Get Allan McKay’s new free 18-hour VFX training course

VFX supervisor and 3ds Max guru Allan McKay has released a new free training course exploring how to create a complete visual effects shot of downtown Los Angeles being torn apart by a reverse-gravity effect.

The videos are only available until 29 December 2016.

Discover how to create a movie-style destruction FX shot from look dev to compositing
McKay describes the course, which comprises over 18 hours of training, spread over seven individual videos, as a complete guide to taking a shot through an feature film pipeline.

The training covers the creation a reverse-gravity effect similar to the ones seen in movies like Independence Day: Resurgence, beginning with modelling, shading and look dev of realistic buildings.

McKay then explores how to set up destruction sims in 3ds Max, optimising them to keep simulation times down to under an hour, including shattering the ground, building materials, metal and glass.

Other parts of the course cover generating photorealistic renders and compositing them into the tracked live-action footage in Nuke, including 3D particle effects, light wrapping and grading.

As well as the videos, users get access to the HD source footage, shot on location on a RED Epic Dragon camera; and project files, including scene files, the HDRI map and roto mattes.

Availability
Allan McKay’s reverse gravity effect training videos – the ‘December challenge’ – are available for free until 29 December 2016 via the link below, after which point, they will be removed from public view.

To gain access to the files, you’ll need to register on McKay’s site, then comment on the page or share the link to the training on social media.

Register for the free reverse gravity VFX training course on Allan McKay’s website