Modeling from perspective drawings in Blender and Maya

1: In this first example I've used the Blender plugin "Blam!". Blam is a camera and projector calibration toolkit. I based my line drawing on this skinny Meriton apartment building.

Blender modeling Notes

This  page documents my first steps learning blender. I'll also add to the page over the next week or two as I explore more of what blender can do. So far I'm really impressed.

Click HERE for an older interview with  Ton Roosendaal. It gives some history and context to blender.

Note: Page last added to  on 18/10/17

As blender relies heavily on numPad keys,  and the "emulate numpad" overrides various shortcuts, I'm using a numPad keyboard for easy access on the left of my keyboard.

Hotkeys:

Navigation:

• MMB = Orbit
• Ctl + shift + Middle Click /or/ Scroll Wheel = Zoom
• Shift + F5 = Viewport
• 0(numPad) = Camera Mode (Enter/Exit)
• 5 = Orthographic Perspective
• 1/3/7(numPad) = Front/Right/Top View
• Ctl + 1/3/7(numPad) = Back/Left/Bottom
• Home = Frame All
• .(numPad) = Frame Selection
• Shift + C = Reset Viewport
• Shift + F = Video Game Navigation

Object Viewing - In Viewport:

• /(numPad = Frame Selection
• Z = Wireframe
• Alt + Z = Toggle Texture/Shader
• Shift + Z = Toggle rendered/Shaded
• (Shift + B + release) + Drag = Zoom into Portion

Editing/Creating Objects:

• Shift + A = Add Objects
• Ctl + Tab = Switch Edge/Vertex/Face panel
• Tab = Edit Object Mode
• Left Click = Move 3D Cursor
• Ctl + A = Apply objects transformations (like freeze trans)
• Y = Edge Split
• Ctl + 1/2/3/0 = Subdivision Amount
• Ctl + # = Add Subdivisions
• U = UV uwrap
• K = Knife Tool
• I = Inset
• E = Extrude
• Alt + M = Merge Vertices (options panel ex: merge to centre)
• Ctl + R = Loop Cut(Scroll wheel to add loops - pre right click)
• Ctl + J = Join Objects
• Ctl + B =Bevel (scroll for subdivs)
• G + G = Slide Vert/Edge/Face
• V = Rip
• Alt + V = Duplicate Edge Loop on Object
• F = Fill/Bridge Edges/Verts
• P = Separate Selected (Verts/Face/Edge)
• G + O = Offset and slide vert across edge

Within the Sculpt Brush

• D = Draw Tool
• Click + Drag = Add
• Shift + Click + Drag = Subtract
• F + Drag = Brush Radius
• Shift + F + Drag = Brush Strength
• C = Clay Brush
• 2 = Clay Brush
• G = Grab Brush
• 7 = Grab Brush
• I = Inflate/Deflate Brush
• 8 = Inflate/Deflate
• Shift+5 = SculptDraw
• Shift+6 = Smooth
• S = Smooth Brush
• Shift+C = Crease Brush
• L = Layer Brush
• 9 = Layer Brush
• M = Mask Painting
• 0 = Mask
• K = Snake Hook Brush
• Shift+T = Flatten/Contrast Brush
• P = Pinch/Magnify Brush
• 1 = Blob Brush
• 3 = Clay Strips Brush
• 4 = Crease Brush
• 5 = Fill/Deepen
• 6 = Flatten/Contrast Brush
• Shift+1 = Nudge Brush
• Shift+2 = Pinch/Magnify Brush
• Shift+3 = Rotate
• Shift+4 = Scrape/Peaks
• Shift+7 = Snake Hook
• Shift+8 = Thumb

Moving Objects:

• G = Move  (+ X/Y/Z to Constrain)
• S = Scale   (+ X/Y/Z to Constrain)
• R = Rotate (+ X/Y/Z to Constrain)
• G + 5 = Move 5 Units
• R + 2 = Rotate 2 Units
• W = Panel (select Bridge)
• Shift + C = Cursor at 000 (plus frame focus)

Selecting;

• A = Select/Deselect All
• B(release) + Drag = Box Selection
• B(release) + Drag + Shift = Box Deselect
• B(release) + Left Click(drag) = Rectangle Select(add)
• B(release) + Middle Click(drag) = Rectangle Select(Remove)
• C + Left Click = Circle Selection(add) - (+ Scroll for Circle Radius change)
• C(release) + Shift = Circle Selection(remove) - (+ Scroll for Circle Radius change)
• Ctl + Left Click - Lasso Selection(add)
• Ctl + Shift + Left Click - Lasso Selection(add)
• Alt + Right Click = Select Edge Loop
• Ctl + Alt + Right Click = Select Edge Ring
• L = Select shared Verts/Edges/Faces
• Ctl + +(numPad) / -(numPad) = Grow/Shrink Selection

Duplicating/Deleting/History/Hiding Objects:

• H = Hide
• Shift + H = Hide Unselected
• Alt + H = Unhide
• X = Delete Panel
• Shift + D = Duplicate
• Alt + Shift + D = Duplicate
• Ctl + Alt + Z = Undo History Panel

Snapping/Cursor;

• Shift + S = Snap Cursor to Selection
• Ctl + Shift + Alt + C = Set Origin (Geo to Origin/Origin to 3D cursor etc)
• Shift + S = Cursor options (ex: Cursor to center)

Animation:

• Alt + A = Play/Pause
• Shift + Alt + A = Play in Reverse
• Left/Right Arrows = Next/Previous Frame
• shift Left/Right Arrows = Beginning/End of Timeline
• Shift + Up/Down Arrows = Jump Forward/Back 10 Frames

Windows & Panels:

• Shift + Spacebar = Window Focus
• Ctl + Ring Arrow = Scroll through window setups
• Shift F4 = Python Console
• Shift + F10 = UV Unwrap Window
• F10 = Image Window
• Shift + F7 = Editing Window (modifiers etc)
• N = Transform Window Toggle
• T = Tool Bar Toggle
• Ctl + I = Invert Selection
• Shift + F9 = Outliner
• Shift + F3 = Node Editor
• Shift + F11 = Text Editor
• Shift + F7 = Properties Editor
• Shift + F2 = Logic Editor
• Ctl + .(NumPad) = Object Focus
• Spacebar = Search Menu

Layers:

• M = Move object to Layer Panel
• 1/2/3/4 etc = Layer number

Changes - By right clicking on a menu we can add a shortcut hotkey to an item. We can also add it directly into user Preferences/Input:

Hotkeys added:

• Ctl + ` = Smooth Shade

I also switched the '"select with" mouse buttons around:

I'm used to the way the Maya Viewport looks so I installed the following "Maya Lover" Theme from Here. It's just cosmetic but I like it.

Modeling Practice - Ant (I'll document my first modeling attempt in blender)

• Shift + S to center the cursor via the panel
• Shift + A to add - mesh - cube

•  Ctl + R to place a loop cut through the center of the object
• Z to make the object transparent (so we can select the back faces)
• 1(numpad) to switch to front view
• B + Release + drag for rectangular selection of left side faces

• Spacebar - "type add m" bring up the add modifier panel
• Add mirror modifier

• To constrain the central verts to the Y and Z axis we need to enable "clipping":
• To see the mirrored mesh we need to turn on "cage to modified result":

• Show the back facing verts so we can select them

• Base mesh for the head, abdomen and thorax.

• Extruding some legs

• Within the transforms window(N) / display / Shading there are a number of Metcap shaders which are excellent for picking up surface imperfections while modeling.

• Subdivisions with cage

• To isolate an area for modeling the details we select the faces we want to isolate and Shift + H.

• A little more tweaking

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Testing Out the Sculpt Brush

• Before starting to sculpt - Apply Mirror Modifier and delete Subsurface Modifier if we are starting from a model created with the above method

• Spacebar + "add m" to add modifier  Multiresolution

• Switch to sculpt mode
• For roughing in a sculpt we can switch to Dyntopo

• Choose Brush and start sculpting

• Hotkeys of Note: F = Brush Radius Shift F = Brush Strength
• Sculpting from a poly UV Sphere, (in Dyntopo mode), allows us to sculpt in a similar way to zbrush - as we would in real life with clay.

Once we are happy with a Dyntopo sculpt we can retopologize the mesh in one of two ways:

1. The easy way is to buy a script like "RetopoFlow" which appears to be similar to Maya's quad draw tools.
2. The second/free way  is explained HERE  by Zacharias Reinhardt.

Process notes:

• Create plane with cursor at 000.
• Ctl + R to slice in half /  delete Left Side
• Add Mirror modifier / enable clipping
• Add Subsurf modifier / set as simple (not Catmull-clark)
• Add a Shrink Wrap modifier / choose target mesh / set the offest to .002 / enable "keep above surface" / make sure the triangle icon is enbled so that we see the Verts.
• To avoid selecting verts on the other side - (alt + b = Clipping border) - (alt + b to remove clipping border).

Alpha brushes in sculpt mode:

• choose brush mapping style

• We can use a stencil - (note hotkeys: RMB = move stencil / shift + RMB = Scale Stencil / Ctl + RMB = Rotate stencil)

• Some details added to the mesh with alpha brushes

• With a shiny gold met material we can see more details

Modeling with Blender's Skin Modifier

Setup:

• Create plain(shift + C to center Pivot) / Alt + M  / Merge at center / Edit Mode / Spacebar/"Add Modifier"/ Mirror/Skin/SubDiv 

Modeling:

• Extrude + G + Move / Ctl + A(x,y,z) for Scale / Ctl + R = Add Vert

Test - Bipedal Character:

• Starting with Torso and Feet - a little bit tricky

• Attempt at constructing the hand

• Base mesh completed

• From here we could use the sculpt tools to refine the character and then retopologize the mesh once we are happy.

 In sculpt mode - start clay style sculpting:

• Clay Brush / Area Plane 
•  Dyntopo Enabled / + Subdivide Edges / + Brush Detail

 

•  Ogre type creature created from the base mesh using the above brush settings

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Blender is a much loved, free and open source 3D application with a thriving user community. It was originally created by Ton Roosendaal as an in house software tool at  NeoGeo - an animation studio he co-founded. It was later released as free creation tool.
Visit:

• The Blender Foundation
• Ton Roosendaal Wiki Page

Open Project Films created by the Blender foundation:

• Cosmos Laundomat
• Sintel
• Tears of Steel
• Big Buck Bunny

Notes - Nodes & Mash – Maya

Here are some learning notes on creating a  plug-in for Maya, creating relationships with expressions and Maya's new python node. These are notes for me but perhaps others may stumble upon them and find them to be of interest. I'll probably change and grow this page as I learn a little more.

1. Notes and links on how to create a Maya plug-in

Autodesk have an example Python Math Node. Here are my notes:

• API module: import maya.openMaya
• Proxy class access: import maya.openMayaMPx
• Access to math module: import math
  
• Variable for node name:  kPluginNodeTypeName = "nodeNameNode"
• ID number for Node:        nodeNameNodeId = OpenMaya.MTypeId(0x00001)
• Define subclass of existing class: class nodeName(OpenMayaMPx.MPxNode)
• input = OpenMaya.MObject()
• output = OpenMaya.MObject()
• Override constructor using base: OpenMayaMPx.MPxNode.__init__(self)
• plug = current input: def compute(self,plug,dataBlock):
• Compute math example: result = math.sin( inputFloat )
• Recompute plug and flag as clean: dataBlock.setClean( plug )
• Maya pointer: return OpenMayaMPx.asMPxPtr( sineNode() )
• Initialize method - input and output: nodeInitializer():
• Add attribute here (ex- frequency or or amplitude): input = nAttr.create( "input", "in", ####)
• Causes compute method to re-calculate - sets relationship: sineNode.attributeAffects( sineNode.input, sineNode.output )
• Plug-in registration - Node Name/ID/Create Method/Initialize Method/Node Type: mplugin.registerNode( kPluginNodeTypeName, sineNodeId, nodeCreator, nodeInitializer )
• De-register plug-in: mplugin.deregisterNode( sineNodeId)

Understanding this we can now turn these python math functions into Maya nodes:

2. Some links to various resources:

• Creating a simple Maya node with python - Three render Monkeys
• Python Scripting for Maya artists 2.0 - Chad Vernon
• The Maya Autodesk Help Documentation
• Autodesk uses the "Simplified Wrapper and Interface Generator (SWIG) to create
• bindings between c++ and Python" - see: Practical Maya Programming with Python
• Complete Maya Programming - Book by David. A. D. Gould
• How did Python become a Data Science Powerhouse?

Classes:

• Wrappers - math classes - m -(Quaternion, matrix, vector, points, vectors etc)
• MObjects - data encapsulation (meshes, skin clustter nodes, curves  etc).
• Functions Sets - mfn  - (access and manipulate data)
• Proxy Class - mpx - - (abstractions - create new object types - inheritance)

For memory intensive process plug-ins need to be complied in c++. Here are some links:

• Createing your first Maya Plug-in in Visual Studio
• A unified approach to compiling and maintaining Maya plug-ins across all platforms - in CMAKE

3. Example: Testing cosine node works.

3. A Mel expression that does the exact same thing. A little bit less work :)

Two very simple expressions that create tangent circles (also known as kissing circles).

Nodes and expressions can build almost any kind of relationship we want.

4. Mash Python node (Maya)

Python Node Test with controllers piped in as variables - Expression: (cos(t) + cos(6t)/2 + sin(14t)/3, sin(t) + sin(6t)/2 + cos(14t)/3) - (see article "Creating Art with Mathematics"). Perhaps usful patterns for stone placement or tiles of some sort.