Today I started working on Deformers. I was able to get through the first tutorial with virtually no problems and was also able to get quite a bit done. In the tutorials, it showed us the basics on how to bend and twist objects, and how to animate that process. So far, I’ve had a lot of fun with it, and I’m definitely happy with the results I’ve gotten so far.

Today, I was able to finish the Ball Bounce assignment. The assignment was very short, only taking two days, but still a good assignment that taught me stuff. In this assignment, I learned how to actually animate using Maya. During this we learned how to make the object move, bounce, and spin at the same time, which was pretty cool to see. The thing we used to polish it up was the Graph Editor, which allowed you to edit keyframes in order to make the animation more believable. I really liked this assignment, and I’m sure the things it taught me will be very useful. The only problem I had was with the final keyframe part with stopping the roll, as it kind of just didn’t want to work with me there, but eventually I got it done.

The Maya Tutorial 2020 has been my favorite project so far. First, what I got finished this time wasn’t much, as I was almost done. All I did was add a few more details to the scene, then started rendering. My favorite part about this project was the feeling I got whenever I completed a step. Each step felt rewarding with the outcome I got getting me closer and closer to the final result. I loved when we started doing the lights and textures, as the detail they added just looked so amazing. The thing I didn’t like about this project were some of the very odd and annoying issues I got. Some of the issues took almost the whole period to fix, or just were unfixable. The most annoying problem I faced was losing my files for my most recent save of the project, but luckily, I was able to find it in the end. This has made me look forward to the other assignments we have in the future, and I really hope they look and turn out well when we finish.

I am super close to done, as all I have left is the Final Step! Today I did a lot of stuff regarding lights, and it’s made the scene look really good so far! I haven’t had any problems this time, which was also super helpful. The lights that I did came out really good, and I’m super proud with their results! This has been my favorite assignment so far, and I’m looking forward to the Final Blog Post.

Today we started something new on our assignment called Ball Bounce! This assignment has us animating a ball that will bounce across a plane. So far I haven’t encountered any issues with it, and it’s been going smoothly. What I like about it so far is that currently the basics of it isn’t that hard, but what I don’t like is that I know it’s going to get really hard real quick. Another thing I like is the outcome of how this assignment is going to turn out, as currently it looks really good.

Over the time of doing this tutorial, I have dealt with problems, overcame them, and learned a lot along the way! I love this unit so far, and especially this tutorial! This tutorial has taught me how to make brand new objects and turn them into something amazing! Seeing all the objects coming together has created such beautiful pictures, which is what I liked most about this. The problems I’ve had the most are just weird issues that occur when something I try to do doesn’t turn out the same as the video. Luckily, almost all problems I’ve had have been solved, and created a masterpiece (to me at least)! Like I said before, I love this unit, and currently, I’m on directional lights, so I hope it goes well!

Today, I worked more on the Texturing! I was able to get quite a lot done, including almost all of the texturing! I was able to fix the map (mostly), do the books (with some troubles), and the other wood pieces that needed texturing. The troubles I had were due to the other two books acting different during UV Mapping. They would go into weird proportions and would automatically combine themselves for no reason, it was super weird. Luckily, we were able to use the one book that DID work in order to copy – paste for the other two.

Today, I worked more on giving the different objects, shaders and textures! When I started, I was able to find the two files I thought I lost, so I wasn’t behind anymore (yay)! What I did, was that I textured the table, and the legs for it, and then started working on the map. Unfortunately, my map somehow got flipped, and I am now having issues with it that have still yet to have been solved.

Today, things went really bad. When I first got on, I noticed that my two most recent files were gone. After that, I had to do the same 2 Tutorials for the THIRD TIME, which wasn’t very fun. Then, things got even worse when the error I got from the first attempt appeared again, which this time, wasn’t able to be fixed. Now this has not only gotten me behind, but made me lose progress as well. Thanks Maya.

In the tutorial today, I wasn’t able to get too far. What I did first, was texture the corks on the bottles, which turned out good! The corks were good on their own, but just needed a few changes after the texture was initially applied in order to make it look the best! What I did after, the window, was going good too, until I encountered a problem with the UV Mapping. While trying to get help, Maya crashed, causing me to lose the progress I have done today. Luckily, I was able to finish before the bell ringed, and ended still getting a bit of work done.