Skip to main content

Animate a logo



Final Effect Preview


Step 1

Open new scene, go to “Create" and open the option box for
"Text”.

Step 2

Adjust the following options then press “create”.

Step 3

Hide the text curves in the "Outliner" by pressing (Ctrl + h).

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”.

Step 6

Switch to “Dynamics Menu” by pressing “F5”, then go to “Particles > Particle Tool (option box)”.

Step 7

Press on “Reset Tool”, then adjust the settings as shown.

Step 8

Hide your grid, switch to the front view, and start to draw on the letters. Make sure to fill 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 fill inside with the second stroke).
  • If you missed a spot, press only once to fill 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.

    Step 10

    Press on “Current Render Type”, and set the radius to “0.025”.

    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:

    Step 13

    Extend the playback range time to “200 frames”, then select the particles, and go to “Fields > Volume Axis”.

    Step 14

    Modify the following attributes for the volume axis field:

    Step 15

    Modify the "Transform Attributes" for the volume field as shown:

    Step 16

    On frame "1", set a key for the volume axis field at "Translate X" with a value of '20'.

    Step 17

    Go to frame "100" then set another key for volume axis field "Translate X" with a value of "-3.000".

    Step 18

    Go to "Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences".

    Step 19

    Select the “particlecloud1” material, set its transparency to “0”, then set a key on the current frame (200).

    Step 20

    Go to “Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences”.

    Step 21

    Go to "Solvers > "Create Particle Disk Cache (option box)".

    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).

    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.

    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”.

    Step 26

    Switch to Edge Mode by pressing “Ctrl + F10”, then press delete.

    Step 27

    Extrude the text shape to about “0.250” on the “Z axis”.

    Step 28

    Center the text shape to the particles.

    Step 29

    Select the text, then separate the letters by going to "Mesh > Separate".

    Step 30

    Create 6 new "Blinn" materials with the following settings:

    Step 31

    Name the 6 Blinn materials as the text letters (Blinn1 = M, Blinn2 = A etc..), and then assign the first one to the letter "M".

    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".

    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".

    Step 34

    Repeat these steps for the rest of the letters simply by using the following chart:
    Advertisement

    Step 35

    Make sure that the default light is turned on from the "Render Settings" and no other light source exists in your scene.

    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 fields will create different cool effects.

    • Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Selection & Duplication In Maya

    Selection Modes Let's continue by discussing the different selection options in Maya. Place a cube in your scene and click on it—the cube's edges will turn green, indicating that the object has been selected. This type of selection is called Object Mode . Maya has a number of additional selection types, and each one is used for a different set of operations. To access Maya's other selection modes, hover your mouse pointer over the cube and then click and hold the right mouse button (RMB) . A menu set will appear, revealing the Maya's component selection modes— Face , Edge , and Vertex being the most important. In the fly menu, move your mouse to the Face option and release the RMB to enter face selection mode. You can select any face by clicking its center point and can then use the manipulator tools we learned in the previous lesson to modify the shape of the model. Select a face and practice moving, scaling, or rotating it like we've done in the e...
    Post a Comment
    Read more

    Creating a cup in maya

    In this tutorial we will make a coffee cup out of polygons. Select the  Modeling  section of Maya,  choose from upper left, status line. Select  Create->Polygon Primitives->Cylinder->      Set the  Axis  to  Y      Set the  Radius  to  2      Set the  Height  to  4       Set the  Axis divisions  to  10       Set the  Height divisions  to  3       Set the  Cap divisions  to  0 Select by  component type    and make sure the faces button      is pushed in; this will allow you to select faces. Select the top face. Select Edit Mesh->Extrude Click the red box at the end of the red arrow of the extrude manipulator to change to scale mode. Pick thelight blue0  box  at the center of the man...
    Post a Comment
    Read more

    TEXTURING / Substance for Mental Ray in Maya

    TEXTURING / Substance for Mental Ray in Maya Just like Mental Ray render for Maya, you need to enable Substance inside Plug-In Manager. Once you enable Substance, you will have 2 extra nodes you can use inside Hypershade: Of course by itself the Substance node does nothing, you actually need to use the Substance archives node, it comes with Substance Bonus Tools as examples: Once you load the Substance archive, you can start using the "preset" procedural texture, it comes with parameters that you can adjust and animate: To create the Substance archive yourself, you actually need Substance Designer, another additional tool that will cost you. http://www.allegorithmic.com/products/substance-designer-4 SUBSTANCE FOR MENTAL RAY RENDER Maya Substance will work right away if you are rendering using Maya Software Render, but it will NOT render if you use Mental Ray. Surprised? No, because this is Maya and it always has that extra additional workflow ...
    Post a Comment
    Read more