Making lense distortion in Maya

here is a brief explaination of how i contstructed a convex lense distortion in maya:

Step1: create a nurbs semi-sphear and give it a reflective blin, with ray tracing

Step2: position a camera so it is looking inside the semi sphear (close up)

Step3: for this example i used text moving behind the camera which reflects in the semi sphear and therefore distorts

Step4:: i renderd out on 1k square tiffs  a sequence which i then used as a texture with image sewuence on a blinn or phong e, i forget. offsetting the image sequence lets you position the lense distortion when you need it on the time line.

It took me days to figure this one out so i hope this helps others with the same problem. :)

Fish!

Hey, i had forgotten add these ages ago, i think i did them around the end of term 2. I was hoping to make a short story involving them but it hasnt happend yet!


Fish model and swim cycle:



A trial for laying out 2D backgrounds in maya (2.5D) :

Summer Project (01) - Car Modeling

The first thing i've tried since i left uni for the summer is modeling this old citoren. I started by finding some blueprints online, adding them to the incandescence of a lambert on a plane and positioning them top, side and front.

A lot of totorials I have seen say to use nurbs for this kind of model, and after doing this one with polygons, i agree that they are probably the better material to use. However at this point in my maya learning nurbs are scarey!



So long story short this is what i came up with, took around 8 hours all told i guess. I may go on to create an interior, but i think i would like to pursue the nurbs method for a new exterior, most likley of a different car so's i dont get bored of looking at this one!

Life Drawing Submission

Here are some of the drawings i have done during our life drawing sessions at uni. I feel i have improved my ability to analyse a pose and i understand how to look for the line of action, weight, mood and directions of limbs. I also understand now how to messure a model using units taken from the head to check the proportions of my drawing.

I feel i need to improve my line quality and work at making more considerd lines instead of my some what sketchy ones. I only wish we could continue life drawing into our 2nd and 3rd years, and even have extra sessions over the summer. I'd pay! who's with me?

I believe i have done my best to order these chronologically:

NOS Colour Trial

 This video was just an example of colour in the animation so i could show the clients. Nothing is decided upon and there it -a lot- wrong with the colours used!

Dialog Project Submission

This weekend I have worked my dialog into a finished piece. the animation was near enough done, so i have modeled, textured and lighted the enviroment and sorted out all of the cameras. Unless i get the urge to improve on the work i've already done this will be my submission for our dialog project. Especially as time is getting tight for completing the NOS project.

NOS: Working with Time and Space

Over the last 2 weeks i have been working constantly on the NOS advert, placing 3d items within the confines of time and space. This has been a difficult challenge as certain storyboarded elements do not work as well as i had previously anticipated, and have had to be alterd slightly.

I have also played with a couple of colours to show the clients, the video of which is currently being renderd and I'll post up here soon.