Hi, I guess I'm not really new to Maya, but it's always been in the back of my head for a few years and I would really like to finally make my own character. I've tried this before but never erally had the paitence or experience to do so. So my question is: Does anyone know a tutorial that can vaugely explain the process. i don't need anything step by step, but I was wondering where a good starting point would be so I know when to make the rigging/blendshapes/muscles/animation/fur/misc. This way I could at least know where to start. I did take a class but it was only 3 weeks long so we didn't really get past modelling.
This way I could at least know where to start.
you start out with concept art 2d drawing from a few directions. So you have a ide awhat to do next. So time to take out your pancil and paper. And start sketching.
Well I know that part, can pretty much do everything up to modelling the body and pressing Delete History for the last time before Rigging, blendshapes, etc. I'm more concerned with what you after the character is created. Thanks though.
pressing Delete History for the last time before Rigging
Why? I mean there's plenty of reasons to keep that history around. Dont blindly delete history just because do it because you dont have any use for that part.
For example if you want spikes to grow out of the back of something then don't delete the history for the extrudes of the spikes. You get the growth for free. The tools you use to bulk up your model work equally well as rigging tools.
And no dont freeze either.
I'm more concerned with what you after the character is created.
depends on what your character is the workflow for a snake is quite different form the workflow of a human.
What you do next is type on paper what you need your character to do during the course of animation.
Is the character a toon? Is it facial or primarily mimic animation? Does it need stretchy/bendy limbs? Does it need to flow trough a small hole. Does it need many outfits? Do you need cloth simulation? Paricle anim? Hair? Muscles? How many bones is exact.
Why does it need theese things, abstract to bare minimum needed. All extra things cost time. How long do you plan to use this character? a month, 3 days, 20 years? Invest more time to longer life characters. Do you really need bones or are they just nice? Could you sue blendshapes that are driven by bone angle?
Any accessories? Ropes, medalions, chains?
Does a standard rig suffice? if so which one? do you have auto lipsynch? If so build those blends it needs. Are you using motion capture?
How well do you know the inner workings of maya? Have you read the manual on rigging?
Well, basically I'm working on a bipedal anthropomorphic toon. I was hoping to go for something you could see. I was under the impression you use delete history so that you dont have to worry about stray lattices or the like when you adjust size make blendshape duplicates. I want this to be my signature character, meaning I plan to use him for the forseeable future, maybe do clothes and fur when I'm better with them, but not immediately. However, i do plan to use facial poses and hopefully lip sync as soon as possible. I plan to start with basic pictures using this model to test out lighting and dynamics, and hopefully building into videos and eventually(time willing) animated shorts.
I really don't know much about rigging. I did it once with a test model basid on a video tutorial, but it came out ppretty unstable and uneven.
Thanks again, I don't expect too many details, but I'm joping someone could point me in a general workflow direction.
Well you should prpbably aim to rig the thing 2 times. This is a trick that i learned form xcertain computer programmers. The first one is a prototype taht does all you need, but nce youve done with it and it really works. You thorw it out, start over and do all things anew with the knowlege of prevoous session. Thsi enables you to do a much better job. And is especially valuable when you are inexperianced.
Really pro guys do it in steps wich they can go back to and recreate the later steps form that by hand or script so if they screw something up they can go back and fix it AFTER the rig is in production.
I was under the impression you use delete history so that you dont have
to worry about stray lattices or the like when you adjust size make blendshape duplicates.
then delete the strays. My idea is not to get hooked into magic solutions. But to actually wieght out what you delete and when. Othewrise you end up very fast in the category where you allways do this becuse its important, quite obviously it MUST be important because you allways do it.
Its not bad rule of thumb, its just not a fixed rule.
Thanks, that's probably what I'll do as far as rigging.. In the mean time, do you know any good resources for Maya Workflow tutorials? Particularly anything for lip sync, blendshapes, or rigging?
certainly the 3 best best resource ive seen so far sits on your computer. Hit f1 and read its pretty well written. Much better then 95% orf anything you find for free and 80% of everything you'd buy form another source. And its free!
Really? I never actually tried the manual tutorials since most of the time they don't help with the program. I'll look into it now htough, thanks!
time they don't help with the program
well the only reason i know more then you is because I took the time to read the manual cover to cover and then test what i read. That's not just tutorials mind you. See very few sources give you the in depth look the manual does.
worflow yes but you can and should be able to do that yourself. YOu should be focusing on doing the experiments yourlsf and then once you have a clear picture of what things do THEN look ata tutorial to see if you missed something. A tutorial is a tool for self verification.