MEM's Max2Maya - Maya viewport navigation in 3Ds Max

It's very uncomfortable to switch between Maya and Max because of the different viewport navigation styles. Depending on the project I'm working on, I like to choose between Maya and Max or rather use both of them. Unfortunately, if I work with one of two softwares intensely, it's quite difficult to go back to the other one, because I'm prone to use the last navigation style. As said here, I prefer Maya navigation style because it's fast, logic and easy to remember.

MEM's Max2Maya solved my problem smartly.

MEM's Max2Maya "is basically an alternate viewport navigation inside 3ds Max that tries to mimic maya's Alt + Click viewport navigation to some extent". Essentially MEM's Max2Maya is an excellent, free alternative of Switcher for 3ds Max, a commercial solution by digitalRaster.

I thought to use autohotkey to achieve the same result using a script like this one, but MEM's Max2Maya works fine with 3ds Max 2011 Subscription Advantage Pack, so why wasting time? 

MEM's Max2Maya will install a global hook to supervise mouse and keyboard inputs and send them back to Max.

Best regards.

Shelf buttons for loading and unloading Maya plugins

Shelf buttons for loading and unloading Maya plugins are very useful and, as a matter of fact, I use them every day.  I'd want to clarify that this method is not mine, but I don't remember where I read it, so I cannot give notice of copyright nor the right credits. I hope to correct this post as soon as possible.

Loading the plugin: we can copy (fixing the path to the plugin) the following lines to the Script Editor, select the text and drag it to the Shelf Bar:

{
    string $pluginFile = "c:\\path\\to\\plugin.mll";
    loadPlugin $pluginFile;
}

Unloading the plugin: same as above.

{
     string $pluginFile = "c:\\path\\to\\plugin.mll";
     if ( `pluginInfo -query -loaded $pluginFile` &&!
          `pluginInfo -query -unloadOk $pluginFile` )
         file -f -new;
     unloadPlugin plugin.mll;
}

Best regards.

Maya style navigation in Lightwave

This is just a quick reminder for me but it may be useful for other explorers. If you want to switch between different 3D applications, the hotkeys and the GUI will be the biggest obstacles you'll find. We are supposed to know 3D basic concepts, so we could use different applications for different purposes. For example, Max is very powerful to work on architectural visualization, Lightwave has a terrific, fast rendering engine,a bunch of interesting plugins and so on.

In my humble opinion, Maya style navigation is the best because it's fast, logic, easy to remember. Lightwave shortcut navigation is horrible (ie, the shortcut for the track tool changes if you are using perspective or orthographic views), Max one is uncomfortable.

Anyway, Maya style navigation in Lightwave is possible and the solution comes from the Newtek discussion forums:

http://www.newtek.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56636 

"Download this little app http://www.autohotkey.com, then make a txt file with this script (written by evenflcw) in it:"

#SingleInstance force
SetTitleMatchMode, 2

/*
Lightwave Viewport Navigation - AltPlusMinus!

Alt+LMB - Rotate View (Standard LW combo)
Alt+MMB - Zoom View
Alt+RMB - Pan View
WheelUp - Zoom In
WheelDown - Zoom Out
*/

#IfWinActive LightWave ahk_class WMgrBasic

!RButton:: ;When user presses Alt+MMB,
Send ^!{LButton Down} ;Send 'Ctrl+Alt+LMB pressed'
KeyWait RButton ;Wait until MMB is released
Send ^!{LButton Up} ;Then send 'Ctrl+Alt+LMB released'
return

!MButton::
Send +!{LButton Down}
KeyWait MButton
Send +!{LButton Up}
return

*WheelUp::
Send {.}
return

*WheelDown::
Send {,}
return

#IfWinActive

"and save it with an .ahk extension. Just leave it on your desktop or somewhere handy and double click it when needed." 
If you are on Windows 7, you'll probably need to compile the script (right click on it and Compile) and run it as administrator.
As soon as possible, I'd like to create a script to assign the Maya shortcut navigation to 3Ds max.

Best regards.

Cylon Centurion - Final render

It's time to complete my homage to Battlestar Galactica, one of my favorite TV shows. The first model to render is the fabulous Cylon Centurion, "a fully armored, metallic automaton that functions as the basic foot-soldier of the Cylon ground forces".
I used Autodesk Maya 2011 to model and render  my centurion. The Cylon soldier has got a lot of bevelled and rounded surfaces, so I decided to use Subdivision Surfaces when possible.

Finding good photos and references was the most difficult part of this process. I found out this site and it was a good starting point for the body. Unfortunately, the head and some details are barely visible, but I found out 

two more photos for the head.

Due to the low-quality photos, the head was quite complicated but the images I found in a second moment were good and the modeling part turned into a great amusement. I used a low poly sphere to start sculpting the head. On the left there's the original model, on the right my low poly cage.

I converted the low poly cage into a subdivision surface to smooth the head. After conversion, all edges were creased: the result is very good for me.
Only the head was modeled with polygons, all other parts were approximated  using subdiv surfaces.

Once the model was finished, I had to assign good materials to subdiv surfaces. I used a metal material created by Jeff Patton, a great CG artist, for all metallic parts. I downloaded a good, free angular map to lluminate my model with measurements of real light.

Test above is really good for me but I'd like to add my centurion to a photo representing a real scenario.

With Final Gather turned on, rendering took 1 hour on my computer but I like very much the result: the centurion is hunting rebels in a Caprica's wood.
The next model to render will be my new Viper MK II.

A pilot for my Viper MK II: sculpting the head

My Viper needs a pilot, so I have just started to sculpt the head.

The first step: I have created a low poly head in Maya and then I have imported it into ZBrush. The goal is achieving the normal map from the hi-res model and using it in Maya. Nothing fancy here, I need a simple model: the pilot will be visible in a few frames during the animation, the fighters are very detailed and I can't "spend" a bunch of polygons. I found out some interesting photographs browsing the internet to use as reference for my 3D head.

The image on the left is the result of my work. Using the standard brush and the move tool, I have sculpted a simple head in 30 minutes. I'm pretty happy about my head, I'm creating a tough, die hard pilot! I have used a couple of alpha brushes to add details like the beard, the eyebrows and hair. Probably this step is useless, but ZBrush is so amusing! Now I can create the normal map to "smooth" my low poly head.

The next step is boring (for me): it's time to use Photoshop to paint a texture on the UV map. Probably it's the moment where I waste a lot ot time. I can create a model very quickly but I'm never satisfied when I use Photoshop. Actually I'd like  to send my model to the texturing department but I  dont'work for Pixar, it's all home made. In this case I created the texture in 3, 4 hours making it again, and again, and again. I used a lot of references I found in internet. The result is not phenomenal but I can live with it.  I really don't like flat hair but I cannot use fur, it's too expensive. No eyes at this moment, this guy is still blind!

The day after: I have tought of using a technique for video games to have my hair. The idea is simple: creating a lot of cards to fake the hair. The result should not be terrific but this guy will have a helmet and I won't spend a lot of resources for the hair. The problem is that I have to come back to Photoshop to create a new texture with a good alpha channel. The image on the right shows the cards on top of the head.

What a crew cut for this guy! I think the result is pretty good, considering I'll must model the helmet. It's very important to program what we are going to see in the animation not to waste useful resources. The final texture is a tga file with an alpha channel for the transparency. I used a single hair wisp scaled, mirrored and altered a lot of time to achieve a minimum of variety. 1 hour of Photoshop for this work. As said before, this result could be better but I have to model the helmet, the body, the boots and the hands yet. And this guy will be visible for a few frames. Ok for now, it's time to find a reference of the helmet used in Battlestar Galactica.

Best regards!

Keeping up the (good?) 3D work : a simple animation of my Viper MK II

I'm just working on my 3D Viper MK II. Two months ago I rendered a simple shot with Autodesk Maya: I wanna publish my test to compare it to future results:

For this test, I used particles to realised two nebulas,  pure gases, the stars and the engine flames. No sound at this moment. I rendered a bunch  of passes  composited in Eyeon Fusion. Once my modeling work will done, I'll render a complete animation of a fight between Viper and Cylon Raider (already finished).

Best regards.