Lab 2: Introduction to Modeling
IDS252: 3D Animation, Fall 2009

Goals

• Become familiar with modeling NURBS and subdivision surfaces.
• Learn how to import objects.
• Experiment with composition through the use of placement and camera position.

Directions

1. Making a Project: For the lessons below, create a single project (e.g. called Lab2Project) in your ids252 folder on your H drive. All of the scenes you create for this lab should be saved into this project. Recall, to create a project, open Maya and go to File;Project;New .... Enter the name and location of your project. For now, leave all other fields blank.

   Remember: Once your project is created, then every time you open Maya, you will need to set the project File;Project;Set .... Once the project is set, you may open your scene. This will insure that files are saved to the correct place.

2. Modeling: In the Maya Help, go to Learning Resources->Tutorials->Getting Started with Maya. Do the following lessons:
   
   • NURBS Modeling:
     • Lesson 1: Revolving a curve to create a surface (glass),
     • Lesson 2: Sculpting a NURBS surface. Note, Lesson 2 is OPTIONAL! Only do this if you have time after doing everything else.
     • Lesson 3: Lofting Curves to create a surface (saltshaker)
   • Subdivision Surfaces:
     • Lesson 1: Modeling a subdivision surface (hand). Note, you will probably not be able to finish this. Get as far as you can.
       
       
3. Rendered Image: For each object you create, render a 640x480 jpeg high quality image. You will turn this in on WISE. Make sure the image files are given names that reflect what they contain and include your initials as described in lab 1.

4. Importing Objects: At this point, you should have several Maya scenes (i.e. .mb files) from labs 1 and 2. Each scene file contains a different object such as a temple, helmet, glass, saltshaker, hand. Before you continue, it is a good idea to go back to these scenes and "clean things up" as follows:

   Cleaning Things Up:

   • Open Maya and set the project (e.g. to Lab1Project or Lab2Project).
   • Open up one of the scene files in that project, e.g. temple.mb.
   • Select the object. If there are multiple parts, make sure everything is selected.
   • Delete constuction history by going to the menu Edit->Delete by Type->History.
   • If there are multiple parts, group all of the parts together by selecting everything and going to the menu Edit->Group.
   • Rename the object (or the group if you grouped items) so that the name reflects what the object is. For example, the temple object should be called "temple".
   • Save the scene file.
   • Repeat for the next scene file in the project.
   • Repeat for the next project.

   Once the objects in the individual scenes are cleaned up, you can now combine these objects into one scene as follows. Set the project to Lab2project. Create a new scene and save it (e.g. call it composition), and then go to the main menu in Maya and choose File; Import.... Select one of your previous scenes to import . The object should appear in this new scene. Repeat to import several more objects. You will need to translate the different objects so they aren't on top of one another.

5. Composition: In the scene you just created, arrange/duplicate/scale/etc the different objects in a way that tells a story or makes the viewer curious. Assign simple colors to objects, DO NOT USE FIRE OR OTHER SPECIAL EFFECTS THAT YOU DISCOVER IN MAYA). Think about issues of composition, for example:
   • Can you identify the overall form - horizontal, vertical, diagonal, etc?
   • Have you grouped objects in an interesting way?
   • Have I created a sense of depth? Do I want to?
   • Is the dark and light range consistent with the established mood?
   • Is there a single major focal area? Is it well placed? Are there subordinate or secondary focal areas?
   • Are there organized movements through the picture?
   • Does the basic light-dark pattern design create and interesting abstract pattern?
   • Are the negative shapes interesting and varied?
   • Are weighted areas (dark values and intense colors) balanced to avoid lopsidedness?

Evaluation

You are to turn in through WISE, the following images.

1. glass
2. salt shaker
3. hand (complete as much as you can.)
4. One composition containing several objects you have created. This image is the most important part of this lab.

You will be graded both on technical skill and on composition.

The score will on a scale of 0 to 10 depending on its completeness and likeness to the expected result where
0=nothing turned in
9=solid, everything was done
10=exceptional work
Note that late assignments will be penalized: 20% up to 1 week late, 50% more than one week late.