Once
you have created all of your lofts you
should attach each surface together. First,
select the the first surface, then (holding
down shift) select the second surface.
Then, using the attach surfaces command
(go to edit nurbs> attach
surface) attach them together. Repeat
this step until you have a single solid
nurbs surface.
Now
all we have left to do is match the nurbs
surface to the inside of the mouth. In
order to do this we will need to match
the information up. Ignoring the center
edge and the mouth corner edge... count
the number of edges that make up your
upper lip. In this case we have edges.
In
order to match up the edges with the
inside of the mouth, you must insert
8 isoparms from the center edge to the
mouth corner edge. In order to do this,
right click over the nurbs surface and
select "Isoparm" from the marking menu.
Select an edge and drag. You will see
a yellow line appear, this is not actually
an isoparm... it's just a marker indicating
where you want to put an isoparm. Holding
down the shift button you can insert
as many yellow lines as you need.
After
you have created 8 evenly spaced yellow
lines, you need to create isoparms out
of them. To do this, simply go to edit
nurbs>insert isoparms
and the information will be added for
you.
When
you are done repeat this step for the
lower lip as well.
Finally
we have a surface for the inside of
the mouth. The next thing we need to
do is convert it to polygons so that
we can attach it to the rest of the
head. To do this select your nurbs surface,
then go to modify>convert>nurbs
to polygons and open the options dialog
box.
Under
"Type" select quads
Under
"Tesselation Method" select general
In
the Initial Tesselation Controls section...
for
"U Type" select "Per Span # of Iso Params"
for
"Number U" select "1"
for
"V Type" select "Per Span # of Iso Params"
for
"Number V" select "1"
Then
press the tesselate button in the lower
right to convert it to polys.
Now
that you have a polygon version of your
mouth you can delete the other nurbs
components used to make this surface.
Before
you can connect the two shapes into
a single mesh you should snap the verticies
of the inner mouth shape to those of
the mouth on the head. Go into component
mode and select one of the verts of
the inner mouth edge. Holding down V
for vertex snap move it to the corresponding
vert on the head shape. Repeat this
step untill both edges are perfectly
lined up.
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Now
that you have both edges lined, up the
first step is to combine your geometry.
Select both pieces then go to polygon>combine
to join them. This will make
Maya treat your 2 pieces of geomety
as one piece. However, there still is
a border edge seperating the 2 pieces.
This will be evident when you go to
smooth your mesh. If there is a border
edge a huge seam will appear.
To
view your border edge, go to display>custom
polygon display and open the options
dialog box. In the "Highlight" section,
check border edges and in the "Border
Width" section, put the slider to 5.
Click apply and close. This will draw
your border edge a little thicker than
the other edges to help you see what
your doing when you start to merge edges.
The
next thing you're going to want to do
is merge your border edges together. To
do this, select your mesh and go to edit
polygons>merge multiple edges
and open the options dialog box.. Set
your threshold to .01. This is important
because if you set this number too high,
it can merge your mouth shut. Press apply
to merge edges. If there are some edges
that didn't merge try setting it to .02
and go up from there until all your mouth
edges are merged.
If
your mouth didn't merge at all... you
might have your normals flipped. If this
is the case, go into component mode and
select one face from either the head or
the inside of the mouth, then go to edit
polygons>normals>reverse
and open the options dialog box. Set the
mode to "reverse and propogate", then
hit apply. This will flip the normals
on the offending section, then you should
be able to merge your seams.
When
you are done you should have a single
piece of geometry with no seam.
(go to edit nurbs> attach
surface) attach them together. Repeat
this step until you have a single solid
nurbs surface.
and the information will be added for
you.
to join them. This will make
Maya treat your 2 pieces of geomety
as one piece. However, there still is
a border edge seperating the 2 pieces.
This will be evident when you go to
smooth your mesh. If there is a border
edge a huge seam will appear.
and open the options dialog box.. Set
your threshold to .01. This is important
because if you set this number too high,
it can merge your mouth shut. Press apply
to merge edges. If there are some edges
that didn't merge try setting it to .02
and go up from there until all your mouth
edges are merged.
and open the options dialog box. Set the
mode to "reverse and propogate", then
hit apply. This will flip the normals
on the offending section, then you should
be able to merge your seams.