3D Modelling

So, the last week or so I've spent locked away in a small cupboard learning the finer points of Maya, thanks to the online Escape Studios Maya Fundamentals course. This has already made my coming back to uni for my final year worth while as alone these courses are around 4k. So kudos to UWE for getting on-board with the industry leading software trainers.

Anyway, as I've just finished the extensive modelling and texture parts of the introducing Maya part (a small part of the entire course) I thought I'd do some very basic modelling to put what I've learnt into practice.
This exercise works on a few different levels. As my ultimate goal is to create live action VFX, learning to model objects to then place into match moved scenes in Maya is good practice for projects further down the road when I look into full 3D matchmoving.

What I've discovered thus far is that modelling makes up only one aspect of the whole process to create photo realistic sequences. Texturing, lighting and animation are as important as the models themselves. A film that stuck with me as having amazing modelling, texturing and realistic lighting was the latest Transformers film, The Dark of the Moon.

Optimus Prime from Transformers: The Dark of the Moon.

The level of detail in the textures and the detail in the models themselves was something to behold. I don't care that the story was non existent, the film had large robots, fast cars, explosions and hot chicks. What more do you want?

So, here comes the anticlimax when I show you what I've been working on....I decided to model a simple car to begin with, with some simple metallic textures. The idea behind this is that it is something that I can later build upon and drop into some live action tests.

My lame ass blob car

At the moment it's pretty low detail and needs a lot more of the subtitles added, as well as some more complex textures, but for the moment it will suffice and is a good start for further explorations when I get onto doing proper shots.