how would i go about this night mare

# 1 11-09-2002 , 06:39 PM

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Join Date: Sep 2002

Posts: 17

ok,
this model is scaring me shitless(the underside of it)...hope you guys have a similar model and can advise on the approach i'd take(i hope to do this with nurbs).
since i come from a max background i'd tackle this model with spline modelling i.e builduing the cage with 3 or four sided patches...no problem,evry thing would be one full continious mesh.i know maya has the square tool and the boundary tool but it seams a bit tedious...dunno !!!.
has any body used max here ???.
tahnx in advance
b

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# 2 12-09-2002 , 12:00 AM

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Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

Actually..

Actually, you answered your own question a bit i think user added image

That's where I would start.
Since it is not an object(s) that needs to deform, you can use a number of ways such as:

Booleans
Birail tools
etc.

I'm no expert, but personaly, I would try one of these ways first:
Draw out some profile curves, mixing and matching curve degrees, you know, for the edges/bevels, then draw out your rail curves, birail, and see what you get.

Tweak from there.

I'll try doing it right now to see what the easiest way for me to attack that would be....

Then I'll post my results user added image

Sound good?

Gimme a minute....

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 3 12-09-2002 , 12:30 AM

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Yep...

It worked easiest for me with birailing cv curves.

I'm having problems with Maya right now, but if you give me a day or so, I'll have a SMALL video tut for you to see how I did it user added image

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 4 12-09-2002 , 05:27 AM

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Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

Whoops...

Sorry Boomji, it looks like I forgot that Kevin has me on another video right now, so that mouse video will have to wait.

No biggie though, like I said, I think a combination of the biRail2+ tool, and a few well placed Planar's or Lofts will do the trick just fine.

Good luck!

PS - Ignore my tip below if you are modeling your mouse as a "hero" or featured item or detailed technical object modeling study user added image

Otherwise...
If you are just making this mouse to beef-up the midground or background parts of your scene, always remember that if your object or camera is not going to move at all, and your object is (in real world terms) more than 3 feet away from the camera I would HIGHLY suggest simply mapping a touched-up 2D image of your object onto a plane instead of wasting precious render cycles having Maya render an object that is going to be out of focus anyway.

Just make sure the picture of your object matches the perspective of your Maya camera, and you are good to go!

Have a good one!
Render on.

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 5 12-09-2002 , 07:32 PM

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Posts: 17

tahnks rage

hey...dude user added image

thanx for the reply and the offer.
i want to model the mouse because i want to test my modelling skills with maya.this would be a perfect candidate for rhino(oohhh i luuv that app),and i'd lick it with spline modelling in max.
maya on the other hand has many fancy modelling tools but some how those cracks always show up arghhh user added image

and i want to be able to animate this...but thats another story, i can always convert to poly's/subd's and clean up.
i'm doing this or rather want to, because modelling technical and complex shapes are my nemesis...u know what they say, face your fear user added image

thanx
b

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# 6 14-09-2002 , 10:43 PM

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Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

EXACTLY!

I SUCK at character modeling, but Kevin has me making a tut on Modeling a shark, so it looks like I'll be learning a lot along the way with the rest of you.

That's what's great about this site, everyone learns from each other.

Good luck my friend, and whenever you get it done, let us take a look user added image

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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