tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post8411077539177654488..comments2024-03-28T02:51:58.867-04:00Comments on Asephei's CGI and VFX Blog: Maya - Gesture-based transforms and fast marking menusGary Backushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03960338756192724639noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-50212523590401113932020-08-08T01:21:11.386-04:002020-08-08T01:21:11.386-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Dinkcarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04917327912578325080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-73192129815424022912020-08-08T00:35:11.183-04:002020-08-08T00:35:11.183-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Ankita Sharmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16207920740131951259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-6468065501782614252013-10-30T07:19:05.368-04:002013-10-30T07:19:05.368-04:00I've just read your post. It's awesome! Gr...I've just read your post. It's awesome! Great stuff shared here with good videos and information...<br /><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fleming.1806" rel="nofollow">Connie Jordan-Carmichael</a> | <a href="http://about.me/conniejordancarmichael" rel="nofollow">Connie Jordan-Carmichael USA</a><br />Connie Jordan-Carmichaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11044246591747634130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-49257758463809366472013-06-01T09:48:10.373-04:002013-06-01T09:48:10.373-04:00Not too much new, I've been busy with other en...Not too much new, I've been busy with other endeavors; 3D stuff is a hobby for me, so I sometimes take time off from it, and I don't get too many hours a week in on it. However I'll be coming back to spending time on 3D computer graphics work eventually. I have two dormant projects in the making that, when complete, will have plenty of content associated with them, including commentary video series on YouTube. There's, as always, a whole lot to learn. I'll be back and with much more interesting stuff related to my projects and more advanced tips later on!Gary Backushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960338756192724639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-88931244107961359522013-04-14T02:47:21.735-04:002013-04-14T02:47:21.735-04:00Hey Gary,
Been over a year since your last post. ...Hey Gary,<br /><br />Been over a year since your last post. What's new? :)<br /><br />Hope all is well.<br /><br />-Georgegcastro3dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10342089772466221153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-2431554989241002622013-02-04T22:45:56.248-05:002013-02-04T22:45:56.248-05:00Read your whole blog its quite edifying, very help...Read your whole blog its quite edifying, very helpful for the newbies of our industryAlex Frischhttp://vimeo.com/user8113883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-45996112470878261722012-05-22T02:15:57.736-04:002012-05-22T02:15:57.736-04:00Thanks, I never heard about gesture control tip, i...Thanks, I never heard about gesture control tip, its really good.eraniclehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04633147523681218996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-69981104656217969522012-05-03T14:57:10.393-04:002012-05-03T14:57:10.393-04:00You got it. It's not something you can learn f...You got it. It's not something you can learn from one website or another, but the most important information is scoured over the internet, and a lot of it is free. For example, a few weeks ago I found a great blog called "Elemental Ray", for using Mental Ray in Maya.<br /><br />http://elementalray.wordpress.com/<br /><br />The techniques on this blog are modern. The reason I didn't mention it is because some of the techniques (like Unified Sampling) require the latest versions of Maya.<br /><br />For example, the old "Adaptive Anti-Aliasing" image sampling method is replaced by "Unified Sampling", and you can access it in Maya 2012. In Maya 2013 it's even better. Unified Sampling is accessed through string options on the "miDefaultOptions" DG node. These are "unsupported" workflows because Autodesk hasn't implemented these features officially, though Mental Ray is now a plugin in Maya 2013 so it should be easier to update in the future.<br /><br />Render Passes work with Unified Sampling too. As an example of the most advanced free information on Render Passes in Maya, you can check out this document:<br /><br />http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/maya_render_pass_concepts_and_techniques_whitepaper_us.pdf<br /><br /><br />I haven't read that document yet (and it's not really neccessary), though I will be taking a good look at it when I do my render passes setup for my currrent project.<br /><br />As for learning all these topics, I recommend typing up a document and "queuing" things you want to learn in an order, so you don't have to remember it all. For example, overall, the method of my learning is this: Modeling and UVs, Shading, Rendering and Compositing, Character/Creature Rigging (I'm on that now), Animation, Dynamics, etc. Also, you can download web pages of tutorials you like (such as with the free program HTTrack), and videos from YouTube, Vimeo, etc. So you can create your own archives of tutorials that don't force you to rely on the internet.<br /><br />My architectural projects allowed me to practice modeling and rendering, but I'm learning more with my current project, while improving on everything else I already know. You get the idea. It's sort of cumulative. Yes, it is a lot to learn, and you'll always learn new things, but I think, after a few years, you know all the "basics" and then it starts to pay off. You will be able to focus on the art much more. You'll eventually be able to produce impressive work from start to finish. I'm not really interested in stills, I like to make animations. The entire production pipeline starts with the custom computer build and ends with authoring the Blu-Ray/DVD, and everything in between!<br /><br />But you have to start somewhere and in my opinion, go with "3D Buzz - Mastering Maya The Fundamentals". It really is great and gets you off your feet to be a 3D generalist. That's my best recommendation to start with.Gary Backushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960338756192724639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-36162951814843589602012-05-02T10:58:38.114-04:002012-05-02T10:58:38.114-04:00Awesome dude, thank you! This is great info. Sou...Awesome dude, thank you! This is great info. Sounds like you attained this kind of knowledge from various sources right? I appreciate you breaking it down for me and doing the leg work. hehe. I have built up a library of training material over the years and sometimes its overwhelming and i don't know where to focus. These 7 points will help me focus. <br /><br />Thanks again.gcastro3dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10342089772466221153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-51253935367850702582012-05-01T17:40:49.140-04:002012-05-01T17:40:49.140-04:00Sorry about the wait, I haven't checked my blo...Sorry about the wait, I haven't checked my blog in a week. Okay, so with rendering, there's a lot out there.<br /><br />When I was setting up Havenhurst I knew enough to produce a decent image, but it's obviously not as good as the completely realistic images you'll see from professionals. I've gotten quite a bit better since. Rendering involves several different topics:<br /><br />1) Painting textures. For example, if you look at human skin, most of the "detail" you see is in the highlights of the little bumps, not in the color; bump/displacement and how that plays with your reflection/spec highlights matters a whole lot more than color, in most cases.<br /><br />2) Linear lighting workflow. Probably the most important aspect to rendering. You want the data the renderer is taking to be fully "linear". Just be aware of what's going on so you can compensate for the gamma. The videos here by Zeth Willie explain linear workflow: http://vimeo.com/8119194<br /><br />3) Materials. You'll want to understand how the materials work, and be familiar with the Hypershade, along with utility nodes and such. Again, you don't have to know everything, but certain nodes, such as "ramp", "multiplyDivide", "layeredTexture" are very important to be aware of.<br /><br />The mental images architecture and design shader library:<br />http://www.mentalimages.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/arch_and_design.pdf<br /><br />Here's a tutorial on sub-surface scattering:<br />http://www.lamrug.org/resources/doc/sss-skin-tutorial.pdf<br /><br />4) Lighting: For example, to create a virtual "grey ball" for your initial exposure setup in Maya, just create a sphere and give it a material and set the color to 0.18 (50% grey perceptually) with a 2.2 display gamma. Your eyes are the final judgement to producing images, not radiometry (my previous misconception), though radiometry and photometry can be useful when you're trying to light completely in a physical manner.<br /><br />5) Texture-filtering: All your textures should be mipmap, with 0.5 in the file node "Filter" under the Effects tab (not Pre Filter). This should be fine for most cases. Displacements should have filtering set to "Off". For Havenhurst I had filtering off for everything. This causes sub-pixel flickering and isn't the right way to work.<br /><br />6) Tone mapping and exposure are very important. Using the mia_exposure_photographic will help you when you work, but you don't have to use it. It helps tone down the highlights, which is how your eye works and so you'll be getting realistic results in the Render View. Once you're ready to render, you can turn off all non-linear mapping effects on mia_exposure_photographic (by setting "Burn Highlights" to 1, "Crush Blacks" to 0, and "Gamma" to 1) before you do the final render. Render OpenEXR 16-bit Half floating point at least, so that you have more control in After Effects, Photoshop, Nuke, Maya Composite, etc.<br /><br />7) Rendering in passes gives you extra control in compositing, but there's some caveats when using them. The details are described in the Maya help file in the section on Render Passes for Mental Ray materials:<br />http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/maya2013/en_us/index.html?url=files/Shading_Nodes_mental_ray_for_Maya_nodes.htm,topicNumber=d30e671093,hash=WS1A9193826455F5FF-12BA6B3A11A9C207460-7BC7<br /><br />If you start off with the foundational tips I just gave, you won't have to tweak as much to get good lighting, and you'll be using relatively modern techniques to produce your images.Gary Backushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960338756192724639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-82085999711005869382012-04-24T17:28:44.998-04:002012-04-24T17:28:44.998-04:00Gary, i checked out the photography site. Looks g...Gary, i checked out the photography site. Looks good. I still wouldn't mind some links to 3d rendering tutorials that you may have used though ;) Anything you felt was useful? <br /><br />Keep up the great work.<br /><br />-Georgegcastro3dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10342089772466221153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-90371500896627051592012-04-17T01:51:29.797-04:002012-04-17T01:51:29.797-04:00Great advice! I figured you'd mention 3dbuzz a...Great advice! I figured you'd mention 3dbuzz after I saw some of your older projects. hehe. good stuff. I like your advice on rendering and will try to take a similar route on everything. I look forward to seeing your newest projects. <br /><br />Thanks again,<br /><br />Georgegcastro3dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10342089772466221153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-19093184004739294712012-04-15T17:48:18.316-04:002012-04-15T17:48:18.316-04:00To start I highly recommend 3D Buzz's "Ma...To start I highly recommend 3D Buzz's "Mastering Maya The Fundamentals"; 82 project-based hours of training for less than $100. In it you get to experience a little bit of everything, you even build a controls interface window for a character in MEL. Their "Mastering Maya Advanced Modeling" is over 100 hours and is about the same price; as they say and I agree, it's the best modeling training on the planet.<br /><br />Also the Maya user guide (Maya Help) is really good too. Before each main section (such as hair and fur sections), there's an intro of many important concepts and I first read those help file intro sections when I'm doing something for the first time. You can't remember everything but it's good to know as much as possible before you do serious stuff so that you feel comfortable with the software. Sometimes I learn the basics (such as getting a feel for Nuke for compositing Havenhurst), and then coming back to increase my understanding just before compositing another project. Understanding the details are especially important when rigging, and there's many free tutorials, on almost anything, scattered over the internet through blogs and free videos (such as YouTube), so you don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money learning these things.<br /><br />As for rendering, that takes some time to understand. When I was doing Havenhurst I wasn't too sure about how to get a good exposure and how much tone mapping to use, along with what exactly goes into making an image look good. After that project I delved into seriously learning photography principles (from all the free tutorials on the "Cambridge In Colour" website), and that actually helped me way more than any tutorial on how to render in Maya. My images look far better now (you'll see in my next project), though it will be quite some time before I can produce beautiful photo-realistic renders. Be patient and don't get discouraged if you're having trouble figuring something out, and keep practicing and you'll eventually get very good at what you want to do.<br /><br />Hopefully what I've said here will give you some ideas as to where to get started. Thanks for asking and commenting by the way!Gary Backushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960338756192724639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149516276058740896.post-54455129307596592182012-04-14T23:49:58.213-04:002012-04-14T23:49:58.213-04:00Gary,
You're Havenhurst video on youtube was ...Gary,<br /><br />You're Havenhurst video on youtube was so inspirational! Beautiful work man! How did you learn to do all those disciplines? I like you am self taught in animation, but want to branch out to the other areas of cg. Any suggestions on training material that you may have used to help you along the way? <br /><br />Keep up the great work. <br /><br />-Georgegcastro3dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10342089772466221153noreply@blogger.com