Nira's VFX Blog
A journey through my master

Tag: UV Map

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Maya VFX Fundamentals

Week 6: Facial Detailing, Texturing and Animation Setup in Maya, and Texture Correction in Mudbox

This week, we learnt how to add a UV texture to an organic model, a human face in this case, using both Maya and Mudbox.

In Maya, we imported the skin texture to the project. Then we created a UV map from the model in the ‘UV Editor’, and using the ‘grab’ tool, we started to adjust the UV map to the texture imported. Since the texture imported was designed for models with opened eyes (ours had the eyes closed), we exported it to Mudbox and, using the stamp tool (similar tool to Photoshop stamp), we edited the texture to match the closed eyes of our model. Once finished, we imported the edited texture back to Maya and re-adjusted it. Since the texture was looking completely flat, we added a bump map using the ‘Hypershade’ to add the pores, marks, and facial lines effect to the skin. Finally, we also added a UV map texture to the eyes and, using the ‘Animation editor’ we opened the eyelids of the model so we could see the eyes’ texture.

UV map
Skin texture adjustment
Skin texture with open eyes
Eyes skin area adjusted to closed eyes
Eye animation (open/closed) using blend shapes
Eyes texture
Final texture sequence

I had some issues with the UV map as my model mesh needed to be adjusted in the middle part of the nose (I had some triangulated mesh there so needed to make it squared and follow the rows and columns of squares, to make it more symmetric). Once adjusted, the UV map started to respond better and I could adjust the skin texture more accurately.

Categories
Maya VFX Fundamentals

Week 4: UV Set Up & Texturing in Maya

This week we finished up our air balloon adding UV textures.

We learnt how to set up a UV map with the ‘UV Editor’ from an object so the texture looks realistic when added. Later on, we downloaded some textures and added them the the UV map created on each part of the balloon. We also changed their appearance playing around with ‘colour’, ‘specular’, ‘transmission’, ‘geometry’, etc. As these images look too flat and no too realistic, we created a ‘bump map’ using the ‘hypershade’ editor to add more detail to the texture. In the ‘hypershade’ editor we also saw how to join different nods to create different texture effects. Lastly, we created a short animation of the model, spinning the air balloon 360 degrees and showing only the object and not the background, and then rendered it in EXR. This would be used in our Nuke class as alpha matte to make a composite with it.

Final texture close up of ropes and top balloon
Burners texture close up
Basket texture
Final 360 spin render

Since I am interested in focusing on modelling and texturing in Maya, this was a good practice to improve my knowledge on this. I look forward to explore more organic modelling and all its possibilities.