CG Animation



What is CGI? [YouTube] (FREE) Learn VFX, Game Dev, 3D Animation - CG Forge
What is BLENDER?! [YouTube] (FREE) (Crash Course). Good intro to areas of CGI at 28 minutes in.


History

A Critical History of Computer Graphics and Animation
CGI Historical Timeline
The Pixar Story + ILM
Computer Graphics in Film
Doco Jurassic Punk: Steve Williams whos rebellious attitude helped bring digital dinosaurs to life. [Video] (FREE)


Organizations

SIGGRAPH
VES Handbook 3rd Edition, Visual Effects Society


Software

SideFX Houdini [Software Win mac Linux] (FREE+$) best leverage, traditionally effects. Resources
Blender (OSS) [Software Win mac Linux] (FREE) very competitive with commercial tools. Resources
CLAVICULA [Software Win+VR mac Linux] (FREE) newest.
Autodesk Maya Indie [Software Win mac Linux] ($$$) industry standard for characters. Resources
Autodesk 3D Max Indie [Software Win mac Linux] ($$$) standard in Architecture.
Maxon Cinema 4D" [Software Win mac Linux] ($$$) standard in motion graphics.
Foundry Modo [Software Win mac Linux] (FREE) End of Life. Best modeler. Foundry Modo FREE License Until 14-nov-2034


Art Principles

Art : Make Digital Media - this site
The Visual Story: Creating the Visual Structure 3rd Edition by Bruce Block [Book] ($$$)


Cinematography Principles

Cinematography & Directing [Book] ($$$)


Storyboarding

Film Directing: Shot by Shot [Book] ($$$)
Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques [Book] ($$$)


Pre-vis



Modeling

Poly & Subdiv
The Pushing Points Topology Workbook: Volume 01 [Book] ($$$)
Stop Staring: Facial Modeling and Animation Done Right 2nd Edition [Book] ($$$)
NURBS Plasticity CAD for artists [Software Windows Mac Linux] ($$$) NURBS Modeler
Creature
Organic
Hard surface



Sculpting

Blender: Sculpting [Software Win mac Linux] (OSS) (FREE)
MAXON ZBrush [Software Win mac Linux] ($$$)
3D Coat [Software Win mac Linux] ($$$) sculpting also UVing and Painting


Rigging

Reallusion acuRIG (AI) ASSISTED Rigging [Software Win] (FREE+$) Export to all major 3D platforms.
Rig it Right! 3rd Edition by Tina O’Hailey [Book] ($$$) Maya


Animation

Character Animation
DEEPMOTION Saymotion (AI) [Web] (FREE+$) TXT2 3D Character Animation.
Cascadeur (AI) ASSISTED KEYFRAME ANIMATION [Software Win mac Linux] (FREE+$)
Wonder Dynamics [Web] ($$$) (AI) foreground removal,clean plate, video actor motion capture.
Runway ML Act-One [Web] (FREE+$) (AI) Act-One character video performance.
CG-CHAR FAQ [Web] (FREE)
Digital Character Animation 3 [Book] ($$$)
Keith Lango [YouTube] (FREE) very detailed videos.
Jeff Lew Character Animation Part 1 [YouTube] (FREE)
Stop Staring: Facial Modeling and Animation Done Right 2nd Edition [Book] ($$$)
Splinophilia Part 1 [Web] (FREE)
Spline Hygiene Part 2" [Web] (FREE)
Blender Alive Character Animation Course [video] ($$$)
Character Creation for Animation [YouTube] (FREE) Topology.
Motion Capture
ROKOKO [Software mac Win] (FREE+$$$) 2D Motion Capture Hardware
Animation
Cavalry [Software mac Win] (FREE+$$$) 2D Motion Design


Surfacing

Texturing & Painting Material Maker (OSS) (FREE) [Software Win mac Linux]

InstaMAT [Software Win mac Linux coming] (FREE+$)
Adobe Substance [Software Win mac] ($$$)
ArmorPaint [Software Win mac Linux iOS Android] (FREE) (OSS)
MARI Texture Theory and Course Guide [PDF] (FREE)
TEXTURING FOR DUMMIES (LIGHTWAVE) Leigh Van Der Byl [PDF] (FREE)
Procedural Shading
Shader Writing
UV Mapping Understanding UV's [Web] (FREE)


Lighting

Illuminated Pixels: The Why, What, and How of Digital Lighting 1st Edition by Virginia Wissler [Book] ($$$) out of print?
Foundations of Lighting (practical) - Lowel [Web] (FREE)
Lighting Handbook(practical) - ARRI [PDF] (FREE)
Lighting and Rendering in Maya [Web] (FREE) old 3 hours of video training.


Effects



Rendering

Physically Based Rendering: From Theory To Implementation [Web] (FREE)


Compositing

DaVinci Resolve [Software Win mac Linux] (FREE+$) Compositing & Editing
[digital] Visual Effects and Compositing [Book] ($$$)
HandBrake (OSS) video transcoder [Software Win mac Linux] (FREE)
Pikimov Motion Graphics [Web] (FREE) Local files & data


Environments

Bently.com (e-on) Vue, PlantFactory, PlantCatalogue [Software Win mac] (FREE)
Skyglass | Budget Virtual Production for 3D Artists [Software iOS Android(Coming)] (FEEE+$)


Editing

DaVinci Resolve [Software Win mac Linux] (FREE+$) Editing & Compositing


Technical Directing

Pipeline
TIK Manager (OSS) Production Pipeline VFX & Games [Software Win mac Linux] (FREE)
Production Pipeline Fundamentals for Film and Games by Renee Dunlop [Book] ($$$)
Scripting
Essential Programming for the Technical Artist by Chris Roda" [Book] ($$$) Houdini.
Atmo-O text file reference inistancing with commands [Software Win mac Linux] ($$$)


Career

How to Get a Job in Animation [Book] ($$$)


Resources

Animator Airtable resources list [Web] (FREE)

Hardware Laptop PC macOS

Most pro applications require a dedicated graphics card. Blender.org is very forgiving and runs without a dedicated graphics card. nVidia is historically the GPU of choice as you can use a consumer Geforce model and not a professional Quadro. Autodesk still lists an artifact with AMD ATI consumer cards. Apple now have their own graphics GPU in ARM 'M' silicon and the professional apps have mostly been ported.


Houdini Resources

SideFX Foundation Book [PDF] (FREE)
SideFX Tutorials database [Web] (FREE)
CG Forge Houdini For The New Artist [YouTube] (FREE)
Tim van Helsdingen Houdini 101 [YouTube] (FREE)


Blender Resources

JB 3D Studio. Blender 4.1 Master Course. Skip the practical at the end of lesson? [YouTube] (FREE)
Blender 2.7 Fundamentals (Legacy) [YouTube] (FREE)

Maya Resources

Autodesk Maya Learning Channel [YouTube] (FREE)
Autodesk Area [Web] (FREE)
Gnomon INTRODUCTION TO MAYA 2023: VOLUME 1 [video] ($$$)


News

CGPress [Web] (FREE)
cg channel [Web] (FREE)
reddit.com/r/vfx [Web] (FREE) VFX Community