For the lighting, I used SpotLight (although it didn’t help much) and AreaLight (which generally determined the mood and colour palette of the scene). I tried HDRI lighting (which yielded the best results), but I ran into animation rendering issues and had to give it up.
I also added diffuse and subsurface scattering in the render to make the face look more realistic. I opted for indoor lighting as I didn’t think recreating the scene from the source video would be the best way to showcase my model. Instead, I opted for a medieval setting inside a tavern, with smoke and fire effects.
Crown model
Tongue and teeth
Final version
I think the animation could be smoother and some facial movements don’t match the original ones. They also lack realism. In addition, I still see anatomical errors, and the texture of the model is not the most lifelike (more like a game than a movie). However, considering that it was my first time doing such a project, I can see how much I learned and that I gained a solid base of skills and tools that I will be able to use in the future.
Render
Resources:
Autodesk Arnold: Standard Surface – Arnold User Guide. (2022) Available at: https://help.autodesk.com/view/ARNOL/ENU/?guid=arnold_user_guide_ac_surface_shaders_ac_standard_surface_html (Accessed: 10 December 2022).
Autodesk Arnold: Subsurface – Arnold User Guide.(2022) Available at: https://help.autodesk.com/view/ARNOL/ENU/?guid=arnold_user_guide_ac_standard_surface_ac_standard_subsurface_html (Accessed: 10 December 2022).
Browningate (2013) Monty Python – Constitutional Peasants Scene. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2c-X8HiBng (Accessed: 5 December 2022).
Kapetan Miki (2019) Maya modeling Tutorial: How to create a King Crown in less than 5 minutes. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-zfRSh9J-Y (Accessed: 5 December 2022).
Reimagine FX (2020) Understanding Subsurface Scattering In Maya And Arnold Render – Tutorial. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPSmSc16o2Q (Accessed: 2 December 2022).
I did extensive facial animation, taking into account mouth, jaw and head motion, and facial muscles movement. I observed my face, as well as the actions of the characters, trying to be as accurate as possible. I noticed that the lower left corner of the lips was characteristically lowered and the upper right corner was exaggeratedly elevated, so I created suitable blend shapes and used them frequently throughout the animation.
Open mouth
Side view
I continued adding blendshapes using a soft brush, thinking about the facial movements and solving emerging problems. The hammer skin weights tool was very helpful in adjusting single wrong points.
Adding joints wasn’t much of a difficulty for me, but I ran into crises with the weight of the skin (pictures below). This probably took me the most time to solve as I was facing the same issues over and over again. At first, I was too rough with painting skin weights and had to smooth it more. This was part of the problem, but it didn’t fix everything. I spent some time blending them and it made the poses look more natural.
Wrong jaw rotation on the timeline
My main trouble though was the jaw rotating with the head (should be just the head). It was my mistake that I keyed the wrong parts of the head in the timeline. This was most likely because I wasn’t paying enough attention to the timeline and keyframes. Next time, I’ll be sure to make sure all my keyframes are set up correctly, and if I run into another similar issue, I’ll be sure to check the timeline first.
While working on blend shapes, I noticed that skin weights change and mess up the model. I solved this problem by locking skin weights. I feel like I miss a step sometimes and it causes me a lot of trouble later on, but at least now I understand it better.
I continued to work on the model (UV mapping and texturing) while improving the topology as I worked on it. My main way of doing this was by smoothing the UV maps and adjusting the edge loop (add or remove) in the main model.
Unfolding UV Maps
UV Editor (details)
Final UV Mapping
After adjusting the maps and playing with the Mudbox (I know it wasn’t perfect but I had to keep going) I opened my eyes (trying to think about the movement, the skin around the eyes, the corners of the eyes and the lower lip – checking if it looks good from the front and the profile side). Later I got into adjusting the UV maps (ears) and solving any topology issues (mainly inserting edge loops with edge flow) to add geometry.
Autodesk Maya: Joints and bones (2016) Available at: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/Maya/files/GUID-1B59334F-2605-44C3-B584-A55B239A2CBE-htm.html (Accessed: 14 November 2022).
Introduction to rigging in Maya – Part 3 – Rigging the neck and head (2014) Available at: https://3dtotal.com/tutorials/t/introduction-to-rigging-in-maya-the-neck-and-head-jahirul-amin-animation (Accessed: 5 December 2022).
Autodesk Maya: Paint skin weights (2021) Available at: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2022/ENU/Maya-CharacterAnimation/files/GUID-7D773C38-F9CF-4141-8ADD-4E0454838BB7-htm.html (Accessed: 26 November 2022).
Autodesk Maya: Lock smooth skin weights (2019) Available at: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2019/ENU/Maya-CharacterAnimation/files/GUID-C170E134-0746-44DC-B122-9F8FA7894674-htm.html (Accessed: 5 December 2022).
Even though I tried to get everything in the right position, I spent a lot of time in this session adjusting the eyelids because the topology wasn’t right. I had to move all the top vertices to the right and when I did, the top vertices matched the bottom ones and the overall topology was much better. After all that, I had to work with the relaxation brush to tidy up the edges and sculpt the brush to bring the eyelid shape closer to reality.
Working with the vertices
Working on the eyelids
While reworking the face and following the tutorial, I realized that I had missed some parts earlier (I didn’t position the mouth properly in the middle). I wasn’t sure if it would affect my later work, but since it was very possible, I decided to sculpt the face again. I believe that setting up the job correctly saves a lot of time later and helps avoid errors. But I also see that my perfectionism and need to get things done right before moving on to the next step kept me from keeping up with every workshop and left me behind. Maybe that’s why I wasted so much time sculpting (though the main reason for this error was not checking the model with the original form).
Sculpting the head (early versions with mistakes)
New version
I worked with the correction targets in the shape editor to freely adjust facial features that didn’t look right. I also tried to improve the face model in general. I found the most similar model on the Internet and put it on top of mine to see the anatomical errors I made. I decided on this step after bringing the model to a stage that I was generally satisfied with and I did not see any major flaws in it. I also asked for feedback from my classmates and they agreed that there was an improvement and that this is the best version so far. Knowing that the longer I work on the model, the fewer inaccuracies I see, I needed to take a break and check with references what problems I missed.
Clean version
Analysing the anatomy
Looking at the shapes
These were most of the issues I noticed after layering the two models on top of each other. I realize there are probably more issues with my model’s anatomy, but since I had a backlog of work, my priority was to get the face as close to accuracy as possible and get to texturing and skinning quickly.
Eyelids corrections
Eyelids close-up
Eyelids close-up (2)
Final version from Week 6
Sources:
Face muscle topology (2017) Available at: https://blenderartists.org/t/face-muscle-topology/688729 (Accessed: 30 November 2022).
Head model (2020) Available at: https://discover.therookies.co/content/images/2018/09/Rookies_02.jpg (Accessed: 30 November 2022).
Workshop notes:
Creating deformer shapes:
Windows>Animation Editors>Shape Editor.
Select object (with no history on it)>Create Blend Shape>Add Target.
The main lesson I learned from week 5 was drawing geometry on the model. My main problem, which I identified fairly quickly, was having too many edge loops. Because of them, it was difficult to see the mismatched vertices and modify larger parts of the face. I think I started adding details too quickly which made my workflow messy and ended up making a lot of mistakes.
Quad Draw
Details
So when I went to model the eyeball, I added eyelids and details much later, which in turn helped me create better topology (and anatomy).
Topology of the eyes
I prefer to manually adjust the vertices than use a brush. I can see that working with a brush can speed up the workflow, but I still don’t feel completely comfortable with it and I make more mistakes, which slows down the process overall. I focused on recreating the shapes of the faces and making sure that the topology looked correct at this stage. I know from previous experience that good topology is key in later steps, so I spent a lot of time cleaning up areas that looked messy and making sure the lines matched the muscles of the human face.
Geometry on the model (three stages)
Workshop notes:
Sources:
Free 3D Head Model (2022) Available at: https://www.3dscanstore.com/blog/Free-3D-Head-Model (Accessed: 31 October 2022).
FaceTopology (2018) Available at: http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/FaceTopology (Accessed: 31 October 2022).
Drawing geometry on the model:
Select object>Choose the “magnet” (last one under Mesh Tools)>Live object>Mesh Tools>Quad Draw.
We continued our exploration of modelling tools, with an emphasis on surface tools (revolve, extrusion, etc.). Creating the wine scene allowed me to practice with the curve tool and changing the colours, and materials of the objects. Initially, I struggled with “drawing” the bottle because I didn’t fully understand how the inside works, but with Nick’s help I was able to successfully model the wine containers. Later I rehearsed it with glasses. I also really enjoyed adjusting the colours and playing with the textures of the carafes to match the scene.
Rendered wine scene
Wine scene models
After the short assignment, we moved on to building a balloon for the Gonzalo’s Nuke session. Collecting references at the beginning helped me refine the shape of the balloon envelope later. I wanted a broader outline to emphasize the shape and make it more recognizable. We learned how to create more organic shapes, twist assets and separate objects for texturing.
References
Modelling stages
“Cleaning” the model and introducing more detail helped me practice the curve tools, the twist, and the soft brush. The finished ropes are much more accurate and I think they fit the balloon better. It also allowed me to work on problem areas that I hadn’t noticed before, such as the side frames (which were too skewed and had to be completely remodelled), as well as the bottom edge of the envelope (which had multiple insert loop edges deforming the rest of the object).
Bottom edges of the envelope
Baloon ropes
Close-up
Frames and burners
I didn’t like the shape of the burners and thought it didn’t match the rest of the balloon, so I found some new references and used them to create one burner. It also helped me practice extrusion more.
Burners assets
After refining the shapes and the size correlation between the envelope, the frames, and the basket, I moved on to choosing the colours and materials for the balloon. At first, I wanted to create a multi-coloured surface, but after trying it out, I realised that the stretched polygons make the transitions look rough. Instead, I chose to stick with one main colour and diversify the model, focusing on picking a more detailed texture for my basket. Overall, I think the materials work well together.
Orange version
Finished balloon
UV mapping seemed a bit rushed to me, but I am already familiar with it so it didn’t cause me much trouble. It’s just a pity that I didn’t spend more time on the edges of the basket as at the moment the UV maps are not properly aligned and look stretched. However, I must add that I like the added bump effect of the material.
When rendering the hot air balloon, I forgot to set the HDRI sky and it looked very flat and dull at first. You can see the difference the second render (with customised lighting and map) made, and I am much happier with the final result.
Failed render
Final render
Workshop notes:
Create a surface using Revolve:
Draw a curve (CV Curve Tool) representing the cross-section (or “profile”) of the surface you want to create.
Select the curve and choose Surfaces > Revolve.
Set the revolve options:
Choose the initial axis around which to sweep the surface.
If you only want to revolve a subsection of the curve, set Curve Range to Partial.
In the toolbox, click the Show Manipulator tool to manipulate the surface.
Autodesk Maya: Create a surface using Revolve (2019) Available at: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/Maya/files/GUID-CB4649DA-DAA6-437B-9334-01080564020F-htm.html (Accessed: 17 October 2022).
Delete by Type (History) to delete unnecessary data.
Mesh>Fill Hole.
Mesh Tools>Insert Edge Loop.
New Material>ARnold>aiStandardSurface>Presets.
polyExtrudeFace>SideMenu>Twist.
Windows>Modeling Editors>Crease Sets>Crease Set Editor (stronger lines).
To create a bend deformer:
Select the object(s) you want to deform.
Select Deform > (Create) Nonlinear > Bend > in the Animation menu set.
Click Create to create a bend deformer and close the options window.
(Click Apply to create a bend deformer and keep the options window open.)
Autodesk Maya: Create a bend deformer (2020) Available at: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2020/ENU/Maya-CharacterAnimation/files/GUID-71522A4F-F800-46CC-AF53-FD246E89EC8B-htm.html (Accessed: 17 October 2022).
To change the pivot point:
Select the object(s) or component(s) to be transformed.
Enter Custom Pivot mode by doing one of the following:
Press D (or hold it) or Insert.
Click Edit Pivot in the Tool Settings.
The custom pivot manipulator (the translate and rotate manipulators combined) appears. If you’re modelling in component mode, multi-component selection mode activates.
Tip: Use the Pivot Manipulator options in the Manipulator preferences to hide or adjust the orientation handle of the custom pivot manipulator.
Drag or snap the custom pivot manipulator to move or rotate the pivot.
Autodesk Maya: Change the pivot point (2022) Available at: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2022/ENU/Maya-Basics/files/GUID-150B390E-840B-4FE3-B8E9-8DEBCE7CEC97-htm.html (Accessed: 17 October 2022).
Change the way a soft brush affects multiple objects:
In the second week, we were introduced to the sculpting tools. It took me a while to get used to the them, especially the soft brush, and I will have to work on it in future projects. I was having trouble creating soft areas and, instead of that, I was deforming my arm more than I wanted.
Basic model
Close-ups
We also examined building low and high resolution models. I tried to be more aware of creating complicated forms and I think I understand the transition from a simple primal object to a complexed form better now. I wanted to practice constructing objects and using extrude tool, so I adapted a simple Lego figure to an astronaut character. Finally, I also put the model in the HDRI map to complete the task.
Astronaut model
Finished scene
Workshop notes:
Build models in Maya from basic shapes and customize them later. Look for good references (these can be 3d models created by other artists).
Insert Image Plane for references and change its size and offset in the attribute editor.
Ctrl+Shift+Middle Mouse button to adjust height and subdivisions in the poly cylinder (Channel Box>Inputs).
Extrude>Insert Edge Loop to sharpen the edges and make them less round.
Edit Mesh>Bevel.
W – overwrite extrude.
Sketchfab (2023) Available at: https://sketchfab.com/categories (Accessed: 10 October 2022).
As we were introduced to the Visual Effects Fundamentals, we created an abstract sculpture and modelled the Tesla Cybertruck. I was already familiar with Maya because during my BA in Games Art and Design I learned how to make 3d game assets (with modelling, UV mapping, texturing etc.). However, it has been about 2-3 years since I last used the software, and during the sessions, I realised that relearning the basics helps me form new good habits. Recently, I have become more interested in Blender, trying to create concept scenes to paint over later. My biggest struggle was modelling assets so having these sessions is very helpful in speeding up my workflow.
Modelling Stage
The first truck I modelled lacked many details, resulting in a block shape that was nothing like the cybertruck. On Tuesday, I went back to the recorded session and slowly remodelled the vehicle. This time I focused on the shape language and correct angles, as well as added more details to refine the simple model. I also tried to diversify the materials, although I did not change the colours and properties of the preset materials, which resulted in less accuracy. My tires don’t look like the real ones either. As I was trying to correct my mistakes, I decided not to spend too much time on them and leave it as it.
Final Render (Maya)
I will remember to pay attention to these issues (e.g. smoothing the tires without losing detail) in the following sessions as we move on to more detailed applications of Maya. Overall it was a good beginning session to help me establish the basics and speed up the workflow in my 3D modelling programs. I am more interested in compositing, but want to build a good foundation in 3D as I am aware that having the skills and knowledge to create 3D assets will help in any job in the industry. I also intend to include the models in my portfolio to show the diversity of my skills.
Final Render (Arnold)
Workshop notes:
Overview of the user interface and keyboard shortcuts:
Autodesk Maya: Basics (2020) Available at: https://help.autodesk.com/view/MAYAUL/2020/ENU/?guid=GUID-6B531DDB-3440-4216-A322-FB6CD1EA83A1 (Accessed: 3 October 2022).
Autodesk Maya: Interface overview (2020) Available at: https://help.autodesk.com/view/MAYAUL/2020/ENU/?guid=GUID-F4FCE554-1FA5-447A-8835-63EB43D2690B (Accessed: 3 October 2022).
Autodesk Maya: All Maya Hotkeys (2020) Available at: https://help.autodesk.com/view/MAYAUL/2020/ENU/?guid=GUID-30CACC9D-8FBE-4B85-8A8F-C5ADF32DDD4E (Accessed: 3 October 2022).
Introduction to modelling and sculpting tools:
B – brush tool for more subtle/organic changes. Sculpting tools such as relaxation are also helpful in this.
Always have Tool Settings pinned on the left side of the interface.
To open the Tool Settings panel, do one of the following:
Click the Tool Settings icon in the sidebar icons on the right end of the Status line.
Double-click any tool icon in the Tool Box, such as the Select or Move tool.
Choose Windows > General Editors > Tool Settings.
Setting up a scene:
Light: aiSkyDomeLight
Set up an HDRI scene.
Autodesk Maya: High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI) (2020) Available at: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/Maya/files/GUID-CB4649DA-DAA6-437B-9334-01080564020F-htm.html (Accessed: 3 October 2022).
PolyHaven (2023) Available at: https://polyhaven.com/ (Accessed: 3 October 2022).
Always use Incremental Save (Ctrl+Alt+S) and save regularly throughout the project. When Incremental Save is turned on and you save the scene, a backup folder by the same name is created in the scenes\incrementalsave folder and a backup is made of the file that was previously saved to disk. Each time you save, another backup file is created.
