The following are links to other sites related to 3D and other places I find interesting.
Sections:
[ General Animation & 3D ]     
[ Job Help/ Getting Started ]     
[ Maya / Rigging ]     
[ 3DSMax ]     
[ Poly Modeling ]     
[ News ]     
[ Galleries ]     
[ 3D Software ]     
[ Friends Homepages ]     
  
General 3D Animation and Art Help:
  
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- CG-Char Forums Web Pages
- If you are into character animation, check this list out. From beginners to
members who are at major Hollywood studios, this is the discussion list for all things
character animation related.
- 10 Second Club
- This is a cool site, even for BEGINNERS to 3D Animation. There is a monthly contest
for this mailing list, where members take a 10 second sound clip and animate to it. Good
to get critiques and learn about character animation.
- The Cycle
- This is a site with real production people and animators giving their
opinions and ideas on different topics in the industry.
- The Scratchpost
- This is another site with resources such as Animator Interviews, reviews, company listings, job listings and more.
- 3D Site
- Another general 3D info and resource site, including many bulletin boards.
- Gamasutra - Game Developer
- This is -the- site if you are interested in making video games or working in the video
game industry. They have tons of articles and resources for game developers and artists. This
is the same site as the printed version of "Game Developer Magazine" which you can also buy in
bookstores.
- ACM Siggraph
- This is a link to the Official siggraph organization. There is a huuuge SIGGRAPH conference
every year with people from all over the world attending. It's a great place to go if you are
trying to get into the industry (you can interview with many companies there), want to research
CG software or hardware, or just want to hang out. Look for the "Conferences" link on their page.
  
Job Help / Getting Started Sites:
  
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- Getting a Job In the Game Development Industry
- This is a cool page at Ravensoft that has a ton of good answers and links
about how to get more info and how to get a video game job.
- Spicy Cricket
- An excellent site with more resources for 3D artists. Angie wrote the
3DSMAX 3 Professional Animation book. This site is really good if you are a newbie
and are interested in how to break into the biz. It even includes info on different
jobs available in the industry, how much you can expect to make, and what you do in each job.
- 3D Ark
- Probably one of the most comprehensive 3D info sites around, with tons of links back out to
more useful pages. This is probably the TOP site of great 3D links ever!. Has tons of
info for animation mailing lists, tutoruials, books, and more. Check our the "Resources" section on it.
- CG-Char Forum Web Pages
- If you are into character animation, check this list out. From beginners to
members who are at major Hollywood studios, this is the discussion list for all things
character animation related.
  
Maya / Rigging Related Links:
  
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- CreatureTD.com
- A very cool rigging/setup site for character T.D.'s. They have forums as
well as news and tutorials.
- JonhAndHisDog.com
- Another rigging and animation site with more forums and such.
- Highend 3D.com
- This is a site mostly for Alias|Wavefront Maya users, with lots of discussion groups, news and tutorials related to that.
  
3DS MAX Related Links
  
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- Support.discreet.com
- This is the OFFICIAL discreet support site for 3D Studio MAX, where users can post questions
and get answers both from each other, and from the developers. Read these bulletin boards if you have questions!
- 3D Luvr
- This is one of the top 3D Studio MAX resource sites out there. Has "sister" sites for tutorials in MAX, contests, and galleries
at max3d.3dluvr.com.
- Boboland
- This is one of -THE- sites for MAX Scripts. Borislav Petrov (aka Bobo) is well known
in the MAX community for his numerous and helpful scripts.
- MAX Underground
- This site has a ton of news, and plugins, scripts, etc... all for 3D Studio MAX.
- Script Spot
- This is another huge site for MAX scripts, plugins, and tutorial links.
- www.maxplugins.de
- This site has tons of free downloadable plugins all listed for different versions of MAX.
- 3D Cafe
- A site with a number of tutorial links back out to other sites. Good link page for MAX users.
They also sell related 3D products.
- Mankua
- This place develops some pretty nifty plugins for MAX. Check out the "texture layers"
stuff. It allows you to do UVW mapping in MAX, but with a "falloff" kind of like light fallofff,
so you can blend textures/materials into each other really easily.
- Boomer Labs
- Ever notice how the sound functions in MAX make audio repeat forever? Want to get a better
audio controller for MAX? Check out the free "Enhanced Sound" plugin for download. Make sure
you read their install instructions after downloading!
- MAX T.D.
- This site has a pretty detailed tutorial on how to setup a character in
Max r4 with all the nice r4 wiring and IK.
  
Subdivision Surface/Meshsmooth Poly Modeling Links:
  
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- SubD Modeling Resource Page
- This is probably one of the BEST pages for SubD modeling info. Has really nice
Animated GIFs that show step by step how the poly models were created.
- Spiraloid Forums
- This used to be part of Bay Raitt's site. This is a
DISCUSSION FORUM where you can post and ask questions about box
modeling. There are some really good samples and it probably the best place
to try to get modeling help.
- MeshTools Home Page
- If you are using MAX 4 or later and using the new Poly objects, then you NEED these
helper modeling scripts! They allow you to do things like select edge rings, convert selection
from edges to points to polys, etc... They are very cool. Check it out.
- MAX 3D Luvr SubD Page
- This is probably not online yet, but it is looking to be a really good resource for
meshsmooth type modeling with MAX.
  
News Sites:
  
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- CG Channel
- This is an -awesome- site. It is updated EVERY DAY! Has links to different places and news
and info about software and people. Check out the CG Elite artist stuff too for nice gallery
work.
- 3D Total
- This is a great site. It is updated very often. Has links to different places and news
and info about software and people, and is organized quite well. Also has gallery pages
as well.
- AWN
- One of the top places to get the latest news in the 2D and animation industry. Also has other
resources, such as a School Database and job opportunities listings.
- VFX Pro
- An excellent resource updated regularly with "Behind the Scenes" articles and interviews
for the top CG related movies and television shows. Also lists job opportunities.
  
Art Galleries:
  
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- raph.com
- An awesome CG art gallery with tons and tons of top artists showcasing their work. This site makes me look bad.... :( They also have links to some tutorials as well.
- The Sketchmen
- Mostly 2D, but this is a seriously impressive gallery containing artwork from a number
traditional artists and enthusiasts. Check it out, chances are you'll like it. The guy who
runs it used to be a coworker of mine at Volition, but he left...sniff... :(
  
3D Software/Software Developers:
  
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- Discreet
- Creators of 3D Studio MAX, my software of choice. They also have info on their video editing
tools such as Flame* and Effect*.
- New Tek
- New Tek is the company which develops Lightwave 3D, Inspire 3D and Aura, as well as the
original Video Toaster and Flyer.
- Hash
- Not the drug, named after the owner, the creators of Animation Master, a very low cost
spline based animation package, that happens to be really good for character animation work.
Great for those on a budget.
- Alias|Wavefront
- Creators of the Maya 3D software. Very extensible 3D package, and very high cost.
  
Friends Homepages:
  
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- Kim Oravecz's Page
- This links to my friends site. She uses Lightwave for her 3D work. The
Switch character from my animations page was modeled and textured by her.
- Nomar's House
- This links to the homepage of my friend Nomar Perez. He has some really cool
traditional artwork and concept work. Check it out. His page design is
radical too.
- Michael JR's World
- This is my friend Michael Jr.'s web site. He's was the lead T.D. who was working at
Creative Digital Images with me.
- Doug Kelly's Home Page
- Links to Doug's page where he has information on the books he has written, such as
Lightwave 3D 5 Character Animation f/x and Character Animation In Depth. He is
currently editor for Keyframe magazine and IC3D magazine.
- Keith Lango's Page
- This is my friend and Big Idea coworker, Keith Lango. He's done some fantastic short
animation work too. Check out his site for some cool animation stuff.
- Digital Critters - Bill Jacoby
- This was another Big Idea, Penguin/VideoTeam team coworker.
Bill is an amazing modeler and texture artist. Check out some of his personal stuff here.
He does both Creature and Cartoon stuff, and nearly single handedly modeled most of
the assets for 3-2-1 Penguins episodes 1 to 3. He's now working at High Voltage on games.
- Justin Barrett's Page
- Yet another Big Idea employee from the Penguins team. He has some animation and
voice talent work on his site.
- Mark Behm's Page
- Another Ex-Big Idea employee from the Penguins team. This guy also creates Maya and
MAX Scripts as well, and is an amazing traditional artist/painter too. He now works at
Blue Sky Studios in NY with me.
- Jeff Croke's Page
- Another Big Idea employee from the Penguins team. He's a really good character
animator and all around cool guy.