27" iMac Disassemble 3D Animation Video

This is a 3D animation I made for a 3DS Max project of an 2011 27" Apple iMac being taken apart and put together. It is shown with the Apple wireless keyboard and Magic trackpad.


Let me know what you guys think! Thanks! ^__^

mBox said:

nice work.
needs that annoying glare that comes free with all recent iMacs
I couldn't tell but was the back rounded like the original?
If you chamfer the edges more maybe you can do some close-up beauty shots with rim lighting and such. Yea I know its cliche but industrial design calls for it
did you render at NTSC or HD res? I noticed in the Youtube conversion the pixel aliasing occurs. usually happens when you render to D1 or DV format then try and squeeze it back to square pixels.

Click to expand...

Hahaa, I know that glare is annoying. I recently just purchased a real iMac after making this animation.
Yes the back is rounded but it's hard to tell on this video. Maybe next time, I will get more close up shots.

I believe I rendered with the HD preset settings. The pixel aliasing was visible before I imported to premiere pro :/. It was worse before I applied the video filters. I will tweak more settings for my next video! what are your recommendations?

mBox said:

Well if you rendered it at HD square pixels then it should be fine if playback was HD. However the options on the Youtube link seems Non-square pixels to me. I dont render to Youtube much other than skate videos.
I use Maya then After Effects but I stay within my realm of HD or 4K res.
I rarely go into SD (NTSC) to DVD these days.
For what you have its fine, just when you create your promo DVD is when you have to be careful.

Click to expand...

I see, I see. I'll keep that in mind in the future then. I'm trying to learn maya right now. How do you like maya vs 3ds max? Which one is better?

Fandongo said:

The glare isn't there in the controlled environment your workstation should be in.
Matte screens seem to create a flatter image to me.

You could amp up the video a bit by comping in a commet storm destroying all the other towers and all-in-ones.

Click to expand...

Lol, that would result in one of those PC vs. Mac videos. Yea...I try to stay away from those because i like pc towers. They are cheap and easy to upgrade. In fact, i used a windows machine to make this video. This video is focused on the aesthetic design of the iMac.

mBox said:

Both are great at the start. I stopped using 3DSMAX at v3.0. I come from the Alias Power Animator days so Maya's been in my blood since its Unix days.
Eventually one will work more for you than the other and all depends on the direction you take.
Enjoy Max while your learning Maya, its always good to know more than one app in this field

Click to expand...

Wow. You definitely seem to have lots of experience in this field. I am actually not an "animator" but would like to become much more involved in animation/graphics.

thekev said:

Some people seem to find maya confusing. It just has a lot of weird quirks. For example you can straighten an edge out with discreet scale, but it lacks an alignment function like the one in 3ds max. Max also has a nicer coordinate system, and anything involving insets or boolean functions require a bit more work with maya (its boolean functions are basically unusable). Someone that spends more time with that stuff than me could probably give you a better overall explanation.

Click to expand...

I don't know about you but Maya seem to me right now like the "Adobe" version of 3ds max. It seems easier to get started in Maya... I guess it's more intuitive? but I don't know if I would prefer it after starting with Max.

Oh, that's sucks because I do use the Boolean function in Max quite a bit (although boolean in max is not quite perfect but it works). Thanks for your input, you seem to know much more about Maya/ 3ds max than me!

mBox said:

Both apps have their quirks trust me. I have friends that work in gaming and film and no one gets a break
Again, learn them all, it'll do you good

Click to expand...

That's good to know. I'll make sure to continuously learn because learning about this is so fun to me! I wouldn't mind doing this for my full time job! ^_~ Although I still like the job I have right now.

Ice-Cube said:

I think the video was done pretty well, but the parts and components in the iMac could be more detailed to look more professional.

Click to expand...

Maybe for my next video! Thanks for your input!

mBox said:

True but Ive done technical 3D illustrations before and at times it all depends what your trying to convey.
You can go as far as the rivets on the hard-drive if you need but if your only doing a quick turn table look at a simple break-down, the poster got it right.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I actually made the rivets on the hard drive but you just can't see the details from this camera angle.

mBox said:

Here is a link to Luxology Modo http://www.luxology.com/gallery/
This isnt to sway you into learning Modo but to inspire you with other types of modeling.
I was looking for my old Alias Studio links (industrial design), but with the Autodesk purchase of Alias, I cant seem to find anything on the parent site
Google all kinds of Industrial design imagery.
Again its for inspiration nothing more.
Ive seen some great work done with Max, just didnt Google any.
My fave Max stuff is from the Blur Studio folks (Tim Miller)

Click to expand...

Happy late thanksgiving! thanks for all the inspirations. Blur studio looks nice. Do you know Tim Miller?

chrono1081 said:

I've heard Modo was much better for building models, but the fact that they charge for a trial made me decide not to try them.

Click to expand...

Have you tried Blender? It's free 3D software for Windows, Linux and Mac.