Kombi Van
 

Attachment 50565

I'm learning Maya and it's very slow. I gave myself a project to give me a goal, and I have now decided to post my progress to...
A. keep me motivated.
B. get advice when I need it.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...history_01.jpg

I've been asking a lot of stupid questions in the modelling section and I thought it would be better to keep it all in one single thread. So stupid questions will all be in here from now on.

I have been learning up on deformers to get curvature and now that I sort of understand them better I can really see the potential, I think I'm developing an appreciation of what makes Maya good and why people like it.

I had to up-res the mesh a bit to give me more control, and there is a cut in the panel running up from the rear wheel hub that forced me to re-examine what I was doing.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...history_02.jpg

While I was using the soft selection tool I found I couldn't work out how to get the kind of curve profile I needed.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...history_04.jpg

Any advice on that?

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...history_05.jpg

Remember I'm new to this, just figuring out things like layers, deleting history and separating parts is all keeping my progress slow. But I am starting to get a little faster, I bought a little note book and jot down information as I go. It's my little Maya study journal, heh heh.

Also, in the past when I do a car I always start from the front fender and headlight area, and this time I didn't do that, so I don't have a face, I'm doing the back end first it seems. That must be my lack of confidence showing.

Not sure what you are trying to use the soft select on, I dont use it for this type of modelling............dave

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...history_06.jpg

Baby steps I'm afraid.

I was just trying it out to see what it did, and did end up using it, I can see how it could come in useful for some things but I'd probably try to find some other deformer in the future. If I could work out how to get the curve profiles how I want them it would be better but the UI is a bit funky. So many things to get used to in this program and I have yet to discover which tools work best for me so I'm trying anything.

I think if you click on the profile curve it will add points. Then you can pull out that convex shape you were wanting.

I'll give that a go. I've Just cleaned up a the back, sharpening corners and getting all the gaps between panels consistent.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...history_09.jpg

I tried making curves in the soft selection curve UI but it is fairly limited, not quite the level of control I want, there might be an actual reason for this (not allowed to make some kind of curves) or it is just not very good. Or there is some hidden way to adjust control handles that is not obvious.

You can go to create,CV curves. Right click on it will allow you to manualy edit it or go to Surfaces edit curve for more options.............dave

I'm still talking about the UI for soft selection. You can see the curve I tried creating in there, it's not like I wanted, I was hoping for control handle like you have in Pshop.

Attachment 50580

What are you trying to do there might be a better tool..............dave

Oh, I not really trying to use it for anything now, I was just wondering if there was a way to get the curve I wanted in that UI, for future use perhaps.

But since your talking about better tools, if you want to bend something into a slight or specific curve, do you usually use a lattice deformer?

I've already been using some of the deformers and have a reasonable idea of how they work, but I haven't used the lattice deformer yet, is that something you would use a lot?

Also, perhaps there's another way, like drawing out a curve and somehow using that to influence geometry, I'm sure Maya would have a way to do that.

It realy depends on the geometry what I would use on it if I had some thing that needed a bend all through it I would use the bend deformer...........dave

I just tried out the lattice deform to curve the top half of the body, I would say it is okay as a deformer but the UI is problematic. When selecting lattice points you can also select object vertexes, it really should only allow you to pick lattice points, that's just bad design. Maybe there's a special procedure to safe guard against this but it's not obvious.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...istory_011.jpg

This thing isn't going to have any personality until I get some wheels and windows on it, at the moment it's not really speaking to me, I should've started with the front cabin. I might start working on that next.

Some thing sounds wrong there, it should only select lattice points, right click over it and select lattice points you some time have to get over the lattice only...........dave

Here's what I think I've discoverd. If the object your deforming with the lattice is itself in object mode, then when you group select lattice points and those points sit over the body of the object, it won't work correctly.
If the object is instead set to face (non-object mode), then you are able to group select lattice points and they transform and deform the object as expected.

It's easier to show it than to say it, I'll test this method on an earlier version of my model now to see if this will work in practice.

It's still a bit fiddly, but it seems to work better now. Hey it's all good and I'm learning stuff.

(also, when you select the lattice points, have your move tool selected (or rotate/scale depending).

So, I seem to have some kind of clipping plane problem in the side view window, see image.
How do I sort that out?

Attachment 50608

It just popped up and I don't know what I did to get this problem as
it was all okay up until now.

Go to panel,view,camera attributes, near clipping plane................dave

Found the side view camera attributes for the clipping plane and brought the near clipping distance back to zero, improved but still clipping.

Attachment 50609

is it only happening in the side view............dave

And it's an orthographic viewport, the default setting on all the others for near clip distance is 0.100. I don't understand why this is no longer working, should I move the camera back?

Hi dave, yes only the side view port.

I just moved the camera back to fix it, perhaps I moved it accidentally.

I totally realize this project has no wow factor, but I always like to post a pretty complete progress of anything I put up. So, here's an update.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...istory_014.jpg

I've only just realized that you can have wire-frame on shaded in the view-ports, which makes it easier to see the different poly-flow on different objects, helpful when trying to line things up. Slowing beginning to figure out some kind of workflow in Maya that works for me.

Make it look real then theres your wow factor.............dave

Well I thought I had a handle on the 'Layers' in Maya. But I've been trying to duplicate an object and then put it into another layer, so hard to explain...

I think I have successfully copied a component into a new layer, I toggle the 'V' in the layers and it seem okay, but when I turn off the Layer the copy was made from I find that the new layer doesn't seem to actually contain anything. Only when the Layer beneath it is turned on can I see the object that I think is meant to be in the new layer.

Basically this is really what I'm trying to do. Copy something from one layer, create a new layer and paste it into that new layer.

How is something like that done with the layers? Remove from Layer and add to Layer is not working as I expect it to. This boring problem is stopping me from moving on.

What you need to do is delete the history of the dupicated part before you put the part in the layer............dave

I sorted out the layers, but it took so long and so many tries that I've forgotten what I did to make it work.
Anyway a little more progress, altered some polyflow on the door, some micro pushing and pulling points all over to sweeten curves, and the beginning of the windscreen frame.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...istory_015.jpg

Begs me pardon whilst I put up me latest meager offerings. I got sick of seeing half a car so have started mirroring things.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...istory_016.jpg

I found me the all time motherload of Kombi reference, with someone selling a van and well over 100 photos all up around inside and under of the same vehicle. Finally I am able to really see what it is I'm making and also some small changes will need to be made before I go any further, but at least I'll be able to proceed with more surety of what I'm doing.

I'm beginning to get more detailed now, I'm basically prepping all the panels for thickness.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...istory_017.jpg

Which begs the question. Is there a preferred thickening technique among the seasoned modelers out there in Maya-land? I don't see a tool specifically tagged for that purpose, so I thought I'd hold off and see what others say.

Currently just using the extrude tool and typing in a tiny negative value.

Just thickened up the front panel and the "Dogleg" panel under the door. Reduced the size of the smaller light holes, slid some edges about to smooth some curves. Feel like I'm making some progress at last.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...istory_018.jpg

Thickening these using extrude, it's okay but I need to go in afterwards and clean stuff up, I also find that the reflective tool setting doesn't always work the way perfectly, but I can deal with it.

I've just been having a lot of problems getting comfortable with the layers and outliner groupings, I've been confused and still am to some degree. I think I'm gaining some understanding but it's slowing me down a lot, so this latest update doesn't look like much.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...istory_019.jpg

I've added some new bits, but mostly it's just more point pushing to get neater curves and stuff.

Now I altered the flow of the mesh for the big 'V' at the front, smooths better even if it might not look so pretty as a mesh.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...istory_020.jpg

I'm sure I could riddle out a better solution, perhaps later.

Looks good man, front looks better this way for a high poly model, IMO

Only crits I have are that the side and top are WAY too dense for what you need, and you should try to match up the poly flow between parts, as it will help you keep uniform smoothing all the way through

Thanks, I was starting to wonder if anyone cared. It is quite dense, but I think I'm gonna need that later when I'm cutting in more detail. I've swapped to a different version of the Kombi from the original blueprint, it's now this camper model with side windows, it's because that's the version that I found all the pictures of,

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...istory_021.jpg

But I kept the other body in case I want to have the window-less model as well.

Even when it comes to cutting in details, I doubt you'll need that many edge loops, remember; you can always add more later.

Try not to be discouraged by not having many replies in your threads, this place can be pretty dead sometimes, and eventually someone will get around to it. Just keep pushing forward

Now that I've decided which version I'm doing I can finally mirror this thing, a lot of this rear has to change now.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...istory_022.jpg

Here's the model I'm doing now.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...erman/Back.jpg

Small tail lights, small window, straight up and down door frame.

Yes we are looking but it looked like you were doing a good job by your self, I dont normally coment on car models as I have never done one............dave