(Maya) Curves to polygon not working?

Elkkiz

Hi there! 

I'm currently trying to recreate this object:



But since I have limited time and am not that proficient with sculpting, I thought I'd try making it with curves in Maya. Which I have some experience with but not much and tend to struggle with it.



I thought the best option was to make one side with the bezier curve tool, then mirror it (which I found out wasn't really possible with curves in the way that you can with polygonal objects)

Anyway, by looking up explanations on the autodesk sites I tried to find out how to turn this into polygons, and with the convert option I turned it from bezier curve into nurbs, and from that I wanted to convert it into polygons. However, I got the following error; 



I don't know how to fix this, and from that moment on I tried some other stuff as well, such as trying to connect the two curves by flipping one and then using the Attach and Stitch options, which got me this half purple thing;



So I'm not sure if they are attached or not because some parts move seperately.. and I still can't turn them into polygons.
 This is what my outliner looks like btw:

 

So my question is... how do I turn it into a polygonal object because logically the curves to poly convert option is working but it's just... not and I'm kinda lost right now. Thanks in advance!

Andreicus

The first step that you did ( converting to nurbs ) is useless, but it's not a big deal because it didn't do anything.

To convert to a polygonal surface you must create a NURBS surface and then convert it. At the moment you only have curves.
You can create a surface using the curves as boundaries ( they will be the edges of your mesh ) by selecting the curve ( must be closed ) and going to: Surfaces---> Planar.
After that select the surface that Maya created and choose Modify---> Convert---> NURBS to Polygons or simply select "output geometry polygons" in the planar settings---> retopo as needed.

For the mirror part do it after making the polygonal surface and after the retopo by using the usual mirror tool.

To use that planar function your curve must be snapped to the grid, so if you made it on an orthogonal view you are ok, otherwise snap all the vertices to the grid so they are flat.

You can also make that shape in Zbrush using masks. You can active "see through" while having the reference open so you can see it and then simply paint a mask by tracing the shape of the ornament.
After that invert the mask and use the panel loops feature or maybe the inflate deformer+inflate baloon and do some retouching with the brushes.

sacboi

For ornamental work, I'd suggest browsing this thread:

https://polycount.com/discussion/167070/whats-the-best-way-to-to-make-filigree-and-ornamental-3d-objects/p1

...outlining straightforward techniques that are not only efficient but more effective IMO than utilising such a convoluted workflow to begin with.

Elkkiz

Andreicus said:

The first step that you did ( converting to nurbs ) is useless, but it's not a big deal because it didn't do anything.

To convert to a polygonal surface you must create a NURBS surface and then convert it. At the moment you only have curves.
You can create a surface using the curves as boundaries ( they will be the edges of your mesh ) by selecting the curve ( must be closed ) and going to: Surfaces---> Planar.
After that select the surface that Maya created and choose Modify---> Convert---> NURBS to Polygons or simply select "output geometry polygons" in the planar settings---> retopo as needed.

For the mirror part do it after making the polygonal surface and after the retopo by using the usual mirror tool.

To use that planar function your curve must be snapped to the grid, so if you made it on an orthogonal view you are ok, otherwise snap all the vertices to the grid so they are flat.

You can also make that shape in Zbrush using masks. You can active "see through" while having the reference open so you can see it and then simply paint a mask by tracing the shape of the ornament.
After that invert the mask and use the panel loops feature or maybe the inflate deformer+inflate baloon and do some retouching with the brushes.

This fixed the problem! thank you so much

Elkkiz

sacboi said:

For ornamental work, I'd suggest browsing this thread:

https://polycount.com/discussion/167070/whats-the-best-way-to-to-make-filigree-and-ornamental-3d-objects/p1

...outlining straightforward techniques that are not only efficient but more effective IMO than utilising such a convoluted workflow to begin with.

Yeah the main issue I have is mostly that I don't know the most efficient ways to model, but this thread helps out a lot. Thanks!

Alex_J

If you don't got them already, check out the curve to tube and curve to ribbon mesh in bonus tools.

Since you are working symmetrically, I'd just draw the curves on one side and convert it to tube, then adjust the tube's shape from there. Very fast and simple. You can mirror the geometry afterwards.

Also another quick and easy way to build weird shapes is make a big plane and make it live. This is your "canvas". use quad draw to draw out your shape on the canvas. You can apply the photo as a texture to the canvas if you want to trace directly.  Even if the perspective is off this can still be a good way to get started.

You can then use that as the beginning of your geometry just extrude it for thickness and adjust from there, or you can put an edgeloop down the center, convert edgeloop to curve, and then convert curve to tube/ribbon mesh. This is fast and easy way because working visually like this with quad draw you can iterate very quickly to find the best topology without twisting your brain in a knot.

But that thread sacboi linked is gold. You'll find a lot a great techniques in there.

Elkkiz

Alex Javor said:

If you don't got them already, check out the curve to tube and curve to ribbon mesh in bonus tools.

Since you are working symmetrically, I'd just draw the curves on one side and convert it to tube, then adjust the tube's shape from there. Very fast and simple. You can mirror the geometry afterwards.

Also another quick and easy way to build weird shapes is make a big plane and make it live. This is your "canvas". use quad draw to draw out your shape on the canvas. You can apply the photo as a texture to the canvas if you want to trace directly.  Even if the perspective is off this can still be a good way to get started.

You can then use that as the beginning of your geometry just extrude it for thickness and adjust from there, or you can put an edgeloop down the center, convert edgeloop to curve, and then convert curve to tube/ribbon mesh. This is fast and easy way because working visually like this with quad draw you can iterate very quickly to find the best topology without twisting your brain in a knot.

But that thread sacboi linked is gold. You'll find a lot a great techniques in there.

Thank you! I did manage to make them in the end