Create GUI in Maya with MASH
What you'll learn
- Understand how to Design GUI
- Use a Booleans technique to animate a reveal
- Understand how to use MASH to create your GUI
- Understand how your rendered GUI fits in at the compositing stage
Requirements
- You will need a copy of Maya 2017 or later and also a copy of either After Effects or Nuke
Description
MASH is a very powerful Motion Graphics and Visual Effects plugin that now ships with Maya. It is a procedural system that allows you to create complex simulations and animations with an easy-to-use interface.
MASH is often used in motion graphics scenarios. However, MASH can easily be harnessed in a Visual Effects shot as it has plenty of scope to create dynamic and realistic simulations, especially when combined with the rendering power of Arnold.
GUI is a popular area of Visual Effects and Motion Graphics. Being present in many Marvel films and plenty of other sci-fi films it is a visual that many people are familiar with.
This course aims to break down the process of creating GUI elements in MASH for Maya that are ready for film. These GUI elements will be rendered in Arnold for our VFX shot and we will aim to composite these elements into a greenscreen plate. The course will briefly cover chroma keying in After Effects and Nuke but the primary focus is the utilisation of MASH to create the GUI elements.
The pre-requisites to this course are as follows:
A basic understanding of navigating Maya
Access to a copy of Maya from 2017 onwards
Access to After Effects and/or Nuke with an understanding of basic navigation
Previous experience of chroma keying is useful but not essential
The rest I will teach you from the ground up across 1 main exercises
Course outline
Lesson 1 – Accessing greenscreen footage (A walkthrough of where to access the greenscreen footage used in this course)
Lesson 2 – Creating and Rendering our Main GUI element (This session will introduce you to some key techniques for using MASH to create GUI elements)
Lesson 3 – Keying breakdown in Nuke (This session will show a breakdown of the keying process in Nuke)
Lesson 4 – Despill and final composite in Nuke (This session will show you some key despill methods in Nuke and it will also cover how the final composite comes together)
Lesson 5 – Keying and compositing in After Effects (This session will cover how you would approach the keying and compositing of the shot in After Effects)
Bonus Lesson – Additional GUI Assets in MASH (This Bonus Lesson will cover some additional techniques that you could use in MASH for Maya to create a wide range of additional GUI assets)
Project Task (Assignment) – (This lesson will walk you through the final assignment that you have been tasked with, summarising the skills and techniques learnt in this course.
As mentioned above in the course outline, the course will finish with a really fun assignment where you will have the opportunity to practice the skills that you have learnt in this course! I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys create so please upload your work!
I hope you enjoy this course as much as I enjoyed creating it!
Who this course is for:
- This course is for beginner to intermediate users of MASH for Maya
Instructor
My name is Jonathon Parker, a Motion Graphics and Visual Effects lecturer from the UK.
Firstly, a little background about me! I have always been the creative type and always strive to improve and push my creative skills further and further.
As stated above I am already teaching in the UK as a Motion Graphics and VFX lecturer – The difference with my courses will be the fact that they come from an educator, not someone doing this just in their spare time! All my courses focus on teaching and assessment. I will teach you a few skills and then set you an assignment to check that those skills have been learnt. I also see the importance of generating handouts and resources for the student, so I have included these in my courses also!
I have a First-Class BA (HONS) in Visual Effects and motion graphics, and also a Masters in Animation. After working a few years in industry, I would occasionally guest lecture at the college I used to attend. After doing this I decided to go into teaching full time where I achieved my teaching qualification.
Now that I am here on Udemy I hope to further spread my extensive knowledge through my teaching practice! Check out the social media links on my profile and get involved!