Finally, Scripting...

After avoiding MEL scripting for far too long, I started working through "Introduction to MEL" by Digital Tutors, in the hopes that I could finally make sense of the more complicated material presented in In Silico.

Full information on the lessons can be found here, as they covered a wide variety of topics. This included a look at MEL syntax, creating primitive objects, editing attributes, using WHILE/FOR/IF commands and then combining all of the taught content into a single project, which resulted in the ability to create a textured flower with randomised attributes, simply by clicking a single button. The image below shows some of these random flowers;

After completing these lessons, I feel much more confident in using simple MEL expressions, and I intend on continuing this development, which will hopefully allow me to create a more complicated script which will import large amounts of numerical data and automate the creation of objects and animation.

For those who may be interested (and I realise it may not be many!), here is the complete script used to create the flowers...

The Story So Far...

So far, the majority of my work has focused on developing skills which are crucial in creating 3D computer generated visualisation. Having such a strong background in 3D has helped greatly, and has allowed me to focus on learning advanced techniques and understanding new concepts, as opposed to having to learn new software.

The key goal is to rapidly develop 3D skills this semester ('exploring practice') and although I will start work on related projects, these will take shape later in the academic year, as my abilities grow stronger.

My learning has been mostly self-directed, using a variety of sources. Progress using these are detailed below;

• In Silico - recommended as a starting point, this book gave me a brief introduction to using particles, and how to shade, light and render a scene containing medical data. Most of the content here is relevant to cell visualisation, and will be extremely useful as my projects develop. Some simple examples were created, and uploaded to my Vimeo page. Upon reaching the MEL sections, I realised that these assumed previous knowledge of scripting in Maya - since this was new to me, I chose to put this resource on hold temporarily. Beyond the MEL chapters, awaits some more complex tutorials on working with medical visualisation data.
• Gnomon Dynamics - I started using this material, and soon discovered that the content was of poor visual quality, and at points difficult to follow. As other sources were available, I chose not to continue working on the Gnomon material. However, I may return to this when looking at soft-bodies, as Digital Tutors does not cover this in great detail.
• Studio Projects Dynamics - another recommended learning source, I found this material relevant and easy to learn, developing skills in using particles, nParticles, nCloth and fluids. Tutorials applied skills to interesting examples, such as building a sandbox with moving contents or creating realistic looking tornadoes and volcanoes. I still have to approach the most relevant chapter, titled 'Playing With Fire' - once this has been completed, I will be in a better position to approach 'burning down' a computer-generated house.
• Digital Tutors 'Introduction to Dynamics in Maya' - this has been the most useful source of learning so far. Content is clear, easy to follow and explained in-depth. Although there has been a slight overlap in some areas (the implementation of a particle system mainly), there has been more explanation of working with the features in Maya. The tutorials also discussed the various effects available (such as fire or smoke) and introduced the different particle render modes. These topics have given me the confidence in experimenting with cell aesthetics, something which will develop throughout my programme of study (videos to be added shortly).
• Digital Tutors 'Getting Started With Nuke 6' - although not strictly essential, I chose to gain a basic understanding of node-based compositing using Nuke. This will be beneficial later in my work, when it comes to creating polished videos for presentation. 

Moving forwards, I will continue using most of the above sources, particularly Digital Tutors. I plan to finish off working with dynamics in Maya, and then return to MEL scripting, where hopefully I can begin to make sense of the content. Something of particular interest, is using RealFlow - Digital Tutors has a huge amount of lessons available, so this is something I would definitely like to experiment with.

Looking at the subjects I have studied, and the progress I have made, I am glad I have chosen this programme of study - I have enjoyed this new content, and know that I will continue to enjoy this moving forwards.

Research Continues...

Today was a day for research. Or at least that's what I thought before I started.

Continuing on with 'In Silico', I worked through Chapters 12-13. This introduced MEL scripting, and also looked at importing numerical data into Maya. These chapters seemed to ramp up the complexity significantly on previous material, and were difficult to follow. Although I worked through all of the examples, nothing has stuck in my mind and I feel like I haven't gained a huge amount... except the mess of expressions and terms floating around in my mind.

After struggling with the In Silico material, I chose to shift focus to something more creative (and let's say more interesting). Instead of using the Gnomon material to explore the use of dynamics, I have started working on a new book, on loan from the University Library. 'Maya Studio Projects: Dynamics' is written by Todd Palamar and published by Sybex, and deals with creating realistic earth, wind, fire and water effects in Maya. Although my interest lies within creating fire, I decided to look at the particle stuff and see how it compared to using the older Gnomon material.

Within a page of starting, I was already working with simple dynamics setups in Maya. The book was clear, and easy to follow. It made use of high-quality images to complement the textual instructions - something the Gnomon DVDs struggled with.

The first chapter of the Studio Projects book deals with using particles, and has you creating and customising emitters, whilst playing with different types of particles and changing the appearance of the outcome. It uses simple expressions alongside the normal Maya interface. Having completed a couple of examples, I felt better about today's work.

Who knows, after time, the complicated approach of In Silico may make sense. In the meantime I'll walk before I can run, and give this new book a chance.

The first video example shows a comet 'flying' along a path. This was created by applying a lifespan to the particles which 'trailed' from a sphere. Ramp shaders were also applied to colour and transparency values.

The second video example shows an asteroid belt 'orbiting' around a planet (pre-supplied). This was an experiment in using a NURBS circle to emit particles, and then containing them with a cylindrical volume. A ramp was also applied based on the size of the spheres, which was randomised using a simple expression.

In Silico : Chapters 8-11

The next few chapters of 'In Silico' were focused on shading and lighting a scene, followed by animating a camera and finally rendering a finished piece.

I was given a scene which contained four objects which were already modeled and animated. A background plane was then added, and I applied simple coloured shaders to each object, and created a standard 3-point lighting setup (using key, fill and back lights). Shadows were enabled using depth-maps rather than raytracing. A camera was created with an aim constraint (a new technique to me) which forced the camera to always look at a designated point (around which you can then freely rotate). The camera was also attached to a circular motion path to give it a smooth consistent movement.

According to the author, the four objects in the scene represent the four chains (or subunits) of hemoglobin - the oxygen-transport molecule found in red blood cells.

This was my first attempt at working with this kind of data. I found it very interesting, and gained an understanding of how important photography/cinematography techniques are, and should not be underestimated when visualising information.

Another important point to make, is that we can still clearly see what is happening within the video - proof that the use of photo-realistic visuals is not always necessary. However, without pointing out that it depicts a hemoglobin molecule, it does not make much sense. A descriptive title can work wonders for a scene which has simpler visuals.

In Silico : Chapters 1-7

So far this week, I have been reading 'In Silico', and working through the tutorials provided. I had previously completed a lot of work within Maya, so the majority of material covered was not new to me... until I reached the section on dynamics, something I haven't worked with before.

As part of this new material, I created a simple dynamics system - a cylinder filled with tiny little spheres, which would 'float' around and collide with the cylinder and each other. This was created using a particle emitter, and although somewhat basic, has already opened my eyes to the benefits of using the dynamic system. The ability to create a fully animated scene by simply just setting up some object properties is amazing. Certainly much easier than trying to animate each object individually (there were 200 spheres) and far more realistic!

In addition to realising the potential of using dynamics, I was also introduced to my first piece of MEL scripting. MEL stands for Maya Embedded Language and is a scripting language within Maya. I used MEL to apply colour to each of the spheres based on their proximity to other spheres. They are normally black, and become more red as they get closer to other spheres, becoming fully red upon collision. Using colour made the simulation clearer - something which will be very important in later work that I undertake.

Finally, I created a quick playblast of the simulation. Nothing fancy, or complicated, but it shows the start of my research into using dynamics and scripting within Maya.

And so it begins...

After speaking with my programme leader/supervisor, I have decided to focus on visualisation and developing my skills and abilities towards this. This will include looking at using things such as Maya's dynamics systems, particles and scripting capabilities - all new to me.

I have chosen to spend Reading Week looking at these particular areas, and have picked two main sources to help lead my practice.

The first of these is a book that came specifically recommended - 'In Silico: 3D Animation and Simulation of Cell Biology using Maya and MEL', written by Jason Sharpe, Charles J Lumsden and Nicholas Woolridge, and published by Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. This book will be used to augment my existing Maya knowledge, and develop skills which are directly related to visualising cell biology.

The second source(s) I have chosen, is a set of DVD tutorials from The Gnomon Workshop called Dynamics. There are a great number of these, but I will be trying to start at the beginning and build a strong foundation. I currently have discs 1-3 from the University library to get me started.

Hopefully these sources will get me going in the right direction, as next week I hope to have a meeting with the University's Mathematics department, and possibly start working on a visualisation project with them.

In the meantime, keep your eyes posted for examples of what I've been doing this week... once I've done it of course!