Identifying Potential Problems

I don’t feel as comfortable using Mudbox as the other software that we have the access to. Part of the reason why I feel so comfortable with software like Photoshop in comparison to software like Mudbox is that I have been using Photoshop for a while, to the point where feel like I have a good understanding of the software and how I can solve any problems that I may encounter when using the software. I don’t have this experience with Mudbox, as we've only started using the software this year.

Because of this, I've had to look up tutorials for any parts of my project where I've needed to use Mudbox. This was necessary, because I imported my Maya model into Mudbox to smooth and edit certain parts of my model.

Another part of the project that I originally felt uncomfortable with was actually being able to make my Maya Model, because I wanted to keep it as close to the reference as possible. I didn't feel like my actual skill level in Maya was high enough to match the object that I wanted to create. To solve this, I got reference pictures online and took pictures in real life. This allowed me to set up image planes which I used to recreate my model. The images planes allow you to set up references from multiple perspectives, which really allow you to get an understanding of the model that you’re trying to create.

I had a problem with finding primary research for my model design, because there's only so many variants and shapes that you can find of a coca-cola bottle that would actually be worth including as research.

Finding out what object I actually wanted to create was also something that I pondered for a while. I was originally going to choose something that I would've drawn the concepts for, with the intent to make concept designs with pencil drawings, followed by making cleaner final concept pieces in Photoshop. I instead chose to create a model based on something that I can actually hold in real life, because I wanted to be able to use it as a reference every time that I had a problem with the objects properties or angles. With a real life object, I can see what the object looks like at any time. This is a much more reliable way to recreate something, as you don’t have to do any guess work when it comes to working out where you have to place certain things that would be on the model or when you are trying to work out the model’s proportions.