Salty. (Revolving + Lofting in Maya)

Hello again!

It seems like every time I open Maya, there's something completely new for me to use when modeling. This project in particular introduced me to the weird and wonderful world of Revolve and Loft, through making a cup (well, more of a goblet) and a salt shaker. I've got lots to get through, so let's jump right in.

What the Heck Even Is Lofting and Revolving?

Well, before we can get into those two, we have to take a moment to discuss NURBS. NURBS isn't just a word that fun to say. It's an acronym for Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines, which use a mathematic method of describing curves and surfaces. They're different from polygons in a sense that the shape of a NURBS (Is it still NURBS if it's singular, or does it shorten to NURB?) is more smooth and organic than the sharp and geometric look provided by polygons. Both Lofting and Revolving use NURBS to create smooth, curved shapes, so understanding how NURBS work is essential before you begin Revolving and Lofting.

Revolving is a method of NURBS-based modeling that uses NURBS curves and, as one would expect, the Revolve tool. The easiest way to make a revolved shape is to start by making a profile curve in a specific view, usually with a grid to help gauge where the vertices should go. After making the curve, simply select Surfaces>Revolve in order to create the desired shape. The way this works is that the created curve is rotated about an axis in order to form the shape. Once the shape is created, it can be easily adjusted through use of the CV Curve Tool. Revolving is especially handy when modeling something like a cup or vase.

Lofting is another NURBS-based modeling method. It's harder to explain than the fairly straightforward Revolving, but I'll give it a shot. Imagine making a frame out of wire (similarly to how one would pitch a tent), and then covering the frame with a sheet. That's how I would describe lofting- a smooth surface draped over a base frame. Once the basic shape has been lofted, it can be reshaped by selecting specific sets of vertices and scaling them to fit your preference.

A Quick Run-Down of the Project

The cup was made using the exact method I described in the section above, with the creation of a profile curve and subsequently revolving it and shaping it until it was the desired shape. The salt shaker was also made using the exact same method described above, but with an added pinch of planar surfaces and Boolean'd spheroid shapes. 

Shading was easy enough on the cup -- slap on a Lambert and you're good to go. Shading the salt shaker was a bit trickier -- I used Phong E on the body and the cap to make a SUPER shiny surface, and I also made the body transparent to look like glass. Another thing I added was a sort of smaller version of the salt shaker body, rounded off at the top and textured with a white bump map and put inside the glass body to create salt. After everything was modeled, I put both the shaker and cup inside a cube with an open face and lit the scene using spotlights, similarly to how I lit up the hammer and nail in the previous project.

Overall, this project was very fun and a lot less complicated than I thought it'd be! Which is good, since I've had a peek at what the next project will be, and I can already tell it won't be anywhere near as easy...

Wish me luck,

Tate

STOP! Hammer Time. (Making a Hammer+Nail in Maya)

Hello!

After a nice winter break, I'm back in action with another Maya project to show you. Our first assignment of the second semester in animation was to make a hammer and a nail in Maya. There were three main parts of the project -- modeling, shading, and lighting. I'll go into detail about all three, so grab a seat and enjoy.

Modeling

At first, modeling the hammer seemed easy enough. We just had to make a long rectangle, extrude the top face to make the top part, split one of the faces to extrude into claws, and extrude another face to make the hammer's head. But at first I found myself struggling quite a bit, especially when I first tackled the claws. I couldn't figure out how to split the claws into segments that could me shifted to make the claws round for the life of me. But once I figured out how to do that, I rounded the claws and moved on to the head. The hammer head was marginally easier than the claws, but I did have a bit of trouble trying to bevel the head. It simply became a blob when I tried to bevel it, because I was in vertex mode and not edge mode. Once I tried it in edge mode, the hammerhead was nicely smoothed, completing the top portion of the hammer.

The handle was shaped using a similar method as the head -- through moving sets of vertices to slim out the middle of the handle. But for some reason, the handle didn't want to be beveled at all! Therefore, the handle is a bit blocky but I'm perfectly fine with that. The nail was very easy to make. I made a thin cylinder, extruded and manipulated a little flat top part, and pulled the bottom face of the cylinder into a nice point. After that, I was done modeling!

Shading

Shading was very easy. All I had to do was apply a Phong texture (which is shinier than the usual Blinn, making it good for metal or generally glossy surfaces) to the hammer's head and the nail, a Lambert (which lacks shine, making it good for matte surfaces) to the hammer's handle and the grassy plane below, and color each appropriately. I chose to color the handle a nice woody brown, the hammerhead and nail a steely bluish-grey, and the grass a nice shade of forest green.

Three-Point Lighting

After I was done modeling and shading, I was told to add three-point lighting in order to flesh out the scene and make it look truly 3D. Three-point lighting was done similarly to the way I did the lighting for the Polything, in my reflection post. Three-point lighting consists of, as one would expect, three lights. 

The main light is exactly what it sounds like -- the main light used to light up the object, usually a strong white or very pale yellow.

The next light is the fill light, used to fill in the areas the main light can't reach. The fill light is usually off to the side and weaker than the main light. In both this and the Polything, I made the fill light a slight turquoise shade. 

The final light is the back light, which is placed behind the focal object in order to create a dramatic effect and make the object pop rather than fade out into the background.

Usually I would do the lighting with directional light, but I was told to work with spotlights instead. It wasn't that big of a difference, aside from the light produced being more of a conical shape.

Final Thoughts

I think this project turned out very well! Aside from a few bumps in the road (i.e the claws not responding, the hammerhead becoming a blob, the handle refusing to be beveled, and even a Blue Screen of Death™ during the modeling stage), every stage went fairly smoothly and produced a nice result, as shown at the top of this post. If I could do this project again, all I would do is bevel the handle to satisfy my compulsive need for everything I model that needs smoothing, to be smooth.

Thanks for reading,

Tate