Software Trials - 3DS Max

Creating a Lamp Post

From what I had learnt from creating a shovel from using basic shapes and a bollard from using the lathe tool, I combined both of these techniques to create a Lamp Post. I also used two other techniques which are to duplicate and rotate objects and to cut out inserts from an object to create panels on the Lamp Post to enable light to be shone.

To create the post of the Lamp Post I followed Steps 1-10 of the Bollard blog, but here they are again to recap.

Step 1 – The Post:

First I need to create a Plane and then assign an image to it so that I can draw around the shape of the bollard in the image. I go to the Create tab on the right hand side of the interface and select plane. I draw my Plane to the size I think is required.

Step 2:

With the Plane selected I then need to open up the Slate Material Editor and to do this I press the shortcut key which is M.

From the Map Material Browser Panel I select Standard and drag the Node appears to the View Port. Also from the Map Material Browser I select Bitmap and drag this Node onto the View Port. This opens a dialogue box to the image that I want to assign to the Plane, the press OK.

I then need to ‘wire’ the Bitmap (the JPEG of an image of a bollard) into the Standard Node. To do this I drag from the Bitmap’s node output socket and plug it into the Standard node Diffuse Colour input socket.

I then clicked on the Assign Material to Selection by clicking on the icon at the top of the Slate Material Editor and then further across to the right I click on the Show Material in View Port.

Step 3:

Now the image of the bollard has been assigned to the Plane I can now trace around the shape. I click on the Create Tab, then Shape, then Line. To draw the line around the post in the image I click at the top centre of the post and drag. Once I have got to the bottom centre of the bollard I can right click to stop drawing the line.

Step 4:

In places the line wasn’t as close to the shape of the post I would have liked so I needed to edit the line. As I did when I created the shovel I needed to move some of the Vertices. I clicked on Modify then Vertex and this highlights all the Vertices. I am now able to select individual vertices so that I can move them ensure the lines are where I wanted them.

If some of the Vertices don’t have handles on them this I can change this by selecting them, right-clicking and choosing Bezier.

On the bottom of the line, at the base of the bollard I need to set them to Bezier Corner, and I do this by right clicking and selecting the Bezier Corner option.

Step 5:

As I no longer need the reference image I can hide it. To do this I select the image or plane that it is on, right-click and select Hide Selection. The image will now be ‘hidden’.

Step 6:

I then select the line and chose Vertex from the Modify panel. I then need to ensure that the top and bottom Vertices are aligned. By pressing G I bring up the Grid so that I can align the Vertices. To do this I select the top centre vertex and by going to the bottom of the View Port, choosing the X-axis, I right click on the down arrow. I then follow the same procedure for the bottom centre vertex.

Step 7:

I then needed to move the Pivot Point. I clicked the Hierarchy tab and from the sub-selection I chose Effect Pivot Point. This then adds larger arrows on the Move Tool and then going to the bottom of the View Port I right-clicked on both the X-axis and the Y-axis to. I then uncheck Effect Pivot Point by clicking on the sub-selection.

Step 8:

I now want to select the Lathe Tool and I can find this in the drop down menu under the Modify tab. As soon as I select Lathe the line then changes to the 3D object of the Post.

Step 9:

Initially the post was mis-shaped and deformed. This is because the Lathe Tool didn’t rotate in the correct direction and to remedy this I clicked the through the X, Y, Z options and ensured that Centre was selected.

Step 10:

Upon inspection of the model there were openings at the top and bottom where the Vertices hadn’t welded together. To fix this I select the Weld Core option after highlighting the vertices.

Step 11 –The Stand:

To be able to see the reference image again I right-clicked and selected Show Hidden. I then went to the create panel and created a new Shape with the Line Tool. I traced around the reference of the stand before editing any vertices that I felt needed to be corrected. To be able to turn the line into a mesh, so that it could be textured later, I then went to the Modify tab and selected my spline and added the Sweep modifier to it. This created the desired shape.

Step 12:

Now that I had created one of the four stands I simply Cloned and Rotated the first then a pop up window appeared where I selected the amount of times it would be cloned. This also offset the angle also creating an array. I achieved this by selecting my first stand, right-click and select Clone. This clones the object in the same place as the original. To move this I need to use the Rotation Tool and while holding Shift. I can access this by pressing the shortcut key which is E. I then rotated the stand by 90 degrees.

Step 13: The Light Box

I created a simple box by going to the Create tab and selecting Box. Once I drew the shape I went into sub-object mode and modified it by selecting the vertices as the bottom of the box and scaled it down. To scale it down I used the shortcut key R to bring up the Scale Tool and from here I was able to bring the vertices in a little to make the box a little narrower.

Step 14:

To take out the inserts, in Sub Object mode I selected the polygons I wanted to edit and then went to the Modify tab. I then chose Inset. I can then scale down this new Inset by using the Scale Tool and Bevel tool, by pressing R, and scaling down the size of the new polygon or the Bevel settings in on the modifier tab. Once I have done this I then select the face and delete it. This created 4 holes in the mesh that were where the glass would have been blasted away, alternatively I could have kept the inset polygons and textured them with a transparent material to simulate glass.

Step 15 – The Top:

To create the top of the Lamp Post I used the Line Tool to outline the shape. I then used the Lathe Tool to create the model and any additional changes were made using the methods I had used earlier when I created the Post and the Bollard previously.

As the Lamp Post is now created I then unwrapped and textured them. See the blogs on Unwrapping and Texturing on how I achieved this.

After I had textured the objects I then linked them together by selecting the stands, light box and top objects individually and linking it to the post and clicking on the chain link icon in the top left of the interface.

Lamp Post Annotations

Software Trials - 3DS Max

Creating a Bollard

After using basic shapes such as the box and cylinder in my last trial of using 3DS Max for the first time I then decided to look into creating a shape using the Lathe Tool. This tool takes a Spline and then using the Lathe Tool duplicates the Spline numerous times spherically to create the shape. In the tutorial I learnt from an image of a pawn was used. I however used the same principle the tutorial demonstrates but my choice of object was a bollard. Here is how I created it.

Step 1:

First I need to create a Plane and then assign an image to it so that I can draw around the shape of the bollard in the image. I go to the Create tab on the right hand side of the interface and select plane. I draw my Plane to the size I think is required. I then reduced the amount of Polygons by lowering the number of length and width segments in the Parameters menu.

Step 2:

With the Plane selected I then need to open up the Slate Material Editor and to do this I press the shortcut key which is M.

From the Map Material Browser Panel I select Standard and drag the Node appears to the View Port. Also from the Map Material Browser I select Bitmap and drag this Node onto the View Port. This opens a dialogue box to the image that I want to assign to the Plane, the press OK.

I then need to ‘wire’ the Bitmap (the JPEG of an image of a bollard) into the Standard Node. To do this I drag from the Bitmap’s node output socket and plug it into the Standard node Diffuse Colour input socket.

I then clicked on the Assign Material to Selection by clicking on the icon at the top of the Slate Material Editor and then further across to the right I click on the Show Material in View Port.

Step 3:

Now the image of the bollard has been assigned to the Plane I can now trace around the shape. I click on the Create Tab, then Shape, then Line. To draw the line around the bollard in the image I click at the top centre of the bollard and drag. Once I have got to the bottom centre of the bollard I can right click to stop drawing the line.

Step 4:

In places the line wasn’t as close to the shape of the bollard I would have liked so I needed to edit the line. As I did when I created the shovel I needed to move some of the Vertices. I clicked on Modify then Vertex and this highlights all the Vertices. I am now able to select individual vertices so that I can move them ensure the lines are where I wanted them.

If some of the Vertices don’t have handles on them this I can change this by selecting them, right-clicking and choosing Bezier.

On the bottom of the line, at the base of the bollard I need to set them to Bezier Corner, and I do this by right clicking and selecting the Bezier Corner option.

Step 5:

As I no longer need the reference image I can hide it. To do this I select the image or plane that it is on, right-click and select Hide Selection. The image will now be ‘hidden’.

Step 6:

I then select the line and chose Vertex from the Modify panel. I then need to ensure that the top and bottom Vertices are aligned. By pressing G I bring up the Grid so that I can align the Vertices. To do this I select the top centre vertex and by going to the bottom of the View Port, choosing the X-axis, I right click on the down arrow. I then follow the same procedure for the bottom centre vertex.

Step 7:

I then needed to move the Pivot Point. I clicked the Hierarchy tab and from the sub-selection I chose Effect Pivot Point. This then adds larger arrows on the Move Tool and then going to the bottom of the View Port I right-clicked on both the X-axis and the Y-axis to. I then uncheck Effect Pivot Point by clicking on the sub-selection.

Step 8:

I now want to select the Lathe Tool and I can find this in the drop down menu under the Modify tab. As soon as I select Lathe the line then changes to the 3D object of the Bollard.

Step 9:

Initially the bollard was mis-shaped and deformed. This is because the Lathe Tool didn’t rotate in the correct direction and to remedy this I clicked the through the X, Y, Z options and ensured that Centre was selected.

Step 10:

Upon inspection of the model there were openings at the top and bottom where the Vertices hadn’t welded together. To fix this I select the Weld Core option.

As the bollard is now created I then unwrapped and textured them. See the blogs on Unwrapping and Texturing on how I achieved this.

Bollard Annotations

Software Trials - 3DS Max

Creating a Shovel

Another 3D modelling programme which is commonly used in the animation industry is 3DS Max which is also owned by Autodesk. After practising with Maya beforehand I feel that I have confidence to understand and use this programme, albeit still at the stage of being new to animation.

With 3D modelling, once an object has been made, it then needs to be unwrapped and then textured. What this means is, and to give a simple example, if I modelled a box I would then ‘unfold’ it, using a method called Mapping and then using Photoshop edit images and colours using the numerous tools to create the effect I want to place on the image.

The first object I am going to create will be a shovel. This will be created using two basic shapes, a Box and a Cylinder, and by manipulating the Polygons (faces), the edges and the vertices (points which make up the shape), I will be able to create the blade and the handle for the shovel.

To model the shovel I first created a box which initially was made too large. To create the box I clicked on the Create button on the right hand side of the interface and then selected box. By clicking and dragging on the grid on the screen the box had been created, but due to the size I had to edit this so that it was slightly longer and much flatter.

To do this, I clicked on the Modify tab on the right hand side of the interface and then selected Edit Poly from the drop down menu. From this option I can then select from the sub-category, either poly, edge or vertex to manipulate the shape I have created.

I selected the vertices by clicking and dragging over the ones I wanted to edit. To ensure that I selected the correct vertices they change colour from red (unselected) to blue (selected). I also have to ensure that although the vertices I can see have been selected, as I am creating 3D models, the vertices on the side I cannot see have also been selected. To do this I have to rotate around the object and this is achieved by clicking on one of the Polygons (faces) of the object and when holding down ALT + the Middle Mouse button I can pan around the object to a view which makes it easier for me to see.

Once I have selected the vertices I can then edit them. In this instance I wanted to move the vertices outwards so that I could change the original square shape into a more rectangular shape, but ensuring that the object was not too long nor too wide. To move the vertices I have the options to move, rotate or scale. In this instance I wanted to move the vertices and to do this I pressed the shortcut key which is W.  After I have pressed this button I am able to move the vertices up, down, left, right, forward, backwards, in or out on the X, Y, Z axis.

Y = Green Axis = Up/down

X = Red Axis = Left/right

Z = Blue Axis = Forward/backwards or In/out

Once I had moved the vertices to achieve the height and width I then wanted to make the object much thinner. I went back to my Modify list and selected Polygon from the Edit Poly category. I clicked on the face I wanted to edit, again pressing W, I used the Z axis to push the object down to make it thinner.

By editing the vertices and polygons I was able to bend the shape to create a slight curve that a shovel has on its blade.

To create the handle I went to the Create tab on the right hand side of the interface and chose Cylinder. By clicking and dragging on the grid my shape was created, but again this was too large and it had to be edited. Also, as a cylinder is made up with numerous polygons so it maintains a smooth shape I have to reduce this as I am creating a low polygon animation. The height, width and the polygons I can edit in the Parameters menu.

Now I had modified the object to the right height, approximate width and the amount of polygons I decided to taper the handle. To do this I selected the vertices on one end of the shape and used the Scale Tool, by pressing R, to reduce the width of the shape.

As the two shapes were now created to form the blade and the handle of the shovel I then unwrapped and textured them. See the blogs on Unwrapping and Texturing on how I achieved this.

After I had textured the objects I then linked them together by selecting the ‘handle’ and clicking on the chain link icon in the top left of the interface.

Shovel Annotations

Software Trials - Maya

Building a Chair

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHxCBzXmMm4

Y Axis = Move object Up/Down

X Axis = Move Object Left/Right

Z Axis = Move Object In/Out

Yellow Axis = Selected Axis

Yellow Cube = Scale ALL Axis at the same time in the same proportion

There are four viewpoints. Hover over a viewpoint and hit the SPACE bar to enlarge. To change a viewpoint hit the SPACE bar and select the desired viewpoint.

ALT and LEFT MOUSE button to tumble the viewpoint.

ALT and MIDDLE MOUSE button is for panning the viewpoint.

ALT and RIGHT MOUSE button is for zooming in and out of the viewpoint.

Press 1 to go back to NORMAL MODE.

Press 3 to make the object a SMOOTH OBJECT.

Press 4 to put the object in WIRE MODE.

Press 5 to but the object in SHADED MODE.

W is move the Move Tool

E is the Rotation Tool

R is the Scale Tool

G automatically selects the most recent previous command.

F8 toggles between Component Mode and Object Mode. To determine what mode the object is in, this is denoted by the colour of the lines around a selected face. Blue lines denote Component Mode and green lines denote Object Mode.

RIGHT CLICK and HOLD on mouse button to view the components.

·         Vortex will select one corner of the object.

·         Edge will select an edge (line) between two Vertexes.

·         Face will select a surface that is closed edges of a Vertex.

REMEMBER!!!

To MOVE use the ARROW

To SCALE use the BOX

ROTATE and ZOOM IN/OUT the object regularly to see what you are doing!

STEP 1:

Open the MAYA programme. It may take a while to load in the first instance.

STEP 2:

To create an object I click on the tab POLYGONS.

STEP 3:

Select the CUBE icon.

STEP 4:

Make a thin long CUBEOID.

STEP 5:

Press 5 for SHADED MODE.

STEP 6:

Press 3 for SMOOTH MODE. This will create some shine to the edges of the object.

STEP 7:

Select EDIT MESH > INSERT EDGE LOOP TOOL.

STEP 8:

Add loops to all four edges of the shape but DO NOT snap to the edge of the box.

STEP 9:

Press F8 to enter the Object Mode.

STEP 10:

Now copy the object by selecting CTRL + D. Using the BLUE ARROW on the blue Z Axis move the copied object next to the original object. Do this again so that I have THREE of the same object.

STEP 11:

Copy a fourth object using CTRL + D and using the GREEN ARROW on the green Y Axis move the object up.

STEP 12:

I now want to rotate this object and to do so I select E for the ROATION TOOL. Then rotate the object using the red X Axis to 90 degrees.

STEP 13:

To get this exact go to the CHANNEL EDITOR on the right hand side of the screen and next to ROTATION X change the value to 90. This will then turn the object to the required angle of 90 degrees.

STEP 14:

Select the object and then go to the SIDE VIEW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the SIDE VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge.

STEP 15:

Make sure the 90 degree angle object is sits in alignment with the flat objects and then lift the object up a little using the GREEN ARROW on the green Y Axis.

STEP 16:

I then want to go to the FRONT VIEW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the FRONT VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge. (NOTE: I will only see TWO axes as I am in a 2D viewpoint!)

STEP 17:

Select the object and then go back into NORMAL MODE by pressing 1. Then go into SHADED MODE by pressing 5. The SMOOTH MODE by pressing 3.

STEP 18:

Then I want to add some loops to this object. To do this I go to EDIT MESH > INSERT EDGE LOOP TOOL.

STEP 19:

Place a loop exactly into the centre of the object. The move the object up by selecting the GREEN ARROW of the green Y Axis. This will create a curve into the object.

STEP 20:

Press F8 to toggle to COMPONENT MODE. RIGHT CLICK MOUSE BUTTON and HOLD. When the options appear select VERTEX.

STEP 21:

Select the bottom vertex and then using the YELLOW ARROW and pull the bottom vertex down a little.

STEP 22:

Then go back to the TOP VEIW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the TOP VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge.

STEP 23:

Select the middle of the top object and slide the YELLOW ARROW back.

STEP 24:

Go back to the PERSPECTIVE VEIW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the PERSPECTIVE VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge.

STEP 25:

In TOP VIEW create a CUBE on the right hand side of the curved object.

STEP 26:

Move the object if required by using the MOVE TOOL by selecting W.

STEP 27:

Scale the object by sliding the GREEN CUBE on the green Y Axis up.

STEP 28:

Change from MOVE TOOL to SCALE TOOL by selecting R.

STEP 29:

Select the GRID icon. Then adjust the view so that I can get a good view of the object. ALT and LEFT MOUSE BUTTON to tumble the viewpoint, ALT and MIDDLE MOUSE BUTTON to pan the viewpoint and ALT and RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON for zooming in and out of the viewpoint.

STEP 30:

Press 3 to go to SMOOTH MODE. Then EDIT MESH > INSERT EDGE LOOP TOOL. Add loops to the top, bottom and side of the object ensuring that they DO NOT snap onto the edge of the box.

STEP 31:

Duplicate this object by using CTRL + D. Move the duplicated object by using the RED ARROW on the red X Axis to the opposite side chair.

STEP 32:

Go to the FRONT VEIW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the FRONT VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge. Create a CYLINDER by selecting the cylinder from the polygons tab. And create a flat cylinder.

STEP 33:

Go to the PERSPECTIVE VEIW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the PERSPECTIVE VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge. In the CHANNEL EDITOR on the right hand side of the scree change the SUBDIVISONS AXIS to 8 and the SUBDIVSIONS CAPS to 0.

STEP 34:

Select the face of the object EDIT MESH > EXTRUDE.

STEP 35:

Click on the GREEN BOX for the green Y Axis to activate the SCALE TOOL. Using the YELLOW CUBE scale all the axis down at the same time in the same proportion.

STEP 36:

Press G for the most recent command and then using the blue Z Axis push back the face by using the BLUE ARROW to the desired depth.

STEP 37:

I now need to select OBJECT MODE. To do this I select a face then RIGHT CLICK and hold and then select OBJECT MODE or I can simply press the F8 button. F8 toggles between Component Mode and Object Mode. To determine what mode the object is in, this is denoted by the colour of the lines around a selected face. Blue lines denote Component Mode and green lines denote Object Mode. The press 3 to make the object a SMOOTH OBJECT.

STEP 38:

On the SMOOTH OBJECT add some loops. Go to EDIT MESH > INSERT EDGE LOOP TOOL. Press F8 and move the object back using the BLUE ARROW on the blue Z Axis.

STEP 39:

The CLICK and DRAG to select everything except for the three flat objects. Then go to MESH > COMBINE.

STEP 40:

Go back to the SIDE VEIW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the SIDE VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge. Select the ROTATION TOOL by pressing E and rotate the object by approximately 35 degrees or by entering the data in the ROTATE X box in the CHANNEL EDITOR on the right hand side of the screen.

STEP 41:

Move the object by pressing W to select the MOVE TOOL and move the object into the centre of the flat object.

STEP 42:

If desired move the position until I am happy with it. To change the length of the chair legs RIGHT CLICK MOUSE BUTTON and hold and then select vertex. Using the BLUE CUBE on the blue Z Axis extend the length of the chair leg.

STEP 43:

Select the object and the CTRL + D to duplicate the object. Press E to activate the ROTATION TOOL. Then rotate the object using the green Y Axis to approximately 40 degrees or by entering the data in the ROTATE X box in the CHANNEL EDITOR on the right hand side of the screen. If needed press W to activate the move tool and move the object so that the legs of the chair are the same.

STEP 44:

Go back to the PERSPECTIVE VIEW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the PERSPECTIVE VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge.

STEP 45:

Select the duplicated object. Go the menu bar and select MESH > SEPARATE. Select the duplicated chair back and delete. Then select the duplicated cylinder and delete. Then CLICK and DRAG to highlight the two duplicated chair legs then MESH > COMBINE.

STEP 46:

Go back to the SIDE VIEW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the PERSPECTIVE VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge.  Press 1 to go back to NORMAL MODE and then press F8 to toggle to COMPONENT MODE. RIGHT CLICK MOUSE BUTTON and HOLD and from the option select Vertex. Click and drag to scale the object down to the base of the seat. Click the GREEN ARROW for the green Y Axis to pull the edge level with the base of the seat.

STEP 47:

Go back to the PERSPECTIVE VIEW to check my work. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the PERSPECTIVE VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge. Still in COMPONENT MODE and VERTEX click and drag to select the back chair leg.

STEP 48:

Go back to the FRONT VIEW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the FRONT VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge. Using the RED ARROW for the red X Axis pull the chair leg out to the right. Go back to the PERSPECTIVE VIEW to check my work. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the PERSPECTIVE VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge.

STEP 49:

Still in COMPONENT MODE and VERTEX click and drag to select the back chair leg. Go back to the FRONT VIEW. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the FRONT VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge. Using the YELLOW ARROW to pull the chair leg out to the left. Go back to the PERSPECTIVE VIEW to check my work. To do this hit the SPACE bar and hover over the PERSPECTIVE VIEWPOINT then hit SPACE again to enlarge.

STEP 50:

Go to OBJECT MODE by pressing F8. CLICK and DRAG to select all of the objects. Got to MESH > COMBINE. Then go to EDIT > DELETE BY TYPE > HISTORY. This will clear any unwanted information in the CHANNEL EDITIOR. Also in the CHANNEL EDITOR change the name of the object from POLYSURFACE to CHAIR.

STEP 51:

Save the Project!

STEP 52:

Select the object and RIGHT CLICK MOUSE BUTTON and HOLD. From the options select ASSIGN FAVOURITE METERIAL > BLINN.

STEP 53:

Press the CLAPPERBOARD ICON with the BLUE AND WHITE BACKGROUND. A dialogue box will open with my object. In the drop down menu Maya Software is preselected. Change this to Mental Ray. The close the box.

STEP 54:

In the main interface select VIEW > CAMERA ATTRIBUTE EDITOR. In the CHANNEL EDITOR select ENVIROMENT and using the slide adjust the background colour to grey.

STEP 55:

Click on the RENDER SETTINGS ICON on the top right. This is denoted by the CLAPPERBOARD ICON with two BUTTONS to the left. A dialogue box will open and click on the QUALITY tab. Change MAXIMUM SAMPLE LEVEL to 2. The click on the COMMON tab and go to IMAGE SIZE and under PRESETS select 1K SQUARE. Then close.

STEP 56:

Click on the RENDER ICON which is denoted by the CLAPPERBOARD.

STEP 57:

Ensure the project is saved!

Despite saving the file on the college network, USB and having back files on my Hard Drive at home, Maya will not load the file - this makes me disappointed!!

 

Software Trials - Maya

Building a Spaceship

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTNMkA-syNY

Y Axis = Move object Up/Down

X Axis = Move Object Left/Right

Z Axis = Move Object In/Out

Yellow Axis = Selected Axis

Yellow Cube = Scale ALL Axis at the same time in the same proportion

There are four viewpoints. Hover over a viewpoint and hit the SPACE bar to enlarge. To change a viewpoint hit the SPACE bar and select the desired viewpoint.

ALT and LEFT MOUSE button to tumble the viewpoint.

ALT and MIDDLE MOUSE button is for panning the viewpoint.

ALT and RIGHT MOUSE button is for zooming in and out of the viewpoint.

Press 1 to go back to NORMAL MODE.

Press 3 to make the object a SMOOTH OBJECT.

Press 4 to put the object in WIRE MODE.

Press 5 to but the object in SHADED MODE.

W is move the Move Tool

E is the Rotation Tool

R is the Scale Tool

G automatically selects the most recent previous command.

F8 toggles between Component Mode and Object Mode. To determine what mode the object is in, this is denoted by the colour of the lines around a selected face. Blue lines denote Component Mode and green lines denote Object Mode.

RIGHT CLICK and HOLD on mouse button to view the components.

·         Vortex will select one corner of the object.

·         Edge will select an edge (line) between two Vertexes.

·         Face will select a surface that is closed edges of a Vertex.

REMEMBER!!!

To MOVE use the ARROW

To SCALE use the BOX

ROTATE and ZOOM IN/OUT the object regularly to see what you are doing!

STEP 1:

Open the MAYA programme. It may take a while to load in the first instance.

STEP 2:

To create an object I click on the tab POLYGONS.

STEP 3:

Select the CUBE icon.

STEP 4:

Make a CUBE.

STEP 5:

For this lesson select FACE.

STEP 6:

Click on a face that I wish to modify. The face I have selected will then be shaded.

STEP 7:

Hold ALT and LEFT MOUSE button to tumble the object to see the opposite face of the object.

STEP 8:

Holding SHIFT I selected the opposite face so it too was shaded.

STEP 9:

Holding ALT and LEFT MOUSE button I tumbled the object to double check that the two faces that I had selected were shaded.

STEP 10:

In the top left of the screen there is a drop-down menu. I click on this and ensured that I selected POLYGONS.

STEP 11:

In the Menu Bar click EDIT MESH > EXTRUDE.

STEP 12:

On the three axes there is an arrow and a box. To move the face(s) I have selected I will click on the arrow. To scale the face(s) I have selected I will click on the box.

There is also a BLUE CIRCLE and this is used for ROTATING the object.

STEP 13:

By selecting the blue Z Axis I am able to move the face, and as I have previously selected the opposite face, what I do to this face the same will happen the other side. I then pull the BLUE ARROW to extrude the face(s) to the desired size.

STEP 14:

I now want to scale the extruded face(s) down. To do this I select the green Y Axis and this time click on the GREEN BOX and move to the desired size.

STEP 15:

In the Menu Bar click EDIT MESH > EXTRUDE.

STEP 16:

By selecting the blue Z Axis I pull the BLUE ARROW to extrude the face(s) to the desired size.

STEP 17:

I now want to scale the extruded face(s) down. To do this I select the green Y Axis and this time click on the GREEN BOX and move to the desired size.

STEP 18:

I now want to scale the extruded face(s) back. To do this I select the red X Axis and this time click on the RED BOX and move to the desired position. Doing this creates the wings of the Spaceship.

STEP 19:

At the front of the object I select the face I want to extrude. Then I press G which is the shortcut for the most previous command, which in this case is EXTRUDE.

STEP 20:

I extrude the object to how I desire by pulling the face out by pulling on the BLUE ARROW.

STEP 21:

As I wish to scale down all three axes at once I can do this by selecting the GREEN CUBE and at the point where all three axes meet I pull out the YELLOW CUBE until my extruded face is at my desired size.

STEP 22:

I now want to do the same thing to this face. I press G to for the most recent command and pull out the face using the BLUE ARROW until the face extrudes to where I want it.

STEP 23:

As I wish to scale down all three axes at once I can do this by selecting the GREEN CUBE and at the point where all three axes meet I pull out the YELLOW CUBE until my extruded face is at my desired size.

STEP 24:

I now want to do the same thing to this face. I press G to for the most recent command and pull out the face using the BLUE ARROW until the face extrudes to where I want it.

STEP 25:

As I wish to scale down all three axes at once, but this time I want to scale down using the red X Axis and I can do this by selecting the RED CUBE and at the point where all three axes meet I pull out the YELLOW CUBE until my extruded face is at my desired size.

STEP 26:

Select the top face so it becomes shaded and the click G to repeat the previous command. Scale down the red X Axis by using the RED CUBE.

STEP 27:

Scale down the green Y Axis by using the GREEN CUBE.

STEP 28:

Move the green Y Axis back by using the GREEN ARROW.

STEP 29:

Press G for the most recent command and then using the blue Z Axis extrude the face by pulling up on the BLUE ARROW to the desired size.

STEP 30:

Scale the face on the green Y Axis using the GREEN CUBE.

STEP 31:

Then move the face back on the green Y Axis using the GREEN ARROW.

STEP 32:

I hold the ALT and the LEFT MOUSE BUTTON to tumble so I can see the front of the object. Select the face to the right of the nose of the Spaceship. Then holding SHIFT select the face to the left of the nose of the Spaceship. Press G to for the most recent command.

STEP 33:

Click in the green Y Axis using the GREEN CUBE and where all three axes meet I pull out the YELLOW CUBE until my face is at my desired size.

STEP 34:

Press G for the most recent command and then using the blue Z Axis push in the face by using the BLUE ARROW to the desired depth.

STEP 35:

I hold the ALT and the LEFT MOUSE BUTTON to tumble so I can see the rear of the object. I then select the face and press G for the most recent command and using the blue Z Axis I scale down on the BLUE CUBE to the desired size.

STEP 36:

Press G for the most recent command and then using the blue Z Axis push in the face by using the BLUE ARROW to the desired depth.

STEP 37:

I now need to select OBJECT MODE. To do this I select a face then RIGHT CLICK and hold and then select OBJECT MODE or I can simply press the F8 button. F8 toggles between Component Mode and Object Mode. To determine what mode the object is in, this is denoted by the colour of the lines around a selected face. Blue lines denote Component Mode and green lines denote Object Mode.

STEP 38:

I now want to make the object a smooth object. To do this I press the shortcut key which is the number 3 button.

STEP 39:

To add some shiny material to the object I need to select the surface by selecting the object. I then select the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON and hold. From the options I then select ASSIGN FAVOURITE MATERIAL and then select BLINN.

STEP 40:

If I desire to make any changes, press 1 to go back to NORMAL MODE. The select the face I wish to amend. Then, RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON and hold and from the options select Vertex.

STEP 41:

Save the Project

I found the process of creating a 3D model in Maya initially difficult to get my head around. There are numerous functions required to be able to create a 3D model. To remember these functions to be able to work with fluidity is as time consuming as creating the model itself. However, despite following tutorials I did create and had three attempts of making a Spaceship. The images of which you can see below. Considering I have never used a 3D modelling programme, nor created a model, I think they have turned out okay. The only criticism I have is that my attempts look more like a fish that a spaceship.

FIRST ATTEMPT:

 

SECOND ATTEMPT:

 

 

 

THIRD ATTEMPT:

 

 

Software Trials - Flash

Making a Character                                   

Tutorial Links:

Step 1: After opening the Flash programme I selected the Oval tool, then the colours I wanted for the skin tone of my character and the colour of the outer line. In the Properties panel at the bottom of the screen I made the outer line 3 pixels wide. I then drew my shape in the centre of the page and named my Layer as Head.

Please Note: At each step after this stage I inserted a new Layer and used the Padlock symbol to lock the Layer I had previously been working on. This was so that I didn’t select objects I didn’t want to by mistake.

Step 2: I then drew another shape, again using the oval tool set to the same properties I used for the head towards the bottom right off the head. This shape is used to create the chin, but I had to remove the black line so that it formed part of the face as opposed to two shapes with one on top of the other. By clicking on the Eraser Tool I am able to access some more tools to help with the erasing of the line.  The one I chose was the Eraser Mode and by clicking on the line I ‘rubbed-out’ the portion I desired. I then named my Layer as Chin.

Step 3: I then followed the procedure in Step 2 to create the ear on the left hand side of the head before naming the Layer, Ear.

Step 4: For the eyes I followed the procedure in Step 1, but this time I selected the fill colour as white and made the outline 2 pixels wide. I then selected both the outline and fill colour by double-clicking and then I Copy and Pasted the second eye. To ensure that they were positioned where I wanted them more precisely I used the arrow keys to nudge them up/down/left/right. I called this Layer, Eyes.

Step 5: To make the Pupils I again used the Oval tool and made a small circle which I Black to fill the shape. I then moved them into position individually by double-clicking and using the arrow keys. I named this Layer, Pupils.

 Step 6: With the nose I first attempted to draw one with the Pencil Tool as demonstrated in the tutorial. However, when I attempted to do this the lines were too straight and I felt it didn’t give the correct look of a nose. Instead I created on out of an Oval and erased the line as I did for the Chin and Ear in Steps 2 and 3, and inserted nostrils in the same manner as I did for the Pupils in Step 5. This Layer I renamed as Nose.

Step 7: I again attempted to draw a mouth as shown in the tutorial, but again the lines were too straight. I decided again to use the Oval tool to create the mouth. Before I filled in the colour, I used the Pencil tool to mark out the teeth and coloured them white, as one would expect, and the mouth red using the Paint Bucket Tool. The Layer is named as Mouth.

Step 8: Using the Pencil tool I drew some the outline of some hair and used the Paint Bucket Tool to fill the colour. This Layer is named, Hair.

Step 9: For the Eyebrows I drew the one on the right side of the head using the Line tool. I made the right hand side of the brow thinner and by using the Paint Bucket Tool filled it with colour. I used the arrows keys to position it correctly. For the brow on the left, I highlighted the brow that I had just created and used the Copy and Paste method to duplicate. I then selected the second brow and then positioned it above the left eye. I then flipped the eyebrow horizontally by selecting Modify > Transform > Flip Horizontal. I named this layer, Brows.

Step 10: To create the Neck I used the Rectangle Tool in a similar way to how I used the Oval Tool. I selected the colours for the line and the fill and made the outer line 3 pixels wide in Properties.  I drew the shaped I desired and then using the Free Transform Tool I am able to change the size of the object I have made, or as I did in this instance, rotate the object. After I moved it into position I named the Layer, Neck and then by clicking and dragging on the Layer I placed the Neck layer at the bottom on the Layer stack. I did this so the neck did not appear on top of the head, but now is behind the head making it appear as if the head is attached to neck.

Step 11: For the body I used the Pencil Tool throughout. First I drew a triangle near the base of the neck. This will later form part of his shirt under his sweater. I then continued to use the Pencil Tool to draw the shape for the characters body. Near the bottom of his body I added another line across it, with the Pencil Tool, which is going to create the waist for his trousers. I then filled the shapes using the Paint Bucket Tool. This Layer is named Body.

Step 12: To draw the leg I used the Pencil Tool to draw the desired shape. I then used the Paint Bucket Tool to colour it. I then used the arrow keys to position it more accurately. This Layer is named Leg Left.

Step 13: To draw the foot I used two tools. I first used the Pencil Tool to draw the front of the shoe, effectively where the toes would be, to give the shoe a rounded front. I then used the Line Tool to draw the straight lines which made up the sole, heel and the top of the shoe. Using the Paint Bucket Tool I filled the colour and then moved then this Layer, called Shoe Left, underneath the Leg Left layer so the top of the shoe couldn’t be seen.

Step 14: To create the right leg, I went to the Leg Left layer, unlocked the layer by clicking on the padlock icon, selected the right leg by clicking and dragging to highlight the object, Pressed CONTROL + C to copy the object, pressed the padlock icon to re-lock this layer, selected the new layer and pressed CONTROL + V to paste the object. I then positioned the object to the right of the body and using the Free Transform Tool made the object slightly smaller. This is because this leg is slight further away, but I ensured that the size wasn’t reduced too much. This layer I re-named Leg Right prior to dragging it down to the bottom of the Layer stack.

Step 15: I followed the same procedure in Step 14 to duplicate, place and resize the foot for the layer named, Foot Right. I then dropped this Layer underneath the Leg Right Layer.

Step 16: In this instance when I created a new layer I moved this layer to the top of the stack. To create the arm I used the Pencil Tool to draw the shape I wanted. The then drew another line towards the bottom of what is the sleeve to make a shirt cuff. I then used the Paint Bucket Tool to fill the arm in with red and the cuff with white. I positioned the arm using the arrow keys. I called this layer, Arm Left.

Step 17: The hand was created by using the Pencil Tool and filled using the Paint Bucket Tool. This layer is named Hand Left.

Step 18: The Pocket was used using the Pencil Tool. It was here when I learnt that when I select the Pencil Tool at the bottom of the Tool Bar are the sub-options. By choosing Smooth I can draw more ‘free’ and this prevents the lines appearing straight. This layer was called, Pocket.

The Final Layer Stack

My Character

 

Overall I feel, considering it is my first attempt of creating a character in Flash, it has turned out well. I feel that if I were to use this programme to create characters and scenes I would be able to do so competently. This character only has one arm, as it did in the tutorial I was learning from, which would be fine if this character does only have one arm for the purpose of the story. An additional arm could be created in similar manner in which the second leg was created… but not with a show on the end of the limb!!