My first simply maya project - Page 3 - Simply Maya User Community

# 31 26-02-2004 , 03:10 PM

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Very very nice! great progress...

whatever!

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# 32 26-02-2004 , 08:34 PM

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Is that tutorial from beginning of model to the end, that`s a poly model?

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# 33 27-02-2004 , 07:21 AM

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Ankalagon -

Not sure I understand your question but,

The tutorial is a polygon modeling tutorial from start to finish of the dragon head.

During the course of the video the author starts by massing out the basic shapes using nurbs. Then converts the nurbs to polygons and continues to add details - switching to subdivision surfaces from time to time to make futher refinements.

The tutorial can be found here:

https://www.simplymaya.com/movie_page...html?tut_id=65

There is also a follow on tutorial to model the dragons body. I plan on doing that next.

The body tutorial can be found here:

https://www.simplymaya.com/movie_page...html?tut_id=70

The author is Kurt Boutilier and he does a fine job.

In the head tutorial he covers basic massing of the model using nurbs. Basic polygon modelling including the most often used polygon editing commands. Using modify>convert>poly to subd and visa versa to quickly view the smoothed model and refining detail.

The body tutorial which I starting watching today has some really super tips on socking joints, creating toes and nuckle details. The body tutorial also has a nice quick and simple 3 point lighting section at the very end.

Kurt demonstrates the basic principles in each of the video sections. Between sections he sometimes adds some details and refinements but always does a good job of describing what he has done between segments.

What the video does not contain is details on anatomy (muscles, bones and such) although by analizing the refinements Kurt makes during the modeling process and in between sections you can sus out the details. However, reviewing some basic anatomy for artist books at your local bookstore will help alot.

I am most deinately not an artist and Iam very much a Newbie using maya (or any 3d modeling software) but these videos were easy for me to follow and I am quite pleased with my results on this head model.

Rich M

Last edited by ctbram; 04-03-2004 at 11:58 AM.

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# 34 27-02-2004 , 09:29 AM

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Thats just greate, a was thinking he is modeling in polys all of taht head, I am pleased on your head model to, all tutorial cost 22 points witch is abouth 33 euros, litle to mutch for me but i try tu by head for begining, and if I whant too make my cd doo i pay extra 10 pounds for post service???? THX budy

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# 35 28-02-2004 , 03:36 AM

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I am going to start the body of the dragon.

I will keep the posts under this thread and hopefully if I complete it this can be a complete record of my progress on this project.

Day 1:

- massed out the neck, body, tail, leg and middle toe using nurbs

Possible problem:

I do a fair job of modeling given a decent reference drawing unfortunately the reference drawing for this dragon body looks more like a chicken body.

Even Kurt in the tutorial had to make some fairly significant changes in proportion to get it to look better.

As you can see from the attached screenshot of my initial massing of the creature using nurbs the proportions just are not right.

I will have to do my best to try to re-work the references before I continue and convert these nurbs to poly's.

SUGGESTION TO THE AUTHOR:

I would rather work on building my skills at building a model and matching a good reference drawing then spending much time refining my artistic skills redrawing the references.

This is a skill I wish to learn but for a modeling tutorial it detracts from the learning process to have to stop and redraw the references. If I continue using the body reference (as I did fathfully on the head model) I will end up with a DracoChicken.

For those of us not as gifted in the art department you might want to consider posting the referance drawings for the version of the dragon as you completed it to make it easier for those of us that would prefer to model and not break the flow of the tutorial to have to learn to draw a better reference. user added image

Here is the initial ROUGH nurbs masses:

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Last edited by ctbram; 28-02-2004 at 03:54 AM.

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# 36 28-02-2004 , 03:38 AM

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removed by author...

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

Last edited by ctbram; 28-02-2004 at 03:44 AM.

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# 37 28-02-2004 , 06:09 AM

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Body Day 1 (cont):

- added nurbs rough shape for the upper arm/wing

The rough shapes are matchig the references but the proportions look all wrong. Will need to do some work reproportioning things before moving on to the poly conversion phase.

I have named this roughed out version with the wacky proportions "DracoChicken".

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Last edited by ctbram; 28-02-2004 at 06:21 AM.

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# 38 28-02-2004 , 09:09 AM

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You going wey nice on here budy, but I think that body is not so good too, but you dont need too make it exacly as in tutorial!!!

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# 39 28-02-2004 , 09:13 AM

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you could attach one image with begining of dragon`s body, first nurbs that you draw!!! I just dono how it looks when you start with nurbs user added image

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# 40 28-02-2004 , 03:40 PM

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Comming along nice......

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination, knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world. (Albert Einstein)

https://www.artstation.com/kurtb

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# 41 28-02-2004 , 04:41 PM

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Great work !!

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# 42 28-02-2004 , 09:39 PM

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ACK!!!

I can't get the proportions right! I keep pulling and pushing and scaling things and all I am doing is making a total mess!

I don't know if I will be able to finish this model because the head and body and wing references just do not match and I do not have the artistic skill to make them right!

I get the body looking right them the head looks to small. I get the head looking right then the wings are not right. I get the wings looking right then something else looks wrong and round and round I go for hours!

It would have been much better if the references were the right protortions to begin with. I may have to just give up on this project because I want to MODEL not PLAY WITH REFERENCE DRAWINGS and trying to SCALE 5 different already build SEPERATE pieces to match a hodge podge of mismatched reference drawings is a real drag.

After 8 hours of pulling and pushing and scaling and swearing I am really ready to through the whole computer through the wall!

I was happy with the tutorial up to now but with all the reference scaling issues the tutorial is almost useless because although I can use the techniques Kurt demonstrates I cannot match the artistic skill I need to get my references I NEED to work with correct.

Without references this turns into a free form sculpting project and I am not a sculptor!

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

Last edited by ctbram; 28-02-2004 at 09:43 PM.

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# 43 28-02-2004 , 10:41 PM

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Well, one thing to keep in mind is in a real job, you don't always have perfect references to work with. I know I don't in mine. At my job, we get a drawing of the character or location and get to it... that drawing usually isn't even at any sort of orthogonal view. Just a drawing as if you'd draw anything to make it look cool.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 44 28-02-2004 , 11:21 PM

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The reference is not off that much.. yes I did play with the proportions a bit while modeling for the tut but nothing too major.

As Mike stated, in a studio most of the time you are handed a drawing of a character in a pose, not a straight front view or side view and you have to model it from just the character sheet.

Remember this is your first real modeling project and it will take you some time and a lot more practice to get the results you want right off the bat.

Im sorry if you feel the tut is a waste now but from what I've seen you have learned a lot from both parts.

Kurt

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination, knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world. (Albert Einstein)

https://www.artstation.com/kurtb

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# 45 29-02-2004 , 12:30 AM

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I should not have said "useless" the tutorial has still taught me alot.

I am just saying as a "beginner" I would rather focus on developing my modeling skills and not dealing with scale and proportion issues in the reference drawings.

I brought the wing and body references into the scene in their exact scale. As drawn the back of the wing would be somewhere in the dragons tail.

Mike and Kurt I understand your points about life in a real studio. But I am not in a real studio. I am trying to learn modeling and that is what beginer tutorials should teach. The reference drawings should be a better fit for the project. As they are they appear to have been provided as an after thought.

I will keep fiddling with them and get the scale right.

But its more work then I want to do as a beginners modeling project and it detracts from the time I spend actually learning modelling skills. That is the point I am making. I'll get it figured out.

I am just trying to make a suggestion that might make your future tutorials better.

Notes (circled numbers on the attached image):

1. The scale of the arm in the wing reference vs. the body reference

2. The back of the wing intersects the tail.

The dimensions of the body and wing reference are drawn on the attached image. If I scale the arm to fit the wing becomes to narrow / short. Trying to stretch the model means I lose the benifit of the contour lines on the reference since the model no longer fits the reference. That's what I meant by the project turns into a free form sculpting project.

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Last edited by ctbram; 04-03-2004 at 12:10 PM.

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