Autodesk’s education vision is to help students and educators imagine design and create a better world. Join Brenton Wyett, Senior Manager Education - Japan, A/NZ, Korea, to learn how Autodesk are providing software and solutions aimed nurturing the design mindset within students and helping prepare our future Engineers, Architects, Product Designers and Digital Artists for their careers in industry.

There is a need for digital artists to generate animations from their 2D visual drawings. Further, they also want to enhance the short films with music and additional effects. In this class, we will learn how to create storyboards to short animated films in Autodesk Maya, using advanced tools and high-end plugins, to bring to life realistic 3D art, 4D animations or add to your design portfolio. If you are seeking more inspiration, then this class is for you - We will discuss a few examples to help you get to grips with its core Maya features, and supercharge your skills!

Certification in Autodesk 3ds Max software demonstrates your capabilities in one of the most demanding creative jobs in the market today. Digital artists and educators alike will benefit from the Autodesk Certification process, as credentials will help you gain confidence with studios and schools. This class will help you prepare for your Certification examinations by exposing you to the topics and materials on which you may be tested. The class will cover subjects such as modeling, cameras, scene management, materials, rigging, interoperability, and animation, with an emphasis on workflow.

Humans are constantly searching for new and better tools. And yet, the pen still remains one of the most used tools by nearly everyone on earth. Come see how the pen is being used across a range of industries by people such as digital artists to mechanical engineers and architects. We’ll have representatives from Autodesk Sketchbook with Thomas Heermann, Director of Digital Arts, Autodesk FormIt with Tom Vollaro, Senior Principal User Experience Designer,  and Lenovo to discuss how these technologies are evolving to meet the growing demands of users.

Most CAD/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) tools are designed to enable engineers to design and manufacture products. From the very beginning ArtCAM software has been developed to enable artists and designer to create whatever they can imagine. ArtCAM is used in a variety of sectors from jewelry and coin minting, to the design and manufacture of architectural cornicing and facades. The common theme across these sectors is the desire to produce intricate artistic forms with incredible detail that can then be quickly and easily machined or 3D printed. This class will introduce you to the process that will enable you to take a simple 2D drawing and convert it into a complex decorative relief and machine it.

This class covers the use of InfraWorks software to create a visual representation of not only the world outside our office's windows, but also to display the results of dynamic phenomena that evolve for real in the represented territory. Starting from CAD, GIS, or other data related to territory, many software applications can simulate the evolution of events such as atmospheric dispersion of fumes or the diffusion of pollutants or noise. However, many of these applications usually produce just raw data as results in tabular form, or they require a digital artist to convert the results to a form everybody can understand. In this class, we demonstrate techniques to prepare data for simulation applications, elaborate them, and then bring the results of the analysis into the visually rich and geometrically correct context provided by InfraWorks.

If you want to learn more about how to use visual, generative, artificial intelligence (AI) tools in your workflows, then this class is for you. Regardless of their industry, artists and designers are discovering the advantages of an AI-powered workflow, making their processes faster, and allowing them to iterate over their products in ways that wouldn't have been possible or cost-effective before. We'll examine and cover the strengths and weaknesses of different tools, such as Midjourney, Dall-E, Stable Diffusion, and some plug-ins for Revit software. Most importantly, we'll go over use cases for different industries that go beyond simple text prompting to give artists and designers more control over finished products. We'll showcase how we can use generative AI as a powerful visualization tool for creating images and even videos, and how it can help unleash creativity in game design, media, and building design.

This class will help digital artists become more employable in their industry, fast-track their career, and build a strong name for themselves in the competitive visual effects field. We will talk about how to develop unstoppable demo reels and attention-getting cover letters, along with tactics for managing and presenting yourself in the best light. We will cover how to develop contacts, stand out from other applicants, play the "game" when it comes to freelancing, and treat yourself like a business. You will learn to promote yourself and your work, create viral videos to gain recognition, and practice dozens of techniques to make your career unstoppable. The goal is to put yourself in more of an "industry celebrity" role where you are offered work based on word of mouth rather than having to apply for work and play the numbers game.

The speaker is a practicing contemporary artist who’s been using Maya for 16 years, including for commercial work making animation and visualizations. With the advent of NFTs and the uptake in digital practices by contemporary artists, the art world is slowly waking up to the possibilities of digital art. As an artist, the speaker’s been exploring these possibilities since the early 1980s, as you can see in this recent interview (https://vimeo.com/543801386). While the art world is extremely varied these days, the need for originality and the hand-to-eye relationship of drawing is fairly elemental. Maya Paint Effects delivers the world's best 3D paint software. And the Bifrost extension for Maya lets artists build new and original effects. When combined with the whole suite of tools in Maya, contemporary artists have the most sophisticated and advanced tools to create the art of the next century. Duncan Brimsmead helped the speaker get started with Paint Effects, and this session will help you see what can be achieved with Paint Effects, Bifrost, and the collection of Maya tools.

Join artist Danial Ezzati in a captivating session where we'll explore the groundbreaking project "Persepolis Reborn: A Virtual Journey to the Achaemenid Empire," where art, technology, and cultural preservation converge. Through this initiative, Danial embarks on a mission to combat the threat of digital colonization by authentically representing Iran's rich heritage and architectural marvels. Explore the immersive experience that transcends traditional boundaries, offering a profound exploration of Persian identity and history. Discover how "Creative Reconstruction" not only safeguards cultural heritage but also serves as a universal model for preserving endangered traditions worldwide. Join the movement of cultural preservation and digital liberation as Danial unveils the power of art and technology to inspire change and ignite a brighter future.

It’s hard to escape the influence of visual effects in today’s media, and today’s top visualization shops are blurring the lines between feature film / television work and traditional architectural visualization (arch viz) work. Considering the common toolset used in both fields, it can be advantageous for visualization artists working in the architecture, engineering, and construction market to employ workflows developed in the entertainment field—not only from an efficiency standpoint, but also potentially from an aesthetic standpoint. Employing some of the media and entertainment approaches can inject an otherwise unremarkable arch viz animation with more visual interest, leading to investor or sales videos that are more compelling. In this class we will examine some production-tested approaches using both old and new tools in 3ds Max software to create things like large crowds of people and animated foliage, as well as workflows used for working with large scene files.

3D layout is a critical component of the 3D animation production workflow. Working from storyboards, the layout artist builds the first 3D representation of that storyboard in a cinematic form by using the models created by the rest of the crew. The layout artist will set up cameras, and decide which lenses to use, where to position the lights, and how to lay out the 3D environment and props. They will then roughly animate the characters, either manually or with motion capture. The end result is a rough version of the scene that will be passed to the animation department. To be a good layout artist, a person needs to have a very good knowledge of Maya software, as well as a good mastery of cinematography concepts. This presentation will go though some basic concepts of cinematography that every layout artist needs to know. And then it will show how to create a 3D layout scene inside Maya step by step, starting from a 2D storyboard.

This class will present a fast, easy-to-use workflow for creating great-looking renders using Maya software with the GPU-based Redshift Renderer. This hands-on class has the indie artist and 3D generalist in mind, instead of the big company with an army of specialized artists. The Redshift Renderer is widely used in the industry and can give you realistic-looking images in a fraction of the time needed with other renderers. Nevertheless, Redshift's integration with Maya can be confusing in the beginning. This class will cut to the chase and show you how to set up your model in Maya; select the correct Redshift shaders; prepare your materials, lights, and lens effects; and finally render your image using the two available modes in Redshift: Production and RT (Real Time). You'll learn about lens effects, denoisers, AOVs, and VDB rendering.

Whether we use a pencil or the latest technology, as digital artists we still need to develop creative to give our clients an advantage over the competition. Clients sell the same product to the same clientele—how do we help them differentiate? We have technology converging in many ways (architectural visualization, video games, real time)—how do we find the best way to make use of this convergence? Ultimately, as a creative agency or architectural visualization firm, we need to look for ways to show off products and environments that are visually more compelling so that they become the catalyst of this differentiation. Products such as 3ds Max software, Maya software, NVIDIA mental ray software, Revit software, AutoCAD software, and new emerging real-time technologies like Showcase software help with this problem, but that’s just the beginning. In this roundtable we will talk about why we follow these trends and where these new technologies will bring us. Is it all a fad? Will we find a real practical use other than entertainment? Will our clients end up showing us the way?

This class is about understanding human and animal anatomy and how that internal structure relates to external movement. Increasing demands for realism place a greater emphasis on accurately recreating the subtle details of motion and skin deformation. To recreate anything accurately, we first need to understand it. In this class, we explore foundation concepts of movement from an anatomical perspective. What are the different tissue types that are involved in movement and what are their properties? What forces are involved in moving and how do anatomical structures relate to these forces? What are the limitations of different parts of the body and how does all of this relate to what the viewer accepts as feeling real? Though mainly conceptual, this class also goes into specifics about creature design, topology layout, joint placement, and more. This class is not specific to any software package but is designed to be directly relevant to those who have an interest in animation, modeling, and rigging.

As technology continues to evolve, the intersection of 3D design and artificial intelligence (AI) presents exciting opportunities for innovation in content creation. In this session, we'll showcase experimentation with innovative techniques—namely, ComfyUI, ControlNet, and Stable Diffusion—to forge a future pipeline that seamlessly integrates 3D rendering with AI-driven processes. We'll outline a visionary approach toward empowering artists and streamlining the content creation process. By using advanced AI algorithms and data-driven insights, we aspire to give artists greater control over their creations as they enhance their efficiency and creativity while using Autodesk tools, specifically Maya and Arnold software. Our vision for the future pipeline revolves around achieving a seamless transition from 3D design to AI render, while empowering artists with unprecedented control over their creations.

This class will cover the basics of the SketchBook Pro painting and drawing software for desktop computers. Learn how to create painterly effects that mimic real mediums and textures. Learn about the new brushes in SketchBook Pro software and how to customize them to create your own. Techniques are taught through the lens of character creation and creature design.

With the advent of ways to visualize ideas, develop design solutions, and rapidly prototype using digital software technologies, traditional ways of teaching industrial design in the classroom environment are lately being questioned by educators, employers, and students. The intent of this class is to present a curriculum model for teaching industrial design using digital software technologies as and where applicable. We will cover courses demonstrating the incorporation of digital software technologies for ideation, modeling, project management, drafting, prototyping, analysis, and injection mold design. Successful integration of this curricular effort into the discipline of industrial design is important for bridging the gap between education and industry expectations. Select academics and industry professionals will join us in a panel format to share their reactions to the curriculum model as well as to provide insights, experiences, and validations.

Smart cities will be part of our daily lives within ten years, creating a sustainable future for humanity in Industry 5.0. This talk will highlight the key concepts of smart cities, digital twin technologies, and the movement of indigenous futurism to identify solutions for climate change. This session will explore how brands play a major role in this sustainable future, the role of the consumer, and the value we can all add to this.

Stephen Silver was hired by Warner Brothers Television Animation as a character designer and has been working in the animation industry for the past 15 years. He designed hit shows such as Disney's Kim Possible, Nickelodeon's Danny Phantom, and many more. In this class, he will talk about how he launched his career in character designs for animated TV series and share his experiences and view of the industry. Stephen will also discuss the importance of practice, persistence, patience, passion, and concentration. After this class, you will be able to understand how drawing communicates, what steps you should take in order to succeed in the work you do, identify industry standards for artists in the entertainment industry, and discover how to find your true passion.