My Final Model and Environment

I had a very hard time making my model. I had a lot of problems in everything. The UV mapping was the worst for me because i didn't know exactly where to start or how to do it. I'm still iffy about it.

My model Is a robot in a club like environment. The little cylinder object behind my model are pieces of furniture.  I UV mapped everything except those pieces. I know, I know that I have to make my walls a little bit bigger but hey I did my best with the time I had. I didn't know my model was bigger than my environment.

This Is the back of my environment which is the outside of the building.

This is the side view of my environment. The two walls you see are actually the same wall. the one on the right is the original and the left is a copied version. I did that because the UV map for the other wall was really wacko. So I just duplicated the wall.

This is the top view of my model and my environment. The reason why the environment looks so bright is because of the lighting and where its placed. I used and ambient Light and placed it in the center of my environment to brighten the room.

That's my model that I have been working on for eight weeks. Have fun using Maya! XD

Just duplicate it

Having problems trying to re due a UV map on a similar object? Just duplicate the thing. I was having problems trying to re due a UV map on a wall for an environment assignment. I did the first wall perfectly but when I tried to do the other two, the map was all off. I asked my professor for help and he told me "Just duplicate it." He showed me how and now I'm going to show you to make your life simple as well.

1) I had three walls and I was trying to make it look kind of like a club theme. My first wall was perfect. So make sure you have your perfect object. In photoshop I had made my texture for the wall like this. I made sure I knew which way the wall had unfolded to make sure everything was positioned  the right way.

2) This is what my wall looked like after I put the texture onto the wall.

3) First thing you do before trying to duplicate your object is to right-click and make sure it is set on Object Mode and select your object.

4) Next go to Edit and then click on Duplicate ( or you could just press Ctrl+D). You have now duplicated your object.

5) Now, click on the Move tool and Rotate tool to move the second wall around.  Keep in mind you're not going to see the wall (or whatever object you are duplicating) appear in a different place. It's onto of the first wall so DO NOT click anywhere else but your move tool. Once you see your second wall then you could do whatever you want to it.

6) Repeat for the other wall. (only necessary if you are duplicating to get three objects)

7) Now, I had realized when I rotated my environment around that both walls had the same backside. 

8) I didn't want that, so what I did was I went back to my original photoshop file of my wall and I changed the backside to a brick wall and saved it as a Targa file like I did for my first wall.

9) Then, I went back to Maya and Right-clicked on my second wall and went down to Assign New Material.

10) After that, an option box popped up and I clicked on Lambert. Do the same.

 11) Once you choose Lambert, on your right side you will see where it says color. Clcik the checkered box next to it and another option box will pop up. Click on File.

12) Find your new texture file and press open.

13) Finally you are done. Steps 9-12 you should have already known but I broke it down just in case anyone was wondering what to do next. Have fun =)

Paints Skin Weights Tool

I wasn't all too sure about how to use this tool at first but I kind of got it down now. This tool help you have better control over the way your model moves.

1) Have your model with a skeleton. If you need to add a skeleton ask your professor or go online and find out how to add one and come back. After you have your skeleton, select Skin, Bind Skin, and Smooth Bind. This allows your model to move like a human and not a robot. Now about the weights tool, first of all make sure your model is selected when you are trying to do the next step otherwise its not going to work.

2) Once you have your model selected click under the Animation tab and then double click on the 6th from the last tool. You will open up a tools settings box shown on the left side if the image below. 

3) Make sure the brush that you are using is the soft brush. This will make it so you don't make your model like a complete robot. Now let me explain what you see in the image below. You see where it says the parts of the body with those little pretty colored boxes on the left side? If you Select one of them, what you see on the model will happen. So, the one I'm showing you is the upper leg. You see that white? The whiter the part the more influence it has. The blacker the part means it has less influence. So you see that grey area means that it has little influence over those parts. If you move the upper leg, that part will move slightly.

4) So let me show you what had me messed up. Giving certain parts more or less influence. How to give less influence. Press Ctrl+left click. This will turn the white parts darker. But here is the tricky part, you have to make sure it's over one of the joints of the skeleton in order for it to actually make a change. It sounds harder than it looks. you'll understand once you try it.

 5) How to give more influence. This is easier, all you have to do if left click. But remember you have to be over a joint. Make sure to rotate your model as well to make sure there is no white or black on the back where there shouldn't be because it doesn't select/deselect the parts all the way around.

6) Remember you can do this to each part of the body so don't forget to do it to the other parts as well. Now go use the Move tool to move your parts around to see if you gave the right amount of influence to each part. Have fun =)

Merging Vertex Points

Have you ever had a model that you wanted to be a little more pointy but you never knew how to do it? Well I recently found out how merge vertex points. 

1) Have a model.But make sure you can see the vertex points that way you're not merging the wrong point.

2) Next right click and move your mouse over Vertex. This will show you the vertex point throughout your whole model.

3) This step you have to be very careful with because if you don't do it right you won't find the button you need. move your mouse over a vertex point and click on it. Then press Shift and right click. After you do that then move your mouse up to where it says Merge Vertices. Now DO NOT release the button. Another set of options will pop up.

4) Here is the next set of options. Move your mouse down to where it says Merge Vertex Tool. Now you can let go.

5) This tool allows you to click on one point and merge it with another. So go ahead and click on a point. DO NOT LET GO and drag to another point as shown in the image bellow.

6) Now those two points have merged together and they will no longer separate unless you press undo or if you actually know a way to undo the merge. You can now merge any point that you want.

7) And you have a better looking model. But you have to be careful on how you merge you points because depending on which points you move will determine how your model will look. Have fun =)