Booleans

# 1 14-05-2008 , 08:13 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003

Location: Baltimore

Posts: 75

Hey Everyone,

I am a self proclaimed total noob to Maya but I love working with it and I'm hoping that if I keep trying, I'll finally be a decent hobbyist animator.

My question is simple. Can someone explain to me what the term "Boolean" is and how it relates to me wanting to create a render of a "glass of water". There are several posts on how to make liquid in a glass and such (some turning into an interesting debate on some of the dynamic tools that Maya has) and others that point to "using booleans" to make the water.

Assume that I've created a simple "cup" and all I want it to have water in it and when I render, it looks decent. Maybe even have a little wind dynamic so the water moves back and forth.

Chris, Baltimore.

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# 2 14-05-2008 , 08:21 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007

Posts: 1,055

Hi,

a boolean makes a new piece of, or modifies, geometry based on the interaction of two existing pieces of geometry.

Check the help files since they will explain it better and with examples. They can be tricky to use though and sometimes you will just see your geometry vanish.

For the water, I'm guessing that the glass would be modelled, some geometry roughly in the shape of the water would be modelled, then a boolean would be used to cut the water so that it perfectly fit the glass.

cheers

gubar

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# 3 14-05-2008 , 11:17 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003

Location: Baltimore

Posts: 75

Gracias. Now, if I wanted to make the watch "act like water", what would I do then? Am I placing a "water shader" on it?

If your answer to that is also "check the help or links on this site", I completely understand.

Thanks again.

Chris

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# 4 14-05-2008 , 12:11 PM

Super Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2006

Location: South FL

Posts: 3,522

You would apply a material (blinn for example) to your water geometry and tweak the attributes (transparency, specularity etc) of that material to make it look like water, while you're in there, scroll down to the "Raytrace Options" section and turn on refractions and make the refractive index atleast higher than 1.000, 1.33 I think is the correct value for water. Your shadow casting light should have "Use Ray Trace Shadows" checked, and if you're using Maya Software Renderer, make sure you check "Raytracing" in your render settings.

- Genny
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