Salmon Adventure

# 1 01-08-2007 , 10:44 PM

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OK i know I'm new too Maya and its going to be very difficult to do but i cant think of a better way to learn than to set out a project and complete it learning while i go. now this means I'm going to be asking a lot of questions so i hope you don't mind :blush:

OK well here's some pics to get me started I'm just working on the basic shape and have some view questions so i hope you don't mind me asking, but 1st the pics:

user added image

OK now the questions:

1. Would it be easier to create the fins etc separate then group the parts together or merge the vertices's?

2. For the Tail its kind of an open block and not tail like, is the best way to merge the end vertices's to make it closed? if that makes sense lol

I think that's it for the moment thank you

oh and if theres any other tips or anything i can change to make it easier for myself please tell me user added image

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# 2 02-08-2007 , 03:14 PM

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3D is never easy user added image

.

Well at the moment it seems to me that you are using to many lines, and the lines looks to linear to me. (four sided polygons is not a must just a recomendation.)

And well it is okey to make advanced model outside the model and then comine and merge it, i usually do that on very detailed areas like the ear for example.

Add the mouth and we will see more how you do detailed modelling.

But dont worry, you will get the fish looking fishier in no time, good luck! user added image

Ps: I might get the red pen around when I get home from work. user added image

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# 3 02-08-2007 , 03:33 PM

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thanks for the reply i was scared no one would lol. the red pen sounds great and would be a great help, ive modeled a few characters and it involves alot of extruding faces but i couldnt work out the best way to create fins. again thanks for the reply

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# 4 02-08-2007 , 04:16 PM

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sorry to double post but when you say ......Well at the moment it seems to me that you are using to many lines, and the lines looks to linear to me......

what do you mean, im sorry to be a bit of a idoit but i dont realy understand what you mean, have i used to many subdivisions or something?

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# 5 02-08-2007 , 05:01 PM

Jr.Who

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He means the edges.
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# 6 02-08-2007 , 05:06 PM

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With too many lines he means that your model has too many polygons and automatically too many lines (edges). The polygons are also called faces. You should make a low-poly (less edges and polys) model at first and then smooth it.

And with linear he means that your edges are not smooth. They must be adapted to the shape of the fish.

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# 7 02-08-2007 , 05:12 PM

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)

Just play a bit around with the vertices and you'll see how to make the lines rounder user added image

ps: sorry if it's bad explained user added image

OH; SORRY FOR THE DOUBLEPOST! PLEASE DELETE THE FIRST POST!

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# 8 02-08-2007 , 05:27 PM

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wow OK that helped ill start again simpler, could you recommend what i should start with? a polygon cylinder or cube?

also how many subdivisions do you recommend?

thanks for the reply

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# 9 02-08-2007 , 05:32 PM

Jr.Who

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You don’t have to redo it. You can Delete some of the edges, BUT you should do it this way:

(I don’t have Maya open, so please bare with me. Just use the Help files to see where the things are)

•Find the Select Edge Loop tool
•Select the edges you want to delete
•Then find the Delete Edge command (the reason to do this, is because it deletes the vertices with the edges, making it much better and faster)
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# 10 02-08-2007 , 05:34 PM

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Thanks for explaining what I said. user added image

Well that depends, I usually start with a polygon and then use the extrude edge tool to expand the object.

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# 11 02-08-2007 , 05:34 PM

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ok ill delete some lines so how many roughly should there be on the side of the fish? im just asking coz i want to be able to keep it simple for me and want to learn the best methods ect

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# 12 02-08-2007 , 06:40 PM

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Ok does this look better?

user added image

i tryed smoothing out the lines and using less of them, what you think?

thanks jtg

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# 13 02-08-2007 , 09:35 PM

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Okey looks like a good start but you need to modify the mouth area. I recomend that you follow some basic tutorials to learn the basic "flow" and how edges works to make a good looking object.

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# 14 02-08-2007 , 09:49 PM

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that what my next question was going to be lol the tail and mouth all goto one point because its a cylinder, i have a book its the learning autodesk maya 8 foundation book ive read through it and done some of the projects but there all mainly extruding faces ive done the frank tutorial and again its extruding faces from a polygon cube, i was wondering how i would go around moddeling the mouth and tail on a cylinder?

if you can recomend any video tutorials that would be great help

thanks jtg

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# 15 02-08-2007 , 10:13 PM

Maniacal boy king of Babylon
Join Date: Aug 2005

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Hi, i think you should delete the cylinder, since it already has to high of a polycount, and start over again, I think you will get better results when you start from a cube, extrude faces and use the split edge-ring tool and various other tools to get the desired shape and the detail on places where you need them.
I've attached an image, i only spent about 5 minutes to create this and as you see it already is coming into shape, also when it needs adjusting you don't have to move an insane amount of vertices.
If you stick to your cylinder i recommend using the sculpt geometry tool to paint the detail you want, is a lot quicker.

Good luck with your project user added image

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