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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

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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.

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20250925_154738.jpg

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.

UV mapping

I then learnt how to add an automatic UV map to each object. It was difficult to adjust to the right fitting map, but the chequerboard view helps to see if everything is relatively at the right scale. I found a suitable leather texture and wood texture for the legs and fit the PNG map accordingly on Photoshop.

Here's the on-screen view of the table and chairs. I could see that the edges near the top of the chair were looking too harsh so I found how to soften the edges to give a better illusion of how light should hit curved leather.

table set finished, softened edges.jpg

Renders

table and chairs 1.png
table and chairs 3.png
table and chairs 2.png

I never seem to judge the harshness or subtlety of light on my first attempt at rendering, so I need to adapt to the disparity between the screen and render view.

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.

20251002_145154.jpg

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.

Renders

glasses render 1.png

I am always surprised with how well the renders can come out, considering how basic the shapes might be. With these glasses, I only used a solid colour and glossy reflective 'phong' texture. When light is introduced, it sets an indefinable mood that really brings everything to life.

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