Animate A Logo Forming From Particles in Maya
Animate A Logo Forming From Particles in Maya
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Maya 3D
Particles are one of the most powerful and versatile tools that you can use to make your
CG art more interesting, and many would agree that no one does particles better than
Autodesk Maya. In this tutorial Abed Ibrahim will walk you through the process of creating
an animated logo using particles in Maya, and then reverse the rendered animation in any
video editing software of your choice.
Republished Tutorial
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8/13/2019 Animate a Logo Forming from Particles in Maya
Every few weeks, we revisit some of our reader's favorite posts from throughout the history of the site. This
tutorial was rst published in Decemeber of 2009.
Step 1
Open new scene, go to “Create" and open the option box for
"Text”.
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Step 2
Adjust the following options then press “create”.
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Step 3
Hide the text curves in the "Outliner" by pressing (Ctrl + h).
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Step 4
Select all the letters, then go to “Mesh > Combine”.
Step 5
Delete the history for the shape, then go to “Modify > Make Live”.
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Step 6
Switch to “Dynamics Menu” by pressing “F5”, then go to “Particles > Particle Tool (option
box)”.
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Step 7
Press on “Reset Tool”, then adjust the settings as shown.
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Step 8
Hide your grid, switch to the front view, and start to draw on the letters. Make sure to ll
from the inside and on the edges as shown.
Notes:
Hold the Left Mouse Button and drag anywhere to draw.
Try to draw the letters one by one (start from the edges with one stroke then ll inside
with the second stroke).
If you missed a spot, press only once to ll that spot.
Avoid drawing on the same area again because intensive particle counts will make a
sluggish movement.
Step 9
Press “Enter” then, in the “Attributes Editor” for the particle shape, go to “Render Attributes
> Particle Render Type > Cloud (s/w)”. Note: When you press “Enter” you have to wait for
the program to calculate the particles.
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Step 10
Press on “Current Render Type”, and set the radius to “0.025”.
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Step 11
Hide the original text surface in the outliner, then open “Hypershade” and select the
Volumetric Node “particlecloud1”.
Step 12
Modify the following attributes for the particle cloud:
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Step 13
Extend the playback range time to “200 frames”, then select the particles, and go to “Fields
> Volume Axis”.
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Step 14
Modify the following attributes for the volume axis eld:
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Step 15
Modify the "Transform Attributes" for the volume eld as shown:
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Step 16
On frame "1", set a key for the volume axis eld at "Translate X" with a value of '20'.
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Step 17
Go to frame "100" then set another key for volume axis eld "Translate X" with a value of
"-3.000".
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Step 18
Go to "Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences".
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Step 19
Select the “particlecloud1” material, set its transparency to “0”, then set a key on the
current frame (200).
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Step 20
Go to “Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences”.
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Step 21
Go to "Solvers > "Create Particle Disk Cache (option box)".
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Step 22
Make sure that the options look like following image (except for the scene directory), then
press create. Note: Wait for the particles cache to be generated, and until it stops at frame
200.
Step 23
Select the “particlecloud1” material, set its transparency to “0” or a "White" color, and then
set a key on the current frame (200).
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Step 24
Set the current time in the time slider to “160”, change the transparency to “1” or a “Black”
color, and then set another key.
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Step 25
Repeat the last 2 steps. Set a key for “Transparency” on frame “20” with a "white" color or
a value of "0", then set a key with a value of “1” or “black” on frame “1”. Now show the
original hidden text shape in the "Outliner". Go to “Display > Show > Show Selection”, or
press “Shift + h”.
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Step 26
Switch to Edge Mode by pressing “Ctrl + F10”, then press delete.
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Step 27
Extrude the text shape to about “0.250” on the “Z axis”.
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Step 28
Center the text shape to the particles.
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Step 29
Select the text, then separate the letters by going to "Mesh > Separate".
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Step 30
Create 6 new "Blinn" materials with the following settings:
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Step 31
Name the 6 Blinn materials as the text letters (Blinn1 = M, Blinn2 = A etc..), and then
assign the rst one to the letter "M".
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Step 32
Go to frame "66" and set a key for the "M" material "Transparency" with the color set to
"White" or "0", then go to frame "64" and set another key whith the color set to "Black" or
"1".
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Step 33
Assign the "A" material for the second letter, then go to frame "54" and set a key for the
"Transparency" with the color set to "White" or "0", then go to frame "52" and set another
key with the color set to "Black" or "1".
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Step 34
Repeat these steps for the rest of the letters simply by using the following chart:
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Step 35
Make sure that the default light is turned on from the "Render Settings" and no other light
source exists in your scene.
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Step 36
You can now render the scene to video (AVI) or sequenced images (TIFF) from any
camera view, and then reverse your animation in any video editing software (Adobe
Premiere, After Effects, Sony Vegas, etc).
Notes:
Render 1 extra still image at frame 1 and place it at the end of the video in your video
editing program to allow the logo to appear for longer.
Changing the Volume Axis Field attributes will show a noticeable change in the
particles motion, also using other elds will create different cool effects.
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Abed Ibrahim
The name is Abdulmajeed Ibrahim, but most call me abed or abdo. I have been
working as a 2D/3D Artist since 2002, and I am pro cient in Maya, After Effects,
Zbrush, all Adobe products, audio editing software, and more. I always learn new
stuff, and try not to waste time, because there's always something to do in this eld
if you love it. I am now working as a contract freelancer for some companies in the
UAE and Jordan.
Email Address
Update me weekly
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but please tell me how to move particles left to right and first time invisible text?
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but please tell me how to move particles left to right and first time invisible text?
http://storyboard.animation...
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Not sure if you still read this, but i'll check back soon to see if you responded
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Step 18
Go to “Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences”. ?????????????
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Creating amazing logo intro we see a of those on Youtube but never a step by step. I am sure if
these were video tutorials. Those of us who get what you're doing but get stuck in a section just
because there something we could not get past, would really help.
// Error: Could not open file for export. Please be sure that permissions are OK and that path is
correct. See command documentation for -path argument.
what do i do?
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