Hyper Glass Comments

#2

Hi folks Slave1 here!

I have just bought this tutorial by Ian Waters and it’s well worth the money.

He has it set up so he is talking to you and picking up real world objects and pointing things out. The graphics are nicely lade out and the text font reminds you of Syd Mead’s web site for some reason.

The lessons are clearly explained with effort to point out various short cuts.

Some understanding of EIAS is assumed but a balance to cater for experienced and Inexperience users is achieved.

The only thing I would ask is how to set up GI dialogue box and how that links with the rendering settings.

Slave1

#3

Hi,

The video is nicely done, clear and straight-forward. My only disapointment is that I can’t open the sample project without crashing EI.

ta

nige.

#4

Well… lets see if we can get you a corrected project file. :slight_smile: I double checked it on two machines and it worked fine… however, the project file does include calls for Revolver. (Though I also included a stripped down thermometer model in there too). Its possible that plugin call is causing you to crash.

#5

Heh, of all the places in the world EI users come from, the two replies come from about an hour down the road :wink:

Ian

#6

Sounds like you did a great job Ian.

Now how about you do one for GI!! I’ll buy that one :buttrock:. Brian, you listening :wink:

GI training!!! How to optimize for speed and quality sort of thing!

Congrats Ian on your first video tute :thumbsup:

#7

I couldn’t open the project either, I guess because I don’t have a number of the plug-ins…

I liked the presentation stlye, although I didn’t think Ian needed to suffer the embarrassment of talking to a camera all the while. I think a voice over would be sufficient- It’d also give you more screen estate. It was a nice personal touch though- maybe you could have had a a few seconds at the beginning ,as a hello ‘I’m Ian’, and intro, and then onto the voice over.

I learnt some useful things about EI I didn’t quite realise previously, but as a relative newcomer to EI, (after a lapse of some years) one often finds oneself with more questions than answers…

A tutorial on GI and Radiosity would be good…!

Martin K

#8

Martin…

Talking to the camera was my request. Personally, I intend on making it a requirement for all Paralumino videos. I’ll reconsider for the exceptionally camera shy, but having the video feed does a couple of things:

  1. It personalizes the instruction and lets the personality of the instructor come out.
  2. Permits the instructor to better demonstrate and show real world objects to the viewer.
  3. Will allow other video streams from other feeds into the training video.

I have lots of ideas for the video feed too. It wont always be a talking head. Plus with iChat and the Slingbox I’m planning on purchasing, Ian and I will be able to observe EI sessions in realtime and comment on it at the same time. Then you’ll have two talking heads up on the screen. It may take up extra real estate, yes, ultimately I think the benefits of a more personalize video are greater. I want users to watch and feel like they’re more apart of something rather than just sitting there watching a mouse run around the screen.

#9

Further to my previous post, I think the projects supplied should be openable by anyone with the standard package, other wise it becomes an exclusive production for those that own all the plug-ins .
The live ‘spontaneous’ delivery tends to be inefficient- it would be better to heavily edit a voice over for file size economy. I’m not saying that Ian isn’t very personable, (and we were very concerned about his cold coffee…) but your purchasers expect the presentation to be crammed with useful information :wink:
Maybe prefaced with more info about glass to cater for beginners- ok, I’m not sure where you’d begin and end with this, cause I knew a little bit about glass in EI already. It’s all the little things you long time users take for granted that puzzle newcomers, who may be used to another package that does things quite differently.

Martin K

I posted this before your first reply Brian.

#10

A good comment Martin…

It must be the Revolver call that is causing issues for non revolver people. Typically though, if a user doesn’t have a specific plugin, EI tells them and then you have the option to strip it out. Normally, that shouldn’t cause you to crash. I included a non revolver copy of the model in the scene file to compensate for that, but for whatever reason, that’s not working and EI crashes. I guess I’ll need to take some corrective action and generate a new scene file without Revolver at all and email it out to everyone who purchased the tutorial, post it in this thread, and then update the zip file online.

Concerning editing. We intend to continue refining our presentation skills and as we get more proficient at this, things will improve. The Hyper Glass tutorial is intended as both a solid instruction piece for the user and a testing product for us. Hence the low $15.00 price tag.

#11

I’m now going to watch your free presentation…! :wink:

Martin K

#12

Hey Chaps,

I am really very sorry about the crashing project, I’ll be sure to come up with something tomorrow and get it to Brian.

Best,
Ian

PS. Richard, it’s on the list :wink:

#13

I enjoyed the tutorial, and watched it again before posting here.

The list of key points on the right side of the screen is a very nice touch. I also think you’re right Brian, having the instructor on-screen is a good thing, please don’t change this. Including a Photoshop file showing the anti-aliasing settings was also helpful.

For the future, perhaps a small document summarizing the various Material settings, although the description while setting up the project is probably sufficient. I learned a lot, including the fact that you can turn specularity down to Zero and still have Specular reflections. Apparently adding a map over rides the zero in the amount slider, who knew!?

Well done Ian, well done Brian. Looking forward to more.

#14

Very well done! Keep presentation as is. Well prepared with stills ready to show.
Seeing Ian’s face disturbed me at first but I got over it… :wink:
Good job Ian! Keep it comming!

#15

I just bought the tutorial yesterday after reading this thread and must say, for me as a beginner, the presentation is very well done and i learned a lot. I agree with Kurt that a small summary should be included to memorize the various settings better, anyway exellent job done Ian! Keep up the good work.

Regards
Stefan

#16

Thanks Stefan,

I think there should be an additional file called checklist.jpg that contains a list of things to consider/ do when creating glass or reflective objects…

Please let me know if this wasn’t included with the rest of the files. This might be the summery you are after, but if not, I’ll strive to do a something additional next time.

Cheers,
Ian

#17

Good tutorial even for long time users.
it’s good to see other people’s formulas for various materials.
Good work Ian.

My only problem was getting the settings optimized for maximum Jam :wink:

#18

For those of you seeking an updated project file for Hyper Glass… you can grab it here:

www.paralumino.com/downloads/updates/HG_update.zip

#19

Cheers arketype :slight_smile:

Now everyone will have to go buy the tutorial in order to get the joke :wink:
Ian

#20

It´s included. But what i meant was like a short reference file for the many settings in the material tabs etc., so that you don´t have to stop the video every time to write down these informations. Just a thought…

Regards
Stefan

#21

Hi Ian, the HG prj crashes when the models are loaded. I’m using 6.5 on a PC.

Martin K