Well, here goes.
I have only had Maya for two months now, so I don't know very much as yet, but I want to have a go anyway. The best way to learn is by trying it out, and you need feed back to know if you are doing it right. I have learnt heaps from this forum, it is an excellent learning tool.
So, here it is so far .... it'll just be a simple ruin (from a reference photo I found) but I intend to put a lot of detail into it so that the final render looks ....... ok (I hope). :nervous:

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I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

Looking good

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-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

looking great !

I thought I would concentrate more on just the one scene and put a lot of effort into the detail, perhaps I am on the wrong track with that.
I am a bit lost as to how I can "shape" the stone blocks more and add detail to the joints between them.
I need to add more "artifacts" of the lost race, maybe a large wall medallion or a statue?
I added the pool in the foreground ..... but, I dunno, I don't think it really works .....
Maybe some volumetric lighting?

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I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

very cool sarge ..looking great.
the detail on the blocks could be acheived with careful texturing,but I can't help you there I am afraid as it's nt one of my strong points.
Hopefully some of the great modellers here will point you in the right direction....goodluck with the scene, i like it a lot

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2 x Modeling Challenge Winner

Yes, textures can add a lot when it comes to details, like cracks, carvings, symbols, etc. A little hard to tell, but if you've not, perhaps giving the blocks a slight bevel might help their appearance. Nothing in life ends at a perfectly sharp corner after all.

Looking really good. I can definitely see this becoming quite a cool piece with nice lighting and texturing.

Keep it up!

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-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

Some broken potterycould work well as well. Lots of rock textures on the web, you can modify them as well by adding designs to the bump map.

ok ..... I'm fairly happy with the level of "items" in the scene, any more and it would be a bit overdone. Now I just need to get the lighting and textures right.
here's where I need some help. I want to add volumetric lighting slanting from upper left to the wall, but I have no idea how to do it and I can't seem to find any easy tutorials on how to do it, any advice?
also, I found some really good stone texture maps but I'm not sure how to apply them, need a tut for that one too.

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I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

I'd suggest making some bricks different sizes and working on the wear of some of them, like having chunks fallen off and such.

I'd also suggest to reposition some of the bricks, especially those that you can see a noticable pattern, like the ones above the columns. Don't forget a slight bevel!

Good luck.

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-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

This is something like what I am trying to acheive, thanks to Tricecold for his excellent advice on creating volumetric lighting. just goes to show you, if you don't know how ..... just ask someone, this forum is excellent for that as most members are more then willing to help out

Just need to clean it up a lot more, add a bit more mood, maybe some more things to attract attention and focus the viewers eye to the scene ....... could do with some rock texture or this mythical bump map thing people talk about, if I can work out how to do it
Still, not too bad for my first ever Maya effort I think .....

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I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

Well I have run into a problem that I can't fix. I have worked out how to apply a texture and bump map but when I apply it some of the polygon objects wont accept it (see picy). I selected all the polygons by type, I have grouped them all, I have compared the attributes of the ones that do take the texture to the ones that don't and I can't work it out ....

Anyway, I go on annual leave in two weeks, so I may not get it finished anyway.

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I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

Have you made certain those polys have UVs?

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-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

Yeap, Sarge, the problem can be caused or because the poly has no UV's or because an improper texture projection.
Good luck.

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"Imagination is more important than knowledge" A.Einstein

ok, I'm getting very frustrated with this.
It wont accept a texture map, some blocks just wont project, it has something to do with the UVs, you were right. If I make changes it fixes some and changes others. So a simple lambert with a granite texture will do. the background was too dark so I opened it up to the "sky" a bit more. Anyway, I have run out of time, so this will probably be my last post for this comp.

Maybe I'll do better in the next one.

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I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

Still another month to go.

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-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt