Friday, August 27, 2010
More Modeling, Shading and Lighting
I started a side project. One that I ended up having to stop half way through due to being busy with classes and other people wanting to do their own side projects with me included. However, I still keep up with it every once in awhile. Here's a render of a bar stool from the night club I eventually hope to have modeled, shaded, and lit.
Shading and Lighting
My first month experimenting with Shading and Lighting techniques was the best month ever. I had so much fun working on this project. I remember staying up all night for 5 days straight just experimenting with different things to do to the scene. I look back now and I still see many many ways I could make it 100x better.
We were given the basic models to work with. I hid a lot of the elements in the scene to give the final image the feel I wanted. (The scene was originally the National History Museum)
I learned a lot of helpful things in this month.
Bump-mapping:
This can be your friend, or it can be your worst enemy. Always make sure you don't use too much bump depth in your scene. It may look really cool and awesome to make something look torn up, but it also may look horrible to everyone else.
The easiest way to do bump mapping is through a Blinn. Take the original texture you're using for color, drop it into photoshop, desaturate the image and adjust the contrast and brightness. You may have to paint out any artifacts you don't want in your bump. Drop the file back into the bump section of you Blinn and you're on your way to a great shader. Just make some minor adjustments and you're set!
Surface Shaders:
Super helpful! I used surface shaders for my stained glass windows. You can apply an image or texture into the color attribute and voila you have a pre-lit object. Surface shaders don't need any lights or adjustment to have them show up in renders. However, this means that you may have to do some adjustment in post (photoshop or another compositing software) in order to get the desired effect.
We were given the basic models to work with. I hid a lot of the elements in the scene to give the final image the feel I wanted. (The scene was originally the National History Museum)
I learned a lot of helpful things in this month.
Bump-mapping:
This can be your friend, or it can be your worst enemy. Always make sure you don't use too much bump depth in your scene. It may look really cool and awesome to make something look torn up, but it also may look horrible to everyone else.
The easiest way to do bump mapping is through a Blinn. Take the original texture you're using for color, drop it into photoshop, desaturate the image and adjust the contrast and brightness. You may have to paint out any artifacts you don't want in your bump. Drop the file back into the bump section of you Blinn and you're on your way to a great shader. Just make some minor adjustments and you're set!
Surface Shaders:
Super helpful! I used surface shaders for my stained glass windows. You can apply an image or texture into the color attribute and voila you have a pre-lit object. Surface shaders don't need any lights or adjustment to have them show up in renders. However, this means that you may have to do some adjustment in post (photoshop or another compositing software) in order to get the desired effect.
Model Creation
This is a model from back in my 3rd month at Full Sail University.
This was our classes' second time doing anything with Maya. We were given a series of pictures to model from. Each were a living room type scene and we had to chose one from which to model our final.
Some problems I ran into a long the way were:
- not getting the camera perspective right
- knowing a small amount about modeling, so having to teach myself a lot of techniques
- learning to have multiple saves in order to go back if problems occurred
Helpful shortcuts learned:
Shift + D - helps a lot when creating things like stairs. Duplicate one step and adjust the translation/rotation/scale, then shift + d the next step and all the settings you already made will transfer over and you can quickly have all of your steps made without having to hand adjust each one! **Be careful using scale. If you adjust scale, each duplication will continuously get smaller or bigger depending on how you scale the object.
Simple Shading and Lighting:
I wanted to add some simple color and mood to the room without spending too much time going through and shading every piece.
A very simple method to use is the Mia_physicalsky. Located under Render Settings - Indirect Lighting - Physical Sky - Create
Once you hit create, a directional light will show up in the center of the world. Depending on how you rotate the light, you will get different lighting effects for different times of day. For instance if you have the directional light pointing straight up and down, it will simulate high noon. If you rotate the light to be horizontal it will simulate sunset or sunrise.
I have tossed up shading and lighting the mode more over the past couple months... maybe soon!
This was our classes' second time doing anything with Maya. We were given a series of pictures to model from. Each were a living room type scene and we had to chose one from which to model our final.
Some problems I ran into a long the way were:
- not getting the camera perspective right
- knowing a small amount about modeling, so having to teach myself a lot of techniques
- learning to have multiple saves in order to go back if problems occurred
Helpful shortcuts learned:
Shift + D - helps a lot when creating things like stairs. Duplicate one step and adjust the translation/rotation/scale, then shift + d the next step and all the settings you already made will transfer over and you can quickly have all of your steps made without having to hand adjust each one! **Be careful using scale. If you adjust scale, each duplication will continuously get smaller or bigger depending on how you scale the object.
Simple Shading and Lighting:
I wanted to add some simple color and mood to the room without spending too much time going through and shading every piece.
A very simple method to use is the Mia_physicalsky. Located under Render Settings - Indirect Lighting - Physical Sky - Create
Once you hit create, a directional light will show up in the center of the world. Depending on how you rotate the light, you will get different lighting effects for different times of day. For instance if you have the directional light pointing straight up and down, it will simulate high noon. If you rotate the light to be horizontal it will simulate sunset or sunrise.
I have tossed up shading and lighting the mode more over the past couple months... maybe soon!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
::Creation::
Dawn: I've been thinking about making a blog to show the progress of my work for awhile now. A few classmates have made their own and my work was getting a little jealous and wanted it's own lime light.
So I decided to create Dinosaur Footprints. Named to represent the giant steps I've been taking to better my work, the impact I hope to make, and the progress I still have to come.
Beginnings: A little bit about me. My name is Jessica and I am currently a student at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. I'm originally from Illinois, born and raised. No, not Chicago... the good ol' southern rural part of Illinois that no one ever knows about.
I have always been interested in the arts, which goes for just about everyone else in this industry I guess. What makes me different? I'm still not quite sure. I like to think I'm easy to get along with, time manage well, do whatever it takes to get the job done, and I'm always trying to find new ways to get the job done. Plus, I'm just plain fun to be around.
I love 3D shading and lighting. I also am always trying to improve my drawing and photoshop skills.
I love 3D shading and lighting. I also am always trying to improve my drawing and photoshop skills.
But anyway, time to start getting some more of that work done so I can post my progress. Enjoy!
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