I wanted to create something that would be visually nice and that would let me play around with neat effects and get to know different animation tools in Maya. I had a very different idea that I whittled down into something I thought was doable with my knowledge and the time available, but my hardware didn’t seem to agree, so it turned into this. This eye-like sculpture is supposed to look vaguely reminiscent of a chipped off piece of marble because it’s a fraction of what I would have wanted in a full scene and is just a small, to-be-discarded bit of practice on the way to hopefully being able to work competently with 3D modeling and animation. The look I was going for was something pretty and fascinating, but that would also have an off, otherworldly, dream-like quality.
By this project I had a much more solid grasp on Maya and could navigate around the program pretty fluidly. I learned a lot about Mash networks, wave solvers, BiFrost, and how putting a really bright light next to something will absolutely explode your render times. I had a lot more fun and was able to learn a lot more with this video because I actually had time to explore the program due to not having to be on campus during spring break.
While FX is not really something I want to do as a career, it was neat to learn about and explore this stuff, and maybe it’s something I can use in personal work.
In closing, I still have so much to learn with 3D modeling, but I feel like I’ve gotten past the most awkward stages of learning Maya and am set to continue practicing on my own time.  I’ve also been working on learning ZBrush, which is a 3D modeling software that has a more organic approach. I’m looking forward to combining these two tools together and picking up many more. While installations and gallery art are not really what I want to do with these skills, I do think these experiments have still helped me explore skills that I can develop into something that fits my career goals.
