Complex UV Layout in Maya
Over the last couple of years UV layout in Maya has changed for the better. In this course we're going to be taking a look at some of those changes as we UV map an entire character
# 1 13-03-2012 , 03:53 PM
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Cowboy VS Alien = Hoping for a small short

Okay, this is a personal project that will take "unlimited" time to finish. I might be dreaming big, I might be shooting high, but is something I want to do and am working on. My goal is to come up with a small, tiny, mini short/trailer. Something I hope I can use one day for a job interview. I am not in a rush though but aiming to finish everything in a year and half (or 2...).

The story consist of an Alien (Simplymaya Surfing with the Alien) and the Cowboy from Eat3D latest sculpting training, which is a good reference training. The stage is set on an old fashion Western Town (you know..... the ones you see in the movies).

The rest you will have to wait for 2 years to watch the story user added image ............... if my Son doesn't ask for constant diapers changing, otherwise, it will take longer!... user added image.......... full time job, diapers, learning the new skills (rendering passes, composite, animation) and doing it.......... go easy on me you Aliens! user added image

I first started watching the eat3d cowboy training, but the more I do, the less I got what I was looking for as the image shows.

Instead of modeling from scratch an entire human figure, to speed up the process, I have quite a few free base meshes that you can get from zbrushcentral, silo and modo. Modeling is not the issue, but animating and putting everything together (compositing) is certainly the new challenge I am willing to "endure".

I started all over again in Mudbox and I'm pleased with the basic sculpt now. The hands and feet are separated meshes as I'm sculpting them as for gloves and shoes.

Overall these are the stages I'm taking to produce this short:
1. sculpt the cowboy.
2. rigg the cowboy.
3. build the cowboy town
4. bring the alien in (already modeled)
5. rigg the alien
6. starting animation
7. Rendering
8. Composite

Here are some images and the mudbox one is the latest work in progress.
Hope you enjoy it so far and feel free to shoot a la cowboy style any constructive feedback.
This will be the place where I will keep all the updates / work in progress.

Cheers everyone.
Miguel, cgisoul

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# 2 13-03-2012 , 04:42 PM
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ummmm... how long is this short?

# 3 14-03-2012 , 03:47 AM
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ummmm... how long is this short?

Im aiming for no more than 2 minutes. It's more of a trailer.
I can work and learn the necessary skills (specially compositing) during my spare time.

# 4 14-03-2012 , 10:46 PM
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Wish you well with this there is a lot to do in 2 min of animation will be looking for some updates.............dave




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# 5 16-03-2012 , 03:01 PM
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Hi Dave,

Thank you for the best wishes.

Here are some updates. The uploaded images will be the sequence of my progress, therefore I will be just naming the images as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... easy to organize.

Instead of using the base mesh feet and sculpt it to form the boot, I modeled the base mesh boot and also the hat. Still have lots and lots to do, .... just the beginning of a long journey indeed. Pretty happy with my progress so far. user added image

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# 6 16-03-2012 , 03:23 PM
# 7 16-03-2012 , 03:33 PM
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Nice work. He's missing a boot in the turntable... haha "There's a space in mah boot!"

# 8 16-03-2012 , 06:49 PM
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This is very ambitious... but it will be a great opportunity to learn.

I like the way you are breaking down the wip, I think you more than anyone will learn most from them, especially looking back over it in a years time.

anyway, good luck. Will be fun to see the progress.


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# 9 16-03-2012 , 10:23 PM
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hey good luck, 2 minute short solo is pretty impressive! I'm working on a full cg job right now. Its a lot of rendering and we have a render farm. user added image
Personally I wouldn't be going down displacement on everything route. It will be slow, especially because (i assume) you will be raytracing too.

# 10 17-03-2012 , 01:05 PM
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Compositing will be the easiest part of this project hope you have access to a renderfarm or renderman because of those diplacement maps

# 11 17-03-2012 , 01:57 PM
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Compositing will be the easiest part of this project

how come? ..

# 12 17-03-2012 , 04:41 PM
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Thank you guys for the mental support user added image

hmm... I could use Normal maps to fake the deph instead.
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Last edited by cgisoul; 18-03-2012 at 03:15 PM.
# 13 17-03-2012 , 06:33 PM
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Should have added that personally I find it that the easiest part. Animating is my most difficult part especially when you have numerous movements. I look at the graph editor and go like ughhhhh..... Whats your easiest part of the pipeline Dom thats if you are doing everything on your own?
I hope thats a multicore processor cgi soul but since there is no time limit render time wont be an issue.

# 14 17-03-2012 , 07:32 PM
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yeah man, i hate the animation and rigging part. Its so subjective, i'm trying to get my eye in a bit. I'm not very good at spotting little nuances in anim let alone doing them.
I like lighting, rendering and comping. Its the glory end of the pipeline user added image

# 15 18-03-2012 , 03:23 PM
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Glad I'm surrounded by experts in composite area. I never worked on any animation composite, only still images. My main concern would be, once I have all the models done (cowboy, alien, the town, props, etc etc) and materials on, animation done, camera set..........................

................................. How am I going to export the whole thing into After Effects for composite each part?

Let say (my humble opinion), I want to separate the Cowboy (the whole animation) separate from the Alien and the Town so I can have a better control on the color correction, hue, saturation, contrast, etc... the same goes for the Alien and the Town.
Then combine the whole three pieces together.............

How would the pipeline work? OpenEXR?

I'm doing some research in this area and could only come up with some answers, but not really the entire process. I'm not looking for something that tells me press A then press B, then press C button. I'm trying to understand the basics and the overall process how this is done for later when I reach that phase. Never too early or too late for some investigation user added image

I hope I can finish the sculpting by the end of this weekend, so I can start the painting process.

Oh and I'm running Quad Core i7 user added image

Cheers guys an thank you.

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