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3D Animation Workshop is a place where you can learn about a beautiful new medium, with a special eye for its use on the Web. You'll learn how to create 3D graphics and animation step by step, and each biweekly tutorial will build on your knowledge and experience until you are quite far along and doing some exciting things. The tone will be visual and intuitive, bringing 3-D graphics and animation concepts to life--quite literally.

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Beginning in June 2003, a new column has begun on the subject of 3D, written by Nathan Segal.

Create a 3D Scene with Maya and Photoshop. Pt. 1 (Article16)

Building and texturing a flying saucer in 3D.

Software Review: Informatix Piranesi (Article15)

A hybrid application between 3D and 2D.

3D in Depth: Lighting, Pt. 2 (Article14)

Lighting continued, including 3 Point Lighting.

3D in Depth: Lighting, Pt. 1 (Article13)

Introduction to Lighting Concepts.

Book Review: Texturing: Concepts and Techniques (Article12)

Review with Resource material.

Book Review: Getting a Job in CG: Real Advice from Reel People (Article11)

Review with Resource material.

3D in Depth: Materials. Pt. 2 (Article10)

Texture creation for your 3D models.

3D in Depth: Materials. Pt. 1 (Article9)

An introduction to Materials in 3D.

3D in Depth: Cameras (Article8)

An overview of cameras and how they work in 3D.

A Real-World Project (Article7)

How to use 3D to create images for an Art Exhibition.

Book Review: Stop Staring (Article6)

This book covers Facial Modeling and Animation. By Jason Osipa.

Modeling for Animation (Article5)

Planning your workflow, including timelines, research, detail, texturing, lighting, final image size, etc.

Animation Tips and Tricks (Article4)

The animation process, including storyboards, file formats, polygon reduction, etc.

3D Modeling for Profit (Article3)

Here, you'll learn how to make ongoing royalties from your 3D models.

Swift 3D: Vector Animation for the Web (Article2)

Swift 3D is a plug-in which converts 3D geometry into Vector animation for Flash.

Effective Export/Import of 3D Models (Article1)

Effective Export/Import models from one application to the other.

The lessons below represent the archived column of Robert Polevoi, with lessons dating from April 1997 - May 2001.

3-D Animation Workshop

WildTangent for Online Games (Lesson 118)

Outstanding technology for interactive 3D development

Welding Vertices in Max 4 (Lesson 117)

Fundamental changes in basic techniques.

New Subdivision Tools in Max 4 (Lesson 116)

Refined control and better integration.

Polygon Basics in Max 4 (Lesson 115)

Editable Poly makes life simpler.

New Polygon Modeling in Max 4 (Lesson 114)

Assessing the Editable Poly revolution.

First Look at Max 4 (Lesson 113)

Initial observations on the new release.

Photorealistic Web 3D for E-Commerce (Lesson 112)

Kaon Interactive delivers razor-sharp 3D graphics using Java.

From Geometry to Pictures (Lesson 111)

Basic rendering concepts explained.

Getting Under the Hood (Lesson 110)

The nuts and bolts of 3D scene descriptions.

Understanding 3D Technologies (Lesson 109)

Digging deeper to remain competitive.

Scan the Skies! (Lesson 108)

Designing a Web 3D game.

Designing Web 3D Interfaces (Lesson 107)

More advanced projects from the new book.

Web 3D 2.0 (Lesson 106)

Interactive projects from my new book on Shout3D.

Second Generation 3D (Lesson 105)

New technologies are shaping the future.

Finishing the Character (Lesson 104)

The completed biped figure.

Modeling the Character (Lesson 103)

Building the basic form.

My Modeling Secret (Lesson 102)

Making MAX behave.

MAX Character Modeling (Lesson 101)

Subdivision surfaces introduced.

Character Arms and Legs (Lesson 100)

On to the extremities.

More Character Skinning (Lesson 99)

Perfecting the chest.

Skinning a Character Skeleton (Lesson 98)

Attaching flesh to bones.

Inverse Kinematics in MAX (Lesson 97)

We dissect a simple chain.

MAX for Character Animation (Lesson 96)

We start a critical examination.

From Sci-Fi to E-Commerce (Lesson 95)

Blaxxun's Multi-User 3D Communities

More Rendering Refinements (Lesson 94)

Caustics add a touch of class.

Refinements in Rendering (Lesson 93)

Global illumination in Mental Ray 2.1.

Thinking in Pulse 3D (Lesson 92)

New concepts to ponder in Web 3D.

Lightmaps in Pulse 3D (Lesson 91)

Great, fast lighting for realtime Web 3D.

The Pulse of Web 3D Entertainment (Lesson 90)

Character animation for the Internet.

Learning 3D Graphics (Lesson 89)

The education (or self-education) of the 3D artist.

The New 3D Artist (Lesson 88)

New opportunities demand new skills.

More Cult3D Interactivity (Lesson 87)

Building a virtual consumer gadget.

Cult3D Automates Interactivity (Lesson 86)

Strong authoring tools for Web 3D

Superscape Reborn in Web 3D (Lesson 85)

New ideas from an old player.

More on MetaStream (Lesson 84)

A closer look at multi-resolution Web 3D.

3D E-Commerce With MetaStream (Lesson 83)

The Virtual Store Debuts

VRML to Web 3D Continued (Lesson 82)

VRML is alive and kicking.

From VRML to Web 3D (Lesson 81)

The past shapes the present in Web 3D.

Web 3D--Charting a Course (Lesson 80)

Assessing current options for Web 3D.

Shout is Out! (Lesson 79)

Some impressive experiments with the new Web 3D package.

Web 3D Gaming (Lesson 78)

Inside a true Web 3D game built with Shout3D and Java.

JavaScript-Powered Web 3D (Lesson 77)

Shout3D and JavaScript make a powerful team.

Interactivity in Shout 3D (Lesson 76)

Shaping the user's experience in Web 3D.

Introducing Shout 3D (Lesson 75)

First look at the revolution in Web 3D.

New Era in Web 3D (Lesson 74)

Breakthroughs bring realtime 3D to Web pages.

Notes From SIGGRAPH 99 (Lesson 73)

New products shine at annual 3D industry bash.

A Challenging Model (Lesson 72)

Building a NURBS violin teaches us strategy and instincts.

3D Studio MAX 3 Reviewed (Lesson 71)

We assess the new MAX and its impact on the 3D world.

MAX NURBS--Finishing the Piston (Lesson 70)

We complete our series on MAX NURBS with a finished model.

MAX NURBS--The Piston Project (Lesson 69)

We try our hand at a complete NURBS model.

Trimming MAX NURBS (Lesson 68)

We take out our scissors and snip away at NURBS surfaces.

Basic MAX NURBS Patches (Lesson 67)

We look at the structure of simple NURBS surfaces.

From MAX NURBS to Polygons (Lesson 66)

We examine how NURBS surfaces become polygonal meshes for rendering.

Basic MAX NURBS Surfaces (Lesson 65)

We look at sweeping, lathing and lofting NURBS curves.

Introducing MAX NURBS (Lesson 64)

We begin a series on NURBS modeling in 3D Studio MAX.

Puppet Master Plus (Lesson 63)

We finish our character animation series with an advanced setup.

Puppet Master (Lesson 62)

We look at a radically different approach to character animation.

Modeling and Animating (Lesson 61)

We explore the relationship between modeling and animating a character figure.