Welcome to the Supermodels Professional 3D Training Tools (tm), Alias 
PA head & body tutorial - FREEWARE VERSION.

ABOUT THIS TUTORIAL

Many people have written us asking for free tutorial that would cover 
the basic aspects of head and body modelling using NURBS. This 
tutorial was written by Steven H. Stahlberg back in 1998 and 
is based on Alias PowerAnimator (tm) software. This tutorial provides 
a general overview of the techniques used by Steven to create 
the outstanding models that have earned him a worldwide reputation as 
an expert in the field of human character modelling.

Since 1998 it's fair to say that the technology has moved on a bit. 
However, we must stress that the techniques and methods presented 
within this document are still completely relevant and will work with 
nearly any professional level modelling or animation software that 
fully supports NURBS. The point is, you do not have to be a user of 
Alias PA to benefit from the information presented here.

This tutorial does not go into step-by-step detail. Should you 
require more information than what has been presented here then we 
recommend that you consider our Supermodels Professional 3D Training 
Tools (tm) head/face modelling tutorial for Rhino. Details can be 
found at: http://www.cmagic.co.uk

Despite being a brief tutorial, there is a wealth of good information 
contained within so I urge you to take the time to really read and 
understand each of the points that Steven has put forward.

This tutorial does not cover the how to create the palm of the hand, 
nor does it explain how to blend the limbs to the body. The creation 
of the hand and the attachment of the fingers is beyond the scope of 
this freeware tutorial. We did not cover the limbs to body attachments 
because back in 1998 when this tutorial was written Steven didn't 
physically attach the limbs on his characters, it just looked that 
way. This "cheat" was done in a variety of ways such as in 
post-production, or by using custom blending surfaces (as explained 
within this tutorial) or by the clever placement of clothing to hide 
the seams.

Cinemagic Productions Limited will soon release a fully body modelling 
tutorial that will cover such blending and attachment issues. If you 
wish to be informed when the tutorial becomes available please 
subscribe to our mailing list at: http://www.cmagic.co.uk


HOW TO USE THIS TUTORIAL

01. - Create a directory/folder on your computer.
02. - Download the 24 PDF files that make up this tutorial to the 
      folder that you have created.



This tutorial consists of 24 individual Adobe Acrobat PDF files.

The tutorial has been designed to be distributed by download only.
This tutorial will no longer be distributed on CD-ROM.
We have split the tutorial into 24 files so that it would be easier 
for users to download. Since all 24 files add up to about 7.08MB 
it's a bit nicer than being stuck having to download one large 
file.

While we recommend that you download the entire 24 chapters, it is not 
a requirement.


NAVIGATION

To navigate the document keep the following points in mind. You can 
make you way around each of the Adobe PDF files by using the standard 
forward,backward and zoom keys supplied with the Acrobat reader. You 
can make your reading experience more pleasant by setting the page 
scroll value to continuous (look for the little page icon next to the 
page dimensions at the base of the Acrobat reader window.)


IMPORTANT - On the LAST page of each of the 24 PDF files you will find 
the PREVIOUS CHAPTER and NEXT CHAPTER navigation links. Provided that 
you have download all 24 files you can go forward or backward through 
the document using these.  You will also see a TC link, clicking on 
this will take you to the table of contents.


The following is a breakdown of the topics covered in each PDF file:

fw_lic.pdf - The Cinemagic Productions Limited Freeware License
This file MUST be downloaded and remain with the tutorial at all 
times START WITH THIS FILE 1st (REQUIRED)

ch_tab.pdf - The table of contents (REQUIRED)

ch1.pdf - About this tutorial and other training tools from Cinemagic.

ch2.pdf - About computer graphics, general modelling points.

ch3.pdf - References

ch4.pdf - Some thoughts on MOCAP

ch5.pdf - Cheating is necessary

ch6.pdf - Visual perception and composition

ch7.pdf - CG lighting

ch8.pdf - The Alias PA face modelling tutorial (intro)

ch9.pdf - How to create the basic head shape

ch10.pdf - How to create the eyelids

ch11.pdf - How to create the nose

ch12.pdf - How to create the ears

ch13.pdf - Reparameterisation of the head model

ch14.pdf - Creating and merging the lips, MC placement

ch15.pdf - Creating custom blends

ch16.pdf - How to create realistic human hair

ch17.pdf - About textures

ch18.pdf - About shaders

ch19.pdf - Human skin

ch20.pdf - Alias PA body modelling - legs,buttocks,shoes

ch21.pdf - Alias PA body modelling - torso

ch22.pdf - Alias PA body modelling - arms and fingers


This tutorial is supplied on an "AS IS" basis and is no longer fully 
supported by Cinemagic Productions Limited.

This tutorial is for educational purposes and we hope that you will 
find it useful.

Published by Cinemagic Productions Limited, Copyright 1988-2000, All 
Rights Reserved.


