In Maya 2011: Creating Natural Environments, author Aaron F. Ross demystifies a common challenge of 3D modeling: fashioning realistic natural environments such as landscapes, atmospheres, and foliage. Starting with flat terrain, Aaron shows how to sculpt various types of geometry and smooth out jagged, polygonal edges. The course also covers creating convincing backgrounds and clouds, populating a scene with foliage using 3D Paint Effects, and incorporating natural light. Exercise files accompany the course.
0. Introduction Welcome Setting up the project Setting up the Mac
1. Terrain Modeling Choosing a model type Laying out the scene Creating a camera Adding detail Splitting polygons Deleting edges and vertices Using soft selection Sculpting geometry Extruding polygons Projecting UV coordinates Using Mesh Smooth with the Maya software renderer
2. Shading Understanding Artisan and Paint Effects Painting on objects Customizing 2D Paint Effects brushes Saving Paint Effects brushes Managing 3D paint textures Creating layered maps Applying 2D procedural textures Applying 3D procedural textures Baking textures
3. Backgrounds Understanding backgrounds and matte paintings Creating a skydome Shading the skydome Creating matte paintings Constraining backgrounds to the camera