The Final Task for this Module I was given three briefs
Create animation Roller-coaster
Create Space Station
Create a Mario character
I decided to create a space station, I was given all day to create a scene below is three screenshots showing my Space station long with a spaceship that is moving from Earth to the Space Station.
I made the space station using a variety of the tools that I had learnt since starting this module. I used both hypershades and UV maps to create the texture for all components in the scene. I used Keyframes to create the animation which is shown below.
I thoroughly enjoyed this Module and have learnt many things, that I believe will help me in the future.
Once every member of my group had make their objects that were going to be added to the final scene, my self and the other members of my group gave them to another member of our group Matt as he created the street, we all did this so it was easier that trying to import everyone’s objects in class. We all used dropbox to share our files making it easier for everyone to have access to the work. Matt also created the lamp posts and I am very pleased with the end result as he has added a glow to give it the effect that they are on.
The video that follows shows a quick animation of around the street, I created the animation by creating a new camera, and then using key frames I moved around street adding key frames when I wanted the camera to be at a specific point.
Matt created another animation for the street which can be seen on his blog, while this is good and all members of the group agreed on this method. I felt like I wanted to create my own animation showing the movement around the street from my perceptive.
I think that the animation and the scene itself overall looks good and has many of the components that were asked for from the little shop of horrors members. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this task, and I have gained many new skills from the creation of the scene.
The images below show what I created for the street scene:
I made each one of these objects separately and then imported them into a single file on separate layers.
To make the tree I simply used curves and edited the vertex for the leaves then coloured it in to make it look like a healthy tree. Next I just duplicated the object and coloured into a different colour for the dead tree
The shop was created using boolean to create the middle of the shop and on the roof to create the rim, boolean was also used to create the canopy which originally was a cylinder. I then used a variety of hyper shades to create a realistic shop. I also used the extrude tool for the door.
The phone box was created using a variety of tools including extrude and boolean to create the phone and the buttons on the pad, a cylinder was used to create the base of the phone box. I moved the vertex to create the cover for the phone box.
Before myself and the other members of my group were asked what scene we would like to do we first created a popplet which is shown above and here we could all add our own ideas.
Below is what our original idea for the street scene would look like, it has changed greatly since then however, but these drawings could be used as templates
The next brief I was asked to complete was to create Godzilla using auto desk mudbox. Mud-box makes applying colour easier than using Photoshop. It has a range of different textures and stencils available. It also allows for the user to easily modify the object by using features such as smooth, pinch and grab.
To create the Godzilla firstly I used the dinosaur object that was already created in mudbox, next I used different features that were available in mudbox to create humps , spikes and other features to make the dinosaur more Godzilla like.
Even though the spikes aren’t clearly visible in the video below, I was able to create the spikes using the grab tool however to make it symmetrical on both sides of the spine I applied the mirroring over the x axis, this was one feature I had to research into I originally I was trying to do it by eye which was nearly impossible. I also used the mirroring tool when using the bulge tool and making the values negative to create the eyes.
I added many different painting layers to the Godzilla using stencils in order to achieve what I thought looked like a realistic Godzilla.
I had difficulties with this task importing the lizard into Maya. I could get the object into Maya however, when I tried running my animation it would lag. I eventually managed to fix this after realising I was importing the Godzilla with a high polygon level, after reducing my polygon level it worked fine.
To create the lizard smashing through the wall I simply selected the polygon plane tool and then used the cutting tool to cut it into random shapes. Next I extruded the plane and separated the polygons. To create the animation i used key frames, then moving the slider to the last frame i moved the object so it passed through the wall and once again pressed shift and w to set a key frame. To get the glass to crush when passing through i had to set the object as a object that would make contact. I also had to delete the source of gravity for the wall so it would stay still when the lizard passed through .
Here is a video of my work from showing my Godzilla pass through the wall:
I enjoyed this task as i liked using mudbox. It allows more more creativity then maya and allows for a better degree of accuracy when painting than Photoshop. I like the use of textures and stencils that can overlap.
The original Godzilla as an actual lizard which was created using the templates in mudbox. I manipulated this lizard by using the grab and pinch to to create the effect of bumps and spikes along the body. I also used the stencils tool as well as the brush tools to add a skin texture to my lizard.
I then decided I was not happy with the way my Godzilla was turning out, so I decided to create a new Godzilla using to T-rex model on Mudbox to give my Godzilla a more monstrous look. I again to the grab and pinch tool to create ridges along the body and then I used the bulge tool to create the eye sockets I did this my repetitively selecting the same area until I was happy with result.
The reason why the file was not used as my final version was when I tried exporting the object to Maya the Maya file lagged, I was able to fix this by saving the UV map and then reducing the polygons and saving the file as a new copy this version was the file that I used as my final version as seen above. I also added a brick wall texture to the wall that the Godzilla was going to smash through however I had already animated the wall so when the Godzilla smashed into the wall the texture on the wall become distorted, I decided against using the texture and just changed the colour to a darker one. Finally I had originally added a skybox to my animation to give the effect of my Godzilla smashing through a wall in a crate, however after deciding not to use the texture on the wall I decided against using the skybox as it would have not complimented the final outcome of the animation.
The video that follows shows my first animation that I made in maya
I was able to make this animation by using key frames, firstly I created the ball and added a key frame, next I moved the ball twice more so it created a triangle shape, each time I moved the ball I inserted a key frame, below is a video showing the ball moving in a diamond shape I created this in the same way that I created the triangle.
I also learnt how to use curves in Autodesk maya. I learnt the different types of curves and what they can do. I found using the curves easy and especially when using the loft option, as it can be used to create cool looking shapes such as chalices/glasses
Here is my evidence of using the curve tool to create a vine and then using the skeleton features to make them move. I found this exercise interesting however it was a bit difficult to start of with.
I found this exercises useful and a new feature I learnt was how to delete the relationship between the curve line and the shape.
I was then asked to create a lego representation of myself. I chose to make mine wearing my local cricket teams hat, as I enjoy my cricket so I thought what better way to represent myself. The lego man was an already set model of which we had to create a uv map of and then edit using a photo editing software such as Photoshop. To create the UV map firstly you had to select the lego man object then go to create UV’s> automatic mapping. Then you go to window> UV texture editor and then screen shot the image and save as a jpeg. Next I opened this up in Adobe Photoshop where I could then add colour and pattern. Staying in the lines was tricky however so I decided to use a piece of software that when saving the file as a .obj, could then be opened as a 3D model in Auto-desk mud box, I then used Photoshop to add my face.
Once I had coloured the main body for my lego man and added my face I added a hat. I created this using booleans. I had to create another UV map for the hat. I found UV mapping useful as it can be used to shade in any object in whatever colour you like. You can also add images to your lego man or object. Below is my completed Lego Man.
I think my lego man looks good. I enjoyed doing this task as it was quite simple and enjoyable. The task taught me about new techniques of shading instead of hyper-shade and could be a very useful technique. This task overall has been fun and enjoyable I have learnt a lot of new skills especially for rendering.
The only aspect of the Lego Man that I was not completely happy with, was due the stretching of my face to curve around the lego man face it has become at bit pixelated.
I think that UV mapping was a good and useful way instead of using hyper shade to add colour to objects in Maya, I definitely will be using this tool in the future .
I was given the task of creating 1 of 3 different models from a lego set (including creating the lego parts themselves) in Maya. After getting into a group of 5 to reduce the work load for creating the lego bricks, myself and the rest of my group had to decide which bricks we would be creating so there would not be any repartition of lego bricks. Next I decided which model I was going to create, using the website given I created each individual lego brick that I was going to create. This was based of the measurements for each of needed parts specified on the website.
After everyone in my group created the bricks it was then that we noticed that we had created them in centimetres instead of millimetres, this was because by default Maya sets the grid to centimetres. After we noticed this we had to remodel
everything into right scale using scaling .
In the end I was able to create my plane, below is my plane and the picture of what it should look like this image was taken from the instructions booklet.
I think after looking at the two images above , I have created a realistic plane that looks fairly similar to the original, regardless of the problems that occurred.
(October 13, 2013) – After creating the logos I was given the task of creating our solar system , I did this by adding spheres and scaling them to the correct size, scaling was difficult to start of with as the planets were either too big or too small. However once I got the hang of scaling I found this task fairly easy, next I arranged the planets and the Sun. Once I had created the sun and the planets and Earth’s moon I added the correct texture map for the sun, moon and each planet. I did this the same way I applied the apple and twitter logo from the previous post.
Here is the finished solar system with the black box/ sky box surrounding it. The sky box allows us to see the planets in space. Beneath find two images one of the planets inside the box completely and the other with a face cut out.
(December 24, 2013) – After creating an animation for a recent Project (Little Shop of Horrors) I decided to go back and animate my solar system. I achieved this by creating a number of frames that would allow for easy calculation of how long it takes for Earth to achieve full rotation of the Sun, then I worked out the rest of planets rough amount of time to do a full rotation around the Sun based of the animation frames for the Earth. Next I used the render batch tool to save still images of my animation and then used windows live Movie Maker to stitch them back together. Below is my completed animation of the Solar System:
I used key frames for the movement of the camera and the movement of the planets around the Sun, I also used keyframes for the rotation of the Sun. Unfortunately I was only able to get the Sun to spin, and the planets to move around the Sun. I was unable to get the moon to spin around the Earth, and rotate and I was also unable to get all the planets to spin while they rotate on there axis around the Sun, I also got rid of the Skybox for the Video as not all the planets could be seen clearly.
If I had thought of this idea earlier I might have been able to work out how to do these features to better improve my Solar System, however I have very pleased with the end result shown in the Video above.
(October 12, 2013) – I was given the task of creating a 3D logo for Apple using a 2D image, I achieved this by going into the surfaces tab and creating a NURBS Plane, once I had this I then open the Attribute tab and went to the lambert1 tab and added the original logo, however the logo did not appear on the grid, so I went to the shading tab and activated the Hardware texturing.
Next I added a Polygon rectangle that covered the apple on the logo, then using Vertex’s I was able to manipulate the polygon to the desired shaped. I then rounded the rounded the shape by simply pressing 3 and this did it automatically.
Below is my finished Apple logo
I then went onto creating another logo using the techniques used in the previous logo, this was the twitter logo however this logo was far more difficult to create even though I have created the logo it is not very good as when I tried to manipulate the vertex’s I would be manipulating the front and back sides, I remember that I was taught how to correct this if this happened however I could not remember how to do this, so below is my finished twitter picture. I will need to do further reading into this technique so this will not occur in the future
(December 21, 2013) – I have now created the batman logo, this was done the same way as the other logos however due to the complexity of the logo I had to create each section separately, below is a screenshot of the Batman logo I created in Maya 2013.
Due to complexity of the logo I had to firstly create the black back plate, using the technique used in the previous logos, then on an other layer I created the yellow plate. Next I first tried to create the whole bat using the technique used in the previous logos, however I was struggling to do create the shape. I then decided to create the middle section of the bat first and then using a new polygon and on a separate layer I created one of the wings for the bat, and after I had done this I duplicated the wing and rotated it to create the wing for the other side of the bat to save time.
Nathan Ritchie B.Sc (Honours) 
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