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 08-09-2003 , 07:57 PM
clebo99's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Baltimore
Posts: 75

Very Basic Newbie Questions

Hey Everyone,

I have recently become really interested in MAYA and I have started working with the software about 2-3 weeks ago. I am learning somewhat quickly but I have some basic questions that the books I bought haven't touched on:

(I know I'm jumping way ahead in what I should be learning)

- The best way I learn is looking at something and reverse engineering it. Is there a site where I can say download a project that has a person and its joints all set up? What about other items (anything) that I use. Is there a depositorary of these types of items that people share (much like people share VB/Winbatch code).

- If I wanted to create a scene that was say 5 minutes long, how long should I have the time line? Would I split the scene into smaller scenes or would it all be just one big scene?

- How do I finalize a scene so I can export it as an AVI or something to be imported into a Video Studio program like Studio 8.

Thanks in advance everyone. Hopefully in several months, I can start doing some good projects.

Chris, Baltimore.

# 2 08-09-2003 , 08:01 PM
ckyuk's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Great Britain
Posts: 1,336
For information on finalizing the scene to make an avi check the video tutorials i think there is one on the subject.

# 3 08-09-2003 , 08:03 PM
ckyuk's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Great Britain
Posts: 1,336
As for a place you can download scenes, i know one but can't tell you as the moderators will have a go at me for putting up a burger king poster in McDonalds again (u know the site) so try searching for "*.mb download" or something.

# 4 08-09-2003 , 10:29 PM
clebo99's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Baltimore
Posts: 75
Thanks for the responses!!!! I'll give your suggestions a try.

Chris

PS, why would the moderators mind? Are there places I can download something on this page or am I just making a fo paux (sp?)

# 5 09-09-2003 , 06:16 PM
ckyuk's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Great Britain
Posts: 1,336
Because i advertised the site when asking a question before and they didn't like it becuase it's like saying "here's a great site go spend your money there not here" as they also did video tutorials you could buy. You can see what they're saying, i know i wouldn't like it if i was running a site like this and someone started advertising our biggest rival site. I just wasn't thinking when i posted my question.

# 6 09-09-2003 , 06:19 PM
ckyuk's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Great Britain
Posts: 1,336
If they want to give you the address i suggest you check it out as it has some great scene files you can download, but i'm not giving the link on this site again or they'll get pissed off.

# 7 09-09-2003 , 07:00 PM
dannyngan's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 1,154
1. There are sample projects you can download on the main Alias website. You'll need to create a user account first, then go to the Downloads section and search for sample projects.

2. You could create one single scene for your 5 minute animation, but I think it would be a pain to manage that many frames all at once. IMHO, several smaller scenes would be easier to work with.

3. You should look up information on Rendering for final output. That will have been covered in one of the first tutorials that come with Maya.


Danny Ngan
Animator | Amaze Entertainment
my website | my blog | my job
# 8 09-09-2003 , 08:08 PM
clebo99's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Baltimore
Posts: 75
Thanks!!!!! I didn't realize the Alias main site had downloads like that.

I'll look at some of the rendering tutorials as well.

There is just too much to learn!!!

Thanks again.

Chris

# 9 09-09-2003 , 08:59 PM
Darkware's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 1,172
If your animation was 5 minutes long, your timeline would extend to 7200 frames if you were to do 24 frames per second. 5(minutes)x60(seconds in every minute)x24(frames)=7200

I would split the animation up, however.

# 10 11-09-2003 , 02:43 PM
jakek's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 3
www.highend3d.com has many shaders for maya that you can reverse engineer and learn about it's hypershade.

# 11 12-09-2003 , 02:17 AM
Saiyan's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 441
I don't mind telling people other resources for learning....that's what we are all here for.....just as long as you check us out first....of course we want you to stay here....and if there is something you would like to see in a training video....make a suggestion.....

If you feel that one of your posts may anger the gods (David and Goliath (Kevin)), then send me a private message....or send them a private message stating what you want to post....we'll figure it out:bgreen: :bgreen: :bgreen:

# 12 13-09-2003 , 11:03 AM
Alter Ego's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: ACT, Australia
Posts: 4
The only downsid I've seen with maya seems to be that it can't create a AVI, MOV etc. without an add on prog like renderman. You could use BINK and render all your frames seperately and then splice tham in...but if you have the case getting renderman or a similar prog would be a better option


Excuse me while I go outside and laugh.
# 13 13-09-2003 , 09:42 PM
clebo99's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Baltimore
Posts: 75
Wow....I really appreciate all the responses I got on this. It's great to see a user community come out and help a newbie like me.

What I am looking to do after I am guessing will be about 1-2 years of hard work, is create a short 5 minute movie (music video actually) totally in MAYA to import into Studio8. Hopefully, with the help of this user group, I can accomplish this.

Thanks everyone.

Chris

# 14 13-09-2003 , 10:48 PM
adldesigner's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: CCS, Venezuela
Posts: 3,363

Originally posted by Alter Ego
The only downsid I've seen with maya seems to be that it can't create a AVI, MOV etc. without an add on prog like renderman. You could use BINK and render all your frames seperately and then splice tham in...but if you have the case getting renderman or a similar prog would be a better option

Actually Maya is very capable of producing an AVI out of the frames you wish rendered. Yet, the best way to accomplish a sequence is the way lot´s of studios do it. By rendering in layers and then composing them in a compositing applet such as Aftereffects, Combustion, or the more expensive seats of Inferno and Flame solutions.

# 15 23-09-2003 , 08:11 PM
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Washington state, USA
Posts: 3

Kudos from new kid

Another newbie here.
I am a member of several other sites, and just joined you folks yesterday.
This site is by far the best for new kids! Lots more tuts and as a new user, I don't feel like my questions would be too basic for the forum.
Thanks for being here!

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

Similar Threads