Final Put Together

All put together.

Interior Rendered Video

This is the rendered video of the interior, before the two projects were put together. I don't know why, but once I rendered and brought it into after effects, the animation decided it wanted to go super fast. WARNING: Only watch it once or you might get sick...

Final Project Evaluation/Write Up

Abstract:

For the final, I wanted to focus more on modeling and creating a livable space. Don’t get me wrong, I fell in love with my bee from the midterm (we bonded), but I wanted to try something new. So, for this project I modeled and designed the interior of a house and animated a camera going through it. I collaborated with Nate Schulte, who did the exterior.

Storyboard:

I didn’t know the exact design the house was going to be, and thought it may get a little too detailed, especially since the animation was going through the rooms. So, I decided to just take pictures to plan it. Start with view of the stair case, then see the dining room table, the book shelf with pictures, the kitchen, and then the bathroom.

Production (what I did and how I did it):

I started this project by creating polygonal planes in order to create the walls and structure of the house. I made sure to have open spaces for doorways. After, I duplicated the walls and put them back to back in order to prepare for painting. Next, I modeled the staircase. I started with a polygon cube and then I kept extruding edges until the model was complete.

After, I added carpet, paint, and a picture to the walls. In order to get the texture of the carpet, I found an image I liked in google. I then brought the picture in to photoshop, sized it correctly, and brought it into Maya. I right clicked the floor, clicked assign new material, selected lambert, clicked the checkered box next to color, selected file, and chose my carpet .psd file. This gave the floor the carpet texture and feel I had wanted. I painted the walls by right clicking the ones I wanted the purple/maroon color, clicking assign new material, selecting lambert, and then choosing the color I liked. For the picture on the wall, I found an image on google that I liked. I brought it in to photoshop, sized it correctly, and brought it in to Maya. I had created a plane, right clicked and assigned new material, selected lambert, clicked the checkered box, and select the picture .psd selected file.

After the main foyer was completed, I decided to model the bathroom. I selected the floor and assigned it the checkered material (like done above). However, I had created a wooden floor first. After having the floor, I painted the walls. I found an image on google that had paint for the top half and wood for the bottom half. This is what I wanted for the bathroom, so I brought the image in to photoshop and completed the same process (above) in order to get this material onto the walls. Then I modeled the toilet, sink, and shower. I modeled the toilet by starting with a polygonal sphere. I then created a smaller polygonal sphere. I put the one on top of the other, selected them, and then selected mesh -> booleans -> difference. This gave me the toilet bowl part. I then created the back and bottom through extraction. To create the sink, I used a polygonal cone and cylinder for the foot. Then for the sink part, I created a polygonal rectangle and sphere. I selected both and clicked mesh -> booleans -> difference, just like I had done for the toilet. This gave me my sink. I then grouped all the pieces together. For both the toilet and sink, I painted them with an off white pinkish phong. Last was the shower. I started by creating a polygonal rectangle. I then extracted it, so I could select the faces individually. I made the shower the off white pinkish phong that I had used for the toilet and sink. I then created a polygonal plane for the front of the shower. I did this to get the feeling of a ledge. I painted this with a phone teal color. Lastly, I selected the front face of the shower and painted this is a very transparent white phong. In order to do the bar in the shower, I created a polygonal cylinder and painted it with a silver blinn. For the shower head, I used a nurbs cylinder and sphere. I selected and manipulated the components until I got the shape I desired. I then painted it with the silver blinn I had used for the bar. Below is a picture of the bathroom in progress. This was the first floor I had had.

For the dining room area I had imported the table and teapot. The table was from Nate’s midterm project, and the teapot was a model I had made during the semester. I then modeled the chair using a polygonal cube and extruding the edges. I used the booleans difference to add the 2 holes in the back. I then added a wood texture. I copied the chair and pasted 3 times in order to get 4 chairs.

For the bookshelf, I used a polygonal cube, and added a wood texture to it by using the process above. I then created a black box, made the bottom of it paintable, and used paint effects to create some flowers for the inside. I then imported the lamp I had created during the semester using the cv curve tool, and placed this on top of the shelf. I created 2 small planes, placed the same wood texture as the shelf below on them, and then modeled 2 picture frames using polygonal planes and cylinders. After, for kicks, I found pictures of me and Nate, brought them in to photoshop, sized them, and placed them on to the plane of the picture frame. I then added a picture of a llama, a request by Nate, on to the wall near the kitchen. Below is a picture of the lamp and one of the picture frames. It had a different picture in it before I changed it.

Lastly, I modeled the kitchen. I used polygonal cubes in order to create counters and a fridge. I extruded the counters in order to select the faces individually. I then uploaded image of countertop to the top of the counters, and an image of cabinets to the bottom. For the fridge, I modeled it and used a blinn silver for the sides, and an image for the front. After, I imported my fruit bowl and another model I made in the middle of the semester. I placed these on the countertop. I created a sink by using booleans -> difference. Then I added a picture on the wall. Also, by using booleans -> difference, I created a window in the plane.

After all the modeling was done, I had to create lighting throughout the house because some areas were black, while others were rendering regularly. To fix this, I added area and directional lights in the front doorway, doorway of the bathroom, a directional light going into the kitchen, and one coming out of the kitchen. All the intensities are between .1 and 1. This allowed for the spaces to be lit, without being over exposed. The picture on the right shows the light being too intense, making the stairs too light, and the one below shows the intensity lowered and looking more realistic.

In order to do the animation, I created a camera and animated a path for the camera using key frame animation.

I rendered using jpeg for the image format and name_#.ext for the frame/animation extension. I set the frame range to three hundred, selected camera 1, and let it render! After getting the image sequence, I brought it into Adobe After Effects. I put the scenes next to each other, played it out to make sure it was correct, and then saved it as a quicktime movie file. Saved everything, backed it up, and this part of the project was finished.

Self Evaluation (what worked, what didn’t, and what I would do differently):

I feel that this project has taught me a lot more about the Maya program, especially in regards to modeling. There is soooo much that can be done with this program, I feel like I don’t know any of it. However, I am very happy with the project overall. I think I did the best I could with the skills I had just recently learned and the time I had.

What worked for me was the use of key frame animation again. I was comfortable using key frame on the midterm, and wanted to use it again for the final. This worked great with the camera perspective. I could render the image, and if it looked good, I would set a key frame. Another thing that worked well for my animation was finding textured images, bringing them into photoshop, resizing them, and then uploading them into Maya. Because I was focusing on modeling, this helped me get the desired look and feel that I wanted without having to use a lot of my time by going crazy with shaders and such. Lastly, I think the different lighting effects worked well with my animation. I never really needed to use them before, so learning them (and having them come out looking well) was definitely a plus.

I really had no issues with this project. Everything that had given me a headache during the midterm had been adjusted this time. I did not excessively use paint effects, and I wrote down how to render once I figured it out before, so everything went pretty smoothly. The only issue I did have was resizing the images in photoshop before bringing them into Maya. I never knew the correct sizing that the image should be, so I had to do a lot of guess and check until it uploaded correctly onto the plane.

If I were to continue on with this project, I would probably create an upstairs, and spend a lot more time on the modeling. Possibly add sound effects in the background of water running, people talking, etc.

Overall I, again, enjoyed doing this project and am happy with the way it came out. I learned a lot more than I had expected, and my newfound appreciation for animators still remains.

Apples with Shaders

Here are the apples from my fruit bowl with shaders on them.

LOWMAN!

Here is my lowman animation. It's a little slower than I had intended. Once I rendered, the speed changed. But it still works.

Just Fooling Around (from 10/27 class)

Just playing around with colors, textures and such.

New Jersey Autodesk Animation Users Group

On Friday, I went to the talk for the NJ Autodesk Animation Users Group. I was only able to listen to one speaker, but what he had to say was interesting. He discussed how rendered images could be brought into photoshop or painter to be tweaked, and then be used in an animation. He mostly works with layers and blending modes (screen and overlay he used the most) in order to subtly change the aesthetic effect (layer by layer) of his rendered image.

He also mentioned how he rendered. He suggested rendering as images and not as movie. He does this in case something crashes during the render. With images, you can pick up where you left off, whereas with the movie you have to start all over. Also, by rendering out images, if there is a frame that needs to be tweaked or changed, you can open it in photoshop, fix it, and then put it back in the sequence. He suggested using .tiff files or the maya .iff to render.

Time permitting, I would have liked to listen to the other two speakers. However, overall, I thought the information of the speaker I did get to listen to was very interesting.

Midterm Video

Here is the movie file.

Midterm Project

Abstract:

For this project, I started with an unattainable idea. I originally wanted to animate the nursery rhyme “hey diddle diddle.” Obviously, I have a hard time keeping things simple and do not understand the idea of complexity and time constraints. Therefore, I decided to model a pretty landscape scene, and animate a bee flying around.

Storyboard:

The sides got cut off a bit, sorry about that. The computer with the scanner was taken, so a cell phone picture will have to suffice for now.

Production (what I did and how I did it):

I started this project by creating two nurbs planes: one for the sky and one for the ground. I used the “select by component type” to select points on the ground plane to create a small hill. Not knowing how to model grass, I spent days trying to find a tutorial or information that would teach me how to create a nice plane of grass. After finally finding one, I settled on the idea of using paint effects. I learned how to make the ground plane “paintable” and how to use the visor in order to find a brush. (I also learned that holding down the ‘b’ key and dragging makes the brush bigger.. I wish I had figured this out earlier then I did). So, I went at it and painted the ground plane. I even added different grasses to try and make it more realistic.

After finishing the grass, the program slowed down a bit. If I clicked on a menu, it took awhile to pop up, I couldn’t move the window around without it skipping, etc.. However, me being the person that I am decided to keep building the scene! ..but in the same way. Next, I built two trees using the paint effects. After, the program slowed down even more. However, I decided to just let it be and suck it up. Next it was time to model the bee.

To model the bee, I created a nurbs sphere and used the scale to manipulate it into a more oval/tube shape. This was the body. I then made five nurbs spheres: two for the eye, two for the pupils, and one for the head. I also created a nurbs cone for the stinger. Next were the wings. I started with a nurbs sphere and used the scale tool to squish it flat, and the “select by component type” to select points in order to shape it like a wing. When I was happy with the result, I duplicated it. Lastly were the bee’s antennas. I created two small nurbs spheres and two nurbs cylinders. I manipulated the cylinders using the scale and rotate tool. Then, I took all the pieces and put the bee together. Now on to the beehive!

To model the beehive, I used the CV Curve tool. I created a curve, and when I was happy with the result, revolved it around the axis. This created the hive, however, I wanted to touch it up a bit, so I used the “select by component type” to manipulate the points to get it into the perfect beehive shape. (Looking back on it now, I do not think that I would have spent as much time as I did making the beehive perfect. And why do I feel this way? Well, my perfect beehive is not on display like I thought it would be, rather it is hiding in the leaves of the tree.. barely visible). Time to color!

To color the bee, I used a phong on the stinger, the antenna, and the pupils. I used black to color these parts of the bee. I used the phong because I did not want to color to be completely flat, but I didn’t want it to be unrealistically shiny/reflective either. The eyes of the bee are a white lambert, the head of the bee a yellow lambert, and the wings of the bee a white lambert. To color the body of the bee, I created a yellow and black stripe pattern in photoshop. I then saved it as a jpeg, and uploaded it as the assigned material for the bee’s body. To color the beehive, I created a pattern in photoshop again. I took a texture and overlaid it with a golden yellow color. Again, I saved it as a jpeg and uploaded it as the assigned material for the beehive. For the sky, I decided to animate clouds. In photoshop, I put together an image of a sky, saved it as a jpeg, and uploaded it as the assigned material for the sky plane.

After all the modeling and coloring was done, it was time to animate. However, because of my paint effects, rendering the current scene took a few minutes and clicking menus and objects gave me the spinning pinwheel of death. Therefore, I knew it would take forever to animate the project like this. So, I had to template all the grass paint effects and hide them. This allowed for the program to pick up, and for me to animate.

In order to animate the two hundred frame scene, I used key frame animation. I started with the body of the bee. I animated the path the bee would take, the turns it would make, and how it would go off into the distance. As the bee got farther away, I made the image of him smaller. In turn, as he got closer, I made him bigger. When the path of the bee was finished, I animated its wings. Every five frames I changed the position of the bees wings. There are two positions: up and down. I copied the up key frame and pasted it on every other fifth frame. Then I copied the down key frame and pasted it on the left over frames. Therefore, every five frames are set as key frames so that the wings of the bee move up and down as the bee flies around the scene. The last thing I had to animate was the sky. I set a key frame at frame one. I then moved the sky over and set a key frame on frame twenty, moved the sky over and set a key frame on frame forty, and kept doing this until I reached the two hundredth frame.

Lastly, I added a directional light in the top left corner of the scene with a luminosity of 1.700. I rendered the scenes and played the animation in the program to make sure the animation worked the way I liked, and the scene looked right. Time to render!

With it being time to render, I knew I was not in good shape with the paint effects. I knew that with the way my scene was, rendering was going to take a nice looooong time. So, I deleted them. I deleted all the grass I had previously done and redid it all. I painted with a bigger sized brush and used the tool more sparingly. Redoing the grass was such a good idea and really helped with the program-stalling problem I had. I just wish I had done it sooner. Rendering was tricky for me. I had no idea how to make a quicktime movie. Every time I tried to render as a quick time, it didn’t work. Back to google tutorials for advice! From what I read, people were telling me to render as jpegs, go into quicktime pro, and “upload image sequence”. However, the quick time on the computers did not have an “upload image sequence” option. In fcheck, I could only figure out how to play one frame of animation. So, I set out down the hall looking for somebody, anybody. In one of the labs there was a guy working in maya and he was able to teach me how to render. My new best friend! So, I rendered using jpeg for the image format and name_#.ext for the frame/animation extension. I set the frame range to two hundred, turned ray tracing on (I figured “what the heck”), and let it render! After getting the image sequence, I brought it into Adobe After Effects. I put the scenes next to each other, played it out to make sure it was correct, and then saved it as a quicktime movie file. Saved everything, backed it up, and the project was finished.


Self Evaluation (what worked, what didn’t, and what I would do differently):

I feel that this project has taught me a lot more about the Maya program. Starting this class, I thought I would be a lost cause. However, as I started on the project I realized how much I had learned, and got motivated to animate the bee!

What worked for me was the use of key frame animation. The motion path and kinetics that were discussed in class seemed very overwhelming, so I wanted to use key frame. This worked well for the animation I was doing and for the very basic skill level that I am at. Another thing that worked well for my animation was making patterns in photoshop and uploading them in order to assign them to objects. This helped me get the desired look and feel that I wanted. Lastly, what worked well for my animation were the paint effects. I really like the overall look of them, and I like how easy they are to work with.

The only thing that didn’t work for me was the rendering. I don’t recall using After Effects in class, but because I couldn’t remember fcheck, I had to go about making the quicktime file differently.

Even though I like the look of paint effects, I would use them differently next time. I would model and animate everything first, and then add the paint effects last. I would also use them more sparingly. I also wish I didn’t spend so much time on the beehive. If something is not going to be seen, I should save the time modeling it perfectly, and put that effort into a different aspect of the project. I wish I would have deleted the grass sooner. I know it took me a long time to do (which is why it was so hard to delete). However, if it is going to make the rest of the operation move smoothly, I just have to suck it up, delete the work, and redo it (although, the mistake of using paint effects before animating and such won’t be happening again).

If I were to continue on with this project, I would probably add another bee to the scene, and make the two race. At the beginning, there would be a butterfly that would hold up a “go” sign. Her wings would flutter while the two bees raced. At the end, she would wave a flag. If possible, I would also have a couple flowers growing in the scene.

Overall, I enjoyed doing this project and am happy with the way it came out. I learned a lot more than I had expected, and have a newfound appreciation for animators.

CV Curve Tool Models

9/29/2010 Class

Fruit Bowl

Particles!

Bouncing Ball Tutorial Take #2

The second time going through this tutorial was definitely better than the first. I got through it this time!

NURBS Turtle Model

Another Polygon Model

Probably the creepiest giraffe-animal-thing you'll ever see in your life..
I made this (whatever you want to call it) by extruding edges.

NURBS Model

Here is my NURBS model for this week. I found a tutorial that taught me how to create a lantern. I worked in the side view, and got a feel for both the curve and revolve tool. I also used the NURBS cirlcle and NURBS sphere tool.

Exhibits 5-7 Me Trying to Learn Part 2

This really isn't anything, just notes to myself to use as a reference.

Exhibit 5:
-Menu settings are animation, polygons, surfaces, dynamics, and rendering.
-The box on the right of a menu options has extra options.
-Select an object and right click for a marking menu of the object.
-Press and hold the space bar to bring up the hot box. This has a customizable collection of menu sets and marking menus.

Exhibit 6:
-To animate, click object and press 's' to set a key frame. It'll appear in the time slider.
-Use the time slider to change frames. Then move, rotate, etc and do another key frame.

Exhibit 7:
-To change the look of an object, right click and select assign new material.
-Map button on the side will allow for the option of adding texture.
-To see texture on the object, click on the checkered sphere, "textured" button.
-Render current frame button shows lighting on the object.
-You can adjust the rendering with the render settings menu.

Polygon Model

Nothing wonderful, but my house/church wound up growing on me.

Screenshots From Exhibits 1-4

These are screenshots of me playing around in MAYA after going through the exhibits. They are nothing special, but I thought it would be fun to show my progress throughout this course on the blog. Since I've never done this before, I would like to have images showing what I learned and how much I improved throughout the course.

I started out with a sphere and just kind of went from there..

Nothing special, just the basic stuff I learned throughout the exhibits.. but hey! I'm learning =]

Exhibits 1-4 & Me Trying to Learn

So I went through exhibits 1-4 again to try and get used to the program. Since I have no prior knowledge (or have even heard) of this program, I took notes from the exhibits as I went through it to have as a reference.

Exhibit 1: Option key and dragging lets you move plane/interface.

-Upper right hand corner shows different sides. Home button.

-F key zooms in.

-Space bar = 4 view (tapping space bar w/ mouse over that window will bring that view up).

Exhibit 2: Left side toolbar -> transforming tools.

-Move tool -> bottom left shows axes. May move along an axis.

-Rotate tool.

-Scale tool -> Scales along the different axes.

Exhibit 3: Can make NURBS or Polygon primitives. Polygons have faces and NURBS are made of curves and are smooth.

-Keys 1, 2, & 3 give different views. Smooth, rough, rougher, etc..

-Channels box shows info about position.

-Clicking the word under 'inputs' shows info about the shape.

Exhibit 4: To select component, like polygon face, select part of the polygon and click with the right mouse button. Select 'face.'

-Click on dots or drag over spaces to select them.

-When objects overlap, you select through all of them.

-Hold shift key to add to selection.

-Hold ctrl key to deselect faces.

This is a collage piece I found that was made in photoshop. It's chaotic and messy, but balanced, intriguing, and fun to look at at the same time, which I love.

About Me

Hey everyone!

Like the title of my blog says, my name is Amber O'Kane. I'm from Marlton, it's about 45 minutes south of here, so it's not too bad. I'm a junior Graphic Design major and Marketing minor. I really like design, business, advertising, and learning how the 3 can work together.

I have no prior animation experience at all. I hope I'm not in over my head taking this class, but I feel it would be a great opportunity for me to learn something that's completely new to me. So I'm up for the challenge!!