Rodney (from the movie Robots)

# 1 11-04-2007 , 10:26 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007

Location: TN (USA)

Posts: 1,889

Since I was in the robot mode, I decided to go ahead and model Rodney from the movie Robots. No image planes, just going by the movie and the dvd box.

Attached Images

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

Quote

# 2 12-04-2007 , 07:41 AM

Subscriber
Join Date: Feb 2006

Location: London

Posts: 703

its really neat. keep at it :attn: :attn:

A pint of example is worth a gallon of advice!!

Quote

# 3 12-04-2007 , 08:14 AM

Lead Modeler - Framestore
Join Date: Feb 2003

Location: UK

Posts: 6,287

Heh, I was only watching this yesterday, for some droid ideas.

A Good start to this one so far...

Cheers
Jay

Quote

# 4 12-04-2007 , 06:14 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2004

Location: Portugal

Posts: 214

Really cool start....no critics so far...keep it up

Really like that movie ehehhe...special the breakdance robbot part

"One day someone tells me that I was no one, no one is perfect, if God is perfect so I'm God" - No One

Quote

# 5 12-04-2007 , 11:35 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007

Location: my house!!

Posts: 261

Finish him, and then model Bumper (I think that's his name...[red]) and have his hand fall out and do a little dance! That'd be fun! Sweet work my friend! KUTGW

Sparticus

Expect to excell...

Quote

# 6 13-04-2007 , 12:28 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007

Location: TN (USA)

Posts: 1,889

I could use a little help here. I want to extrude a circle around the rim of the eye sockets. I want it to look like I created a torus which lies on the rim (only way I could think to describe what I'm trying to do). The model is all polygons. I tried to select all edges around eye socket and then selected a circle, and then extruded (surface) with the following 4 options, Tube/At Path/Component/Profile. I played around with the extrude settings (3 hours) and just can't seem to achieve what I need to do.

wasatch5_sparticus: Fender/Bumper looks pretty quick and easy to do so I may just model him next. Although, I don't know about the animation part, I've only got a month (6 weeks) experience with 3d.

Attached Images

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

Last edited by Perfecto; 13-04-2007 at 12:33 AM.

Quote

# 7 13-04-2007 , 10:03 AM

Registered User
Join Date: May 2005

Location: United States

Posts: 513

Hope this helps, Perfecto.

First, download the "make tubes" script from here:

https://www.lightstorm3d.com/download...createTube.htm

Stick it on your desktop, or whatever...but open it up, and extract all 3 of the files to your Maya X.X scripts folder.

If Maya is already open, type "rehash" in the command line, and then type "createTube;" this will start the script, and the rest is pretty self explanatory.

However, you will first need a curve for the script to act ON; make the model's head live, so you can draw a curve on it. Use the CV curve tool, and hold "v" so that you can point snap your curves control points to where-ever your models eyesocket-vertices are. You might have to zoom in quite a bit to do this. Lastly, be sure to snap your final control point to your first control point.

Make the head un-live.

Now run the script (with the curve selected), and enter your parameters (no worries; it has construction history, so once you make it, you can tweak numbers as you see fit in the channel box).

Hope this method works ^_^

As a side note, Maya has a built-in feature that allows you to do the same as the above script...but I don't know what it is, or where/how to access it :p

Really, the above script is just as good, if not better.

EDIT:

The above method will make a NURBS surface; if you want it to be polys, you will have to delete it's history, and go to Modify -> Convert -> NURBS to Polygons.

EDIT:

Uh-oh...I've been messing around with this, and snapping the last control point of a curve to the first one is making a subtle "teardrop" look.

I'll try working at it to see if I can remedy it; I'll let you know if I make any progress.

EDIT:

Create the CV curve, and snap the last point to the first point. Press enter to complete the curve, and make sure it is selected. Now go to Edit Curves -> Open/Close Curve -> Options. Reset the settings and apply.

But now if you run the createTube script, you still get a slight "pinched" teardrop-like shape...grrr...:headbang:

EDIT (again!?):

At the point where I joined the first and last points, I right-clicked, and chose "isoparms," and selected the two that make up the "pinch."

Under Edit NURBS -> Isoparms -> Options, reset the settings, but change "At Selection" to "between Selections."

This leaves the pinch, but if you can find a way to delete the other two isoparms and get clean geometry, all is well and good in the universe...I tried simply selecting and deleting them, but Maya oddly offsets the remaining central edge.

Last edited by severinianthony; 13-04-2007 at 10:52 AM.

Quote

# 8 13-04-2007 , 10:56 AM

Registered User
Join Date: May 2005

Location: United States

Posts: 513

Well, just to show you what I've been trying, here's an image.

I've just been trying this on a cylinder; the blue circle is the tube that the script made, and the two yellow isoparms are the area where the obnoxious pinch is occuring...

Attached Thumbnails

Click image for larger version

Name: image.jpg
Views: 380
Size: 139.2 KB
ID: 34005

Quote

# 9 13-04-2007 , 10:58 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007

Location: TN (USA)

Posts: 1,889

severinianthony, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY AWESOME. Thanks a whole heap for taking the time to try and figure this out for me. I'm anxious to get off work and try it out. I've seen the "make live" menu item and wondered what that was. Sounds like a handy tool.

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

Quote

# 10 13-04-2007 , 11:04 AM

Registered User
Join Date: May 2005

Location: United States

Posts: 513

No trouble. user added image

I like helping, and if something goes wrong, and we have to troubleshoot, all the better; problems make us learn.

As for make live, if you haven't already figured it out, it basically tells maya, "hey, draw this curve onto this object." Without it, maya will just draw curves on the grid.

Handy indeed user added image

Quote

# 11 13-04-2007 , 11:38 AM

Registered User
Join Date: May 2005

Location: United States

Posts: 513

BOO-YAH!

Fixed ^_^

Rebuild the curve, and then use the tube script.

So, here is the final list of instructions:

1) Select geometry.

2) Use CV curve tool, and use "v" to point snap curve points to every vertex. Snap the last point to the first point, and press enter.

As you do this, COUNT how many points you place. Do NOT count the first/last twice; only once. Mentally call this "number of points."

3) Edit Curves -> Open/Close Curves -> Options. Reset the settings (use defaults)

4) Edit Curves -> Rebuild Curves -> Options. Reset settings. Change "Number of spans" to the number you counted above ("number of points").

5) And now do the createTube script.

Note that I left out "make live;" Maya (7.0) does not allow point snapping on an object that has been made live.

Attached Thumbnails

Click image for larger version

Name: image.jpg
Views: 388
Size: 125.0 KB
ID: 34010

Quote

# 12 13-04-2007 , 01:07 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007

Location: TN (USA)

Posts: 1,889

I went home for lunch to try it out but I forgot to download the tube script file before I left. So, I ended up making the model live and then used the curve tool to draw a curve around the eye socket snapping the last point to the first. Then I went to the Open/Close options and selected "Blend" instead of "Preserve" (default) in the shape field. Then made the model not live and created a small circle to extrude with. I selected the circle and the curve that I created and then performed a nurbs extrude. Worked perfectly.

Selecting "Blend" instead of "Preserve" in the Open/Close options, took care of the pinch problem.

I still plan on downloading the tube script and trying that out too, to see which method I like best. Thanks for the help. Really apprciate it...now I can continue on.

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

Quote