15 months and still a beginner

[gmask]

Originally posted by Maya Ayanami
If I have been using Maya for like 15 months and the best that you can do is something similar to my avatar does that mean that I suck the big one(excuse my language).
I have done better but not by a whole lot and I am not any good at modeling

Well if all you can do is work with primatives like spheres then I can certainly say your biggest weaknes is modelling. Your avatar is a nice rendering of spheres..what's holding you back?

[stunndman]

try Create->Polygon Primitives->Cube

little by little

[gmask]

Originally posted by stunndman
try Create->Polygon Primitives->Cube

little by little

Yeah.. I've seen some great stuff made from primatives ..actually you can do quite alot so there must be some other problem here?? Is your computer incredible slow? what's the deal? Is this a joke? :shame:

[stunndman]

if this is serious, then

set yourself a target - model something that you have physical access to (your monitor, a table lamp, ...)

and wade through the instant maya modeling chapters which should give you the basics of modeling in maya

[solun]

Yeah, I think you should learn Maya base on some project, and Press F1 for the online help.

[matty429]

I believe your'e on the right track.....Im sure most CG artists
That are really good...think they suck like no other....thats what makes you good...Look at my avatar....

[bugo]

Go and draw some faces in paper, scan it and start practicing, after 10 times doing that, go to all body...

I think that what you can do first is modelling low-poligons, its becoz you can do easy UV mapping and dont loosing RAM

After doing that, you search for some tutorials for face animation and body animation!

Take 3 hours of your time day by day!

Im shure that you will be fine after that! I am, well... trying to!
:thumbsup:

[Ed Lee]

After 15 months and all you have done is spheres and renderings.

What can say, motivation?....find someone who can encourage you and push you to make that leap. I know it's hard sometimes but if you want to survive and make something of yourself in 3D world I say you kick yourself in the booty and get a move on.

Another suggestion is get a hold of much easier programs like LW or Max and create things you like....or even try to model your room using simple primitives. You should see some of my old stuff....it looked like a tin-can man. But, hey..I've managed to take simple shapes like spheres, boxes, cylinders and make something of it.

In time, you will start to modify them...like scaling, extruding, and getting familiar with other toolsets to modify your geometry. After that try tools like lathe, loft....and so on. Keep building.....and soon you'll build a robot, and after organic shapes like head and hands....or even a dinosaur. Modeling is key tho.....

This was my process of getting out of the "primitives" shackle. You must liberate yourself from the basic tools that's there in the 3d program....and take it to the next level.

Hope this was motivating. :drool:



Ed--

[Maya Ayanami]

thanks all for your support.
the thing with my computer. it is acctually really awsome infact just yesterday I did a 10000 X 7500 pixels and it only took 4.5 hours. I even had Final gather 1000 and global illum. 1024 turned on.
with no lights.

and the thing with the software:
I think that it is kind of wierd that everyone says that Maya is way harder then other software pakages. I started out with max 4 and hated it I did some stuff with it for like one month then I saw the making of evolution. in it i herd the word that I would never forget "MAYA" after instalation of this alien software. I went WOW this is soooooo much easyer.

do you have any nice tips for polly, subd., and nurbs modeling.
I all ways seem to have to high of a res. on my models.

a few months ago I foolishly attempted to model A.M.E.E. from red plant. I finished the foot and each toe thing had well over 1,000 pollys.


once again thank you for the encuragement(how do you spell that)

[gmask]

There are a ton of modelling tutorials in the links in my sig below.. follow some of them..any of them ;-)

[stunndman]

I all ways seem to have to high of a res. on my models.

i just had the same problem at the beginning and it took me quite some time to realize what was going wrong

by observing other people's models and wading through many tutorials i eventually improved my own modeling skills

so observe and research

[Sammy]

Maya,

Perhaps the root of your problem with the package is that you're using it all by yourself. My learning curve has shot straight up since I started fulltime classes - a room filled with 20+ people all using the same software ... you can always just shout out a problem and at least ONE person reacts - and if they don't know, they know someone who does. It also helps because there's a mentor in the class who's been there and done that a thousand times already!

Being a student of the software myself, I think my biggest challenge is admitting to myself that I'm just starting out and I can't expect to render out highend stuff until I've got a firm grip on all the tools Maya offers. Avoiding the seductive tools like fluids and dynamics and GI.

My instructor gave me a great insight to 3D. Everything you work on looks like crap for 90% of the time until that last 10% when things start coming together. It's *so* true!

Meaning that you MUST start out with a simple shape and RESIST adding the details until the VERY LAST stages of your design, animation, etc ... Otherwise the results are always dissapointing.
The same rules apply to drawing - it's a myth that the finished illustration is painted from the top to the bottom of the page - with a clean line. Nope - there's a mountain of studies to back up that final artwork.

Anyone worth their salt in 3D will admit that they're good at it because they have a solid foundation in classical training such as sculpture or painting or drawing or all of them combined. Don't discount the value of these studies. They'll save your butt every day!

There are lot's of these sorts of tips for working but I don't want to blab too much and bore you ... but back to my first point -- find a community like a school and don't be afraid to make mistakes! You've done a great thing by bringing this subject up. I'd go as far to say this is the number one issue artists have - where to start.

If you can't go to school for whatever reason, this forum is a GREAT start! Give yourself a challenging project like modeling a hand or a head (the two hardest) - do your research and draw your orthographics -- start modeling and don't be a perfectionist - ruff stuff out quick and submit it for critique - you'll find that you'll learn much faster this way than to tweak and tweak for weeks.


Keep on Rockin! :buttrock:

Sammy
rhibit@lilypad.ca
-+-

[JIII]

i am not a MAYA user but i can say that one thing that will really really help you is to check out this thread.

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38469

you can see that they use basic low poly shapes to create complex surfaces. master this and you will not be a newbie in any program

[Rot]

Originally posted by Maya Ayanami
If I have been using Maya for like 15 months and the best that you can do is something similar to my avatar does that mean that I suck the big one(excuse my language).
I have done better but not by a whole lot and I am not any good at modeling

Yep ! It's the same for me :annoyed:
Do your best.

Rot

[roguenroll]

I'm personally just thinking about starting in Maya, I've been lurking the Maya boards for a few weeks now. I'm a Lightwave user. But I must say that when I get in a rut its usually for lack of something that drives me.

I would suggest a project, with the end result being material for a website, particularly a gallery for a posssible future 3d career.

In the early days I did the same things with LiveMotion, and Flash, I wanted to learn them but picking at the programs didn't get me far so, for both I learned each building an interactive website/ / resume that I burmed on a CD.

I was happy for the experience and got a product at the end.

So it comes down to goals and interest.


Dive in and keep learning.

[Maya Ayanami]

hello, I think it it cool that you are considering picking up Maya. I am curently takeing a lightwave class.(I am in it right now)

But I think that maya is way better. of course the both have their ups and downs but in my very own oponion I would have to say that Maya has a lot more ups than lightwave.

[roguenroll]

Im trying to think back but when I started LW, the only thing that kept me from Maya was the price, that has changed. But I did pick LW for the output, LW has a great render engine and great output. Also more and more companies are using LW, but I also see that a ton use Maya which is a great program and an industry standard, and very powerful in its own right. so I'm am gonna give it a go.

I'm seeing alot of cross over betweem LW and Maya, like model in Maya and render in LW, or the opposite, it got me curious.

But if you know both, more power to you. and I will try.

Here is another (just started) project, I need to learn more techniques in LW (especially character design and rigging), so
I'm diving into another forced learning period.

http://www.fmotion.net/Kman/index.htm

Roguenroll

[Maya Ayanami]

well since it was just the price and partly the not so good renderer then you are in luck. As you prabably know AliasWavefront as just undergone a major price cut of their software(at least Maya) by about half(damm).
And you also know that they have released a personal learning edition, which is Maya 4.5 complete with a few set backs i.e. huge water mark in the view panles and in all of your renders, its own extensions so you cant use someone elses batch renderer, and a few other.
A major plus is they are giving the all powerfull Mental Ray renderer in there for free for every living creature blessed with Maya 4.5 .

I dont have much expierience with the Lightwave renderer so I dont know if Mental Ray is better or not but I have a good feeling that it is.:surprised

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