Announcement
March 1, 2013

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Bill McKown, Visualization Solutions Engineer:
What’s more fun than 5 weekends in one month?  We don’t know.  So to celebrate, I am posting a video on Autodesk 3ds Max each Friday in March.
The first one I am starting with is about Ambient Occlusion (or AO).  AO is a “Fast Approximated” method of calculating “global illumination” or in layman’s terms, the way light radiates in real-life.  It is sometimes called “Sky light” method.  It’s not the shadows caused by direct light but the shadows caused by indirect (bounced) light.
Rather than using a ray trace or some accurate but slow way of calculating soft ground shadows, it approximates the way shadows cast on a cloudy day.

Renderers love this because of the speed!  Play the video and see how quick the image can render.
[wpvideo AOjKPlqM]
I hope you enjoy it.  Remember, I am adding another video each Friday this month, so subscribe in the upper right corner or bookmark this for next week.
Have a great weekend!
-Bill
Bill is Synergis’ Visualization expert. Having joined the company in 2011, his prior employment involved CAD design, 3D renderings for both architectural and interior design projects, and training and supporting for all the products associate with these. Bill has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Arts in Education and additional certifications in Computer Animation and Autodesk solutions.
See some of Bill’s other posts:

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