Introduction to Maya - Modeling Fundamentals Vol 1
This course will look at the fundamentals of modeling in Maya with an emphasis on creating good topology. We'll look at what makes a good model in Maya and why objects are modeled in the way they are.
# 1 18-03-2017 , 06:34 PM
Jay's Avatar
Lead Modeler - Framestore
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: UK
Posts: 6,287

Dr Strange VFX reel - Framestore

Hey Boys n Girls

I really felt the need to share this with you. Not because of the fact that its what I do on a daily basis, but really because I myself started out here by showing my work on the Simply Maya forums many years ago and taking note of feedback good or bad and then applying it and trying to improve myself over and over and over - just trying to be better everytime I made a model.

I've lived here at Simply Maya since 2003. Its a great place to learn and talk, its not pretentious and doesn't cut corners like other sites do when they release a tutorial.

I dont consider myself to be the best modeler, sculptor or whatever you want to call it, but I like to think I now have enough experience now to pass down to the next bunch of young people who want to get into VFX or other types of 3d modeling as a career. And its also why I help out on the site when Im not busy on a film and help to bring new tutorials with as many technique as possible for you to learn.

Ive worked on many projects over the years and each one is different, some good, some really terrible. The body of work on Dr Strange, is a body of work I consider to be one of, if not the best Ive actually done to this point, and prior to this Ive worked on some big films, franchises in fact. There are shots in this movie that are completely digital, even close ups that are 100% cg and you wouldnt know unless I told you or showed you.

I was the primary modeler of the villain that Strange fights in the hospital sequence and also the blonde girl that gets thrown out into the desert through the sanctum fight sequence as well as building the corridor and and the amulet shaped window. I was also tasked in supervising a small team of modelers to build the hospital environment for the fight sequence as well.

There are shots that have been left off the reel that are better in my opinion than the ones here. But Please enjoy and see for yourself.

The Framestore company reel that was released this week for Marvels Dr Strange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBzPl8SnZdg


Thanks for reading

Jay

# 2 19-03-2017 , 09:42 PM
halfloaf's Avatar
Lifetime Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Bristol, UK.
Posts: 191
Thanks Jay, really good to see the breakdowns. Out of interest, how long did the "gearworks" (can't think of a better description) stair shot take, say from start to final comp. I'd love to know how many people worked on that single shot as an example?

One sometimes thinks these things happen in hours or a couple of days, but I'm curious as to how long it actually takes for a detailed scene like that.

# 3 19-03-2017 , 10:04 PM
Jay's Avatar
Lead Modeler - Framestore
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: UK
Posts: 6,287
Halfloaf

thanks man. Yeah thats called a mandelbrot effect. Its actually based off a real thing. Its like a never ending pattern, theres alot of ref online and worth checking out.

The model itself was built as you would normally but we had a few things that needed implementing in order to create that illusion. We used Houdini, in order to slice and dice and cap every object which in turn was then rigged in a way to help the animators create the effect.

The model itself of the corridor/hallway can take anything from two weeks to a month to build, then on top of that you have to allow for any changes that may be required. Textures may take about a week or so and then you have look dev on top of that, but the great thing is that a pipeline such as ours allows for several things to be going on at once, once a model has been built. If a model requires changes it can still be updated in the process and used as a place holder until another version becomes available. If I recall we spent a fair bit of time in all these areas right down to the wire in some cases.

cheers
Jay

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