@Alan: Final Toolkit Maya Master Post

Maya Toolkit Presentation by megleslie

Final Video Submission

Edited to credit Taff Girdlestone for the voiceover - sorry Taff!

Golgi Apparatus - Finished? Maybe?

And this is where I'm at with the Golgi apparatus. I'm tempted to leave it here, but I keep thinking 'not detailed enough, not detailed enough'. Opinions or advice, anyone?

For the Sake of an Update

Sorry I've been quiet. Here's where I'm at so far.

ATP, with stand-in colours and a bend deformer for animation.

Rough of the overall cell with nucleus and nucleolus.

DNA, with currently invisble split down the middle to separate into RNA.

Current progress of the endoplasmic reticulum.

Mitochondrion, also with bend deformer.

Ribosome, hopefully looking more like a ribosome than the ones in my animatic.

Vesicle, without deformers yet.

Golgi complex, which still hates me.


And the voiceover, kindly provided by Taff Girdlestone.

Also, apparently Golgi is pronounced the Italian way, what with Camillo Golgi being Italian and all. For some reason I had thought the discoverer was Hungarian.

Golgi Apparatus Model - Help?

So my modelling for the cell is almost complete, but I'm having a tonne of trouble getting the Golgi apparatus to look right. Above is what I've got so far, any suggestions on how to move forward/make a better model/interpret the diagram? Thanks muchly.

Carcere III (finally) Underway

It may not look like much yet, but this is the framework for the final CG version of Piranesi's Carcere III. Naturally there's a whole lot more to be added, but for a day's work this isn't too bad. There would have been more if I hadn't realised that several of my calculations were wrong (including the central tower) and had to be redone, which was kind of a bummer until I decided 'stuff it' and eyeballed as much as I justifiably could. Still worried the tower might be too tall, though.

Also, look at this spiral. Look at it. That there is three hours of fiddly, painstaking work to get the messy-as-all-hell polygons of the original curve to behave themselves, so it gets a screenshot all its own.

Toolkit: Intro to Animation

Step Three: Ragequit

After four-odd weeks of fighting with the perspective of Carcere XIV, I decided 'stuff it' and moved onto the far more perspectivally legible Carcere III. Proportions of things aren't spot-on (especially not that bridge on the rigt of the shot), but  I actually understand what;s going on, which is an improvement. The main part of the scene is fully pre-vized, just need to figure out the back of the scene, figure out and then fix the measurements, finish the background of the scene and work out the camera and then I'll be ready to go into production.

Attempting to Comprehend the Carcere. Send Help.

More work on the pre-viz, with a bit of improvising for the background forms. Still nowhere near finished.

Where does that pillar/wall/thing with poles sticking out go? Further back, where it meets the bar coming off the far wall but doesn't pass the bottom of the shot like it does in the original?

Is it closer to the camera?

But then what about the far wall? The strut coming out of the side connects to the two struts coming out from the pillar nearest camera! The far wall can't come forward or it disconnects from the central pavilion thing.

Does it descend lower than the camera to give the illusion of being closer? Where the hell is the floor, anyway? And how does this camera work?

I am beginning to understand why Piranesi could never get a job in architecture.

Carcere XIV - Not Quite Pre-Viz

In an attempt to understand the architecture, I've started on a low-res 3D sketch of the scene, and come to the conclusion that Piranesi may not have been entirely in control of his perspective. As such, there will be parts where I simply decide 'stuff it', and follow my gut/what looks good.

Toolkit: Maya Shaders

The glss texture and I took offense to one another. Just to prove that I can make a glass texture, here's my version of this from last year;

Toolkit: Animation Tutorials

Toolkit: Old Alley

Not entirely pleased with the bump mapping, I'll admit.

Toolkit: Alien Orbs Lighting

Perhaps my least clunky lighting setup to date.

Toolkit: Pencil & Eraser Character Final + Egg Cup

Still not entirely happy, lighting seems a bit muddy now I look back at it.

And an egg cup.

Toolkit: Whimsy House Renders + Kitchen

Forgive me, I improvised a little with a couple of these.

Not Dead... Yet

I've basically lost the past week thanks to a flu-y thing that's knocked me on my backside, but I've got a bit of work to show for it.

Step one of that painting (contextualisation has been worked out, I'll be incorporating the surveillance room into the shot, but for now this is what I'm going with). Super blurry and loose, apologies for that, should be finished by Monday.

Then my brain decided it couldn't focus on Photoshop so I tried making a few 3D assets for the scene instead.

 Well, this isn't so bad...

Easy! Let's try something a little trickier...

Ugh... edges. H'okay, maybe something a little simpler...

Oh god, oh god! Abort! Abort! Mission failed! All units, fall back! Oh god, there's triangles everywhere! Fall back!

So yeah. Unproductive week, courtesy of my immune system not caring that I have a deadline.