Create a Project from Start to Finish Model, Texture, Rig, Animate, and Render in Maya
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Introduction
3D. It’s everywhere. From stereoscopic movies to online logos to billboards along the side of the road, chances are, even today you’ve seen 3D content. In recent years, 3D has gone from a specialty (and sometimes gimmicky) afterthought to a staple of the creative industry. The products you use were visualized in 3D before being manufactured, the streets you drive down are likely flanked by buildings that were previsualized in 3D before being built, and often the street itself (if it’s recent) was created in some 3D software before construction was begun. And of course, all of this is in addition to the ubiquitous presence of 3D in most every form of entertainment and in every form of digital entertainment. Like many new forms of digital art, at the beginning, the technology was instantly available to everyone, but the on-ramp was steep and often difficult to ascend. The area was flooded with hobbyists who could get their hands on the software, but continually produced uninspired work. This happened in the professional world as well – for all the never-ending genius of Pixar and the nice work of early Dreamworks, there emerged as competition, some really poorly conceived and even more poorly executed feature films that really besmirched the hallowed artwork of 3D animation. Now, after many years, viewers have become more discerning in what they consider “good” 3D and 3D animation. Reviewers for games are no longer dazzled by the fact that games are 3D, but they start making real commentary on the artistry and efficacy of modeling, style, and animation choices. Movie reviews have become incredibly discerning, and substandard technique in modeling and animation is quickly caught and called out. Animation consumers have come of age.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Tool Sophistication
This is good and bad for animators or aspiring animators. It’s great because as the consumer’s eye for animation has grown in sophistication, the tools that allow for the production have grown increasingly robust. This means that there are many very powerful toolsets that have allowed for further power, faster, and at a lower skill set. From the early days of having to use the command line to create a cube, the current click and drag to get full cloth dynamics and fluid integration into a project is a huge leap forward. However, the bad news is that viewers of 3D are simply less impressed with another bit of dazzling technology – they demand a compelling story and a deft touch in handling the visuals of any project (game, TV, film, web, etc.). The days of blindly dazzling effects are over – consumers are just too savvy.What this means is that the most successful 3D projects will come from people who have done a lot of work beyond the technical – people who have studied light, composition, form, and movement (just to get started). Often times, this comes from formal training (college, university, art school, etc.), but not always. There are clearly folks who are able to intuitively produce products that show these skills, and others who gain these skills in the old fashioned way – through reading and immense amounts of sweat equity to grow the skills themselves. Having said this, no matter what the art and composition skills of the artist are, without knowledge of how to use the tool – the skills will never have a chance to be put on display. So in addition to traditional skills, the competitive 3D artist of today also must understand the tools – and how to use the tools to convey their knowledge of story or art. This book is designed to assist in getting into dynamic, complex, and very powerful tools faster, so that great artwork can find a visual voice and great work can be produced.
Who’s It For?
With the goal of this book being a facilitator to help the reader gain a new instrument in your tool chest, it’s worth while pointing out that there are multiple situations in which this book can be effective:
1. Hobbyist
So you’ve loved the 3D work that has evolved in recent years. It seems like magic, and more importantly, it looks like fun. The 3D hobbyist market has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years. There was a time that a bit of Bryce and some simple Poser satisfied the weekend 3D warrior. But those days are past for the most part. Today’s hobbyists – like today’s consumers – know that there is much to partake of in the 3D world and want to get into the craft deeper more quickly. If this is you, this book has many sections that will get you up to speed (well beyond a dabbler) in a hurry. Because each chapter starts with some background information, it will help those of you without a technical background in 3D graphics to get a chance to understand what the core ideas are before diving into the tutorials. However, since the book is full of tutorials, you will very quickly be “doing it” – creating 3D, and producing work that will be fun to show off and fulfilling to create.
2. Student
I’ve been teaching 3D for a long time (almost 15 years now), and I have seen a lot of students come through my programs, classes, and curricula. I know how students learn 3D and how some of the concepts come quicker than others. I also know that different students learn in different ways. Some learn aurally – they listen to a lecture and they grasp the idea and are off the races. Some learn visually – they watch the demo and seeing is learning. Still others find that careful listening and visual learning is a good start, but that some text helps cement the concepts – and a tutorial helps move the “I saw it done” into the “I just did it, and now I understand it.” This book is heavily tutorial based. It’s chock full of step by step pages of “do this and then do that.” For students who are using this as a textbook, or as a supplement to in-class instruction, be sure to take a moment and ask yourself “why?” Why is the author having me do this now? What’s the goal behind this collection of steps? And most importantly: How can I use this technique in my own work? Do this and the book will be much more than just a collection of steps – and become a platform to creating your own projects.
3.Teacher
Hopefully you’re out of a college or university program in which you did extensive 3D training and you’re looking for a book to allow you to learn/teach a new technology to supplement your current skills. If this is your situation, this book should move quite quickly for you, and you might be able to skip past most of the theoretical discussions at the beginnings of each chapter as you learn to translate your current vocabulary into Maya-speak. But, if you’re not (and this is the case at most middle schools, junior high schools, high schools, and even some colleges and universities), this book will be of great help. The “Whys” of 3D are covered in every chapter. It’s critical – especially when attempting to teach this stuff – that the core ideas and principles are understood. 3D is deep and goes way beyond hitting the right tools at the right time. The questions that come up in class – and the dark alleyways of the software that students wander down – demand an understanding of what’s really happening behind the GUI. For you, the descriptions of the technology at the beginning of every chapter and tutorial will be critical. Be sure to read those parts carefully and take a careful look at how those ideas are being illustrated through the course of the tutorials. The tutorials all have a pedagogical goal that goes beyond just following the tutorial recipe. Grasp that goal and it will speed your mastery of the tool and allow you a firm footing upon which to lift your students
Book Organization
The book has nine chapters. These chapters are split up into the basic steps of 3D creation: Modeling, UV Layout, Texturing, Lighting and Rendering, Rigging and Skinning, and finally Animation. Each of these chapters will begin with some discussion of the core ideas of that corner of the 3D creation world. Some of it is theoretical, and much of it is metaphorical. The idea is to make sure that the concepts are introduced before getting mired in Maya’s implementation of those ideas. After the Introduction, there will be several tutorials designed to illustrate how the concepts work. These tutorials will be the bulk and meat of the book. Detailed instructions will be given on how Maya works and how to work with Maya’s power and around Maya’s eccentricities to create great products
