XR Storytelling, Experience Design, and Virtual Production
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Selection of Youtube tutorials that supplement my design and multimedia production lectures at FAU since the Covid Pandemic started in Spring 2020. Topics include concept art, character animation, game design, and XR applications. To see the latest tutorials, visit my Youtube channel…
Fall 2020
Visual Design
Video tutorial on using AI tools at Artbreeder.com to develop graphic elements for concept art.
Video tutorial on creating an Adobe Fuse character and posing it in Mixamo and Autodesk Maya for a concept art piece (Part 1).
Video tutorial on rendering your posed 3D character in Maya using Arnold materials and lights (Part 2).
Video tutorial on processing your 3D character render in Adobe Photoshop with color matching tools and paint filters to get a consistent art style (Part 3).
Game Design
Introduction to the Unity 2019 game engine interface and creating game objects with physics components (Part 1).
Introduction to Unity 2019 game engine video tutorial on how to create a simple 3D tank game with physics projectiles and explosions (Part 2).
Video demo on the Unity 2019 terrain editor showing how to sculpt and texture terrains, as well as add dynamic grass, trees, and wind (Part 1).
Second video on creating Unity 2019 terrain textures, showing how to create custom seamless and tileable textures and normal maps in Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk Maya (Part 2).
First video on creating 3D Assets in Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk Maya, and then exporting the models and texture maps as an FBX game object to Unity 2019. Later videos will cover exporting animation from Maya to Unity (Part 1).
Second video on creating 3D Assets in Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk Maya, and then exporting the models and texture maps as an FBX game object to Unity 2019 (Part 2).
Third video on creating 3D Assets in Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk Maya, and then exporting the models and texture maps as an FBX game object to Unity 2019 (Part 3).
How to create a dynamic game environment inside of Unity 2019 using game objects imported from Maya and C# coding. This first video shows how write scripts to make a door that will only open if you collect enough power-up objects, with text and GUI HUD feedback (Part 1).
Video tutorial on creating an augmented reality enhanced research poster in Unity 2019 game engine with Vuforia.
Spring 2020
XR Design
Introduction to augmented reality in Unity 2019 game engine with Vuforia, showing how to enhance a magazine or book cover with AR video and animation (Part 1).
Video tutorial on how to use Unity 2019 and Vuforia to enhance a magazine or book cover with AR video and animation (Part 2).
Video demo on how to use Unity and Vuforia to create an AR shadowbox theater.
Character Animation
Video tutorial on how to use Steam Fuse to create a custom 3D character model.
Video demo on importing your Fuse character to Mixamo.com to rig and animate the character with motion capture clips.
Video tutorial on how to import your Fuse-Mixamo character to Autodesk Maya 2019 and mix the motion capture clips in the Time Editor to create a sequence (Character Animation Sequence, Part 1).
Second video tutorial on animating a character animation sequence using the Maya Time Editor and Human IK character controls (Character Animation Sequence, Part 2).
Third video tutorial on creating a character animation sequence in Maya using the Time Editor and Human IK, this time adding a second Fuse-Mixamo character (Character Animation Sequence, Part 3).
I am an Assistant Professor of Realtime VFX and Virtual Production at NCSU, where I teach game design, 3D animation, and extended reality courses in the Art + Design Dept.
Topher Maraffi 