Update

Well most of my layout is done :) which I am very happy about. At the moment I am Just UV mapping and texturing my layout which seems to be taking up a lot of my time. This is what it looks like at the moment:

As you can see I am half way through UV mapping my log and other objects need UV mapping. I struggled A lot with UV mapping as it was something that I just couldn't get my head a round. It took me a few attempts to get it right and I am not entirely satisfied with the results. If i have time I will go back to each of my textures and make them look more nicer.

I am UV mapping my log at the minute, as you can see. I am finding it hard but with more practise I will get it done.

When I look at my layout now I do feel that I need more objects in their but I think I will UV map what I have then if I have time I will add then in.

We are moving on from Modeling and beeing shown how to animated in maya. so Hopefully I will be showing some screen shots of my progress on animating.

Hamster Bottle and Bottle cap

I just wanted to show you some screen shots off my props that are finished. I am really happy with them.

This is my pet water bottle or hamster bottle. Very simple shapes, manly cylinders. I made the top see through and used a light blue colour and for the red part I used a Lambert. Lambert is like adding shine to your object, seeing as its made of plastic its more dull so I chose a lambert. for the metal I chose A shiney material.

This is my bottle cap, I am happy with this. It didn't take long but i needs a lot of edge loops to get it really smooth which is not very good if you want to UV map this. Since I am not very good at UV mapping I wanted to just add a colour and a material rather than UV mapping as it will be very difficult.

So yes I am Pleased and I am still learning Maya but I am happy so far. No doubt I will change something along the way. In my next blog I will show some more progress screen shots of my layout. :)

Modeling

I have started modeling my idea that I drew up in Photoshop. These are some pictures of my progress so far.
This is my first stage:

As you can see i have done a few objects and started creating the door way. I may have to start the door way again as it doesnt really look right so I will do this again. also I need a window on the other wall so I need to do that. So far its looking ok, they are basic shapes which will be easy to UV map later on.

Second stage: 

As you can see on this photo I have removed the wall, as it needed re modeling, and I placed a hole in the wall ready for a window. I have made basic chairs but I am unhappy with the style so I will start them again.

Third:

this is where I had some problems as you can see. I did a lot of my layout and I wanted to see weather Norman (a ready rigged person) would fit in the scene. He was massive compared to the layout. So I had to resize all of my layout, I tried scaling it but everything moved out of place to I have to scale everything separately. I also had problems  with Norman and I had to find a rig that would suit Maya 2012. But this rig suits my layout more than Norman so I am happy with him.


So far I have done most of my modeling. Next I need to try and finish all my modeling and start UV mapping and adding colour to my objects.

Ruff Layout and character Ideas

Last time I blogged I was righting about my research and what my idea was about. I have now drawn a Layout Idea and a character Idea.

This is the idea that i drew up on photoshop. The character at the bottom is made out of plasticine. This Idea is about this turtle who is living on his own and has been collecting bits and using it in his home. for example I what him to use a bottle cap for the table and scrap bits of material for curtains. I have added bits from my research aswell. I looked in to what people put in the turtle cages, for example logs and hay.

I wanted the turtle to act almost human as he walks on his back legs, so I included chairs, dressing gowns, books and picture frames. The pictures will be in black and white to show age because turtles live for along time. This picture shows where the lighting will be, this will help with my maya when it comes to lighting.


For next time i will have started with my modeling in maya.

Second stage

I have a few ideas in mind for my Maya layout and I started doing research in to my three ideas. the one that I thought might stand out was my tortoise house Idea. I really wanted to do something original and listening to what other people are wanting to do they sounded similar to my other ideas, so I chose this Idea.

I have to take in to consideration what will live in this house and what will he/she look like. Since Tom and Jerry got mentioned in one of my Maya lessons this gave me a great idea of a cartoon style turtle living like a human, for example, he has a bed to sleep in and a table to eat at.
For research I looked in to tortoises that where kept as pets and what they where kept in, what they ate, their sleeping conditions e.c.t.

Here is a tortoise living environment that I gathered from the internet that helped me with my research. Tortoises like to sleep in a warm environment. If you look in the picture the owners have placed a lamp above the sleeping area to give the tortoise warmth. I could place a lamp in my layout.

This is another picture of a tortoise environment. From looking at this i think it would be a good idea to have my house made a wood, maybe like a log cabin.

I also have to think about my character. So I looked in to pictures of tortises and looked in to how they move and act.

Next time I must draw out a ruff design of my layout with the props and maybe start to draw my character.

The start of the second year and whats in store.

I have just started my second year of Animation at the University of Lincoln. This year is mostly about training my knowledge on software, finding what skills I have and what I could improve. To start the year we have been given this task of designing a Maya Layout.

It is still early days but our first project will be about learning a 3D software called Maya. We have to produce and design our own layout in Maya. It has to be the interior of a building so we have to look into designing chairs and tables for example. Before we go in to Maya we must do some research, for example, look into existing buildings and objects. This will give me a few ideas on what I would like this building to look like.

Along the way we will be taught Maya and how to make this easy for use when we start modeling. Next week we must draw out a few ideas of our building and bring them into the class to show.

So my aim for next week is to:
- Do researching in to existing buildings
- Draw up some ideas (at least three different ideas so at the end I can choose one)