larry, I'll send you an e-mail with my choices.

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by Monty
Larry, how long does a typical student take to finish one course? Is there such a thing as a recommended timeline and schedule?

Is there a DVD version of the materials?

Thanks.
A typical student? Ive had some blow thru it quickly and some who take their time due to family, job, illness etc.
Most show very significant improvment in a few weeks.
Some students like Kevin have done very well very quickly but choose to stay on the forums and assist others. :)
I recommend that you take the time you need to get to the level you want. Theres no rush and if youre going to pay to learn you might as well take the time offered to you and learn. :)
DVDs....yes theyre planned but theres still issues to sort out with those.

[Monty]

Okay thats good to know. Ill have a look at the forums and the course in your web site.

Im usually doubtful of CD based training ever since I got ripped off with some XSI training a while back, but good testimonials from users like what this thread is about is good for making decisions.

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by ronaldomiranda
Hey Larry, Can I order it from Brazil???

I dont have Visa cards...

send me info to ronaldomiranda@mail.com


thanx man!
Hey Ron,
Theres lots of ways to go about it. I dropped you an email explaining them. Thanks! :)

[Insider]

Does that get around customs duty Dan? If so that sounds good...

With all the orders we've shipped from 3D Garage (http://www.3dgarage.com) to Japan,
Australia, Germany, and lots to the UK, it seems so.

UPS actually told us to do that - to avoid hassles on the recipient's end.

Dan

[Monty]

Hey Larry, I also just sent you a PM regarding other possible payments methods also.

[SplineGod]

Got it monty, thanks! :)

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by mr_nebel
There my fathers collection so I've had them for as long as I can remember.:cool:

P.S. Still trying to save enough money to have some spare for at least some of these CDs

Id love to know which ones you have. From what I hear theyre probably worth a lot. If you really want to take the course or parts drop me an email and lets see what we can do. :)

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by timsvw
I would also have to agree that it is a lot of money but it is worth every penny. I got a lot out of the series. Before I used the cd's I had just switched from maya and was not getting as good in lightwave as fast as I would have liked. Larry's courses got me up to speed real quick.

Tim
http://www.dinoadventures.com
Tim the great thing for me is seeing the stuff you guys do with some of the things you learned on the course. Its extremely gratifying. The dinoadventures stuff looks awesome and I hope you guys sell a boatload!
One thing you guys should take a look at is hooking up with another one of your fellow students, Steve Axtell. Hes also taking the course and he does, among other things, puppets! His stuff is incredible. He does the puppets for VegeTales. You guys should check with him about figures/puppets based on your characters.
His site is http://www.axtell.com

[SplineGod]

Originally posted by VWTornado
Man, your review sounds more like an advertisement than a review. ;) Glad to hear its good, I just can't afford $800 right now. I'm in the process of looking for a new job. Maybe once I find a new job I can get them to buy it for me as "training". :D
Its not $800 and you can get each module separately with some free CDs. Email if you have questions. :)

[kevman3d]

Originally posted by SplineGod
...Steve Axtell. He does the puppets for VegeTales.

Gulp! Hope he hasn't seen the Vegetales 'parody' we worked on! :) (http://www.fluxmedia.co.nz/video/religitables.mov)

[kevman3d]

Originally posted by SplineGod
Sorry about the noise in here. :) I hope they dont close the thread. You expect professionals to behave professionally. Hopefully theyll just stop on their own.

Cor! This thread started out just as my personal review on Larry's Character Courseware. I hate the idea of people killing MY thread by taking it off-topic. Didn't expect people to take it to 'other places', but I'm glad the moderators have stepped in. ;)

I do and have shipped lots to Australia and New Zealand. Most of my students in New Zealand seemed to be Kevins. :)

BTW, Larry means a lot of kiwi's called 'Kevin', and not my own personal collection of students! At the beginning, there were 3 kiwi's signed up, all called 'Kevin'!

But from me, the speed at which I built up the years of missing skills has infected my entire LW direction and put me back on track, and that makes me pretty ecstatic and excited!

That's why you'll find my postings on this so overly positive and probably a little too 'infomercial' sounding! :D

[SplineGod]

Hey Kev,
See what happens when you dont lock the back door before you leave? :) I think it turned out well. The moderators moderated and people get to read your review and do some comparing. :)

[SplineGod]

Pete Duncan is also one of Kevins virtual Class mates.
Heres examples of where he started and how far hes come:
http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/studentwork/Peter_Duncan/Vid7head.jpg

Heres an early Torso
http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/studentwork/Peter_Duncan/Torso_vid5.jpg

[SplineGod]

Heres the basic Torso finished:
http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/studentwork/Peter_Duncan/FirstComplete.jpg

Heres some early Texturing...

http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/studentwork/Peter_Duncan/UpperBody.jpg

[SplineGod]

Heres a newer example of Peters Character with clothing added.
Nice job! :)

http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/studentwork/Peter_Duncan/Clothes01.jpg

[manfriday]

I have taken larry's course as well and I learned a great deal.
I have no complaints at all. I have'nt been booted off his support forums yet either.
Im going thru the whole thing again from the beginning.
It's alot ot learn and the great thing about this type of class is that you can do just that.. go back and do the whole thing over and pick up on little things here and there that ya might have missed.
It's a good thing.

Jason

[manfriday]

Hope he hasn't seen the Vegetales 'parody' we worked on!

sadly, I did. :(

I want my bandwidth back!

[SplineGod]

Hey Jason!
Thanks. Get on their and start posting stuff again.
A couple of others have restarted after being sick or family problems. :)

[gggraphx]

Hey Larry,

Just thought I'd throw my two cents worth against the wall and see who salutes.

I have a shelf full of books on LW and have used them with different results. Finally I just wanted to sit down and LEARN THIS STUFF. I sat down with Patrik Beck's Lightwave 7.5 Primer and enjoyed that I was actually getting somewhere. Then I picked up another book and dove in. Around the time a certain head tutorial was kicking my behind I went to Lee Stranahan's LW Tour and got a deal on Larry's Intro course.

What a difference. I've tried video tapes, (the rewinding was driving me crazy) and like I mentioned, books, but Larry's training CDs really got me going. His intro course starts with constructing a spaceship inspired by Dan Dare, an old space comic book. His tutorials walked me through modeling, texturing, and soon--animating.

There are many things I like about the course.
It's scope is realistic. I built a ship. Not a fleet, or a ship as complex as the Eiffel Tower, but a ship I could actually complete and even add some personal touches to. I then got to texture the craft and that's where the fun really began. I started seeing results quickly and felt like I was really contributing to the look of the ship myself. Larry shows you how to do something then leaves the particular details up to you. I'm sure no two ships come out looking exactly the same.

Larry's class includes a forum where you post your work as you go. This allows him (or anybody else in the class) to give feedback. This makes the class interactive and the forums are also a great source of info because you can check out other people's work habits and results. It also gives you the benefit of basically having a professional CG artist as technical director of your work.

Along with the CDs Larry provides additional assignments, downloads and overall encouragement.

There're other classes available out there and they're probably great too, but unlike my shelf of books, Larry's courses might be the only ones I need to get to the skill level I want to be at and that would be so cool.

[lildragon]

Hi Larry I know you probably had good intentions when this thread was started, but frankly it's turned into too much "advertising" for my likings. Cgtalk sponsors do pay for their advertising, so I don't think it's fair what you're doing here, know what I mean? So this thread will be closed.

salud