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I've been thinking a lot about how I can use MASH for projects. I feel like every time I snoop online, there's something else it can make that I had never even considered. I've been looking at lots of tutorials regarding curves for making the streaking lights of stars passing the dog by in Rocket Dog, and found that curves can be used for modelling at plenty of other things. I want to try a test based on Olof Storm's wisps of air in this video as an idea for how I can show time passing during the transitional stage in my film. This would follow a very similar workflow to what I've done for the light streaks, and I have control of the material, so I don't necessarily need to have them solid and can play with the opacity and masks to create a less clean, solid look. The MASH curve node might also benefit me for creating those gaps in the land where peat has been cut away in lines.



Another option I have is to look at curves with Arnold - I was really interested in this in the documentation.














I'll also be looking at using MASH for the grass, which I've done some tests of already, and the raindrops in the two shots that are focused on the pond following this tutorial.


My steps for all this will be:

Grass - test getting wind working on it, following that make the final grass mesh I will be using.

Rain - test, if it doesn't work, try this tutorial based on particles instead.

Air - test using the work I've already made with Rocket Dog, play with the shaders and the speed. This one is lower priority as the scene might work perfectly fine without it.


Updated: May 27, 2022

I've found that the biggest motivator throughout this course is a funny little monkey I animated last semester. Whenever I feel like I'm not making progress quickly enough, I look at the monkey.


It was the most I could make in Maya. A brokenly rigged monkey I found online that my pal helped me fix- and then slapped together and playblasted out because I didn't know how to render. It's a miracle I even got the textures in. But it's a great point for me to go back to whenever I'm grumbling over something I want to go back and change entirely in Maya- I'll always know better for next time!




I've got numerous things I'm keen to try in Arnold! Like creating various shaders such as a crosshatching shader, or learn more about how nodes work in the Hypershade, particularly the mathematical ones that I still can't wrap my head around. The removing noise workflow has been a constant bookmark this semester after it was recommended to me by Sean. Another internet resource I've been using frequently is Arvid Schneider's youtube channel, where he covers lighting and rendering amazingly well.

Other resources I have been a fan of is Academic Phoenix Plus' youtube channel, which I recommended to Ellie as it's super 3D beginner friendly, and a book called Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting by Lee Lanier. This book covers lighting and colour concepts from an art history angle to begin with, before delving into creating differenet types of lighting in Maya. It's a slightly older book, but I feel it's so rare to find stuff about 3D and Maya that talks about art history that I just love it!


I've tried to post links to resources as I find them on the class Discord server. This means that not only can others in the class have a look and maybe it'll help, but it's also super easy for me to find again later. ;^)



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