Rendering and opticalFX mainly
 

Hey guys, I'm making a few scenes for my general sciences class and I've been having a few problems with the everything, but I'm a proud guy so I determined that I wouldn't ask for help until I really couldn't go on without it, wich results in this pile of questions and problems :P:

-1 It doesn't matter what I select in the Rendering Globals window for camera to use during batch rendering, it always renders my perspective view first, and only after that it renders my selected camera, wich is definetely very annyoing since I have scenes of +- 900 frames. Is there any way I could make Maya render only my selected camera?

2- Maya autmotically sets, if I use 'clouds' for particles, the clouds to particleShape1. Wich means I can't use more than one colour particle clouds. :(

3- OpticalFX, or lights in general; can they be set with the time slider to increase/decrease over time, or how can I make my OFX appear only a certain number of frames?

4- Painting. What is the best way to display, let's say galactic brush paint strokes?

5- What file extension must I use to render my scenes quickest? And does anyone know what resolution an overhead projector uses?

6- Using a 'real' vortex, is there any way to create a vortex that draws particles to it? I've already tried to make create a vortex with some other field that have a stronger attenuation/
magnitude but that is quite... instable.

There, done already :P. Hmmz It might be in the wrong section, but I don't think all these can be put in one anyways :P

select your perspective camera and then goto the attribute editor and uncheck the renderable option in the output settings.

just select your optical effects and in the attribute editor key its intensity.

hope it helps in some of your questions.

Re: Rendering and opticalFX mainly
 

2- Maya autmotically sets, if I use 'clouds' for particles, the clouds to particleShape1. Wich means I can't use more than one colour particle clouds. :(

What do you mean exactly? Sorry, but maybe I'm not understanding you right, but if you use a rgbPP expression, or a ramp, you can get each particle in a given single particleshape to be a different color/texture.
Am I understanding you right?

4- Painting. What is the best way to display, let's say galactic brush paint strokes?

Probably on the inside of a 180 degree sphere.

5- What file extension must I use to render my scenes quickest? And does anyone know what resolution an overhead projector uses?

Like Mike M. and myself always say about this, it depends on your final meduim, but Mike and I use either Targa or Tiff, but the generic .iff works fine too.

A "school-type" of overhead projector can display iether transparencies or paper, or whatever, so your res is really not important as the width and height of the projectors' "seeable" area.
For example, if the projector is only meant to project documents, then you would be limited to an 8.5x11 piece of paper size.
Is this what you meant?

6- Using a 'real' vortex, is there any way to create a vortex that draws particles to it? I've already tried to make create a vortex with some other field that have a stronger attenuation/
magnitude but that is quite... instable.

If you use a vortex field with a particle object, you can set the Conserve attribute of the particle object to influence the motion.
If you set its' Conserve to 0, the particle object moves in a circular motion.
If you set Conserve greater than 0, you get a spiraling motion.

However, if you:
1. set the PARTICLE shapes' Conserve to 0
2. set the Vortex field Attenuation to 0
3. Crank up the magnitude of the Vortex field to over 150 or so.

You will notice that the particles, no matter thier initial state, will begin to be drawn toward the Vortex fields' DEFAULT volume axis of "Y".

This gets you only PART of the way there to making it look like they are being drawn toward the center.

THere are some desicions you have to make regarding your shot goals such as:
- Is your shot goal to make it look as though particles are being drawn toward a planet or object of sorts?

If so, my use of the word "GOAL" applies here as a point of reference for you to lookup in the docs, as particle GOALs may work better for you in this case.

The reason I say this is because if you remember, I stated that the technique above only gets you PART of the way there, as they get drawn toward the AXIS, NOT the center point, of the Vortex field.
So they end up looking like they are being drawn toward a short "line" rather than a point.

Try it, you'll see what I mean:)

One quick way to get your particles to "appear" as though they are being drawn toward a center point rather than a line, is to scale down the particle shape AS they are being drawn toward the field.

If you are using hardware particles, this will look just fine, BUT if you are using SW particles, like CLOUD, then you may run into issues with the particle cloud appearing to "shrink" as they get scaled down.
HW particles do not have this issue, as they are just points in space, rather than a representation of a volume.

Hope this has helped you in some more ways!

Good luck!

2- Maya autmotically sets, if I use 'clouds' for particles, the clouds to particleShape1. Wich means I can't use more than one colour particle clouds.

If you're talking about the material, you can always make a new material and apply it to your particles just like you would for any object.

thanks and new question
 

Thanks for the help guys :D, I posted my thank you already a few days ago but my computer was acting funny and it seems it didn't post the message back then. Anyways..
I'm working on something different now, the 'background' for the main menu in a game. I want it to be animated and I've already constructed more or less what I want, but there are some things I can't seem to get right. Like you can see below I'm trying to create just a pond of water with some grass around it, with waves soft little waves appearing every now and then. The thing is that I my waves look like garbage and I'm also tring to create an enviroment as dark as in the picture (so it's pretty dark, almost nighttime), but how do I create a quite powerfull light, like the moon wich is visible in the water, without destroying the nice darkness I have now. And does anyone know a way to make the gras at the top look like it's now so much standing in the water? I've already tried pebbles but that didn't quite work so well.
Heh, if anyone can understand my vagueness, please reply :) :D.

Please stick with image sizes 640 x 480 or smaller when attaching shots.

Rage seems to have posted a rather intuitive reply, but maybe these will offer other solutons as well. :D


You have to SET THE PROJECT to get the cameras to work properly. If you don't, then you will have rendering issues. Also, in the attributes for the perspective camera, in the Render Attributes turn off RENDERABLE.

Create a new Particleshape Node.

You can animate any attribute for any item by setting keys for it. Simply select the start point in the time line to place your first key. Then in the Channel Box, click on the NAME of the attribute you want to set keys for, RIGHT CLICK on it and choose SET KEY. Go to the next place in the timeline, adjust the attribute value and set a key again. For instance, if you want to turn a light on and off then you would set keys for the INTENSITY of the light. 0 is off, 1 is on.

You need to set up a paintable geometry. For the galactic brush, you'll want a flat plane set sideways on the x or z axis. Make it paintable, then paint it.

Maya IFF seems to be the fastest file extension for me. However, you won't be able to open it in photoshop. You can, however, convert the files in FCHECK to JPEG. I'm not at my PC at this time so I can't elaborate on how to do that just yet. I'll come back later and edit this when Im back on my unit. :D

As for the overhead projector, whcat kind of overhead projector are we talking about? Slide, transparency, or digital display?

There are many different tornado tutorials out there on the next. Do a google search for them and find one. But what you're trying to achieve requires the addition of collideable geometry. You need to make a 'funnel' that the particles will form to when they emit. You'll also need to apply a gravity field to the particles in order to draw them upward.

Hope that helps.

:beer:

Thanks Dave! Good points!

thanks and...
 

Heh, thanks again, but now I've got another 'problem'. I didn't know in what cat. to post this, but since I've already created a topic here...
I'm creating ( well, if it will ever really get to that, but that's beside the point ) a game and I'm having this idea for the main menu background:
A movie, or better phrased looping sequene, displaying a puddle of water, surrounded by grass, in wich some kind of an armour lies, half in the water. I just want the wind to move the tops of the grass and the water a little, but I have no idea how to make any of these things, in particulair the armour ( that's something that is used in the story, but I can't explain it now ).

Thanks in advance :P

Add-
 

Hey, I just saw I posted such a picture of the idea what I mean above :P.... But it looks like **** and there is no armour. :D

Well dirack, if I were you before I got into making such complicated scenes and sequences, I would learn the basics of modeling in Maya. What your asking us to do, basically, is walk you thru the process to get your idea done.

While we're here to help guide you along the path, you're not going to see two sets of footprints in the mud, if you get my meaning.

If you have no experience in Maya, then I would suggest starting with some of the free video tutorials we have here. They're a great insight into the workings of Maya and its tools and capabilities. If you don't find what you need here, then CGTalk has a thread posted in their Maya section that lists hundreds of tutorials for various things.

I'm not saying we won't help you, but it sounds to me like you're asking more of us than you should. You are the artist, it is up to you to create. We are here to help you, but don't expect us to do the work for you.

But to point you in the right direction, for that particular sequence you'll want to learn the following:

Modeling - You'll need to know how to model the terrain and the suit of armor. Here's a great thread here at Simply Maya from a guy named Contrast who is building a suit of armor. http://forums.simplymaya.com/showthr...&threadid=6050 If you have any particular questions about armor, I would ask someone who has experience in building that sort of thing. I, personally, have never built armor, so my knowledge would be limited in that particular area.

Paint Effects - Does nice grass.

Dynamics - Soft bodies and water effects galore! Plus you'll need to know how to make fields that the surfaces react to (ie. grass blowing in the wind, water ripples)

Texturing - Makes all the difference. A nice model with a crappy texture makes a crappy model. Terrain is particularly tough sometimes to get right.

Now, an alternative to doing all this stuff by yourself would be to ask people if they would like to help model some thing for you. I have done this in the past and found it quite resourceful. Plus, the people here are learning just like you and may actually enjoy working on your project with you for the experience.

Another would be to dig deep and pay for the work. Those who are more than capable of turning out a professionally looking product are probably already working in the field and don't have time to do free stuff. But they'll be more than happy to give you top quality stuff for the right price. ;)

I hope that information helps start you on your way to creating some fantastic artwork. And if you get stuck, just come here and ask us and we'll see what we can do to help you. I'm fairly knowledgeable in most aspects of Maya, Mike is a whiz, and the rest of the guys... well... between you and me, that Kevin guy is a bit of a strange one, I'd watch out for him. :D:D:D


Good luck!

:beer:

Hello
 

Well Said Dave...



-SuperDave71:bgreen:

SPONGEPOP!! :D:D:D:D:D!!!!! :D Plus, how unactive is the lights, camera &render forum if this topic is still in the first page :P

Pretty inactive, I'd say. :D

Ah, but with posting these things we make it active again, so let's all complain about inactiviy! :D ;)