3D World issue 70

How will virtual characters look and act by 2010?
3D World reviews two decades of digital evolution and investigates ongoing R&D into synthetic humans. Experts in the field, including George Borshukov and Ron Fedkiw, predict the future

Expert facial modelling
Discover the techniques and fine details used to create this month’s photorealistic digital human cover image

George Lucas and SIGGRAPH 2005
The 3D World team report back from SIGGRAPH 2005 in LA. Plus, George Lucas talks about life, the digital universe and a few other things he’s got up his sleeve

Simulate a school of fish
Find out how to animate a school of virtual fish by creating an underwater flocking simulation with 3ds Max 7’s Crowd system

Tips and tricks
Use Maya to recreate the light trails in the new Dyson ad, make effective neon signs in Cinema 4D, get to grips with tyres in XSI and weld away in Hexagon. Plus tips for LightWave, 3ds Max, trueSpace, Combustion and DAZ Studio

On test this issue
Large LCD monitors that could transform your working environment. Plus, Maya 7, Softimage XSI 5, EIAS 6 and Pixar’s RenderMan for Maya are put through their paces. Modelling software SketchUp 5 and rendering program Artlantis R also get the thumbs up in the realm of architectural visualisation

Send in your work
Showreel is our new regular section showcasing the work of students and independent animators. You could see your own animated shorts featured in 3D World and on our website

Plus
A first look at LightWave 9, MotionBuilder 7, Endorphin 2.5 and Cosmic Blobs 1.1. We also reveal the first in a four-part production diary from the intrepid team at SCEE on the making of 24: The Game. There’s also a chance to win a SpacePilot, SpaceBall or SpaceTraveler – all superb intelligent interface devices from 3Dconnexion

On the CD

Zygote models
A collection of high-quality medical and scientific models from Zygote. The models (including male and female integumentary models) can all be licensed and are worth more than $1,500

T-Splines exclusive learning edition
Try the learning edition of the highly anticipated T-Splines Maya plug-in – available exclusively on our CD ahead of the online release. The developers claim the modelling technology enables artists “to create content in ways that were mathematically impossible before”

Texture workflow in XSI
A seven-part series covering the process of setting up a complete texturing workflow in Softimage XSI, and exporting models to and from BodyPaint 3D for detailed work