Amazon now has Joep's and my new book Rendering with mental ray & 3ds Max in stock. Click "more" and follow the link   more »

Learning to use Unwrap UVW modifier. This is the first in a series of videos I'll produce for an Autodesk/USFirst Robotics blog.   more »

I'm trying to collect a copy of each version of 3ds max books I've written and have only 38 and I'm sure there are quite a few more. I don't have a list, however.   more »

I was cleaning out my office (every 2 years or so) and came across this list of Autodesk Educational Training Specialists from 1993. We used to meet in the Autodesk offices on Marinship Way in Sausilito at the beginning. How many of the names do you recognize? Who remembers what AutoSurf was?   more »

Are you struggling with mental ray in 3ds Max? Changing variables without understanding how things work usually leads to frustration and inefficiency. This new mental ray book will help clarify some of the mysteries.   more »

Stockholm is a great city from my perspective. Waterfront, nature, great people, and a good atmosphere to make a visitor comfortable. This was a 3ds Max related trip and the event was a treat, also.   more »

Skansen is a large collection of old Swedish architecture from small Sami huts to large farm complexes. The music is Jean Sibelius. Click more to find the link.   more »

3ds Max classes by Ted Boardman and Joep van der Steen Presentations by Knut Ramsted and Peter Brauner Free for Autodesk Subscription members in Sweden   more »

Ted Boardman (3ds Max®) and Phil Dollan (Inventor®) provide 3 days of training and support at the US First® Robotics Competition in the Georgia Dome for Autodesk®. Here are a couple of short scenes that show the flavor of the training sessions themselves. We also have a show to present 5 of our favorites in several categories for 3ds Max® and Inventor®   more »

What's that? Is it an antique? Those are just a couple of the questions I get from passers-by who sometimes want to try it out on my driveway. It's one of the best inventions of recent years if you live in the snow areas.   more »

End User Event 2009 in Utrecht, Holland 28-29 May 2009 The 3DStudio End User Event is a no-nonsense get together for professionals and alike in the field of 3D visualization and animation. 2 days packed with workshops and master classes with national and international expert speakers.   more »

Here's a recent Vista message that I actually got moving a few files from one machine to another; luckily it was a lie! :) Ted   more »

Video tutorial for a method to create "bum prints" in a rigid park bench surface easily and efficiently. This is an introduction to Soft Selection that could be useful for all sorts of other issues.   more »

A very quick video tutorial for to show a method of creating the base of an office chair.   more »

The last video in a series of the recent trip to Holland and Belgium with a few twists not seen in most vacation videos. The "music" was assembled from loops in Sony Acid Music Studio which I've had for a long time but hardly ever use. Because I listen to very little music in general   more »

Sally and I are not typical tourists and our trip to Ghent in September was no exception.   more »

Utrecht, Holland is another city I've visited lately; here's the video   more »

Here's a video I captured on a recent trip to Rotterdam. While there are plenty of things in Rotterdam that make good postcards; the Erasmus bridge, the "cube" houses, or the TV tower, I tend toward the more mundane aspects of daily life.   more »

Here's a little diversion video from my Siggraph trip.   more »

New fundamental training materials available at Retrieve.com. A video class with Ted Boardman with supporting text is now online. The training is aimed at users of 3ds max and VIZ 2008 and 2009, plus Design 2009   more »

Because of the change in 3ds max 2009 and Design 2009 I've done new video tutorials for creating mapped parking stripes. Note: Part02 is a 56mb download!   more »

Animate a tank tread map with Wire Parameters on an object animated with Path Constraint   more »

The US First Robotics Competition 2008   more »

This animation is the closest you'll ever see me come to trying to dance. Thanks to Pete for pushing me out there. :)   more »

A new animation user group being formed in Boston by Neoscape   more »

After a lot of travel in the last months I'm back in my office and am posting a quick video to answer a specific question on the Area forum, but one that comes up often. Hopefully it will help make some things easier for you in the future. Good luck and have fun Ted   more »

Let's have a look at the origins of Alpha Channel in images in order to use it more effectively in the Material Editor and in compositing maps and images. Later tutorials will make use of alpha information in a more practical application. As a side note; my blog site has be down a bit lately as well as my email address tedb@tbmax.com . If you need to contact me use tbdesign1@earthlink.net if you don't hear a reply from me. Thanks Ted   more »

Ray traced reflections can be computationally expensive and too intense in your scenes, but this video tutorial will explain how to make them more convincing as well as more efficient.   more »

Here's another quick deviation from the Material Editor to answer a question on the Autodesk Area forum recently. This is an exercise that I used to do in some classes to illustrate parametric modeling and it is one that I might resurrect again. Pay more attention to the procedures than what is actually being created and you may find the techniques useful for other situations.   more »

Bump mapping is an illusion created at render time that allows you to simulate geometry. This is an important factor in keeping your modeling efficient while the viewer is convinced of more complex geometry. Lighting is a key factor in bump mapping. White pixels in a map cause the illusion of raised areas, black has no effect, and gray is some level in between. Color maps work, but it's difficult to judge the effect visually.   more »

A previous blog entry led you to Autodesk's Area website for a tutorial on applying flexible road striping (different from Parking Stripes) to lofted objects. The link seems to have been broken in the recently updated Area, so I'm posting the zipped video tutorial for your access.   more »

I'll try to get back on track with a few new video tutorials in the coming weeks and to avoid such a lengthy space between tutorials in the future. We're still on the material editor and this tutorial will address opacity mapping.   more »