About the Authors

Todd Palamar is a 21-year veteran in the computer animation industry. After transitioning early in his career from traditional special effects to computer-generated imagery, Todd did effects work for several direct-to-video movies. He later went on to work on numerous video games, including Sega of Japan's coin-operated title Behind Enemy Lines, as well as Dukes of Hazzard and Trophy Buck 2 for the Sony PlayStation console. For six years, Todd taught at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. During this time, he received numerous accolades as an outstanding educator. Additionally, Todd was a trainer at the Digital Animation & Visual Effects (DAVE) School at Universal Studios Florida, bringing postgraduate students up to speed in Maya. Todd has written several books, among them Maya Cloth for Characters (Surrealistic Producing Effects, 2008), Maya Studio Projects Dynamics (Sybex, 2009), and Maya Studio Projects Photorealistic Characters (Sybex, 2011). His breadth of experience has allowed him to work in location-based entertainment, military simulation, television commercials, and corporate spots. Todd is currently Technical Art Director at Vcom3D, creating real-time characters capable of lip syncing to multiple languages and sign language. You can see more of Todd's work on his company's website, www.speffects.com.