From Sim to Render: exclusive 60+ page iBook by fxguide

Many recent films, TV shows and commercials owe their incredible fluid simulations and photoreal rendering to two visual effects tools – RealFlow and Maxwell Render from Next Limit Technologies. These VFX tools are the subject of fxguide’s latest interactive iBook, From Sim to Render: The Next Limit Story – now available free to download.

Who is behind Next Limit? How do RealFlow and Maxwell Render work? And where are they used? The new iBook has all the answers.

Explore RealFlow and Maxwell Render case studies with full screen imagery and video interviews.
Explore RealFlow and Maxwell Render case studies, such as this one on Sehsucht’s work for an MTV European Music Video Awards ident, with full screen imagery, video interviews and breakdowns.

To write the book and film video interviews, fxguide sat down with the creators of RealFlow and Maxwell in Madrid, as well as professionals in the visual effects industry to share the Next Limit story.

In the iBook, see how visual effects artists use RealFlow and Maxwell Render to create stunning imagery for films, TV shows, TVCs and other projects. There are several interactive features including image galleries, videos and making ofs. Case studies include work from Mr X, Method Studios, El Ranchito, Sehsucht Berlin, Lumiere Studios and more.

The iBook includes video tutorials on new features inside RealFlow 2013.
The iBook includes video tutorials on new features inside RealFlow 2013.

Readers will also be able to learn tips and tricks from fluid sim and rendering masters and watch an in-depth tutorial on the new RealFlow 2013 and its integration with Maxwell Render.

The iBook is a free download from Apple’s iTunes Store available for the iPad.

Also check out our recent online coverage of Maxwell Render in the State of Rendering.
And Next Limit will be at SIGGRAPH 2013 – see them at Booth #343 on the Exhibition Floor. Want to learn more about RealFlow 2013? The July term at fxphd features a RF2013 fluid dynamics course from VFX artist Morris May.


Finally, check out RealFlow’s new Summer Splash competition, where you can win a three course fxphd membership by creating a RealFlow splash using the new RealFlow 2013 Learning Edition.

summersplash

17 thoughts on “<em>From Sim to Render:</em> exclusive 60+ page iBook by fxguide”

  1. Non-US readers are again missing out on this. Can you guys please put this up in the other stores as well?

  2. Awesome book, I had just bought Maxwell Render and started taking your realflow class … very timely! This semester in fxphd.com is totally awesome, I am getting the detailed information I need to complete my projects!

  3. It looks really interesting and I would love to read it.
    I appreciate all the work you guys do, I read a lot of your articles and I have learned a lot over time from both fxguide and fxphd.
    But I don’t understand why you make it available as an iBook only (and only in the US). I understand that you guys like your apple products, but making it in iTunes format only doesn’t make much sense when you guys usually are all about information sharing, open source and open standards.
    Your podcast, both audio and video are all downloadable and in regular standard formats that works everywhere, why cant you do that with the books as well?

  4. Patrick Fritsch

    So I have an IPod, an IMac and a PC workstation but with this iBook format I must have an IPad specifically to be able to read it. Now that my friends is pretty lame…

  5. I understand you comments, but 15million ipads are sold *per quarter* so it represents a lot of tablet usage, and additionally a lot of material is freely available here, but yes some fxguide content is ipad only.

    1. Ok, but there was sold 27.8 million android tablets last quarter, that’s also a lot of tablets, but that’s not my point.
      My point is that the iBook/iTunes/iWhatever is a super closed system, but a .pdf can be read everywhere on mac/win/linux/android/iOS/ etc.

      IDC analyses of worldwide tablet sales Q1 2013:
      http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24093213

    2. Erik Schneider

      Hej Mike,

      I really enjoy fxguide and I also took a few courses at FXPHD. I think you are doing great work and I read a lot of articles and listen to the podcasts.

      I enjoy the podcasts but it feels a bit strange when sometimes an unfiltered apple fanboy attitude shimmers through the great content you deliver. It makes me a little cautious of the rest of your personal opinions because I do not know how biased they are.

      Anyhow just before I read this article I coincidentally read another one where it states the following:

      Global Total Tablet OS Market Share Q2 2013
      Android 67.0%
      iOS 28.3%
      http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=pressreleaseviewer&a0=5403

      I am neither an Android nor an iOS fan. I have owned Apple, Google and Microsoft products. But as already mentioned by others in the comments I too find it quiet bewildering that you use such a closed format for you book. Of course the choice is yours but I somehow doubt that it is solely based on statistics.

      Cheers

      Erik

  6. Samuel Conlogue

    Unfortunately I can’t read it (one of those Android tablet users). That said, Next Limit had a great booth at SIGGRAPH again this year and their Realflow demos were very impressive. It will be interesting to see how Autodesk’s implementation of Naiad and future development of Chaos Groups Phoenix FD compare & compete over the next few years. It’s an exciting time for fluid sim!

  7. Yeah, was really keen to read this, but having escaped the clutches of the Apple reality distortion field, I am Android only for tablet and phone. Think you are doing your readers a disservice here. At a minimum, the link to this could have indicated that it was not a standard e-book or pdf so people wouldn’t waste their time.

    :-/

  8. I could understand the complaints if you guys were being asked to pay for this, but it’s a free booklet. Putting stuff out on multiple devices costs more. It’s amazing how high our expectations have gotten for free stuff.

  9. Hi @Michael,
    Its not about people complaining – they’re just wondering why an Apple-only format was chosen as opposed to PDF – as Johannes mentioned.
    PDF (Portable Document Format) was developed with this purpose in mind – to allow documents to be viewed the same on any platform/OS/Device combination – including things like embedded fonts so that layout doesn’t change etc.
    And for all those using the comment that “iPads are popular” – are forgetting that there are many millions of people who dont use Apple products, and that even Apple users in different countries are bound by various rules and regulations that may or may not allow the app/book to be sold there.

    Again, fxinsider, thanks a LOT for all the info, articles and insight you folks provide, but please consider creating distributable materials using a cross-platform format like PDF.

    Thanks !

  10. Hi guys,

    The iBook is not available in the South African iTunes store.
    Is there a reason for that ?
    If not, could you please put it up there ?

    Thanks!
    Laven Pillay

  11. Oh what a laugh, and what an exercise! Really was looking forward to reading more of what you had to say, but…

    “This is available from iTunes as an iBook!”

    *grumble grumble… ok fine* So I download iTunes (Hate the thing)… I have to then accept three separate terms and conditions, make some sort of apple ID, authorise this computer (Whatever that means), then download the thing… this took about 15 minutes in between all my renders…

    Downloaded finally!!! Hunt for where in this stupid application it hides the stuff and I finally find it, double click… “Sorry, you can only view this on an iPad…”

    /Ragequit… table flip.

  12. Pingback: VFX Resources Links - taukeke

Comments are closed.