Introduction to Maya - Rendering in Arnold
This course will look at the fundamentals of rendering in Arnold. We'll go through the different light types available, cameras, shaders, Arnold's render settings and finally how to split an image into render passes (AOV's), before we then reassemble it i
# 1 26-09-2011 , 01:43 AM
Jr.Who
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JrWho vs. Joopson

Hey guys,

My name is Steven Palmesano and my buddy who is going to join me for this friendly competition is Andrew Leslie. We both started using Maya at around the same time (I started in 2006). However, I was young and stupid and did not take 3D art as seriously as I should have. Now that I only have a year left in school I realize the need to be more serious about my artwork so I have decided to get back onto forums.

The reason we are doing this is because we are both on break and have some free time. Instead of partying and relaxing, I thought it would be better to work on a project. We are going to start this competition on Tuesday, 9/27. Here are the rules we have decided on:

•Environment related
•CGSociety, Polycount, and SimplyMaya forums
•Begin time is 8/9 AM (CST/EST) and end time is 8/9 PM
•WIP shots can be posted as frequently as the gentleman wants to post them
•Final images are to be posted before this deadline, no exceptions
•Topic for voting will be made shortly after the competition is finished, with the final renders from both of us
•Voting period is three days, so it will approximately end on 9/30 at 8/9 PM
•Winner is determined by the sum of the sites' total votes combined
•No work can be done on the project prior to the starting time
•No previous models can be implemented
•References can be collected before start time
•How the artist presents his work is up to him
•No PaintFX!

However, we have not decided on a defined topic yet. I wanted to do some kind of animal hybrid with mechanical elements. Andy did not think this was as cool as I did though, so I brought up the alternative of doing an interior scene. We thought it was best to leave the decision of a topic up to the community, so you guys can decide what you want us to do! I am short on time tonight, but I wanted to get this topic out there. If anyone wants to know anything else or has a recommendation, please do not keep quiet!

Thanks,
Steven Palmesano

# 2 26-09-2011 , 03:00 AM
Gen's Avatar
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Ha! Cool. A friendly CG slap fight here and there is good stuff. Since its environment related, maybe an alien world, that can be hard surface/ organic friendly. This challenge sounds good, I'll be watching user added image


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# 3 26-09-2011 , 05:36 AM
Acid44
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Having seen some of Joop's environment stuff, this could turn out awesome.

# 4 27-09-2011 , 12:32 AM
Jr.Who
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Forgot to mention that me and Andy are going to be recording the whole thing and creating a time-lapse so that beginners can watch how we work. As Andy put it, our theme is "Do an interior - do whatever type we want". I will be posting my reference photo later tonight once I have finally decided on what it is.

# 5 27-09-2011 , 02:53 AM
Jr.Who
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Here's the reference that I finally decided on doing. I'm not planning on getting everything modeled out during this competition, just want to get something started for my reel.

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# 6 27-09-2011 , 06:16 AM
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Ok, I'm going for a Gothic-style rotunda sort of thing, like the shot from Knights of the nine- but with a dome instead of that flat thing they put in. Stained glass, et cetera. Maybe put some cool cave-ish bits into the tunnels; or at least some broken ruin pieces. Should be very fun!
Refs:
1
2
3


Environment Artist @ Plastic Piranha
www.joopson.com
# 7 27-09-2011 , 06:38 AM
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Very good I will be watching too LOL go fellas go

cheers bullet


bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes
# 8 27-09-2011 , 03:37 PM
Jr.Who
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I learned today that I am really slow at modeling. :/ Spent a lot of time blocking out the space. I still feel as if the scale is off.

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# 9 27-09-2011 , 04:28 PM
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Long story short:
Felt like a huge jerk for neglecting my family- so I'm not doing this anymore. At least not today or during vacation.

JrWho is still doing his, though, on his own, and it will still turn out awesome. He's got skillz.- and I will do an environment like this soon, just not today or during vacation. It just seemed idiotic of me to spend one of my few days home doing something that I could do any day back in California. Darn guilt!

Sorry for the nonsense.

This is all I'd done.
user added image


Environment Artist @ Plastic Piranha
www.joopson.com

Last edited by Joopson; 27-09-2011 at 04:46 PM.
# 10 27-09-2011 , 04:55 PM
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I learned today that I am really slow at modeling. :/ Spent a lot of time blocking out the space. I still feel as if the scale is off.

i'd agree about the scale.

# 11 27-09-2011 , 08:07 PM
Jr.Who
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Spent some more time trying to fix the space and scale. Closer, but not quite there yet. Ran into at least three or four crashes already but nothing major. I've only done a couple basic interiors, so this one is definitely helping me learn some new stuff.

Also, the reason I'm being a douche and doing this while at home on break is because… well I live at home. Haha

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# 12 27-09-2011 , 11:03 PM
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For the scale mate I would do this (cant resist Im a Surveyor..sorry). Your average ceiling (well here in Australia) is approx 2.4...I have scaled this and got 48mm per actual metre. The angle is a bit hard but it will gove you basics. Standard door is 0.85 to 0.9 wide...I have checked this and got 0.85..which is close so my scale is correct. The floor width is 5.16...I would say more like 5.2m as unusual di mensions are rare. The stairway is a standard 1.2 m here...could be different in the States.

Pretty much I have opened it in Paint and NOT altered the image size when scaling. This is a standard thing I do when I do a room etc..I look for doors and assume ceiling height and go from there. You could even scale off the furniture and fireplace as well mate. Hope it has helped in some way.

cheers bullet

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bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes
# 13 28-09-2011 , 12:28 AM
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if you are modeling the room. why not just line up the camera and model with this as the backplate?

# 14 28-09-2011 , 12:53 AM
Jr.Who
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bullet1968, thank you so much for that! I'll definitely use that advice when I open the file up again. I need to study more architecture. My biggest problem was with the camera angle and the stairs.

honestdom, I had a couple images in Maya, but I didn't use them much. I actually had an 18x12 print of it sitting next to me for reference.

I'm glad that I went along with this exercise. I learned quiet a bit while modeling and can't wait to get my time-lapse ready. Here's the renders. Please, feel free to give as much critique as you can, I certainly need it!

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Last edited by Jr.Who; 28-09-2011 at 12:58 AM.
# 15 28-09-2011 , 12:54 AM
Jr.Who
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And two more.

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