what to do?

# 1 28-02-2005 , 04:34 PM

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Ok I am new to this whole thing, I have Maya PLE and I have a question. I have watched alot of free video tutorials from various places and I think I have most of the fundamentals down. What I want to know is, whats a good first project? I would like to make a human like character and rig it so I can animate it, but no matter how I try I can't seem to get a design right. I have tried drawing what I want and well, I can't draw, everything I try looks like crap, and when I try to model something it doesn't look like I had imagined it looking. I would like to find a tutorial that walks me through the process of modelling a character and rigging it, step by step, just so I can learn how to model and rig something correctly. I can't afford to buy any points here and I find text and picture tutorials confusing. So basically I am looking for a good, free modelling/rigging tutorial that is (preferably) in video. I know that's probably alot to ask but I would appreciate it if someone could help me.

Thanks,
Griffis

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# 2 28-02-2005 , 04:40 PM

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As for the modelling, I'd suggest checking out Kurt's free Cartoon Dog Tutorial... Don't really know about rigging though...

Liter is French for 'Gimme some ****ing cola before I break vous ****ing lips!"

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# 3 28-02-2005 , 05:05 PM

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oh, I tired that one. I thought I was doing good but I was a tiny bit disappointed because parts of the dog didn't look too good, i.e., where the back leg when into the body it was creased a litt,e and where the "Shoulder blades" were I accidently made a big ridge in there and couldn't get it fixed right. But I figrued I would go ahead and continue, I got to where I was supposed to convert the head and neck into poly's and when I did the head looked really weird, it was too bulky looking, and when I tried to join the head and neck it didn't want to work correctly either, so, I decided I might try again some other time, I just don't feel like re-doing the entire dog.

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# 4 28-02-2005 , 05:48 PM

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Starting over sometimes is the best way to learn, providing that you do not repeat the mistakes and learn from the ones you did make....after all no one is perfect.

A place to start maybe would be to make a stick figure....modified of course to have thicker body parts, but it may give you an idea about how to model proportions and rig the model with joints etc.

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# 5 28-02-2005 , 05:52 PM

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lol you sound like me when i started! It's like anything you have to practice loads! it's like anything that's difficult you wont get it right the first time! Keep on plugging away and soon you will begin to surprise yourself! if you can't draw etc then bear in mind you may be stronger in areas other than modelling! if you asked me to model a human figure it would suck big time! But I know that it's not what I'm good at so I avoid doing it user added image

I know where my strengths lie and I use that knowledge.

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Keep with it
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Alan

Technical Director - Framestore

Currently working on: Your Highness

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# 6 28-02-2005 , 06:00 PM

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Rigging is a bit of advanced topic and an artform unto itself. Most free video tutorials deal with basics, so you might have a hard time finding one on rigging. If you do let us all know.

If you can't afford the points here, try this:
https://www.learning-maya.com/rigging.php

A slew of tutorials, but I don't think any are video.

AIM: mhcannonDMC

"If you love your job, you'll never work another day in your life."

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# 7 28-02-2005 , 06:33 PM

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if you are that new, don't expect too much of yourself. The first thing I made was the hammer in poly's, there are some tutorials that come with Maya, go to Help and check them out.

Second, just watching a learning movie doesn't mean you mastered what you watched, you have to learn to apply the knowledge to your projects. If you don't want to do what the movie does, just open maya and try them out with simply objects ( you know, like if you wanna learn how to use circular fillet, just make a sphere and a cylinder and try it out, .etc...)

Good luck, user added image

Imagination is more important than knowledge...
--Albert Einstein

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# 8 01-03-2005 , 12:18 PM

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Originally posted by Saiyan
Starting over sometimes is the best way to learn...

Originally Posted by

Annoying as it may seem there is no truer fact.

Just like your parents telling you that School/Collage/Uni will be the best time of your life. You dont really belive it untill your actually there.

I have found redoing tuts make a huge visable difference to the quality of a model. I'm not sure if its your brain working better because it has seen many of the details before, but they do become easier and look much much better.

I have redone certain tuts over and over because I found certain bits tricky or fun to mess around with. Granted if you didnt like the process first time round maybe give it a miss and move onto your next project, but there is no better feeling than seeing your own work improving in front of your eyes and in the eyes of others.

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# 9 01-03-2005 , 12:31 PM

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Just like your parents telling you that School/Collage/Uni will be the best time of your life. You dont really belive it untill your actually there.

Originally Posted by

From my point of view, it's not that you don't believe it until you're actually there, it's more of a case you appreciate the time and effort you spent there upon reflection once you've gone through the system. [Well provided you were one of the students that actually pulled their fingers out when it mattered]

Just my half-a-pounds worth mind you.

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# 10 01-03-2005 , 03:05 PM

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Originally posted by azimuth
Just like your parents telling you that School/Collage/Uni will be the best time of your life. You dont really belive it untill your actually there.

Originally Posted by

Or till you're done... I think that was the case with me and high school, so now I just wanna get into uni as soon as possible!

Liter is French for 'Gimme some ****ing cola before I break vous ****ing lips!"

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# 11 01-03-2005 , 03:10 PM

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yep, i'm in my final semester of my final year at an awesome uni. I'm gutted I have to leave - but on the other hand I will be doing a post grad course in another good uni, so i'm delaying the big wide world for a while yet user added image

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