Introduction to Maya - Modeling Fundamentals Vol 2
This course will look in the fundamentals of modeling in Maya with an emphasis on creating good topology. It's aimed at people that have some modeling experience in Maya but are having trouble with complex objects.
# 16 29-03-2007 , 11:15 AM
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Lastly, here's the hand that I've been working on.

Some things to note:

1) I haven't begun on the middle, ring or pinky fingers :p :blush:

2) My UVs here have a bit of a "ripple" look to them; that's something to keep an eye out for.

3) The UVs here hav a bit of a "ripple" and are stretched.

4) Seams

Those are bound to happen; it's a conflict that occurs when the 3D space of modeling and the 2D space of texturing collide.

In this case, you have two options:

a) Ignore the seam, and lay out the UVs so that the hand UVs are uniform and the finger UVs are uniform, and when the time comes to paint your texture, you're careful about how you paint.

or

b) Lay out the UVs for the hand and the finger, and if you are not going to sew them (you can't sew everything :p ), adjust the placement of the finger UVs so that they have continuity with where the finger meets the hand.



Miscelaneous tips and tricks:

1) Holding "v" and middle-mouse-clicking in the UV window will snap UVs to UVs; exactly like snapping things to vertices while modeling. This is handy when you go about sewing seams together.

2) Keep seams where no-one's going to see them, if you can help it.

3) Sometimes UVs get flipped, and textures on faces appear "backwards." If this is the case, select the UVs that make up the backward faces, and in the UV window, choose Polygons -> Flip UVs -> Options, and choose either horizontal or vertical flipping.

4) You can also scale selected UVs "inside out" to achieve the same effect as #3

5) When using planar projections, make sure you are selecting the correct axis.

Not only that, but make sure the axis you are selecting corresponds with the actual axis you want to project along.

By default, Maya is a "Y up" world/space. You can change this, but be sure that you are aware of your change and choose the appropriate axis when making planar projections.

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Last edited by severinianthony; 29-03-2007 at 11:58 AM.
# 17 29-03-2007 , 11:16 AM
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cool thanks for the help man, appriciate it soo much... finally i kind of know how to do it user added image

i finished my number box though two of my numbers where back to front, (5,6) i tried x,y,z,camera in planner mapping though it still didnt help kind of since it kept flipping the number backwoods... for my texture, would i have to reverse the (5,6) to get it perfect? if you get what i mean, sorry :p

any other things i should know about texturing or in the texture editor before i do some things?

cheers buddy, marlon

# 18 29-03-2007 , 11:18 AM
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heres a screenshot of my number cube ... ( lol at 5 & 6 :p )

user added image

# 19 29-03-2007 , 11:21 AM
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Originally posted by marlonjohn
i finished my number box though two of my numbers where back to front, (5,6) i tried x,y,z,camera in planner mapping though it still didnt help kind of since it kept flipping the number backwoods... for my texture, would i have to reverse the (5,6) to get it perfect? if you get what i mean, sorry :p

I think I might know what the issue is; UVs sometimes get flipped.

Select the UVs that make up the backwards face in the UV window, press "r" to bust out your scale manipulator, and completely turn the face "inside-out," either horizontally or vertically.

Originally posted by marlonjohn
any other things i should know about texturing or in the texture editor before i do some things?

I'll try to update the post above yours with tips and tricks user added image


# 20 29-03-2007 , 11:23 AM
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Looking at the attached diagram, the blue UVs need to be where the green ones are, and vice versa.

Just flip em, and all should be well and good in the universe ^_^

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# 21 29-03-2007 , 11:30 AM
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cool ... i figured out another way and fixed the backwards 5 and 6 but is this a bad method of doing it? i just simply did camera but first angled my first perspective view soo it would be correct and it was simply the way the others where in the first place ...

# 22 29-03-2007 , 11:34 AM
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I cannot say I am familiar with the method you used.

I take it you found that option in the UV window, Polygons -> Flip UVs -> Options, and then opened the camera tab?

Well, if it worked, it worked ^_^

But yes, under Polygons -> Flip UVs -> Options, you can also choose horizontal or vertical flipping; that will essentially have the same effect as scaling (but has percision :p )


# 23 29-03-2007 , 11:42 AM
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dam yeah, might as well you your method since it only took a couple of clicks while my method took like 2 mins :bow:

# 24 29-03-2007 , 11:53 AM
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That flipping issue is actually a good way to show that using numbered boxes may be better than a checker.

If you're using a checker, you can't tell if something is flipped or not; Maya just displays it as black to white, to black, and back to white, and...yeah...it all looks the same in the end.


# 25 29-03-2007 , 11:58 AM
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"That flipping issue is actually a good way to show that using numbered boxes may be better than a checker.

If you're using a checker, you can't tell if something is flipped or not; Maya just displays it as black to white, to black, and back to white, and...yeah...it all looks the same in the end"

yeah your right, learn something new every day isnt it true user added image ived learnt many new things though, thank to the help of you user added image i just cant believe i can finally do BASIC texture, wooo user added image

# 26 29-03-2007 , 12:01 PM
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Last edited by severinianthony; 29-03-2007 at 12:11 PM.
# 27 29-03-2007 , 12:03 PM
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well i shall head off to bed even though its the start of my holidays ... 4:16am here in melbourne and plus in a couple of hours i will be having a lan party at my house :headbang:

thanks for the help again,

anyone else like to share some ideas or some free tutorials/tips...

cheers, marlon

EDIT:

"Michelangelo's Pieta" LOL! ill have it finished in a sec :p have fun ...

# 28 29-03-2007 , 03:03 PM
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im saving this thread! will come in handy when i look at UVs


thanks guys

robin

# 29 29-03-2007 , 03:20 PM
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Hey guys, not really read the thread through so sorry if its going over old ground ,

I would have a play with the different uv settings. planar, clyindrical, spherical, etc to get a "feel" of them and then go from there. No one way is the best, its up to you. The main thing to think about is keeping the mesh the same ratio in the texture editor as it is in the model, that way you aviod the dreaded texture stretching and compressing, its well worht making the effort uving as it is modeling (as ive found out to my peril)

Its learning another thing again, once you get it down you will be able to model for texturing etc etc, and really relise why edge loops and quads are the way forward and not just a modeling/animation term!


"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle
# 30 30-03-2007 , 04:10 AM
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@ rcb25 - yeah thats a great idea rch25 user added image

thanks for the comment steve, im now going to test them planar, clyindrical, spherical etc to get a good feel and understanding user added image


marlon

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