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 03-11-2014 , 03:15 PM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75

Zoidzilla (Gojulus)

So I wanted to immortalise this blast from my past in 3D. Well, it was already 3D, but you know...
Don't ask what methods I use to model stuff. I guess it varies At the moment, it's just a collection of pieces. Nothing has a name, even. Sloppy, but nobody is paying me; I'M the boss here. It's not posed at all cus I just find it easier to keep everything oriented straight until the end.
No idea if I'm gonna map textures onto it, or just create a bunch of materials. I've never really explored what you can do with the hypershade cus it makes no sense at all. It's more fun to take a UV map into Photoshop and just go wild, but it always looks pretty fake...like a video game, so...I dunno. I'll post more pics as I finish it
[IMG]user added image[/IMG]

[IMG]user added image[/IMG]

[IMG]user added image[/IMG]

Attached Thumbnails

Last edited by xgabrielx; 13-11-2014 at 07:11 PM.
# 2 03-11-2014 , 09:56 PM
Lifetime Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 91
UV map painted textures shouldn't look fake..


Creativity is limitless
# 3 07-11-2014 , 12:00 AM
tweetytunes's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Bolton - UK
Posts: 2,457


# 4 07-11-2014 , 12:27 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75
I assume it's the classic, since I've had it since...I dunno..the 80's I guess. I liked the old zoids when they looked mechanical and you could see all the moving parts. Then they tried to go for a sleeker look like everything else, and they ruined it. I'm not even sure I have all the parts, I guess I should try assembling it. I don't have a diagram or anything, I'm just holding the pieces in my hand and guestimating. I might even try to animate it. I assume that if I make all the parts into rigid bodies, then rotate the bits that rotate on the real thing, then it will HAVE to move like the real thing. Which, if I remember right, was a very jerky affair.

# 5 07-11-2014 , 12:31 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75
Oh, I never saw the link. That's awesome. I guess that's the newer version? I'll have to too a nice render when mine is more complete, but I'm waiting on a new mouse. My middle button died, so it was a pain in the butt positioning the camera. Guess I should have just made another perspective cam and opened another view

# 6 07-11-2014 , 12:38 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75
oops. I think I deleted my reply instead of editing it. Yeah, mine is the old version. It's from the 80's I think. I have all (I hope) the parts in a bag. Did you ever finish yours? It looks awesome.
I never really tried any modelling before. I used models I found online in video projects. This is my first from-scratch model, alongside a model of Carew castle, inside and out, that is going to take me forever. Yup. I live in Wales, too.

Edit: Guess I never deleted it. Well, it sure disappeared for a while

# 7 07-11-2014 , 11:46 PM
tweetytunes's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Bolton - UK
Posts: 2,457
Yer I was going for the new one.

I have built many a toy from just having it in my hand - but a quick google search never hurts hehehe.

Yer never worry about the renders until its done :-)


# 8 08-11-2014 , 12:08 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75
I meant to do some work on it today cus it's sat there for months. I ended up spending hours cleaning up messy geometry in a few places, then realised it would be quicker to just re-make those parts. I was gonna upload progress pics, but I'll wait till there's some progress. All I did today was add some of the detail stuff that people loved so much on 80's toys. Pipes and random mechanical looking bits like on the ships in the original star-wars movies. I also gotta figure out how to properly upload pics here.

Oh, and was it ever finished? I followed the thread, but it ended suddenly.

# 9 08-11-2014 , 12:22 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75
No real progress here. Just turned on the mesh in the display so y'all can see how lazy I am. I generally just make all the little bits and put them together. You won't see many complex single meshes
[IMG]user added image[/IMG]
[IMG]user added image[/IMG]
[IMG]user added image[/IMG]
[IMG]user added image[/IMG]

# 10 08-11-2014 , 02:26 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75
Anyway, I spent most of my time cleaning some really messy meshes. I don't know if they were unfinished or if I somehow created a ton of extra geometry without realising. Anyway, I couldn't let myself leave without modelling something, so I added the cooling fan thing you see here, and the pipes and stuff below it and to the right.
By the way...it's the first time I ever used the Duplicate Special option. Seriously. I never read the manual or watch tutorials. It's all trial and error, but I'll be using that a lot in future.

Edit: I just noticed that I've used the smooth dealie. You can see it in the post before this one. I was just looking at it and some of the edges didn't seem to be doing anything. Why did I do that? I have no idea. That was months ago



[IMG]user added image[/IMG]


Last edited by xgabrielx; 08-11-2014 at 02:31 AM.
# 11 08-11-2014 , 04:37 PM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75
Since this is my first proper model, and I haven't touched it for months, I keep finding stuff and thinking, HUH? For example, this piece in the tail. It appears I've applied a smooth node at some point, but, since the piece has flat faces AND curved faces, some of the geometry doesn't actually do anything to alter the shape and is pointless.
[IMG]user added image[/IMG]

So, I've manually deleted unnecessary edge loops and verts:

user added image

Now I gotta go see if I've done anything stupid elsewhere.

# 12 09-11-2014 , 02:21 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75
Been too busy cleaning stuff to model much. Spot the 5 sided polygons in the pic...
[IMG]user added image[/IMG]

# 13 09-11-2014 , 02:54 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75
Coupla questions: Anyone know how to set a thumbnail for this thread? Why the fuss about triangles? Is it really a big deal? And why? Every time I make a circle I put a tiny edge loop right in the middle and delete the triangles cus I was told they are bad, but I have no idea why. And is it really a problem to model by just making lots of little pieces? People seem to go to great lengths to "grow" the model as a single piece of geometry, and I don't quite get why. Is it to avoid seams when texturing? Or does it only apply to soft, squishy organic stuff? Or is it to do with what might happen further down an actual production work flow and it doesn't matter if you're just making a static model? I just don't see how it could ever matter in a model like this one.

# 14 09-11-2014 , 11:09 PM
daverave's Avatar
The thin red line
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: England
Posts: 4,472
To get a thumb nail use the "Manage Attachment" to upload a photo( this must be done in your first post of your thread). It has been a industry standard to model in quads but you are right that there are times were this is not possible ( I would try were possible to model in quads as at the end of the day it will make you a better modeller). The way you have modelled your model is fine, if you had made it in one piece it would have been impossible to UV it. One mesh is fine for organics as normally organics are flowing objects. see link it might help you to understand when to smooth or bevel...........dave

https://simplymaya.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36149




Avatar Challenge Winner 2010
# 15 10-11-2014 , 02:28 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 75
Ahh, that was cool. I notice quite a bit of what he described as "artefacting". I have no idea what causes it sometimes, cus I know from the way I modeled the part that the face is totally planar

Posting Rules Forum Rules
You may not post new threads | You may not post replies | You may not post attachments | You may not edit your posts | BB code is On | Smilies are On | [IMG] code is On | HTML code is Off