T IP S - Make it in Maya

For Review Only
That Lived-in Look
create a realistic dirt layer with transfer maps
What you’re doing is taking light information & turning it into texures add dirt, dust or
scratches to your model
1) u Make sure your object is at the center of your scene (0,0,0) and the UVs are
laid out and exported
2) u Create a Pointlight u change color to red u move it up and around until it hits
where you want the dirt to be
3) u Duplicate your model u select one model, doesn’t matter which one
4) u Light/Shading u Transfer Maps u Target Meshes u Add Selected
u select the other model u Source Meshes u Add Selected
5) u Transfer Map attributes u Map Type: Shaded u save whatever format you want
u Maya Common Output u match Map Width & Height u Bake
6) u Photoshop® u open your UV Map u shift-drag your Transfer Map file above
UV map
• red is where the light hits the model and this will be where most of the dirt will be
7) u Select Transfer Map u Layer u Rasterize
u Select u Color Range u Reds u Selection
• the red parts are in the Selection preview, the red light makes it easier to select
u OK which selects all the red although it may not look like anything is selected
If the edges of your objects, such buildings, look too smooth and straight –
your virtual world will look virtual
1) Here are some ways to create rough & ragged edges
a) move your vertices randomly
u select vertices on the edges u Edit Mesh u Transform Component
u set Random as needed u move the vertices b) u add a transparency map with rough edges
2)Remember, even very sharp objects have rounded corners or they’ll
look fake. So bevel your edges or corners one of the following ways
a) u select edge you want to bevel u Polygons u Edit Mesh u Bevel u set
offset to value that fits your model
b)
u use a mia_roundcorners material and the object’s geometry isn’t changed, it just affects
the way the light interacts with the object, like bump maps
To assign mia_roundcorners
u Assign new material u Maya Surface u Material u Common Material attributes u Bump
mapping u Create Render Node u mental ray Textures u mia_roundcorners
u Material attributes u Parameter u Radius controls how smooth the corners are
• can add additional bump maps without removing mia_roundcorner if placed inside the
Bump attribute of the mia_
8) u Create a new layer above your selection and fill the layer with a bright color
which makes it easier if you have more then 1 dirt layer, and you’ll probably have many
9) u Disable the red & black transfer map since you don’t need it anymore
• Surfaces are bent incorrectly when you’ve used mia_roundcorners so you may need to
reverse your normals
u Display u Polygons u Face Normals or Display u Polygons u Vertex Normals
10) u Shift-drag a dirt map photo into your .psd file
• can use just about anything for this, depends on what kind of look you want
u keep dirt map as top layer u scale until you’ve got the level of detail you want
• if mia_roundcorners shader has no effect u mental ray Render Settings u Features
u enable Raytracing
11) u Hold down ALT-key and hover the pointer between the selection map layer and
the dirt texture layer until a little icon appears u LMB-click which assigns your texture
to the selection map
TIPS
How to.................................
142
5
For Review Only
12) u Tweak the blending mode and opacity of the bright-colored layer until you get
your look
u don’t change blending mode or opacity of the mask layer, which is the dirt texture or the selection map will show through
u you can use a low opacity eraser or brush to adjust the look of the dirt
ˆ if you’re also creating a specular map – you can usually use the same dirt layers
& just make them a little bit darker
• you can use this same process on your AO map to add some dirt to the crevices
13) u Maya® u selete the dup and the light u select the model u Common Material
Attributes u Color u Import the .psd file
Tex turing Tips & Tricks
TEXTURING
TEXTURING
Damage Control
Think logically when you’re placing your damage
Put damage, such as scratches, chipped or rubbed-off
paint, in an area that would be worn down by moving
parts, such as machinery or wheels or something
that has been frequently used, lke subway platform
seats
• the damaged part will also attract more dirt & dust
• if the damaged object’s made of metal, it will also
be more shiny
Keep things in perspective – if the object’s big, go big on
the damage
Tex turing Tips & Tricks
143