If you want to see what innovation looks like, just look at the computer games industry. With the advancement of real-time interactive 3D graphics engines, low-cost, high-powered computer graphics hardware, and new types of input devices, the video game industry is transforming the way others are using these technologies. As a result, new trends and solutions are now being adopted by businesses and organizations outside of the gaming industry to streamline the understanding of complex projects and information and better the overall ability to make faster, more informed decisions. This class will give you a bird’s eye view of how others in government, military, and corporate businesses sectors are adopting trends and making use of technologies from the video game industry to create solutions that would otherwise not be possible with traditional industry tools.

In this class, students will learn how to use Revit software, the Live add-in, and Stingray game engine to create high-quality, interactive visualizations from 3D models. First, you will learn how to use the Live add-in to convert 3D Revit models to the game engine, Stingray. Once in Stingray engine, you will learn how to create immersive environments for your clients. In these environments, owners can explore, interact, and even edit their own projects. They can choose from various design options and view the costs associated with them. Students will learn a workflow that is simple, repeatable, and teachable, even for those unfamiliar with video games or programming. The benefits of using gaming in construction include increasing owner involvement, reducing the time and effort it takes to produce an attractive proposal, and facilitating bidding on smaller projects with a quality offering only affordable by larger projects today. Visualizations through Stingray game engine ultimately lead to winning more work. This session features Autodesk Stingray and Revit. AIA Approved

What would school look like if it played like a video game? Faculty at Boise State University created an experimental game-based learning management system and have been conducting and researching classes built on the principles of quest-based learning (QBL) using experiences points, badges, achievements, leveling, and student choice. The presentation demonstrates tools, pedagogy, and results of more than 2 years of design-based research into student success and satisfaction in QBL.

The Character Animation Tool (CAT), built into 3ds Max software, is a versatile system for creating dynamic character animation loops designed for export into game engines like Unreal and Unity. You can use CAT to build custom rigs—including characters with multiple or nonstandard limbs—without the hassle of manually placing footsteps. Using the intuitive CATMotion editor, you’ll learn how to quickly develop and tweak essential game animations such as idle, walk, run, jump, and die. CAT also supports integration with custom motion data, making it ideal for both original content creation and iteration. Whether you're a game developer or an educator working with students, CAT empowers even beginners to produce polished, expressive animations full of personality and emotion. In this session, we’ll walk through the fundamentals—from rigging a mesh to exporting animation-ready FBX files—so you can confidently add CAT to your game asset pipeline.

This class will walk you through how to prepare and deploy your Inventor/Fusion 360 3D models into a bespoke application for the HTC Vive and the Microsoft HoloLens. Creating interactions on the Vive and the HoloLens is more like video-game development than engineering, and that can be a tough barrier to cross for those who don't have a computer science background. You will leave this class with a basic understanding of how to create and deploy what is essentially a really boring video game that lets you walk around your Inventor/Fusion 360 3D models as if they were really there. We'll also cover how to optimize your designs in 3ds Max software for maximum performance, and we'll cover some of the limitations of the hardware. If you've ever wanted to see a full-scale 3D rendering of your designs that you can walk around and mark up, then this is the class for you.

Get directions from AVA

The architecture, engineering, and construction industry has a long history of using 3D tools for design and planning. Such tools are built for handling large quantities of data, but tend to focus more on physical accuracy than visual fidelity. While new tools are emerging to visualize projects in high-quality 3D before they're built, they're typically solutions that can't easily be extended to work with all the new technologies driving innovation in the video game industry. In this session, we'll cover techniques we've developed for rendering large architectural and infrastructure environments in real time. We'll discuss the challenge of importing these models into the Unity gaming engine, as well as the opportunities it affords in terms of improving fidelity, adding interactivity, and building for multiple platforms, including virtual reality (VR). We'll also discuss practical applications for these techniques, such as multi-user review sessions, public feedback gathering, and interactive training building.

SYNK is an innovative real-time production toolkit that enables content creators to produce linear and virtual content using the same tools and processes used by big studios with decades of experience in animation. SYNK allows assets from traditional digital content creation software and outputs from game engines to be managed in a single accessible environment through an integrated real-time workflow. SYNK manages the data from the early concept phase all the way to final delivery, enabling output to virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR), cinema, animation, video games, and virtual productions.

With the compound collection "Procedural Polygon Generator 2.0" for Bifrost, users can autogenerate buildings and all kinds of architectural detail. The goal is to build a construction history that works on various polygon inputs, and creates complex buildings without any further user input. This solution is used in the video-game industry and the film/TV industry for automated generation of environments, as well as for concept design and visualization in architecture.

Today clients expect to be "wowed." This means that you as a designer need to find ways to do more with your work and help your audience or clients better understand your designs and intentions. Generating compelling, interactive 3D in presentations is a way to really engage and help clients and stakeholders visualize spaces and designs, and in turn help you win more work. We'll use real-life project examples to show you how to effectively integrate a workflow that takes advantage of your existing Autodesk® Revit or AutoCAD® Civil 3D® software models to create an interactive walkthrough that is as easy and smooth to navigate as a modern video game and can be used for client, real estate, or town board presentations. We will discuss some of the challenges that designers may encounter when getting started, but how ultimately, anyone can take advantage of technology to produce professional presentations that can help build more business. Learn about available options for gaming engines to get the most value from your project intelligent models.

Anthony Jones is one of the most sought-after artists, having done visuals for Hasbro, Inc., Magic: The Gathering, and God of War®. In college, he pursued his two greatest passions, film and video games. He became a programmer before discovering his love for concept art. He currently also teaches at the Otis College of Art and Design and at Red Engine Studios in Los Angeles, CA. In this class, Anthony Jones will break down his methods and thoughts when approaches a new design. He will discuss how important it is to have a solid foundation for your concept. He will also talk about how he has had success with past projects and what influences him to make the decisions.

You’ve no doubt seen great training videos and course guides that made learning seem easy. Well it’s time for you to create these types of resources yourself—but where do you start? What kind of hardware, software, sound equipment, scripts, and cameras do you need to become your own video/training producer? In this class, we will answer these questions while passing along effective practices for using Camtasia software as our editing tool of choice. We will show you how to set up a video-capture environment and produce output for computers, Apple iPads, and television. We will cover storyboarding, audio/video capturing, using voice recognition, captioning, and basic voice-over editing. We will also discuss some techniques you can use to refine your training using video drafting to evaluate your technique, voice, and pacing. If you’ve wanted to start making your own training videos but weren't sure how to do it, this class will give you everything you need to get started.

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?

In this class, we will demonstrate the differences and similarities between rigging for games and rigging for film. We will cover the challenges associated with each area and what can be done to overcome such challenges.

Join us for an epic digital panel dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion in the gaming industry. This event unites game developers, designers, storytellers, and enthusiasts to tackle the challenges and unlock the opportunities to create a more inclusive gaming landscape. Power up your network by connecting with industry leaders, dive into an insightful panel discussion, and level up your strategies for breaking down barriers and championing representation in games. Whether you're a veteran player or a newbie to the field, this digital panel is your ultimate chance to connect, learn, and contribute to a more inclusive future in gaming.

In this intermediary class I will discuss the theory behind my workflow for shading and texturing environments, props, and characters. These techniques can be used to texture any high-resolution object, whether for visual effects, animated films, video game cinematics, or even architectural work. We will discuss shaders, as well as available methods for applying textures to your models. We will also cover pattern creation methods, from procedurals to hand-painted textures to photo manipulation. We will focus on how to efficiently shade thousands of individual objects without having to spend a lot of time UV shading everything (although we will touch on UV shading). Many of the examples will use 3ds Max software, Mudbox software, Chaos Group's V-Ray rendering engine, and Adobe Photoshop—but you can apply the principals discussed to the 3D app, paint application, and renderer of your choice.

In this intermediary class I will build upon the theory presented in my class, Shading And Texturing Workflow, with a practical example that involves shading and texturing a high-resolution photoreal robot. The techniques presented can be used to texture any high-resolution hard-surface object, whether for visual effects, animated films, video game cinematics, or even architectural work. We will focus on how to efficiently shade thousands of individual objects without having to spend a lot of time UV shading everything. Blended box maps, projection paint, curvature maps, occlusion maps, and the building of a library of materials are just some of the topic that we will cover. I will use 3ds Max software, Chaos Group's V-Ray rendering engine, and Adobe Photoshop for this example, but you can apply the principals discussed to the 3D app, paint application, and renderer of your choice.

Game engines are known for their innovative graphics and physics. That would make it seem like game engines are only beneficial to architects. This is just not the case. Game engines provide a wide range of benefits to engineering firms, and this class will explain how to get started using them in a way that is easy, fun, and affordable. Game engines could be used to help QA/QC a project, or to help visualize engineering analysis 3D models, or for real-time interactivity using virtual reality (VR), or even as an interactive game that shows construction sequencing animations, and much, much more. The possibilities are endless. Game engines are fun to use, so it’s time to use them in your engineering firm!

You've heard the stories of humble startups who create a hit game that brings them fame and fortune. Although many of your students will sign on with larger companies when they graduate, some of them will go off and create amazing work on their own or with small teams. Learn how you can incorporate the entrepreneurial spirit and skills in your curriculum and help your students be prepared for whatever path they choose.

In this intermediary class I will show practical examples of my workflow for producing concept art. My workflow combines both 2D painting and 3D rendering to produce the most detailed images possible in the shortest amount of time. I have split up my image-making process into 20 stages, starting with rough 2D sketches and photobashing. I then move on to rough 3D and then a more detailed 3D stage, followed by a final 2D stage of painting tiny details and compositing the final image. Whether or not you're a concept artist for visual effects, animated films, or video games, you'll gain insight into techniques that can help your own process. We will primarily use Adobe Photoshop, 3ds Max software, Chaos Group's V-Ray rendering engine, and Red Giant Software's Magic Bullet—but you can apply the principals discussed to the software of your choice.

Games and applications, especially those on continually evolving mobile devices, now occupy an increasing percentage of a student's day. At the same time, performance in math and engineering for that same demographic is dwindling at an alarming rate. To compete in the future and secure promising opportunities, the latter (but not necessarily the former) must change. This class will offer ways to increase class engagement while using—and building—the types of games and applications almost certainly found in nearly every student's pocket.