I was particularly determined with this project as I was passionate about bringing my envisioned world to fruition. From beginning to end, I had complete creative control over the world’s creation, and this instilled a drive and determination in me that I forgot I had.
Having faced a multitude of obstacles while working on this project, I advanced my skills in a relatively new software, taking initiative to solve hurdles thrown my way, and enlisted aid from those more experienced when necessary. I persevered through the sometimes seemingly insurmountable challenges, working for hours on end to achieve the world I dreamt of creating to the best of my ability.
I began by modelling the focal point of my world – the large tree in the center I later deemed the “Lignum Vitae”, meaning the tree of life in Latin. Unsure of where to begin with modelling a tree, I followed a tutorial at first, but noticing the repetitive nature of extruding and bridging, I was able to discard the tutorial and model the tree by myself, tailoring it to my vision. I then moved onto the houses. Due to the obscure, abstract shapes I wanted the houses to be, I used trial and error to create the base shapes, which I then worked off. I also began creating lore for the dwellers of these houses; adding lore brought an element of realism to the world, which in turn, made me all the more impassioned about bringing it to life.
The largest hurdles I faced were near the end of the project, such as animating the twinkling lights for the Lignum Vitae. I requested my teacher’s help with creating this effect as I was apprehensive. He suggested a method of texturing certain faces of the tree with an animated “fractal” texture, leading me to realize that despite its technicality, a lot of work in Maya is based on utilizing creativity with the given tools. Recognizing this, for further issues I faced, such as with lighting and animation, I took initiative to research and experiment with the various gadgets in Maya to achieve the effects I desired. If I was unable to rectify the complications myself, I enlisted help from my teacher or more experienced peers. Unfortunately, not all the experimentation or aid from others was successful, which prompted another realization: if you’ve given something your all and you can’t fix it, it’s ok to accept that and move on. Historically, I am a relentless perfectionist, so submitting a piece of work that I deemed anything less than perfect was nearly impossible. However, through this project, I’ve understood the importance of prioritization when working on projects with strict submission deadlines. Ideally, of course, I would’ve liked to submit something I consider perfect, but I am incredibly proud of my work and the masses of effort I’ve put into creating this special world.
For future projects in Maya, I’d like to successfully UV map and manually colour a complex model, as I was unable to do so due to time constraints and other technical priorities during this project. I also struggled a lot with the HDR sphere skydome, so I intend to practise fiddling with lighting and various skydomes to see if I can recognize where the issue was, and perhaps how to remedy this for future use. Additionally, I do feel that more detail could’ve been added to my houses, such as roof textures or doors, but I didn’t want to put more pressure on myself with modelling additional things as there were already so many complex objects to model. Time constraints were an issue for me, but I feel that this is because I managed my time poorly, and perhaps if I had managed it more efficiently, I could’ve added more detail or been able to successfully UV map my tree. This has been an issue for me in the past and I need to ensure that I am more responsible with time management in the future, especially as projects get more complicated and difficult.
Overall, despite my frustrations with the skydome and the strenuous hours spent modelling, I feel that I was able to capture the fantasy world I intended to create, and I am greatly looking forward to where my creativity and newfound knowledge will lead me for future projects.