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.
# 1 25-03-2007 , 02:27 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: commonwealth of los angeles
Posts: 70

what are normals for

why is there such a thing as normals? is it just to piss me off?

# 2 25-03-2007 , 02:30 AM
Radical Edward's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 234
it's the way that ray tracers calculate the angle between a ray and a surface. Pissing you off is just a side effect user added image

# 3 25-03-2007 , 03:08 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: commonwealth of los angeles
Posts: 70
cant it calculate that stuff behind the scenes? there's got to be a reason that makes it useful to the end user otherwise it would be behind the scenes wouldnt it?

# 4 25-03-2007 , 12:23 PM
Radical Edward's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 234
well it can be used in display so you know which the inner face and the outer face are. I always keep mine turned off though.

# 5 25-03-2007 , 06:35 PM
arran's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 3,708
you can also use normals to make something look smoother than it actually is (soften normals) and you can also reverse normals in conjunction with backfaces when, say, you want to model the interior of a room and you don't want the walls to be in the way.

# 6 26-03-2007 , 02:32 AM
danotronXX's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: cleveland ohio
Posts: 313
its also very useful when using syflex. I use it often when i have to make a collision between the cloth and the object. It helps me make sure that all the faces are pointing out and therefore allow the cloth to settle properly on the surface.

# 7 26-03-2007 , 03:19 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: commonwealth of los angeles
Posts: 70

Originally posted by Radical Edward
well it can be used in display so you know which the inner face and the outer face are. I always keep mine turned off though.

i think this is probably the best reason for them.

it's just that they get screwed up really easily. and when they get screwed up, they tend to screw everything else up.

it also happens to be the last thing that i check. once ive tried everything else to no avail. and after pulling out my hair and kicking my pc to see if i can get it to work that way.

# 8 26-03-2007 , 03:29 AM
gster123's Avatar
Moderator
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Manchester Uk
Posts: 6,300
there not that easy to screw up, just keep an eye on whats going on with them, if you swithc off two sided lighting any black faces have the nromals facing in the wrong direction, so select them and set to face to get them the right way.

They used to get me a bit wound when I started up as I never knew what was going wrong with my models when I had black splodges at render time, but now I dont get them in my models at all, think its just experiance and using the tools correctley, as I got them all the time using the extrde commands!


"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle
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