Evaluation

BSc Creative Computing Project - NWC605COM

                                              Evaluation

Why did I pick the 1st initial idea over all the other project ideas?

The reason as to why I choose to do a male model superhero character using Maya as opposed to all the other initial ideas is firstly the I figured the Self-Driving car robot Idea would be unrealistic as I wouldn’t be able to create as I have difficulty with coding. Another reason as to why this project would be unrealistic is that I have never created one before, so I would not even know where to start. Moving on to the 2D game of Pong, in wouldn’t enjoy this as a project very much as I am also not interested in gaming. Whereas with the Maya project always loved using the software.

Overall, I decided to do the Maya model project idea. I wanted to stick to 1^st project idea as I already have the skills, it also works to my advantage that i am quite familiar to Maya's user interface but there ids always room for improvement. Even though I have the skills I found that when I was doing my assignments for the 3D modelling and animation unit I found it difficult to animate the model and scene properly and I wanted to improve. 

What unforeseen circumstances did I come across when

 making the project?

• I created the male model character and had a rigged animation but had trouble attaching it to the maya model.
•  Maya kept crashing when I was trying to work on my laptop.
• When modelling it was very irritating when I went to select a group of faces and then it would alter that section and then rotate the model round to the other side only to find out that the model
• Every time my mesh was smoothened I lost a lot of volume, this was a problem that often occurred, so if I were to do it again I would take this into mind, to make sure that my model matched my reference on point. 

What could have been done better?

Time & Organization

    In terms of me being organized I would say that I even though I was very realistic in terms of what I would be able to do I believe that I could have organized myself a lot better. The reason why I say this is because even though I managed to create my model my project wasn't finished as my final model wasn’t animated.

Animation and clothes

    In addition to this even though the model was textured it didn't have any clothes. If I were to improve the Maya model I would defiantly added animation and clothing to the Maya model.

  Preparation

If I were to do my project again I wouldn’t underestimate the amount of time I had as I thought it was enough and it really wasn’t as I didn’t get to finish the model completely I would definitely spend more time on my project as opposed to having breaks. In addition to this every time my mesh was smoothened I lost a lot of volume, this was a problem that often occurred, so if I were to do it again I would take this into mind.

Summary

Overall in regards to how I felt about the whole project as a whole, I will say that I tried to the best of my ability to keep to time, all though I might not of done it well I can hand on heart say that I tried and that I am very proud and happy of the final model that I have produced. In addition to this even though the process of it all was frustrating at times once I practiced and got the hang of things, i became familiar with things and they tasks became a lot easier to achieve. Reflecting on the whole project I am proud of myself and the time and effort that I have put into this project. As I'm happy that I chose this project because I have learnt many skills and if I were to do the same project or set to create another model using Maya.

Week 7:

BSc Creative Computing Project - NWC605COM

WEEK 7: 

27th AUG  - 1st SEPT 2018

I've got quite a bit of time off work this week so I'm trying to get all that I can get done! On tuesday I start to work on my project by beginning adding material to my model however I did take this off after as I didn't think it looked very and was to shiny. I then went on to filling the gap of the crotch area by using my favorite tool the bridge tool. I love it as it makes it a lot easier for people who model join to what it is that the want to connect to wether it be a verticle, edge or faces.

To create the breast I inserted a 'poly-sphere' with a subdivision of the axis 6 and then the height subdivision 4 that has and then I rotate the sphere so that the cap is facing towards me. Shortly I'd then put it where I desire it to be located on the model. Once this is done I create the shape of the breast for it to be however I want it. I then extrude the inner circles inwards for the chest area. I then go on to changing this in my final model as they don't follow that shape. The reason for this is if I kept it like that they wouldn't be true to size and I want them to look realistic as its me being referenced.

 I then rotate the model round as it has no bum due to faces being accidentally deleted and just my luck maya is set up so that it limits what it can 'undo'. So before I even know the faces are gone I cant do anything about. Therefore unfortunately I have to use my own knowledge when it comes to modelling as I didn't take any side profile pictures to use as my reference. To fix this problem I rotate the model round using the rotate tool and make sure that it's back to front so I can see what I am working with. Now I can proceed to using the connect tool to connect the faces together. Once this is done I then scaled it outwards to create the bum as well as give it shape.

Creating the hands and fingers is sometimes tricky, In order to create the hands and the fingers I had to create new faces and build them from scratch by connecting the faces and extruding them from the hand in order to create the fingers. I also shape the fingers by smoothing them so they are less harsh. Then I adjusting the length of the fingers. I don’t make the fingers that long as I have quite small hands in general. Also the length of the fingers are different as they aren’t all the same length on one hand.

Similar to the hands I will be also be creating the feet with the same method starting with the base of the foot and extruding it out words and using the edge loop tool to create edges so I'll be able to manipulate them. I do this whilst the faces are smoothed. The only bad thing about this is that. In order to create the hands and the fingers I had to create new faces and build them from scratch by connecting the faces and extruding them from the hand in order to create the fingers. I also shape the fingers by smoothing them so they are less harsh. Then I adjusting the length of the fingers. I don’t make the fingers that long as I have quite small hands in general. Also the length of the fingers are different as they aren’t all the same length on one hand.

Here is the final maya model that I created using my image planes.

Final Model:

Week 5:

BSc Creative Computing Project - NWC605COM

WEEK : 5

6th AUG 2018

Now that I'm working and all I must admit as I'm working through out the summer its not the easiest to do this project and work full-time at the same time as my job is quite demanding. However as the week approaches I make sure I find time to do some work especially now im off for the next two days and as I want to also make the most of my summer I'm working towards finishing this project. When I'm not working in my spare time I will be working on my maya project as it has to be in for September which is close.

So its now Tuesday and I'm going to start by extruding the neck upwards. Moving on to the neck I selected the 8 faces at the top of the poly-cylinder and began to extrude it inwards so that it resembled a neck. I made sure that it was later lined up with the reference before I extruded the neck more upwards even further.

Using the edge rings that I have create I will use them so that I will be able to to position it so that they match my reference and that it is also aligned properly, and then rotate it so that it is still matching my reference. Using the key tool the scale tool to match the image reference in order to add some volume to the model. Even though in the image plane I am standing with my hands besides my body ..I prefer when my models to have the arms sticking out, as I feel like it gives them more character so, later on during the creation of my model I shall be changing the original position so the arms will be sticking out.

Using the exact same process as I used when I came to shaping the arms I will also use it to shape the legs using the edge rings, edges and verts. I will use them to position the rows/edge so that they match my reference and that it is also aligned properly, and then when I get to the bottom of the leg I will extrude the bottom of the leg down, in order to be able to create the base of the foot as well as the ankle. The last image is to show the overall edited leg. As you can see my hips are quite wide so I will be grabbing the side faces and pulling them out so they match my hips like so in the image.

Deleting the top faces of the torso as well as the side of the torso, the arms and legs. I do this simply because I then makes it easier for me to join the body parts together, which can be done using the combine and or either the bridge tool as well as the bottom.

Once this is done I then go about duplicating the arm and leg to the other side and their is a special way I do this. I begin as I use a tool called duplicate special tool and then change the 'x scale' to -1.0000, so that it will automatically duplicate to the other side with out any trouble and there is a plus to doing this as it is duplicates the body parts symmetrically. Once I've done this I need to change the viewpoint so the mesh of the body wont be black.

Like previously mention I have stuck out the models arms before I going to connect the are to the shoulders.

Week 4

BSc Creative Computing Project - NWC605COM

WEEK 4:

30th JUL - 5th AUG 2018

First to start of the week I am going to begin creating the body of the model. Before I do anything I need to make sure that import my image plane, as this is what I'm going to use to reference for my full body. Once this is done I can then add a polycylinder and give it 12 subdivisions axes and 4 subdivisions for the height as this will give me something to work with and manipulate. Next I shape the torso to match my reference. 

Afterwards created another poly cylinder and gave it 8 subdivisions axes and 6 subdivisions on the height and lastly I duplicated that poly cylinder as I will be modelling it for the leg of the model also. Then I just move the rows of the poly-cylinder so that it matches image planes using the scale tool. I was very important to make sure that when I was moving the rows at the front that the back was also doing the same. This because it just kinda makes things easier for myself for once.

Despite this I still got annoyed with the software because when I was modelling the face... I feel its different as I get a lot more frustrated when when I selected components and found out that I selected components that I had no intention whatsoever to select e.g. vertices, edges or faces etc. that are hidden behind my current view. Moving the components that were unknowingly selected was highly annoying as there would be multiple times where I would be adjusting one side of the components, then I would rotate round to the other side only to discover that I had disfigured and messed it up that area when previously working on the arms and legs. It is so stressful because whilst I thought that what I’m doing is correct it is not, and the model doesn't match up with my reference (HIGHLY ANNOYING).

I encountered a problem where when I was modelling it was irritating when I went to select a group of faces, I would alter that section and then rotate the model round to the other side only to find out that the model was disfigured. Despite this I managed to overcome this problem, one of the ways that I managed to overcome this problem as there was an option that I could select so that it would select the faces behind what it was that I selected called 'turn off backface culling'.

Week 3:

BSc Creative Computing Project - NWC605COM

WEEK 3 :

23rd JUL 2018

I can now to actually begin to connect the features together. Using the bridge tool I can select the faces below the eye and scale the downwards. 

Afterwards I extrude the edges downwards to create the cheek. Adding subdivisions within those faces allows me to create the shape of the cheek.

 In addition to this I also select the faces on top of the eye region and extrude them upwards so I can no go about creating the outline of the head. In order to help build the face I select the faces under the chin and extrude then downwards creating some depth to the face. Then I fill in the rest of the faces (anywhere that needs to be filled in the face region) and then adjust the faces so that its mimicking the reference image like seen in the pictures below.

Creating the ears is always tricky to be honest. My method of making the creation of the ear is to first  I insert a poly-cylinder and delete the back faces so you have something to work with. Even though I have no side reference I can still create an ear nonetheless, I just need to continue to rotating the model round to see the side view of what it is that I am creating. Also anther thing that helps is that not working in 'object mode' because this way you will not be able to see the back faces so its best to work in the vertex mode where you can see what it is you're altering. Then lastly extruding the back faces of the ear to create some depth and then once one side is done use duplicate special to replicate it to the other side, like I did before with the arm and leg.

Creating the nostril by Grabbing those faces and pushing them backwards is what creates the nostrils and then connecting them together again to so they are combined doing this creates depth or to get this you could just use bevel on the inner face and extrude the faces upwards.