In this tutorial we delve deep into the Global Illumination and Environment system featured in Turtle 4.1
It takes some time with any rendering software to get to the point where you’re confident in setting up a beautiful render. This tutorial will attempt to provide you with lots of shortcuts that can help you get really nice renders in Turtle and lay out a good workflow for lighting many different types of scenes. You’ll also find in-depth technical notes on a lot of the components and concepts included in Turtle’s Global
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In this tutorial, we will be working with NURBS geometry. NURBS surfaces are always XY grids, but these grids can be shaped in different primitive forms. For our purposes, we will create a simple plane. After creating the plane, open the channel editor.
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This Maya tutorial shows how to create a 3D envelop, skin and structural elements from hand drawn curves or data generated curves. The 3D shape is lofted and extruded from curves drawn in Photoshop or Illustrator.

In Photoshop, go to Layers > create separate layers, draw shapes that will be later connected together
Select the white area above the curve with the Magic Wand tool. Go to Paths > create a path.
Go to File Export > Path to Illustrator, save as an Illustrator file.
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This tutorial is designed to build familiarity with using Maya’s 3D paint tool on 3D geometry. You will learn how to paint on 3D geometry with 2D repeating textures directly within Maya. If you have not done so already you should download the images referenced in this document at the following address: http://www.persistentvisions.com/Tutorials_Main/3DPaint
You may optionally substitute in your own repeating (or non-repeating) image files)
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Importing & animating a receptor
1) Importing molecular data into Maya
2) Using constraints and dynamic motion paths to animate the binding event
Membrane with scattered proteins
1) Creating a softbody membrane
2) Using constraints to attach molecules to the dynamic membrane surface
3) Using MEL to scatter proteins automatically
Extracellular Matrix
1) Using particles and MEL to create a dense mesh for the ECM
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During this tutorial you will be creating a low resolution ‘stand-in’ model of the reovirus sigma 1 protein (the tentacle-like trimeric protein that extends out of the virus’ turrets). The 3 monomers are thought to be in a flexible conformation during the early phases of the viral life cycle – once the surface of the virus loses its sigma3 coating (upon cleavage by chymotrypsin in the gut lumen), the sigma1 trimer transitions to a coiled-coil conformation and rigidifies. Therefore, we would like to animate each monomer as a flexible/trembling arm initially, and then have it erect and coil as a triple helix (with the other 2 rigid monomers).
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Several PDB viewers, including Chimera and Pymol, are able to export molecular representations as VRML files. VRML files can then be converted to a file type that can be imported directly into the 3D application of your choice. By default, Maya is able to open/import .obj, .fbx, .mel, .ma and .mb files (among others). Plugins can be installed to import a number of other 3d file types, but as of yet there is no direct way to import VRML files into Maya.
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The Basic ShopBot Control Panel Installing the USB to Serial Adapter Drivers Installing the Software Starting Up The Basic ShopBot Command Principle Entering Values (Parameters) So Let’s Run a Part File Getting Help The Layout of Your ShopBot Table: Directions, Distances, and Base Coordinates The Logic of XYZ Giving Directions; ABSOLUTE vs RELATIVE distance You Can Reorganize Your “Graph Paper” Temporary Zero Points When Cutting Files Table Base Coordinates vs Current Working Coordinates Software Limit Checking Maintaining Accurate XYZ Locations Changing the Direction of Movement of an Axis Software Axis Designation Optional 4th or 5th Axis or Channel Inches or Millimeters
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