Does any one still use smooth Proxy in Maya

mrnpc

Hi

I am currently teaching an MA in game art and about to delve into modelling with subdivs.I have not used Smooth Proxy in a very long time but I was just wondering does anyone still use Smooth Proxy in Maya and also has open subdivs had any impact on modelling workflows ?

Thanks

Simon

oglu

edge creasing is a common workflow for highres modeling...
and baking normalmaps from it... using it all the time...

CreativeSheep

Baking normal maps from edge creasing I assume for game meshes ?

Can you convert edge creasing to polygons ? I still think it's better to model the geometry.

oglu

if you have the time model it... but creasing is faster and easier to handle... for games (baking) and featurefilm... for example the falcon model in the latest starwars is all creased...

ZippZopp

I'll use creasing to establish the general form of an object, I'll then convert the smooth mesh proxy to polygons and then continue modeling additional detail from there

CreativeSheep

OGLU - Falcon model in the Star Wars is all creased, I believe you but where you find this out ?

oglu

On feature film most if not all models are displaced... with creasing you get a clean sculpt and displaceable surface (limit surface). And the creasing data is also working during rendering and opensubD handles also the uvs. Most Falcon shots in starwars are rendered with renderman so its work like it should with creasing and everything. 

Im not saying creasing is allways the best way to go but i use it more and more.

ILM’s digital model of the Falcon was dense but a new methodology allowed for efficient building. “The big thing we did on this show was adopt edge creasing in modeling,” explains Fogler. “It’s a methodology that allows you - if you have an edge on a model you can define the curve that’s created either with points and lines telling the renderer how to sub-divide it, or you can add data to that line. So say .4 line will round in a certain way. You can represent forms with fewer points and lines and have just some data there to tell it how to render. So we adopted edge creasing which really cuts our model weight down by more than a third.”

https://www.fxguide.com/featured/the-force-returns/

CreativeSheep

From what I can see converting a mesh which contains creasing, I would think it would turn the create into edge loops, instead the mesh just has a thicker line to represent the creasing.  

Burpee

oglu said:

On feature film most if not all models are displaced... with creasing you get a clean sculpt and displaceable surface (limit surface). And the creasing data is also working during rendering and opensubD handles also the uvs. Most Falcon shots in starwars are rendered with renderman so its work like it should with creasing and everything. 

Im not saying creasing is allways the best way to go but i use it more and more.

ILM’s digital model of the Falcon was dense but a new methodology allowed for efficient building. “The big thing we did on this show was adopt edge creasing in modeling,” explains Fogler. “It’s a methodology that allows you - if you have an edge on a model you can define the curve that’s created either with points and lines telling the renderer how to sub-divide it, or you can add data to that line. So say .4 line will round in a certain way. You can represent forms with fewer points and lines and have just some data there to tell it how to render. So we adopted edge creasing which really cuts our model weight down by more than a third.”

https://www.fxguide.com/featured/the-force-returns/

didn't know that, thanks !

oglu

if you are starting to work with creasing dont vorget to work with the crease set editor.
without that tool you loose track of what you are doing.

mrnpc

Thanks everyone for you input, I have been using creasing in Zbrush for a long  time and the implementation of open subdiv in Maya and the crease set editor is a big improvement.

Creative sheep
I have found when convert from smooth mesh preview to polygons that it does not put in extra loops and respects the crease, good for Mudox and Zbrush too.

I teach game art and so the benefits of open subdiv and its adaptive mode are not a requirement at the moment but creasing is. I see A lot of students going crazy with edge loops and smoothing when sometimes just a nice bevel will do.

There is so much legacy in maya's toolset ,I just wanted to double check that no one was using the proxy modelling mode. I will stick to open subdivs and creasing + edge loops and not cover the smooth proxy.

Thanks for your input

Simon