From Opaque to Translucent !

Animation is a field that has constantly been able to grab my attention. The adroitly created characters that glistened comely in the virtual world has always mesmerized me. But for one reason or other, I had never been able to devote some of my time to animation and modeling (PS : by modeling I don’t mean the art of giving pesky poses in front of the camera).

But thankfully due to this humongous break that we got, I have mulled over all the options that I have, which could help me to survive in this unendurable "nothing to do" climate. So after giving Sketching, Guitar, Gym and JAVA a try, it was time to rekindle my dormant interests in animation and to valuate my modeling skills.

So as the first step in this new dimension, I installed MAYA on my PC and was ready to roll.(For those who are alien to the term MAYA. It is a 3D animation and modeling package developed my Alias and now owned by Autodesk. Maya along with other software’s are responsible for the fabulous special effects that we see in movies like 'The Mummy', 'The Mummy Returns', 'Final Fantasy', 'The Hollow Man', 'The X-Men', 'Anaconda', 'Stuart Little', 'Shrek', 'Spiderman', 'Harry Potter', 'Jurassic Park 3', 'Star Wars', 'Lord of the Rings'…. The list is endless).

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Day 1:

I have installed MAYA 6.0 (Ya I know its quite an old version, but this was the latest version on which i was able to lay my hands). After a little brainstorming session with the software and fiddling with the options and buttons, I came to the conclusion that unlike Photoshop (that I learned by hit and try) I would require little help if I need to move ahead with it. So I typed “Maya tutorials” on Google and as usual without failing Google provided me with a dozen of helpful sites with video tutorials and reference materials. So after going through a few tutorials and fidgeting around with the tools provided in MAYA, I created my first 3D model. Here it is, have a look.

I know that there isn’t much of modeling in it. It’s simply a Cube with appropriate cuts and textures. But hey don’t forget it’s my first attempt.

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Day 2:

After creating a simple 3D model, today i will follow a tutorial on modeling a chain gun. It’s much more complex then the simple cube modeling that I did the previous day. But it will give me more insight to the basic structures of MAYA and will also acquaint me with more tools and options that are available in it.

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Day 3:

Inspired and contented from my previous days accomplishment and newly acquired knowledge of the software. I decided to create something on my own. But as usual, I was flummoxed and was not able to decide what should I create. It should be something that would not be too difficult for a newbie, yet it should be attractive. So after a little ruminating I settled down for creating a Model of my “Acoustic Guitar”. Here is it after 7 hrs of hard work.

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Day 4:

Yesterday when I was busy in receiving kudos for my previous works, one of my closest friends suggested me to create a model of my Cell, so following her advice here it is:

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Day 5:

After successfully playing with polygons, it’s time to move on to nurbs and create something which would be much more alive. Like some living creature.

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Day 6:

I have always been crazy about the powerful shimmering mean machines, and if it’s custom then it's like an icing on the cake. Owning one is a dream which will take some time to come true. So I decided to model one for me, it was a much more complex and big task than any of the models I have created so far. Let’s see how it turns out to be.

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Day 7:

Are you serious? You must be kidding me. I work only 6 days a week. So no more spending hours sitting in front of my computer and trying to figure out a way to create a mesh.

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Some Interesting Facts About MAYA:

The name MAYA has been derived from Sanskrit word “Maya” which mean illusion. See our culture has an influence well beyond what we can imagine.

Almost 80% of the Hollywood movies have special effects created with the help of MAYA.