WEEK 10
I also rendered my output of the hot air balloons for Gonzalos Balloon Festival project.
Manos Class
- Today the class is about Rendering in Maya.
- We imported the robot and then added a plane and curved it to make it look like a studio.
- Then we added Area light from Arnold.
- We checked the IPR render view.
- Turn on The USE COLOR TEMPERATURE for adding warm and cool tint for models
- The use of values on the Temperature is good to add cool and warm tint to the model.
- The lower the value the warmer the tint and vice versa.
- To add a layer, Go to Channel box/ Layer editor and then click on Layer to add new layers. The V,P and R are different options to view the layer.
- To add originality to the model to be actually positioned on the floor, add a plane and then assign new material > ai shadow matte from Arnold.
- Ambient Occlusion adds more originality and shadows to the render.
- To add Ambient Occlusion, select Add custom > type AO > Create and then go to Custom AOV and file and choose Ambient Occlusion from Arnold.
- Or you can select Merge AOV option in Common tab for Merging all the AOVs to avoid separate files for each AOV.
Today I tried to add textures to my hot air balloon in Maya itself. I think this is far easier than Substance Painter and I think this work looks far better than the work I did in Substance Painter last week.
WEEK 9
Manos Class:
- Animation principles (12):
- Time and Spacing
- Squash and Stretch
- Anticipation
- Ease In and Ease out
- Follow Through and Overlapping
- Arcs
- Exaggeration
- Solid Drawing
- Appeal
- Straight Ahead Action
- Secondary Action
- Staging
- S for enabling Key Frame
I have finished my modelling of the hot air balloon for Gonzalo’s Balloon Festival Project. I need to add textures, materials, etc. I was thinking about adding them in Substance Painter but I haven’t finalized it yet cause maybe I will do it in Maya itself. Modelling the air balloon was quite fun yet tricky in a lot ways as I was focused to adding more details in it. I added a fire burner and then ropes, anchor bags, an oxygen cylinder inside and even nuts and bolts (I became a bit crazy!). To be honest, I have improved my knowledge and skills in Maya BY A MILE recently and it feels GOOD!
ADOBE SUBSTANCE PAINTER
I finished the texturing of my hot air balloon in Substance Painter. But I think it still feels incomplete especially the balloon area. So, I will probably be adding some pictures of anything there to make it feel more complete. But the output seems incomplete, and the balloon area looks so dull and bland so I might change it!!
Modelling for January Project (Progress)
I have also 80-90% completed the modelling of the Shivling for my January project. I’ve managed to add details in it and there are a few more details I wish to add in this. I want to export it after completing and then add textures and material attributes to it which I will probably do in substance Painter. Modelling the Shivling was, I would say not a difficult task but not that easy too because there were a few mistakes that I did in the beginning which I could’ve avoided. I used the CV Curve tool to create the Shivling and instead of adjusting the settings to Polygons while revolving the curve into object, I first revolved the object and then converted the curve to NURBS and then NURBS to Polygons (which obviously was a stupid decision) using the Convert option in Modify tab. I have realized that was a grave mistake because after converting into polygon, the faces were deformed and there wasn’t much I could do with it. And then when i tried to import an image to the image plane in viewport, it would just show a black screen and no image. So, to adjust this I went to Windows > Settings and Preferences > Display > Viewport 2.0 > Change the rendering Engine to DirectX and that solved the problem for me! Anyways, I have learned my lessons!
Later, I thought only a model of Shivling would be too easy and simple, so I surfed google for another model. So I found the Trishul (Trishula/Trishulam), the weapon of God Shiva. I thought I would model that and put it on the side of the Shivling in the stage. So I modelled two versions of the Trishul and I liked the one with the drums in the middle more because it’s the actual version of the weapon and I didn’t want to put my input and change the looks of it. And moreover, Version 1 looked more sophisticated which I didn’t like. I need to add textures to it and I think I will add it in Substance Painter. It was really fun doing this and I hardly made any mistakes in this (which is a rare and proud moment for me š ).
Then I modelled a sort of ancient temple pillar for my scene and also a fire cauldron so that I can lace fire element in it for my scene.
Version 1 ( Not Selected )
Version 2 ( Selected )
Temple Pillar
Fire Cauldron
WEEK 8
I started modelling of my hot air balloon for Gonzalo’s project Balloon Festival. I am trying to add more details to that it looks realistic, like the burners that fuel the hot air balloon as well as and anchor to stop the balloon,etc.
WEEK 7
Rigging:
- There are two types of Rigging in Maya:
- Inverse Kinematics (IK): This technique operates backward from the end effector, the part of the skeleton interacting with the environment (e.g., a hand or foot). IK calculates how the joints and bones should move and rotate to position the end effector precisely. For instance, when orchestrating your character to grasp an object, IK dynamically adjusts the arm, elbow, and shoulder to align the hand with the target.
- Forward Kinematics (FK): In contrast, FK works forward from the root of the skeleton, such as the pelvis or spine. It determines how the end effector should move and rotate based on joint angles and lengths. If you envision your character walking, FK computes the movement and rotation of the feet relative to the legs, knees, and hips.
- You can relocate the pivot by pressing āDā and dragging, especially handy for moving a joint without affecting its child joints.
- To establish a parent-child relationship between components, you can manually arrange them in the Outliner, or opt for efficiency by selecting the objects and pressing āP’.
WEEK 6
This week Manos taught taught us how to import images to Maya. He also taught us to add UV textures, UV mapping, and UV Editor. This was a pretty cool class as he told us to create a sphere and then add the texture of a planet. While the others went for Earth, I went for the texture of Mars. I also created a Moon for Mars just for practice.
WEEK 2
This was my first class in UAL LCC. Manos taught us about pre-production and its importance in a work. We have to have a proper plan and ideas before actually doing the work and going into the production stage. The we learnt about concept art. Concept art is a form of visual art used to convey an idea for use in films, video games, animation, comic books, TV Shows, or other media before it is put into the final product. Manos showed us an example of concept art with an image of a fish and the adding certain objects into it to make it feel like a robot/cyborg fish using Adobe Photoshop. As I was a bit rustic in Maya, I couldn’t’ catch up with the speed Manos was doing and was left behind. But overall, it was a good lesson in Maya.
Command Keys MAYA :
- W – MOVE TOOL
- E – ROTATE TOOL
- R – SCALE TOOL
- F – FRAME
- S – SET KEY
- X – SNAP TO GRIDS (press and release)
- V – SNAP TO POINTS (press and release)
- C – SNAP TO CURVES (press and release)
- T – SHOW MANIPULATOR TOOL
- G – REPEAT
- CTRL+Z – UNDO
- CTRL+SHIFT+Z – REDO
- H – HIDE/UNHIDE
- Q – SELECT TOOL
- A – FRAME ALL IN ACTIVE PANEL
- G – REPEAT
- Y – SELECT LAST USED TOOL (except W,E,R,Q)
- 0 – DEFAULT QUALITY DISPLAY
- 1 – ROUGH QUALITY DISPLAY
- 2 – MEDIUM QUALITY DISPLAY
- 3 – SMOOTH QUALITY DISPLAY / Curve Objects
- 4 – WIREFRAME
- 5 – SHADED DISPLAY
- 6 – SHADED AND TEXTURED DISPLAY
- 7 – USE ALL LIGHTS