Nurbs Anyone?

My first class working in Maya was last Friday. Our first assignment was to model a picnic table and various items on top of it, creating a scene. Friday I hated the program. Saturday I hated the program even more. Sunday, I started getting the hang of things and although I still hated the program, I was getting some where. On Monday, hours before class started I was able to crank out a decent chess set! The critiques went well, and because I had modelled all the screws that would be involved in putting a wooden picnic table together, my peers began teasing me with "if you were asked to model a city, you'd model the plumbing!" (which would be unneccessary since in the model you wouldn't necessarily see the plumbing)

Our next assignment was to model a robot, but we have until Friday (Feb. 2) to turn it in. Last night I was helping someone with concept art for his robot, and we were able to put together some really neat 'scout-type' robot. I didn't really think much about how my input was effecting the actual design, but when he was later asked about it, I overheard him comment that it was actually co-designed by me. Shortly after I overheard this, the person whom he was showing the design to came over and asked my advice on his design. We rambled on about a lot of possible reasons for what he wanted to design and by the end of the night he was telling the instructor that he was going to change his design, because he really liked some of the things that him and I came up with. If they are successful in modelling what was designed, they're going to have some really top-notch robots that'll possess the functionality and believability that some of the other robot designs in the class are lacking.

After aiding in the designs of their two robots, I am not as excited about mine, but as I've discovered modelling is HARD. I'm not sure I'd ever want to do it for a living. The three classes that I've had already have given me a new appreciation of all the 3D animation out there.

Last night I was prowling the 'best of' folder for my modelling class to get an idea of what can be done, and out of curiousity I also took a peek at the 'best of' folder for my previous class "Compositing." To my amazement, both my midterm and final for that class were in the folder!

On another note, not really about classes: I'm doing much better now that I've been able to get some sleep. I don't know how people who suffer insomnia manage, although I'm not sure what was going on with me was insomnia. The worst thing about it, was that I was conscious of what was going on and could do nothing about it. I was extremely angry one minute than extremely depressed the next, nearly sobbing for want of sleep. A friend was telling me about this new genetic desease that causes people to suffer life without sleeping (it's not insomnia, it's related to prions (i think)). Of course they don't live very long, but while they are alive, there conscious of what's going on with their emotions, and yet can't do anything about it.