Leanne
Stone
Learning Maya
Snowman Production Diary
Today I spent my first hour on Maya playing around and getting used to basic tools. I also started to learn about more advanced tools by looking up how to use them that I had previously used on blender. I applied this knowledge and made a simple model of a snowman.
Evaluation
I made this snowman so I could start modelling and have a goal when using these basic tools. Having an aim meant I may have to adapt my approach and further my knowledge of controls within Maya. This way i could have a model done at the end and look further into what would improve it.
To make this model i used various controls. I first off started out with the primitive shapes to create a start to my model. I moved shapes on top of each other and duplicated the main body of the snowman, just scaling down the balls for each layer. When putting on the mouth and eyes and buttons I also duplicated them and just slightly scaled each button so that they were not exactly the same, this would make it more realistic to the actual size of pebbles you would find when building a snowman. After I had the basic shape, any shapes that did not need to be moved or scaled or rotated I made sure were in the right position, I then parented each layer of the body with one another so it'd be easier to move around. I used shade smooth on both the top hat rim, the arms and the carrot nose to give a more subtle effect. I also subdivided the carrot nose so that I could make it more random like an actual carrot would be. I went into vertex mode and used x-ray to pull the vertices into place until it looked somewhat random. I also had duplicated the arm and rotated it to add to the other side of the snowman so I did not have to smooth and scale all the cubes again. I then grabbed the faces at the bottom of the snowman and pulled them upwards to create a smooth base of the snowman- as if it was sitting on the floor. I then added new materials to each object, this was easier after having the objects parented with each other or using shift to select all the buttons.
I decided to do things such as flatten the base, shape the carrot and added more sticks to the arms to make it more realistic and add more detail to the snowman, I had been using these features before in blender so thought I would try and experiment with them more here, and seem to understand quite a few controls quite quickly. I also decided to scale each stone differently so that it would add more variety to my snowman instead of them just being the same size.
Overall I think the small project went very well. For me this project was about adjusting to the new controls and shortcuts within the keyboard. I was quite happy with my overall model. I think adding the smaller details such as just making the base flat really changed the overall outcome of my model and made it much more effective. I also am happy that I started to look at more advanced controls as this will give me more freedom as i get more and more used to the basic controls. My ability to research has had a good impact on the small task overall as it has allowed more room for development.
Today I have learnt shortcuts for the keyboard within Maya. I have also learnt about different grid views and noticed how effective having the perspective view and the three other screens up was. Furthermore I have learnt how to switch between face and vertex mode and how to quickly change to x-ray mode and wireframe. I have also learnt how to parent objects, use the subdivided on objects and where shade smooth is within the Maya workspace. Next time I would like to experiment with features such as extrude, this would've been good on the snowman's arms. I would also like to learn how to move around vertices a lot easier and smooth as right now I'm very stiff with the controls. I think it would also be useful to learn how to insert edge loops on the wire so we can choose points on the mesh we want to manipulate. I feel this would've been useful for things such as the arm and the carrot nose etc
Bear Production diary
Today I have spent a couple of hours solidifying my knowledge into moving specific points and faces on a mesh. I first played around with a primitive shapes with this knowledge and then tried to apply it to a model, therefore I created a bear and used what i was playing around with the create certain parts of the bear.
Progression screengrabs
Evaluation
The reason I did this small model was to apply the knowledge we were learning about individual point of control on the model. I had first off been messing around with a primitive cube, just grabbing random vertices and extruding, grabbing and moving them around, to try and learn the controls better. I then decided to go further and apply this knowledge by creating a model. I chose a teddy bear so I could mess around with the vertices to make it look like it was stuffed with fluff. To create my project, I started with a sphere for the head and the body, I scaled these spheres to the appropriate sizing and decided to pull the vertices in vertex mode a little, to try and create the imperfect illusion that my model is filled with fluff. This can be especially seen on the top of the head where you can see it's not a perfect sphere. I was using a general blueprint so that I could generally get the sizing correct to the size of a teddy bear- I used an image plane in perspective mode so that i could import this and move it around. I then got a cube for the leg and the arm. I used edge loops of about 15 on both the arm and leg to give me more vertices to work with. I then used the extrude feature, little by little and angled each extrude down a little till it follow the general pattern of the limb. I then pulled the vertices about to match the shape of the arm/leg and then went shade smooth on the limb and duplicated and rotated it to the other side of the bear. I then added lots of spheres and scaled/ shaped the vertices for the facial features/ patches on the body. I added a little bit of colour for effect. I had decided to start with a cube for the arm so that it was easier to work with when looking at vertices. I had decided to move individual vertices instead of clusters of vertices as this gave a more bumpy/ random affect to the bear, making it more realistic.
​
I am quite happy with how this small project turned out, as I like looking at this particular model and being able to see where the movement of individual vertices impacts the overall model. I think my bear looks quite cuddly and also adding that little bit of colour no matter how simple, brings the model to life. The fact i chose to use edge loops instead of subdividing has proved a problem for the final product though, where I used subdivision for the head and body you cannot see the wireframe of that particular shape, whereas on the arms and legs you can see the wireframe where edge loops have been added. I was very stuck on how to hide this so ended up having to leave them.
​
In this session I have learnt better how to adapt and mess about with individual faces and vertices. I have learnt how to use edge loops as well as subdividing my models. I have also been able to play around with extruding faces and how to manipulate vertices in groups. Next time I would like to learn more about texturing with Maya and how to apply textures or photos to use as textures to objects to make it more realistic. I would also like to learn more about using bevels in Maya to give a clean cut or smooth edge to objects. I feel like this would also be useful to know and help with doing controlled edge loops.
​
Boolean Practice production diary
I spent about an hour working in Maya today after learning what Booleans are and how to use them. After playing around with each type and getting used to the controls, I decided I'd try and put my knowledge into practice with a model. I wanted to apply what I had learnt and see how using these new tools properly affects the overall product.
Progression screengrabs
Evaluation
In todays session I spent an hour or so working with the extrude and Boolean tools. To do this I first imported a basic shape to remind myself of the extrude feature, I then put a sphere into a cube and duplicated this to see the difference between the 3 Boolean tools (Union, difference and intersection). From this I learnt that union is the joining of mesh, eliminating overlapping wireframe. Difference cuts a hole where the second selected shape was overlapping the first selected and intersection produces the overlap of the two shapes. I decided to try and apply this knowledge to a more complex model and create a small part of a ps4 controller. I used an image plane to insert some base plans so I could get the general proportion of a controller. I then tried to model the main frame of the controller. To do this I had to add edge loops and model in x-ray mode from the side point. I then had used the extrude tool on the edge of the main frame to try and create a grip. I had many different attempts and ways of trying to do this but ended up going up with the extrude and model so it has the main shape I wanted. I then scaled a cylinder to size and used the difference tool and another cylinder to cut the circle you see in the top. I added a cylinder onto of this and then a flat plane that I circled and added thickness to. I extruded the top faces of this up a little to try and match the blueprint. I then added In and scaled the spheres for the buttons and created the speaker holes by scaling spheres and duplicating them and creating all those holes. To finish I joined together everything I had done by using the union tool so that the wireframe was clean and it was all as one.
I decided to change quite a lot when doing this small model. First of all, I had first tried to make the handles to the controller by scaling and modelling primitive shapes which I then found was difficult to position and more difficult to model with my limited knowledge of this particular software. So instead I decided to extrude the base cube which seemed to work a little better however I'm still rough with modelling in this software and didn't want to spend too much time modelling. Looking back I would have also changed the way I made the sticks as the grip is not a good shape at all.
Overall I wasn't massively happy with the final outcome of this. This is because mostly I am still very new to how each tool works and am finding actually pulling the vertices around more difficult when trying to see what angle I should be looking at. I do feel these controls need more work. However I feel knowing how the Boolean controls work has given more depth and also has given me detail I wouldn't have been able to know how to model before.
I think going for a more complex design when practicing with this has challenged me and I have learnt from not knowing how to do certain things, however it in some ways has put my model at a disadvantage as I spent a lot of time trying to problem solve on the actual main body. Therefore my model does have a blocky appearance due to my lack of controls in Maya modelling. I also decided to shade smooth my model however, after joining all the elements together this didn't appear to work well as it shaded elements I didn't want shaded so I need to work on thinking about what I want shaded smooth and how this will be affected when using Booleans.
Today I have learnt about the Boolean tools and how each of them are different to one another. I have been able to learn better how the extrude tool works also. Doing both these things has given me a good idea on how all these tools will work with the overall model. Next time, I think I will want to learn how to have more control over edge loops when they are put in and I'd like to work with the modelling side of things such as moving vertices etc. I would also mess around with Booleans more and play around with how they affect other tools when combined with them.
rigging production diary
In Maya today, we were introduced to rigging. We started off by learning the very basics og how to add bones and joints to your model and then I decided I would get a little more advanced and use keyframes to try and rig a model from Hotel Transylvania to walk.
Progression screengrabs
Evaluation
Doing this was quite different from all the modelling we have been doing the first weeks. We did this to learn the basics of rigging so we can start to animate a 3D model. First off I practiced the basics, creating a basic cylinder mesh and going to the rigging menu and adding a bone structure to it. I then used the S key to create keyframes, moving the cylinder structure around using each individual bone/ joint. This created a small swing in the cylinder. I then decided to play around with the rig from Hotel Transylvania we were given a link for. I first off played around for a bit, figuring out what all the different joints I could pull around did. I then decided to try and create a zombie like walk, so I added a plane to resemble a kind of flooring and I put the rig into a starting position. I did this by watching the tutorial Sony animation had put up with the link to this rig. I just had to figure out all the different positions for the rig. I then created a keyframe. I kept changing his positioning further along the timeline a couple of times and made it so that he appeared to be dragging his foot and when he went to jump forward he lifts off of the ground a little. This created a small sequence.
When I first begun animating this I thought I would be making a keyframe for each frame however since discovered that the animation will slowly continue and change to the next position do only ended up making a few keyframes up until the point where the zombie goes to jump. This meant I spent more time focusing on the position if the zombie more.
Overall I was quite happy with the overall outcome of my animation. I feel I was able to represent the first part of a zombie step accurately. It did take a lot longer then I thought but I think I learnt a lot and got to grips with the anatomy well. However I have struggled with the actual timeline as I couldn't extended the fps without the speed of my animation being stretched and didn't know how to move the keyframes therefore only did up until the jump. I also struggled with how to render out my animation and therefore have just had to screen record for this task.
In this session I have learnt the basics to rigging a modal and moving around the joints and bones. I have also learnt the very basics about how keyframing in Maya works. Next time, I would like to learn more about setting up a timeline and adjusting the frames per second. I would also like to learn how to render out not just a picture but a timeline sequence into a video.
Personal modelling practice
Texturing objects
Today we learnt more about texturing objects. Previously we had learnt how to add a simple block of colour on a whole object or a face of an object. Today we looked at using image textures to apply to an object, creating our own image textures and a little more on using the soft selection tool.
Progression screengrabs and textures
Evaluation
We practiced texturing today so we could both move away from using block colours on set pieces of an object and now use images to create realistic textures faster. This also meant after working in photoshop as well we can also create our own textures with images.
To learn this we started with generally playing around with the controls when you create a standard Lambert texture. We made both a shiny surface primitive shape and a matte like finish so we could see how the different material properties effect the overall finish. We then used pre-made textures which are built to wrap around a shape correctly to see how fast we could create a realistic object. This is what we used the apple skin texture for as it is made to wrap around a sphere easily. I then played around with a move tool called soft selection which eases out the rest of the vertices from I found on chrome which I thought could work well. I used a cylinder and a sphere to create these. Once we were happy with that we moved onto learning about UV mapping. We create a basic cube shape and then got the net for it by going into the UV menu. We saved this file and moved it into Photoshop to create a texture so that each face of the cube had the whole of the crate texture rather than that one side of the crate wrapping around the whole of the cube. We created a black background over the net lines so that we could see the lines clearer and by duplicating the image, moved the boxes to create a net containing 6 of the original box texture. I saved this as a PNG so only the boxes were exported and then applied this file to my original cube, creating a crate.
Overall I am quite happy with how this turned out. I think using images as textures can create a quick realistic look to my projects quite easily. I feel happy with being able to make more natural objects with soft selection also. I can also experiment with making my own textures and applying them to objects.
I have enjoyed adding extra pieces to my objects to make them look more realistic, for example I feel finding a texture online that could work and quickly creating a leaf to add the stalk has given another edge of a realism.
In this session I have learnt how to use and apply different textures, create a UV map and even create my own textures for simplistic shapes using photoshop and pre-made images.
first attempt at glass smashing fx
I decided today that I would start learning VFX in Maya as a side project and to add to my chase scene project. My plan is to smash a window in my chase scene project so I attempted to create this effect by doing a practice one without the compositing as I didn't have access to after effects.
Progression screengrabs
Evaluation
I did this because I wanted to start learning how to do visual effects in Maya as it's what I am most interested in. To do this I first had to capture a HD photo of a larger window so I could work in the space easier. I took a photo of my window and then jumped into Maya. I created a camera and then an image plane within the camera and imported the file of my window. I then created a cube and went into vertex mode to pull the corners to match the of one of the windows. I then inserted edge loops and used the multi cut tool to create random cuts so when the glass shatters it is more realistic. After then detaching the vertices, I created a sphere, scaled it to the right size and created two keyframes so the ball moves through the glass I had shattered. I then hid the ball so it couldn't be seen and added collision to the ball. I turned off gravity so the window model did not fall before the ball hits and tried to set a keyframe so when the ball hits the window starts to fall. I then added transparency to the window and took a screen recording of what it was like looking through the camera with the video in the background.
Overall I am very happy with how the first part of this process has gone in Maya. I think for a first attempt into VFX this is realistic however I was unable to render this so that I could practice compositing it into After effects so I had to decide to screen record what it looked like in Maya instead which is where it appears a bit laggy and slow. I also struggled a little with getting the window transparency right so that the window I had created look okay when it covered the roof that shows at the top of the window, I will need to experiment with this if I had the same issue in my movie however here I was able to move the window down slightly.
Next, I would like to learn how to render things as Maya as I have struggled with this before and would like to start trying to composite VFX into After effects. I'd also like to start doing other VFX shots.
​
​
Lighting in maya
Today we are looking into lighting within the 3D world. I have started by researching the role of lighting artist within the industry and then played around with making lighting myself in Maya.
Lighting Artist Research;
Lighting artists use light to set the tone, time and mood for a scene. They make sure you can see clearly where light sources are meant to be, manipulating light depending on the weather and time of day etc.
​A lighting artist is someone who works to match the 3D lights to the real world. They pick up where light and shadow is meant to be. The role includes making sure all the shots are complete, making sure they are both complying with realistic standards yet also the mood and feel of the 3D world the director is aiming to create. ​A lighting artist is important as it brings everything together in the 3D world. All the 3D models, environments and effects would be pointless if they were unable to be combined together looking like they both belong to each other in the world. ​To become a lighting artist you should have some knowledge on 3D CGI as well as a lot on lighting, the best way to do this is to practice and watch tutorials. Sending off work to professionals for opinions and experimenting with a range of different scenarios. focus on how light works with different materials and textures, specializing in Industry standard software.​
The different types of lighting
Directional lighting:
A directional light sets a single vector for all its illumination and hits every object from the same angle, no matter where the object is located. All the shadows cast by a directional light are cast in the same direction and are orthogonal projections of each object's shape.
Area Lights:
In Maya, area lights are two-dimensional rectangular light sources. Use area lights to simulate the rectangular reflections of windows on surfaces. Compared to other light sources, area lights can take longer to render, but they can produce higher quality light and shadows. Area lights are particularly good for high-quality still images, but less advantageous for longer animations where rendering speed is crucial.
Point Lights:
A point light simulates rays shining out from one infinitely small point in space.
Point lights emit light uniformly in all directions, like a bare light bulb or glowing star in space. The illumination and shadows aim out away from the light in all directions.
Spot Lights:
Spot lights are a basic staple of most lighting designs in computer graphics. Spot lights are a popular choice of many artists because they can be controlled conveniently to aim light at a specific target.
Ambient Lights:
In real life, ambient light is the widely distributed, "indirect" light that has bounced off (or been transmitted through) objects in your scene. Ambient light illuminates even the areas not directly lit by another light source. Shadowed areas of a real room are sometimes made visible only by the ambient light. Real-life ambient light is tinted as it bounces around the environment and adds different colors to different sides of objects, based on colors it has picked up from the environment. Real ambient light varies in intensity in different parts of the environment and adds different tones to objects from different angles.
Volume Lights:
A major advantage of using a volume light is that you have a visual representation of the extent of the light (the space within which it is bound). The falloff of light in the volume can be represented by the color ramp (gradient) attribute in Maya, which prevents the need for various decay parameters, and also provides additional control. The color gradient is also useful for volume fog.
Skydome:
This simulates light from a sphere or dome above the scene, representing the sky. It can also be used with high dynamic range (HDR) images to perform image-based environment lighting.
Evaluation
We did this today because for the final project we will be compositing a 3D rigged model into the real world and one of the most important factors when making it look realistic is lighting. We made the screen grabs today by taking the textured apple I made last week and adding each of the different lights. I messed around with each of these and played around with the attributes.
 I tried messing around with different attributes of each of the different lights to see what effect I could make, this includes things such as lighting intensity, colour and direction. I also went onto pairing lights to see what effect more than one light would give, for example if one side is darker then the other or isn't looking as realistic or trying to create a sunlight effect.
One problem I came up against included working with a sky dome light. This was tricky because when adding in a sky dome light I seemed to do it wrong and ended up getting a constant purple light in the whole background. I struggled to figure how to delete this but eventually by zooming out and selecting away was able to delete the faulty sky dome and add in a sky dome that I was able to add an image to.
I used the apple because after researching and seeing that realism is most important when coming to lighting and making it look good in the scene I decided to use something with a realistic texture so I could experiment with realism.
 Overall I think my use of lighting first off went okay. I did struggle with lighting and making it effective or seem more realistic. I think a few of my light uses look good and I am happy that I was able to start playing round with the attributes, making things such as the spotlights sharper or blurrier etc.
I think this will help my project a lot and be very important when completing my project as it is the overall look of my film. If the lighting isn't good then it could potentially effect the overall look.
In conclusion, I have started to learn about lighting in Maya, this includes the different attributes I can play around with within the lights and also the different kind of lights I can use in Maya. Next I would like to mess around with the lighting more and also start trying to put models into a scene and practice lighting it this way so I can have further practice for my final project here.
Using image planes
During my time with Maya I have been experimenting and playing around with image planes and how these are useful to making a model. However I have not been exclusively using these but only when I feel necessary to have some guidance. This is my model done exclusively by following the image planes imported into my scene.
​
We did this piece of work to not only practice using image planes correctly but also to practice doing a technique called box modelling. To do this I first had to insert my image planes. I inserted both images of the front and side in perspective view and then did the most important part, of making sure they both lined up with one another. I did this before I put them where they needed to be so that the images were actually touching in positions they should be. I did have to adjust these a little, I then pulled the images back so they were not interfering with one another and getting in the way when doing my model. To move onto my model I inserted a cube and used the vertices to create the general shape following the image planes. I then would add edge loops, vertices and extrude where the limbs were and more detail was needed, constantly switching between each perspective of the model to make sure each view was well done. I used this to get some more modelling experience.
I have only started modelling this in particular but I did come up against a few problems, one being when I first put in the image planes the were not completely lined up so when switching between views there was some off points from each perspective and therefore I had to reline my photos. I also did have problems with having too many vertices and getting lost about where to take certain vertices and why certain points were pulling in. With this I just decided to research more about how to merge vertices and the problems with having too much information, therefore I did delete a lot of vertices and the problem started to fix itself.
​
I feel this particular model went okay, I now understand what box modelling is a lot better and may use this when using image planes in the future. This will help my overall project as it will allow me to confidently know how to use image planes when designing my own alien tech. I have learnt the important things of using image planes and next would like to learn the best way and how to create image planes confidently. Overall I am happy with my progress in using image planes.