Maya Workshops

I'm glad to have the chance to refamiliarise myself with Maya at the start of my second year of studies. Although I had a helpful introduction last year with the castle design, it has been a while since that 3D modelling project so frankly I feel like I'm starting from scratch again.

1: Table, chairs and fruit bowl

I felt clueless to begin with, not even sure how to move or shape a basic cube. It's disconcerting to find myself so lost. Usually I can rely on my instincts with physical materials like paint or clay, whereas with computer work there tends to be a correct and incorrect button to press.

Thankfully, I soon found the basic keyboard shortcuts and mouse buttons to get going, and within half an hour I was back to understanding the tools I had learned previously.

I usually keep a notebook handy when I'm working. Just for my own reference, I am leaving some essential shortcuts here:

W: Move
E: Rotate
R: Scale
Alt + mouse: change perspective on the object
Shift + left click: select/deselect multiple faces/edges/vertices

It is exciting to rediscover just how many shapes it is possible to make with my very limited knowledge. Simple tools like 'extrude' and 'bevel' can turn a mere cube into a distinct chair shape in a matter of minutes. Thinking through where to move a part of the object (or several parts at once), and scaling, can bring convincing results. I can feel the potential already with this Ikea-like basic furniture, to create a scene ready for storytelling.

This image shows my fruit bowl halfway through modelling. It's amazing how starting with a basic cylinder can end up with an increasingly specific bowl shape. I suppose it's not dissimilar to throwing a lump of clay onto a potters' wheel and knowing how to transform it into a bowl or vase.

In fact there are benefits to this virtual process - at one point I thought I had ruined the shape by making the exterior too rounded while the inside was still relatively blocky. In real life I would have put a hole through the sides but here I could move the vertices to the right position and nothing was lost.

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2: Pair of glasses

The next workshop was about creating a simple 'Harry Potter' style pair of glasses. We were shown how to make a bend in an object and also how to mirror an object across the grid for faster results, working both halves in tandem.

Figuring out the how to bend a form was difficult and may still require some trial and error before I can implement the tool confidently. It is something I will need to get to grips with if I am to construct more organic shapes.