Using Maya with comic backgrounds

[Nebulous]

I just started learning Maya a month ago for school and I’ve seen various artists say that it is very good for laying out and modeling scenes and backgrounds for comics. I was just wondering exactly how this works—how does one go about drawing from a Maya reference? Is everything in the reference modeled by hand (mouse?)?

I would very much like to start using this program for making my comic backgrounds, but I’m not exactly sure where to start on that aspect as it is unlike animation to me. Help is much appreciated, thank you!

[sarrowsmith10]

Just following this thread because I've never heard of Maya but sounds interesting!

[indagold]

Well many artists I see trace over the background after rendering it or what I like to do is texture surface shaders so it looks flat and/or use the assign outline option in the render bar (idk if its still there because they change it with every new version). I also keep renders on file If I ever use them again. As for modeling i'm sure there are a lot of tutorial videos for that or you might just learn it in school. Making environments is probably easier than designing characters, you don't need to worry about meshes having holes or n-gons or all that annoying garbage. If it helps, make a rough sketch to get an idea or look at reference. For me I tend to just jump in immediately and sometimes use reference. Also you can use premade 3D assets online and remodel them as well.

[SleepingPoppy]

Maya can be great for that, but if you've just started learning it you're probably aware by now that the program has a steep learning curve! It might take some time before your proficient enough to build quality sets. But hey, maybe modeling backgrounds is a good motivate for you, and it'll be worth the effort.

Linda tutorials are a great way to learn maya. You pretty much buy courses, but if you're in school you might have access for free. Some people can also get the tutorials through the library.

Lots of free tutorials are also just a google trip away! I used to use youtube often when I was trying to figure out something new in the program.

Sketch Up is an alternative 3D program that gives you access to lots of free assets for download. Many artists use it to help them with their backgrounds. Personally, I prefer modeling everything myself in maya because I like having that level of control and design. It's a lot of work though.

Hope some of that can help you! Good luck!

[thomassayle]

its a 3d program that's expensive, you can create, rig and animate models in it.
I suggest getting blender (cause its free) if you want to muck around with it.

[thomassayle]

maya isnt really built for character modeling but for box modeling instead, you can create basic environments print screen and use it to trace over for perspective. Like using reference its best to just use it for the basic form but dont directly use it for the background.

Though there are people out there that straight up use cgi for their backgrounds but unless you are really good the mix of styles can be jarring to the reader, for models and backgrounds feel free to look online and download pre existing made items to use . search for pre rig so you can pose your guy too.

[joannekwan]

Maya bears heavily on the computer, it's meant to animate cgi like Pixar films and video games.
If you just want to create 3D dioramas, I suggest SketchUp. It's a much lighter program and has your basic background needs.

[Rochrok]

A program that I use is Daz3d. It's completely free and sometimes they have freebies to give away and discounts you can take advantage of, but you have to purchase the backgrounds and models you want to use from their site if you can't create them yourself. But the program is fairly easy to use.