Introduction to Maya - Modeling Fundamentals Vol 1
This course will look at the fundamentals of modeling in Maya with an emphasis on creating good topology. We'll look at what makes a good model in Maya and why objects are modeled in the way they are.
# 91 26-06-2010 , 01:38 AM
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No worries mate!!! anytime.... if you need more just PM and let me know...I have heaps of them...standard details etc etc and if you need pics I have some and am building it up in resources..my dropbox. I await a better camera (as the wife has sole rights over the digi) to get photos of what I do and the materials involved for streetscaping. I have plans which show them but photos to go with it will help.

Here is an example of a different kerb profile and the road. I have all of this kind of stuff somewhere.....

cheers bullet

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bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes
# 92 26-06-2010 , 02:26 AM
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What Im also trying to do eventually mate..is get a folder with photos etc of real world stuff to share with you guys so you have an idea what the streets are about. I dont see a lot of the stuff..I guess..people miss in landscapes. Some of it I suppose you dont need but for realism (in your case prob not too important) you do.

I hope to be as good as you in modelling and make contruction machines (of which I can and do operate), materials, components etc and build up a file to just use anytime. Of which I of course will be glad to share.

My first model on machines will be a 14 tonne Volvo excavator then a 20 tonner etc. A lot of peoplethink youcan just scale these machines up and down for size..but you cant..thay are all a little different. Getting GOOD and PROPER blueprints is hard..but the advantage is this...I see them everyday and can get 1000's!! of photo's to model with...right down to the monika on the nuts and bolts..bahahaha

Anyway sorry for the hijack....you get the picture.

You are doing very well

cheers bullet

user added image


https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4090628/Perf...er_manhole.3gp

It opens in Quicktime


bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes
# 93 27-06-2010 , 10:43 PM
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Playground Touched up

I went back and touched up the playground. Still working on community layout so it's still going to be awhile before I model any new items and such. Polygon count is the big issue. I'm going to limit each street to 4 or 5 houses on each side of the street. That's the kind of stuff I'm trying to sort out.

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# 94 28-06-2010 , 02:02 AM
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Where are you concerned about poly count? In viewport or at render time?

# 95 28-06-2010 , 03:39 AM
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One thing I just feel I should mention Perfecto. The playground you posted with the grass I really liked that. I'm not suggesting you go back to it being grass, but maybe turn it to sand? I haven't been to a lot of playgrounds but the few I have been to in my childhood were loose stones, or sand.

Doing a quick search on google "Playgrounds" and do an image search. They have some cool looking grounds for playgrounds. It just feels something needs to break it up a little bit from playground to non playground areas. Like I said, this is just what I was thinking when looking at it. Other than my little nit pick it's looking pretty good. Great work as always, your name fits you well.

# 96 28-06-2010 , 03:49 AM
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We still have grass in Australia Rhet!! bahahaha they hardly use sand here now, gravel is out..too many lawsuits..metal toys/rides are out..lawsuits, grass is SOMETIMES real..water issues..and the surface around all of the new playgrounds now has some sort of rubbery kind of carpet on them. Its all changed mate..LOL and they got rid of the sand because of syringes and broken glass and cats

cheers bullet


bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes

Last edited by bullet1968; 28-06-2010 at 03:53 AM.
# 97 28-06-2010 , 04:13 AM
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Originally posted by stwert
Where are you concerned about poly count? In viewport or at render time?

At render time. I plan on creating some characters and doing animations and I don't want to have rendering problems because of poly count being too high, which will crash my computer. The camera will mostly be around eye level (from a characters view) and so that will help keep render views from being too geo heavy.

Aerial views would be out of the question because that would put too much geometry into the renders and crash for sure. Of course, I could always outsource the rendering I suppose.


Don't be satisfied with what you can do but rather strive to do the things you can't do!
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# 98 29-06-2010 , 09:59 AM
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yes, brilliant! Could you tell me how you made the trees in detail? They look so realistic! Mad work!

# 99 29-06-2010 , 08:45 PM
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Thanks Aurorap. I made a cube and extruded to create the tree trunks and limbs. As for the leaves though, I created particles and then modeled a some leaves and then replaced the particles with the leaves. Particles>Instancer (Replacement). I use a specific pattern though to get that look but some secrets I like to keep for myself user added image. Just play around with it and eventually you WILL get a decent looking tree too. I'm still tweaking mine and trying to make it even more efficient for rendering LOTS of trees.

Hope that helps you some.


Don't be satisfied with what you can do but rather strive to do the things you can't do!
Exceed Expectations!
# 100 24-07-2010 , 06:12 PM
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Very cartoonish feel, i see that you are heavily inspired by pixar lighting/texturing.

I would however suggest to make some adjustments( yes sorry user added image ):

With the playground for instance you have to consider the function, I would not place a Kindergarden that close to a road, I would also choose a fence like this :
https://www.beranhekwerken.nl/images/...kwerk%2004.jpg
and place it around the playground so toddlers won't run up the road.
The overall look is to yellow, I did some minor tweaks( mainly adding blue) as comparison.
Good job!user added image

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# 101 24-07-2010 , 09:18 PM
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Mastone,

the colour edit you did is good...how the hell did you do that? PS?

as for fences...well they dont have them. Trust me I Survey them..no fences. They are however set back from the road with a 20m grass area..but they really dont have fences. The only thing they have around parks here are bollards...like a horse tie..only 0.6m high.

I guess it depends what country you are in at the time..LOL. The last one I did looked similar to this...only a few bench seats (with gables) and 2 BBQ's

cheers bullet


bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes
# 102 24-07-2010 , 10:11 PM
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Yeah, that color correction looks awesome mastone. I totally agree about it being too yellow. That's from the color of the light. I didn't spend anytime with the light setup nor did I do any compositing. It was just a simple quick render with a directional light and FG. But I totally agree with you.

The fences at the playgrounds where I live are either wooden, or they don't have a fence. But I'll have to admit, they are NOT right on the edge of the road, lol.

Thanks guys


Don't be satisfied with what you can do but rather strive to do the things you can't do!
Exceed Expectations!
# 103 25-07-2010 , 12:13 PM
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@bullet1968:
" the colour edit you did is good...how the hell did you do that? PS?"
Thanks and the color edit in itself isn't the biggest thing, I think everyone knows how to adjust color in PS/GIMP or whatever, the hardest part is to see that it needs adjusting and try to view an image if it was the first time you saw it , I have learned to do this by taking a render in PS and play with the colors/brightness etc preferably using adjustment layers so I can switch them on and off to compare.
If you don't know how I did it :
I used color balance in PS and there you"ll see that the " opposite of yellow is blue, If you view the backrgound of perfecto's render you"ll see it's a clear blue sky and the atmosphere has to reflect on the playground, I actually exaggerated the blue to make the difference more noticeable, it should be a tad less.
"........Trust me I Survey them..no fences. ....."
- This is pretty disturbing, I hope I misread LOL

@ Perfecto
Sure I realise this is a w.i.p., If you would judge my work on it's first renders you would argue i am the worst charactermodeler there is user added image.
I am not sure if you are going for the Pixar look but if you see their renders( obviously they use Renderman-but the same principles apply), you" ll see despite of the cartoonish look and feel, that the separate materials and objects have a realistic feel and look , I like the little bush beside the bench at the front although it feels flattened( colorwise), the little variations in light/shadow/color, makes it look realistic, I would add specular at al the metal especially the merry go round, since it's at the deadcenter of your image( Change the camera angle by going a bit to the left with it and turning it to the right( better composition), Make the transition between the sidewalk to the path up the park smoother , by placing some pebbles at the sidewalk, use fur to simulate grass and set the texturefilter of all your textures to .1 ( is 1.0 default), especially when you use FG this will make your textures look crisper instead of blotchy, also make sure you add a Gamma correct node at each texture connection and set it to .45-.65 ( Linear Workflow).
I would also check your FG settings in general since it's flattening your final render to much( I never use FG when using Directional lights, only with incandessent objects or area lights since a directional light is infinite it tends to render very long when using FG/GI etc)

# 104 25-07-2010 , 12:28 PM
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Thanks for the input mate...hmmm PS..I will have to learn more. LOL NO you didnt misread at all....all of the estates I have Surveyed (I am an Engineering Surveyor..LOL) do not have fences. AND yes I get your joke..bahahahahaha. You are now disturbed...


bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes
# 105 25-07-2010 , 02:29 PM
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I'm like a sponge mastone soaking up your input. I've spent the last 3 years pretty much doing nothing but modeling object after object but hardly any effort on texturing, lighting, compositing etc. so I'm really grateful for all the advice your giving me. Even though I've shelved this community project until I can figure out how I want to develop the characters, I think I'll play around with all the suggestions you've made.

Unfortunately I don't have fur anymore. I used to have the student version of Maya unlimited but I couldn't affort the commercial version of it, so I only have complete user added image. I did get shave and a haircut which seems to make some really good grass too but I don't have the commercial version of it either so when I render out hair and grass and such it puts an ugly grid on the renders. So I'm pretty much stuck with grass textures unless anyone has any other suggestions/ideas on making decent looking grass. I tried using alpha maps for making grass but it just doesn't quite give the right look. Then again neither does a plain with grass texture on it, haha.


Don't be satisfied with what you can do but rather strive to do the things you can't do!
Exceed Expectations!
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