- ALIGNED IMAGE PLANES
- ALPHA ONION SKINS
- MAYA CARD TRICKS
- MAPPING VERSUS MODELING
- INSERT HERE WHILE DRAWING CURVES
- EXPLICIT, R-RATED NURB TESSELLATION
- TESSELLATION VERSUS CVs
- LINEAR VERSUS CUBIC HEROICS
- CONSTRAIN THOSE UNRULY CURVES
- THE REVOLUTIONS WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
- BI-RAILING THE MISSING GLASS SLIPPER
- SLIPPER REBUILDING
- SHADY, UNDESIRABLE ELEMENTS IN MAYA
- RANDOMIZE THOSE CVs
- JUNKYARD DUMPING SIMULATION
- USE OF PHOTOSHOP AS A MODELING TOOL
- AUTOTRACING FOR FUN AND PROFIT
- PHOTOSHOP PATHS TO MAYA CURVES
- WRESTLING WITH DISPLACEMENT
- ANIMATE YOUR MODELING
- SET SUBTLETIES
- TRANSFORM TOOLS SHORTCUT
- INTERROGATING POINTS AS TO WHERE THEY LIVE
- FACE PROPOGATION VIA SHELL IN POLY SELECTION CONSTRAINTS
USE OF PHOTOSHOP AS A MODELING TOOL
Photoshop a 3D tool, you say? No, this is not a sneak preview of version 10.0. Instead it's an often-overlooked filter that's been available in Photoshop since version 1.0, found under Filters, Distort, Wave. Sometimes intricate design work needs to be generated for 3D modeling details, and this trick can speed up that process. First, start by drawing basic linework in Photoshop using marquees or lines. Then use the Wave filter with a very small number of Generators, perhaps one to two. Choose Square as the Wave shape, and select Repeat Edge Pixels. You should have a nice garbled and unusable image at this point. To make it shine, turn the Wavelength and Amplitude down very low and tweak as desired. When an aesthetically interesting pattern is formed, this can be autotraced as described in the following Killer Tip and implemented in your model as what the FX industry affectionately calls "Greeblies," or sundry tech details.