DT-116-1: Introduction 3d Modeling, Texturing, and Animation using Maya

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Great texture sites

http://www.cgtextures.com/

http://mayang.com/textures/

http://www.textureking.com/

http://freestocktextures.com/

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

DT-116-1: Introduction 3d Modeling, Texturing, and Animation using Maya
Instructor: Greg Lemon
M-W 7:30 – 10:15
Prerequisite: none
3 Units

greg.lemon @ gmail.com

This is a 3d digital skills course designed to teach the fundamental aspects of modeling, shading, and animation through a series of creative projects in Autodesk: Maya. Students will explore Maya’s dynamic, node-based architecture, developing the technical skills and conceptual understanding needed to create a wide range of 3d digital artwork.

Learning outcomes:

This class will provide students with the technical skills needed to produce high-quality digital, three dimensional artwork, while maintaining an overarching focus on creativity, exploration and experimentation through a visual context.

Attendance policy:
Missing any more than four (4) classes will result in a failing (F) grade.

Late work policy:
1 class late – B grade maximum
2 classes late – C grade maximum
3 classes late – D grade maximum
4 classes late - F

Suggested resources:
www.cgtalk.com
www.awn.com
www.learning-maya.com
www.creativecrash.com
http://www.freemayavideotutorials.com/
http://motionographer.com/

Maya Basics

Required Materials:
Graph paper notebook and pen/pencil.

Projects and grade percentages:

Class Participation – ongoing, due : every class - 10%

Be on time and prepared for class.
Comment on and critique other people's work.
Ask questions and be involved in discussions.

Project 1 – Primitive Composition - 1 week, due Wednesday 9/5 – 20 %

Create sketches of what you want to create. Think landscape, portrait, or even abstract.
Use primitive geometry and lights to create the needed shapes and color.
Frame your composition and render three images.
Fall 09 Project 1 Gallery

Project 2 – Still Life - 4.5 weeks, due Friday 10/5 – 20 %

Choose an environment (inside or out) that you would like to create.
Find reference images that support your idea.
Use advanced modeling techniques to create detailed the needed organic and non-organic objects.
Shade and texture your scene using lights, procedural shaders and texture maps.
Fall 08 Project 2 Gallery

Project 3 – Animated Scene - 4.5 weeks, due Wednesday 11/7 - 20 %

Think of a simple character/scene that you want to create and animate.
Stuffed animals and toys work great – think simple!
Think of the elements and actions you want to animate; walking, jumping, flying, twisting, opening, etc.
Create storyboards to previsualize your actions and shots.
Find reference footage of the types of movement and/or acting you want to create.
Rig your character/environment for animation using joints, deformers, skinning, particle systems and cloth.
Animate your scene and render it out as a quicktime movie.
Should be 10-20 seconds in length.

Project 4 - Final project; 4.5 weeks, due Friday 12/7 – 30 %

Still scene with complex models and textures.
OR
Moving scene with complex animation and FX.

Grading standards:

A -
work demonstrates both creative and technical excellence in all regards. Most critiques are subjective and based more on artistic opinion rather than legitimate concerns of quality; effort is quite visible.

B-
work is free from jarring, unintentional artifacts and clearly demonstrates sufficient command of both the medium and creative ability.

C-
work shows decent effort and focus, and displays effort that balances apparent technical and creative errors/artifacts.

D-
work lacks effort, displays numerous poor creative and technical choices.

F-
work is not turned in.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Class schedule

Week 1
Wed - intro to maya, workflow, file management and savin. Basic UI, navigating the workspace, creating and transforming primitives in XYZ space.
Fri- intro to maya, refresh class 1. Framing your composition, intro to lighting + rendering. Render settings.

Week 2
Wed - Project 1 due, project 2 idea due. Basic modeling overview. Geometry types, focus on polys. Lattices and non-linear deformers. Intro to component mode and history.
Fri - Modeling from reference photos. Using image planes. Plan of attack, poly modeling demo. Draw poly tool, Split face and extrude tools. Box modeling, smoothing.

Week 3
Wed - Poly modeling continued. Understanding edge loops/rings. Selection menu tools. Curve modeling techniques. Modeling with nCloth.
Fri - Working with shaders. Using the hypershade and procedural textures. Intro to UVs. Creating and editing UVs.

Week 4
Wed - Creating quality seamless textures in photoshop. Color, spec and bump maps. Intro to mental ray rendering. Lab.
Fri - Lighting + mental ray demo. Mental ray shaders. Scene organization using display layers.

Week 5
Wed - Using paintFX to create grass, trees, clouds, etc. Lab. Camera settings and depth of field.
Fri - Workshop/lab.

Week 6
Wed- Workshop/lab, project 2 due next class.
Fri - Project 2 due, project 3 idea due. Intro to animation. Setting and editing keyframes in the timeline. Bouncing ball exercise. Dope sheet.

Week 7
Wed - Character reference due. Animation review. Modeling for animation, character modeling lab. Creating skeletons for characters.
Fri - Models for animation due. Blendshapes. Creating and editing skeletons. Binding geometry to skeleton. Painting weights.

Week 8
Wed - IK setup. Character rigging workshop/lab. Finish character rigging for next class.
Fri - Storyboards for animation due. Blocking out rough animation and camera shots. Animating camera moves. Path animation.

Week 9
Wed - Animation, continued. Adding weight and overlap to animations. Playblasting animation.
Fri - Intro to the graph editor. Adjusting keys and tangents in the graph. Animating FX (rain, fire, etc). Cloth.

Week 10
Wed - Animation workshop. Rendering animation.
Fri - Animation workshop, animations due next class.

Week 11
Wed - Project 3 due, final project research and development.
Fri - Final project idea due. Advanced modeling using subdivision surfaces. Particle systems, nParticles. Using fields.

Week 12
Wed - Displacement mapping and non-photoreal rendering techniques. Toon shading/outlines.
Fri - Rigid body deformations. Intro to fluid effects.

Week 13
Wed - Advanced rendering techniques. Autodesk photofly workshop.
NO CLASS Nov 25

Week 14
Wed - workshop.
Fri- workshop.

Week 15
Wed - workshop.
Fri - Final project due