SMC #48 "On The Hour, Every Hour" - Cuckoo Clocks

[ClassicGamer-3DT]

Wow great entry

[timberwo7ves]

Can I defer to the experience of those in this thread? I was trying to model the clock shown here [http://www.headsupco.com/img/xl/cluckcoo.jpg] - as you can see, the roof is made from a carved bit of wood - it's clearly one piece (or even if it isn't irl, assume it is).

How would you guys model it, cleanly, to keep it one piece, but keep the number of edges at a minimum? to keep it nice, I had to propagate edges from the bottom ridge all the way up, but it seems excessive; what if you were modelling a set of stairs which was one object (perhaps far-fetched) but had hundreds of steps? Any tips here would be appreciated

(note, the image plane has some purple bits - it worked to keep edge propagation to a low, but then I got 6-edged poles when I extruded back and in any case, didn't look nice).

lovely entries so far :]

[ClassicGamer-3DT]

I'd personally take the spline route....... will update with an example in a mo...

EDIT: It took me longer to composite the mini tut pics than it did building the mesh, this mesh took me 8 mins and I didn't rush



As you can see it's fair low poly before smoothing so give that method a try! I realise it's not uniform but then again something like this that is handmade isn't perfect either, hardly anything is 100% perfect in the real world, you can of course add knife cuts for a better definition here and there... I think it works.... hope it helped.

[timberwo7ves]

Thanks man, that does help a lot! I remember spline modeling in max vaguely but hadn't used in Maya yet, was worried you meant nurbs :P the closest thing I can think of to get that initial mesh is create poly tool, but will see what's available tonight! Cheers
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edit: bleugh, can any Maya users confirm that there is no spline modeling in Maya except by using Nurbs? The fastest way (for me) to get to step 2 was to start with a single poly and extrude out, like you might when modeling a face. in any case will try properly tonight

[ClassicGamer-3DT]

If all else fails trace the image in illustrator and export the path as an illustrator file and import it in Maya? Maya can import illustrator files right? I dunno C4D can.

[rocneasta]

Originally Posted by ClassicGamer-3DT

If all else fails trace the image in illustrator and export the path as an illustrator file and import it in Maya? Maya can import illustrator files right? I dunno C4D can.

it can handle AI file, but as all Autodesk solutions (from my personal experience) don't handle quite good imported graphics. Best to do them in the software, then import them in

[timberwo7ves]

yeah it can definitely import Illy files - the issue isn't drawing the splines, it's what to do with them after lol

If I recall correctly, 3ds max allows you to draw splines and apply an extrude modifier, but it's definitely still poly. There's a distinct component which creates NURBS surfaces.

In Maya, (afaik), there is no such way to draw a curve and extrude it directly like you've done, to produce a poly object. There are curves used for NURBS or animation (drawn using the EP or CV curve tools) and a separate curve tool for Bezier curves which you can convert to NURBS. If starting with a curve, like you've done, I assume you'd have to make a NURBS surface, and then convert to poly - choosing tesselation options etc.

My initial query was about topology (which you've answered ) and there are other ways, apart from curves/splines to produce that ofc, which I'm more familiar with

[ClassicGamer-3DT]

Yeah it the spline was extruded with an extrude nurbs, then made editable so it was all poly's, shame there's not that kind of thing in maya, maybe some other users know of a way round it or plugin.

[timberwo7ves]

oh, that's exactly what it is in Maya :S I thought you skipped the nurbs stage.

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but I'm quite lame with curves/NURBS still.

[ClassicGamer-3DT]

Ooops my fault I should have mentioned nurbs in the mini tut

Now.... all that's left is for you to wow us with you entry

[timberwo7ves]

haha, will be a two parter - got exams coming up so I've only got a 45min nightly allowance of Maya/Houdini

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okay done the roof, doesn't look nice though - won't attempt to smooth it haha will do the last hour tomorrow hopefully! (dw I did more than the roof in 30min :P) cheers for your help mate

[ClassicGamer-3DT]

No worries, glad I could help

Researching SMC 49 now..... got a crackin' idea for Friday night's theme.

[bakuryu06]

I really wanna do a Bird House 1 hr challenge. It's simple and there are a lot of amazing concepts out there Just my opinion.

[bakuryu06]

I decided to this one. Haven't joined a challenge in a while. Been too busy =\

So here is what I made. After search through hours for a UNIQUE cuckoo clock, I couldn't really find one that I liked. They all looked the same too me. Some modern, abstract ones people already did lol.

So I found one that I did like, but it was too complicated to do in 90 minutes, so I simplified it a little. I definitely run out of time =\ Really wanted to make the bird come out. But I never saw that as being a major requirement.

Here is a composed shot that I decided to do, just wanted a little OLD Photo feel. Added, grains, rips, scratches and what not in Photoshop. Set up a simple scene and added a clock. Thanks!

[ClassicGamer-3DT]

Very nice entry! I will consider the birdhouse for a future SMC, it's a bit too close a subject to run next weeks or the week after.