Maya UV Mapping Turtorial

Hello people of the Internet! Today I will be explaining the basics of UV mapping in the 3D modeling software Maya. UV mapping is used to make a texture fit inside a face. So if your texture is to small or to large you can use UV mapping to make that texture fit on a face. This tutorial is meant for people who are just beginning to use maya so there will not be many advanced concepts in this post. Now that the introduction is over we can start the tutorial.

1. Set Up

In this example I will be using a simple cube (left) for the object and the happy face as the texture (above). So I select a face on the cube and create a new lambert. Then, in the attribute editor I select the black and white box next to the word color and select file. From there I choose the happy face texture.


                    








                   
                            
                              2. Opening UV Editor

Now I have a cube with a texture on one of the faces. But the texture does not fit on the face. This is where we begin to use UV mapping. To open the UV editor I just selected the UV tab on the main menu and from there I just select UV editor. NOTE: The UV tab will only show up on the main menu if the menu is set to the modeling category. Now the UV should pop up as a separate tab (right).

3. Using the UV Editor
To use the UV Editor I select an edge and simply move it within the UV Editor screen until the texture lines up correctly with the face. The end result has the texture fitting on the face.

                                   

                                      Using UV Mapping we have created a very happy cube!

Meet Asger

                               Meet Asger

By Tim Collins

                  Greetings to all the people of the internet. In this post I will be showing off my most recent project and also giving a short update. 

                 Since last semester I have started on different project that involves new characters and a new story. I am still in the modeling phase and have already completed one of my two characters. My two characters are a pair of vikings, the one that I am sharing with you today I have named Asger. 

         During my first pre-production phase I began drawing some character designs and eventually decided to use the concept of a pair of vikings going on an adventure. Once I had my concept down I began modeling Asger right away. And after many weeks of trail and error I finally finished his 3d model. Now I am working as fast as possible on my other character, who is yet to be named, and the environment I plan on putting them in. 

               Compared to my previous work this style is much more stylized and not as realistic. This is because I attempted creating Asger as a realistic looking character but I felt that a more cartoony appearance would fit the theme better and it would be much easier and faster to create. For being my first stylized character model I feel that I did decent. Along the way I learned further how to paint weights using Maya. My biggest problem I had involved attaching the belt to his body. The problem was that I had already painted the weights onto the model but I had not attached the belt yet. So I had to undo the weights, attach the belt, and then repaint the weights. Now I know that you should make sure you completely finishing building the model before you start painting the weights.

                       The only problems that I have with this model is that the area under the arms the skin has slightly folded into itself. I tried smoothing the area but everything I did either made it worse or did nothing at all.

Recently I entered a 360 degree spin of the Asger model into a local contest called eMagine. I doubt I will win any awards for it, but I am still proud of this model. I will definitely make another post for this project when I finish it.

Semester Progress

                      The Creation of KringleClaws

Over the course of this whole semester I have been working on a project that has given me quite a bit of trouble. This is not only my first time making a human like figure in Maya it will also be my first large scale project in a 3d program. I admit I probably bit off a little more than I could chew. So far I've been able to make a decent character model. I'm here today to show my progress throughout this semester and explain my process.

As always I started by making some sketches of my character and by creating a storyboard. This took much longer than I expected. This was because I took time to make it useable as a reference image. And even while I was using it as a reference I still changed many details about my character.






Once I started creating my character I used tutorial videos made by James Taylor for extra help. The creation of the body and face took the longest time.  Whenever I came into class I tried to
get as much done as possible. Unfortunately there were many times where I ran into some kind of problem with Maya and I couldn't get anything done. But when this happened I usually worked on modeling the room that my story will take place in or I worked on a side-project. Only a couple time can I remember taking a break for a day or not doing any work whatsoever.

Over the course of this semester I've learned how to do many different things using maya. I've learned how to use many of the tools in Maya such as the bridge, mirror, and combine tools. I feel that my ability to model in maya has improved greatly. However I do still need work on texturing models and rigging them.

After a semester of work all I can sow is the room and the character model. And I am still not completely done with my character either. I still need to finish painting weights and some minor adjustments to his head. Hopefully by the time I get back after winter break I will be able to start animating and complete my story.