Info:
Katana Production Primer
Course Number:KAT202
Professor: Mattdleonard
Software Version: 2
Original Run Date: January 2016
This course will take a new artist through all the key features of Katana while focusing on two main projects. We?ll start by looking briefly at how to properly import data into Katana from Maya and have it organised in a way that utilises Katana?s powerful ?Collection Expression Language?. From there we?ll learn about building and assigning Materials to geometry, creating lights via the Gaffer, setting up the renderer and defining render passes.
The first part of the course will be focused on Look Development, using an all CG shot, and the second part on Lighting, based off a live action plate. We will be going in-depth on both the standard tools and the more advanced features such as building Interactive Render Filters, Templates and Super Tools. We?ll also cover many features of RenderMan and how it seamlessly integrates with Katana.
Katana has become the key Look Dev and Lighting tool for many of the world?s top Visual Effects companies including Industrial Light and Magic, MPC, Digital Domain and of course Sony Picture Imageworks. The course has been designed for anyone interested in learning Katana for the first time or a junior level artist looking to extend their knowledge to the next level. Throughout the course we?ll be using Katana 2.1v1, RenderMan 20.6, Maya 2016 and Nuke 9.0v8 (10 when released).
The course is taught by Matt Leonard who currently lives in Vancouver, Canada. He has been in the 3D and Visual Effects industry since 1990 and has worked on movies such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Godzilla and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He learned Katana at Sony Pictures Imageworks and has been teaching it since 2013. He is a member of the Visual Effects Society and a beta tester for numerous software tools including Katana, RenderMan and Nuke. He is currently Lead Lighting Instructor at MPC.
