For this reason, I recommend all users also install a antispyware program (from a trusted source) (please do not just download any old antispyware program) on their computer.

** Many spyware, viruses, trojans and other ‘baddies’ will pop up advertisement or have sites which state that they are antispyware or antivirus program (so please ONLY download programs from trusted or reliable sources, preferably straight from the actual website of the actual software, and preferably only after you read at least a few of reviews from a few trusted sites)

One antispyware program I can recommend is SUPERAntiSpyware.

SuperAntiSpyware currently has a free and paid version, so for the budget conscious among us, you can try out the free version.

One of the most important difference between free and paid version, is that free version does not have the program running in background to protect your computer 24 x 7 against spyware. However, the free version will still allow you to update your spyware data definition file, and you can still start a manual scan using the free version (hey its free, so moving your fingers to start a manual scan should not be too much of a price to pay for free software which still works).

For now just remember, to install an antivirus program, eg. Avira, if you currently do not have one, ensure your virus data definition file for your antivirus program is regularly updated (you can usually open the antivirus program, and there should be a line somewhere which shows you the current date for your virus data definition files, a date which is more than one month old is NOT advisable), and don’t have more than one antivirus program running at the same time.

Hi everyone, welcome to today’s tutorial on modeling of a human figure. This is the 3rd part of a multi-part tutorial on modeling a human figure. Specifically, we will be modeling the lower leg today.

This tutorial is based on the excellent modeling tutorial found at http://www.3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/max/joanofarc/joanmenu.asp

Create box in appropriate location of lower leg

1. right-click left viewport

2. select create panel

3. click box

4. click and drag out box object in left viewport, at approximate location of the lower leg, based on side reference image

5. set length segs to 6, width segs to 1, height segs to 2

6. select move tool, and move lower leg to approximate position of lower leg, based on front reference image in front viewport

Convert box object to editable poly, and delete extra polygons

1. right-click box object, then select Convert To > Convert to Editable Poly

2. select modify tab

3. click + sign beside editable poly in modifier stack

4. select polygon in modifier stack, to enter polygon editing mode

5. select appropriate polygons to delete, at bottom of the object, and press delete to delete the selected polygons

7. select editable poly in modifier stack, to return to object editing mode

Delete extra polygon on foot object

1. select foot object

2. select modify tab

3. click + sign beside editable poly in modifier stack

4. select polygon in modifier stack, to enter polygon editing mode

5. select appropriate polygons to delete, at top of the object, and press delete to delete the selected polygons

7. select editable poly in modifier stack, to return to object editing mode

Attach foot object to leg object

1. select leg object

2. right-click leg object, and select Attach, and click the foot object

Weld corresponding vertices of now attached objects

1. press Alt+X to make selected object see-through

2. select vertex in modifier stack, to enter vertex editing mode

3. in perspective view, select appropriate vertex at the bottom of the lower leg

4. right-click selected vertex, and select target weld, then click and drag from source to appropriate target vertex

5. repeat steps#4 for the other appropriate pair of vertices to be welded together for the lower leg and the foot

Adjust position of vertices

1. right-click left viewport

2. select appropriate vertices to move, and move them (using move tool), such that the leg object more closely resembles the reference image in left viewport

Hi everyone, welcome to today’s tutorial on modeling of a human figure. This is the 2nd part of a multi-part tutorial on modeling a human figure. Specifically, we will be modeling the foot today.

This tutorial is based on the excellent modeling tutorial found at http://www.3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/max/joanofarc/joanmenu.asp

You should check out that tutorial for another way to model the human figure. Btw, the reference images are also taken from that site. Hats off to Michel Roger for originally creating that tutorial.

Create box in appropriate location of foot

1. right-click left viewport

2. scroll with mouse wheel to zoom in closer to foot

3. mmb (middle mouse button) click and drag to pan, so can get better view of foot, for the left reference image

4. right-click front viewport

5. scroll with mouse wheel to zoom in closer to foot

6. mmb (middle mouse button) click and drag to pan, so can get better view of the right foot, for the front reference image

7. select create panel

8. click box

9. click and drag out box object in front viewport, at approximate location of the right foot, based on front reference image

10. set length segs to 2, width segs to 2, height segs to 5

Convert box object to editable poly, and adjust position of vertices

1. right-click box object, then select Convert To > Convert to Editable Poly

2. select modify tab

3. click + sign beside editable poly in modifier stack

4. select vertex in modifier stack, to enter vertex editing mode

5. select appropriate vertices to move, and move them (using move tool), such as the box object more closely resembles the reference image in left viewport

6. select polygon in modifier stack, to enter polygon editing mode

7. select appropriate polgons to scale, and scale them (using scale tool), such that the foot object will more closely resemble a foot

Hi everyone, welcome to today’s tutorial on modeling of a human figure. This is the 1st part of a multi-part tutorial on modeling a human figure. Specifically, we will be setting up the reference images today.

This tutorial is based on the excellent modeling tutorial found at http://www.3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/max/joanofarc/joanmenu.asp

You should check out that tutorial for another way to model the human figure. Btw, the reference images are also taken from that site. Hats off to Michel Roger for originally creating that tutorial.

Create planes to place reference images

1. click and drag out plane#1 in front viewport

2. select modify tab

3. change height and width of plane to 512

4. select move tool

5. change x to 0, y to 256, z to 256

6. enter ref_front in selection set dropdown box and press enter, to create new selection set called ref_front

7. click and drag out plane#2 in left viewport

8. select modify tab

9. change height and width of plane to 512

10. select move tool

11. change x to 256, y to 0, z to 256

12. enter ref_side in selection set dropdown box and press enter, to create new selection set called ref_side

13. select both planes

14. enter ref_imgs in selection set dropdown box and press enter, to create new selection set called ref_imgs

Apply material to planes

1. press m to pen material editor

2. select first empty material slot

3. click diffuse map slot

4. double-click bitmap

5. select appropriate bitmap file for front reference image, eg. front_joanofarc_mod.gif

6. select second empty material slot

7. click diffuse map slot

8. double-click bitmap

9. select appropriate bitmap file for side reference image, eg. side_joanofarc_mod.gif

10. select first material slot, which has reference image called front_joanofarc_mod.gif

11. click go to parent button

12. select plane in front viewport

13. click assign material to selection button

14. click show map in viewport

15. select second material slot, which has reference image called side_joanofarc_mod.gif

16. click go to parent button

17. select plane in left viewport

18. click assign material to selection button

19. click show map in viewport

Freeze reference image planes, but still show reference images

1. select both planes

2. right-click selected planes, then select Object Properties

3. uncheck ’show frozen in gray’ checkbox

4. click ok

5. right-click selected planes, then select Freeze Selection

Hi everyone, today we’ll continue to look at ms office word, and a little bit of excel, to see how you can use mailmerge to quickly print out a list of letters, to be sent to different recipients and corresponding addresses, using a single page as a template and data in an excel file (don’t worry, its not that difficult, once you try it at least once).

1. enter data in excel file (see video, or below table for example) (have at least two fields, or column names in the first row, of name, and address), and add some rows of data corresponding to different recipients for each row.

2. open a document in word

3. type some words to form the body of the letter (see video)

4. select Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge…

5. select Letters (for type of document you are working on) (note: we are printing letters here, so we select Letters option, you can select other options such as email messages depending on what you wish to send or print), then click Next: Starting document

6. select ‘Use the current document’ option, and click Next: Select recipients

7. select ‘Use an existing list’ option, click Browse, and browse to excel file containing the list of data (names and addresses of the recipients)

8. select the Sheet containing the list of data (in this case, its Sheet1$), and click OK

9. click OK

10. click Next: Write your letter

11. click on appropriate position in document

12. click Address block…

13. click Match Fields…

14. select ‘not matched’ for Last Name dropdown box

15. select ‘name’ field for First Name dropdown box (so value for first name will be matched with the value of corresponding row of the name column or field in the excel file and sheet, chosen early)

16. click OK

17. uncheck ‘Insert recipient’s name in this format’

18. select ‘Always include the country/region in the address’ option

19. click OK

20. click on appropriate position in document

21. click Greeting line…

22. click OK

23. click Next: Preview your letters

24. click on the arrow buttons to preview your letters when they are sent or printed for each recipient (based on data from each row of the list of data in the excel file)

25. click Next: Complete the merge

26. click Print…

27. select All option (to select to print all records)

28. click OK

Hi everyone, today we’ll continue to look at powerpoint. However, we’ll be looking at creating a cascading picture effect.

This effect is based on a powerpoint file which I had helped changed, to use for the new slides my boss had wanted to use for a presentation. Essentially, the effect is to create a cascading effect, as pictures ‘drop’ or cascade from different locations, to fall into place besides each other (looks better than it sounds).

1. select picture to apply animation to, in this case, the upper left picture, of the army tank

2. select Slide Show > Custom Animation

3. select Add Effect > Entrance > Fly In

4. select ‘After Previous’ from the Start dropdown box

note: the default selection of ‘On Click’ from Start dropdown box causes that animation to ONLY start after you click the mouse

note: select ‘After Previous’ from Start dropdown box ensures that animation will automatically start after the previous animation is completed

5. select appropriate direction from the Direction dropdown box, in this case, ‘From Left’

6. select upper right picture, of house

7. repeat steps#3 to 4

8. select appropriate direction from the Direction dropdown box, in this case, ‘From Top’

9. select lower right picture, of handphone

10. repeat steps#3 to 4

11. select appropriate direction from the Direction dropdown box, in this case, ‘From Right’

12. select lower left picture, of hill

13. repeat steps#3 to 4

14. select appropriate direction from the Direction dropdown box, in this case, ‘From Bottom’

Hi everyone, its been a grueling few weeks, but the multi-part tutorial for modeling a tank is finally complete, so today I decided to do something a little different.

Actually, today’s tutorial is based on the task assigned to me to create a powerpoint presentation. In the end, we did not actually used the motion path animation in the slides, but it was an interesting animation, and because of that I decided that today we’ll be looking at a tutorial on powerpoint, specifically how to use motion path animation in powerpoint, which involves making an object in powerpoint move along a path we have created.

1. select object (usually a picture) which we will apply a motion path to

2. select Slide Show > Custom Animation

3. select Add Effect > Motion Paths > Draw Custom Path > Curve

4. click on the slide at position where you wish the motion path to start

5. keep clicking to form the ‘points’ of the motion path (see video)

6. press Esc, to indicate that you have finish adding points to motion path

Hi everyone, welcome to today’s continuation of the multi-part tutorial on modeling of a tank. This is the 11th and last part of a multi-part tutorial on creating a military tank. Today, we look at using tread and treadPath objects (created in previous tutorial) to create tracks for the tank wheels.

1. select tread object

2. select motion tab

3. click + sign beside Assign Controller, to open Assign Controller section

4. click Position

5. click Assign Controller button, select Path Constraint, and click OK

6. click Add Path button, select treadPath object

7. ensure Follow checkbox and Allow Upside Down checkbox are both checked

8. right-click to indicate you are finish adding path

9. right-click on left viewport

10. press H, to open select by name dialog box, then click treadPath object, and click Select

11. press W, to select move tool

12. in left viewport, click and drag treadPath object, such that associated tread object is positioned based on reference image in left viewport

13. select tread object

14. press E, to select rotate tool

15. ensure angle snap is on

16. rotate tread object 90 degrees

17. right-click perspective view, and zoom in and arc rotate till, can see the ‘bottom’ of the tread object clearly

18. click + sign beside Editable Poly, and select Border

19. click border of one element of tread object, then right-click and select Cap

20. click border of the other element of tread object, then right-click and select Cap

21. click Editable Poly

22. right-click empty area of toolbar, and select Extras

23. click and hold Array button, and select Snapshot

24. select Range, set value of To to 0, From to 100, Copies to 80, Clone Method of Instance, and click OK

25. press H, to open select by name dialog box, then Ctrl+click treadPath (tread object should already be selected), then click Select

26. right-click viewport, and select Hide selection

26. right-click top viewport

27. select all tread instances

28. right-click left viewport

29. click mirror button

30. select Mirror Axis of X, Clone Selection of Instance, and change Offset value, till position of mirrored instances is at appropriate position, based on reference image in left viewport, and click OK

31. select wheels from selection set dropdown box

32. select tankbody, and press Alt+X, to toggle off see-through mode for tankbody

33. select ref_images from selection set dropdown box

34. right-click and select Hide Selection

note: the complete tank model should now be visible in perspective viewport