Paul Neale has started a new set of tutorials on using DotNet with MAXScript. The first one deals with DotNet ListView controls. If you're a scripter you'll want to check this out!

Click here to view the tutorials.

Started doing some tests today for an upcoming rig I'm creating. This is the test I did for muscles for the character, it is just the bicep at the moment but I think it shows some potential.

You can find it in the technical section.

Still really busy, but found a bit of time to put together another tutorial. I've been meaning to do this one since last summer, so I'm glad I finally got around to it.

This tutorial will show you how to get Z-Depth and fog in compositing out of the same render pass. It will also show you how to tweak your fog without having to go back and re-render from your 3d package. Helpful if you have limited resources and cannot afford to render passes for both.

Find it in the tutorials section.

I've been pretty busy as of late with work and work outside of work, but I put aside some time this weekend and put together a new tutorial for a method I like using for getting twist bones and stretchy limbs to work simultaneously.

Made some major improvements to the Material Manager. Improvements include:

• Switched the entire tool over to struct formatting.
• Improved functionality of "Create Material From Template". Can now search for bitmaps, create maps, set any property in the material no matter how deep into the material it is.
• Lots of improvements with the dotNet ListViews. Fixed the display issue that was keeping the columns from displaying properly, made it so the same material cannot be added twice to the browser, made it so you can still see what items you have selected when you navigate away from the ListViews.
• Added radiobuttons to control opacity map's alpha source.

Will be providing a short tutorial soon on using the template function for anyone who is not familiar with INI files and/or MAXScript.

I've decided from here on out I am going to release all of my tools as a single package instead of each tool individually. This means its easier for you to get all the tools and easier for me to maintain them.

Whenever there is a new tool added just go back to the tools page, download the package again, and re-install it.

Added a new tool to the tools section. This tool is a simple scene organizer; it works off naming conventions.

You simply create a layer and name it specific to what should go into the layer, for example "CHAR" for character geometry. Any character geometry you make you just need to remember to include "CHAR" in the object's name and when the Layer Organizer is run it will find any objects with "CHAR" in the name and put them into the "CHAR" layer. Any objects that don't match the name a layer will remain in whatever layer they are currently in and the default layer is ignored during the organization.

Added a new tool to the tools section. This tool provides the user with an easier way to manage materials in their scene.

The tool allows you to quickly collect hundreds of materials in several different ways. (ie. scene materials, material editor materials, missing bitmaps in scene, material libraries, materials from selected objects, etc.) These materials get added to a browser area where you can perform various operations on whichever ones you choose.

Some of the features include being able to transfer up to 24 materials at a time to the material editor, a renaming tool for materials, a quick rename option that names all materials the same name as the object they are assigned to, and being able to quickly create materials with multiple maps from a template.

Added a new tool to the tools section.

This tool was actually done a few weeks ago, but I never got around to posting it. This tool is by no means groundbreaking or revolutionary, it just finds objects in the scene that have a specified modifier type. I'm sure everybody has done a tool like this at one point or another.

I made the tool just to mess around with dotNET controls and learn more about them, but I also found a few tricks along the way for good ol' regular MAXScript. By the end, I was pretty pleased with the code and how efficient it was.

Added a new tool to the tools section of the site. It is an alternative to Max's "Freeze Transform" tool that leaves any existing constraints, script controllers, expression controllers, noise controllers, etc., untouched.

Go check it out!

I have been picked up by Keyframe Digital located in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario. I am going to be work as a technical director, effects artist and animator on a childrens TV show and other upcoming projects.

I am moving out to St. Catharines, Ontario for at least a year for this job. I am very excited!

If you would like to see some of the work Keyframe has done, you can visit their website at www.keyframe.ca.

"Down On The Farm" is the animated short I worked on for my final project at Humber College. It was run as a full production with a team of around 10 very talented people.

The short has received great feedback and has been featured on several very respectable web sites such as CGTalk and 3D Total. We are all very happy with how things have gone and that all of our hard work is being recognized.

You can view the short in its entirety by visiting downonthefarm.mathiesonfacer.com or the portfolio section of the web site.

The new site design is now finished and has been launched, as you have probably noticed if you've ever been here before.

With the new design I have added a few new sections which I will be adding to as often as I can, the most notable ones being technical and tutorials.

Hope you all enjoy the new look. Check back soon!