Introduction to Maya - Modeling Fundamentals Vol 2
This course will look in the fundamentals of modeling in Maya with an emphasis on creating good topology. It's aimed at people that have some modeling experience in Maya but are having trouble with complex objects.
# 46 20-01-2007 , 11:04 PM
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Mirek,

I just opened up the option box for SmoothProxy, reset the setting to default then hit Smooth. The smoothed copy is created directly on top of the chunky version. You've just got to select it and move it out of the way.

When using Full for mirror behaviour, I always have to delete a low poly mirror of the original object then move the higher poly smooth proxy out of the way - they're always created ontop of each other.. A good exercise is to play with half of a sphere created with 4 divisions in each direction.

Simon.



In case the defaults have changed between 7 & 8, here's what all the options are set to when I use the tool, without mirroring.

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# 47 21-01-2007 , 11:29 PM
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OK, sounds great, thansk for that. What are you working on at the moment?


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# 48 22-01-2007 , 07:28 AM
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Not a problem Mirek. Glad to help.

Um, at the moment I'm just about finished with the modelling of Joan - just got hair and a few accesories to go. Also a joker character from a deck of cards and a couple of fictional circus characters to go with him. Really looking forward to the guy that breathes fire.

Just watched the Making of Matrix Revolutions the other day. I got a real boost from seeing maya on the pcs they were using, lots of new ideas - lots of new things to try.

Too many ideas, not enough time. Where to begin, where to begin..

S.

# 49 22-01-2007 , 08:08 AM
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dduuuurrr, yea, sorry, I'm over worked (and completely under/no pay user added image ) now I remember, of course.., Joan of Arc! Best I go over there and check it out.

Yes, I know what you mean, Maya is amazing but it gets on top of you.., Maya is BIG and trying to do multiple tasks on it and having to use/learn a compositor and an editor.., well, it is a lot for anyone. I want to make a little five minute animation but the logistics are huge.., not the least is writing or getting a script that's worth spending all the time it takes doing the movie.., anything from a week to, well, its endless. A 3 minute movie that was used as an example of movie making (animation) in 3D World took the guy a year I think. From what I remember it took a year or something like that. It won awards and stuff, very nice animation and very pretty stuff, about a prey mantis, very good stuff. But yea, Maya is fun and watching it on those 'how we did it' docos is very inspiring. If you can get 'Shinobai' check out the doco in that, from motion builder, to Maya, to Boujou, to maya, to motion builder, to fusion, to maya.., ect. ect.

script
story board
previs
modelling
compositing
editing
music and post sound
and whatever I have missed plus TIME....

yes, it IS big, no wonder people take on specific areas and work as a team focused on a single objective.., not much would get done if everyone was an auteur.


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# 50 01-02-2007 , 12:20 AM
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third time lucky!!!

got bombed when I went to 8.5. the first time I loaded it there was no translation tools. I would press 'W' and it would go to 'components mode.' ????

so I didn't know if it was coincidence (??) or what but I didn't want to mess with it so I ditched it and anyway, I realised as I got near the end of the third part of the tut I could have done better, the lines were all wrong, too many, too everything so best stat again.

boring but I hope this time better.

I messed this one up and had to delete the neck, put a new one in and that messed up the arm and I got angry and deleted the arm. now I'm going to watch TV .

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# 51 01-02-2007 , 11:22 AM
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and again.., feeling sort of out of sorts here or there or everywhere..?

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# 52 01-02-2007 , 11:26 AM
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*shrug* looks pretty good to me so far


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# 53 01-02-2007 , 10:07 PM
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really?? thanks, I was sort of thinking i'm hopeless!


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# 54 02-02-2007 , 02:24 AM
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Why??


Looks fine to me.


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# 55 02-02-2007 , 08:23 PM
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you really think its OK? I just think it doesn't look like kurts and i tried to do that, the arms look too far back, i keep thinking i should start again but i know with that sort of thinking i wil never finish it and it is sort of a sign of up myself thinking. you know, have to be perfect!

i wil just continue with it then, you guys think so??


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# 56 02-02-2007 , 11:28 PM
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eee.. third time?! well third times the charm as they quote,

i think the arms abit fat? user added image

"i wil just continue with it then, you guys think so??"

its up too you, if you do... youll get more prac and this will probably reduce any errors you may encounter in the future maybe ...

# 57 03-02-2007 , 12:35 PM
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fat?? same as image plane from front, too thin from top, but there is something about them that is out, but I will contnue with it anyway, not on that computer at the moment though.

will get back to it when I take that chair )


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# 58 03-02-2007 , 01:57 PM
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the form arm looks abit like popeyes! lol... but i think when you do work on it, the end result will look much better...

[edit: lol that used to be my nickname when i was a kid, popeye the great..haha!]

# 59 03-02-2007 , 02:56 PM
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my name as a kid was 'bugs' not as in bugs bunny, but because i was always sick user added image


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# 60 03-02-2007 , 04:56 PM
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Well I've always been known as Beech. An' nah, that's not a spelling error. It's part of my surname. It's also (with different spelling) where you'd find me every summer till I was about 20.

As for Franky, don't sweat it mate - it's kindof a bugger since you only get the front image to work off. But you've gotta change the model a bit from the pic to get it to look okay in 3d anyway. Kurt does it with the crotch as you'll see if you haven't already.

As for the arms that make Arnold S. look a bit on the small side - it's much easier just to build him first then to go and adjust the CVs in subd mode. Then you can see what it looks like and you're not just guessin. Poly proxy works ok too, but subds were easier for me on this one.

With the arms being too far back, they look fine to me - but again, I wouldn't sweat it over that. With a model I'm doing at the mo', the girl's on her tippy toes and the knees are almost behind the ankles from a side on view. Now I could painstakingly try to adjust the model as a set of vertices. but as I theorized and checked out the other day, what would take me 30-45mins+ to do by hand, I can do in under 5 minutes using a skeleton!!

Just lay out the joints, do a smooth bind, adjust the position of the joints to get a more natural stance and it's done. All the parts get rotated correctly, I can do rotations in local space ather than world. It's just so much easier.

The part I'd be concentrating on, the part that I got the most out of, was only keeping 4 sided polys that give a superlight mesh when converted to subds. The rest of it's just style, imho.

Here's the profile shot I mentioned. It seriously took 5 mins to fix up the model, using joints.

Simon.

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Last edited by enhzflep; 03-02-2007 at 04:59 PM.
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