SoftImage Training
By CAST
| Introduction to the SoftImage Interface" Going to SoftImage Training? Or would you like a quick intro to the SoftImage interface? Click Here to watch a video that covers the basics of the SoftImage interface. Download Flash Viewer |
Found out how to do something cool in SoftImage or have a link to a helpful website?! Want to share it with others? Email Angelia Payne at CAST (angie@cast.uark.edu) to have your information added to this page!
| Tutorials - Provided by EAST Staff and Students | |
The Basics
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| XSI Hot Keys Learn the commonly used Hot Keys or "keyboard shortcuts" in XSI SoftImage. Be sure and print this off if you are a first time SoftImage user (or even if you are experienced and need a refresher!) |
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| Helpful Hints for Modeling A quick tutorial covering basic 3D modeling tips including selecting and moving parts of an object (points, edges, and polygons), duplicating, extruding, boolean operations, and basic deform operations. |
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| Helpful Hints for Animating A quick tutorial covering the basics on how to animate objects in XSI Softimage. Concepts include key framing, using the animation timeline and animating an extrusion. |
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| Shaders/Materials Learn the characteristics and best applications of shaders/materials in XSI. Learn what the best shader would be for a plastic, metal, or glass object. |
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| Rendering What is Rendering? This tutorial takes you through the basics of setting up your render options. This includes specifying output folder locations, camera view, and render size (resolution). |
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| Creating a Movie using the Flipbook Now that you've rendered out each individual frame - how do you put all of those frames together to make a movie? This tutorials takes you through using the 'flipbook' in SoftImage to make all your movie dreams come true! |
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| More Advanced | |
Fountain Simulation Tutorial provided by students from Monticello High School, AR. Learn how to simulate the complexity of a water fountain using particles in SoftImage. |
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| Waving Flag Tutorial Tutorial provided by students from Eureka Springs High School, AR. Learn about complex simulations including cloth, wind, and gravity in this tutorial that walks you through the steps of creating a "waving" flag. |
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| EAST Conference 04' XSI Tutorial Tutorial provided by Archway Systems. Covers a variety of topics in SoftImage including a roller coaster exercise, a characater rigging exercise, and an exercise on how to use the hair function (Nearly 40 pages of stuff!) |
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Tutorials - Online Resources |
| EdHarriss.com - A great place to start if your trying to figure out something cool to do in SoftImage - from modeling to simulation to creating cool complex textures! |
| XSI Base.com - Another great place to learn something new from beginner to advanced concepts including rigging, hair modeling, simulations, and more! Simply click on 'Tutorials' on the left side of the screen. |
| Highend-3D.com - You can download scripts, shaders, tutorials and more from this site. Check it out! |
Student Forums |
The Forum is a great place to ask your fellow students questions specific to your project. Post your questions on the "Animation" Forum. |