1. Introduction to
3D Art and Animation
Introduction to 3D Space, the Maya
Interface, and Modeling
2. Welcome to Autodesk Maya
Maya is one of the most commonly used 3D art and animation software
in the film and game industries. It is node-based and so highly flexible
for programmers to modify in Melscript or Python. For artists it provides
an extraordinary range of tools for 3D Modeling, Surfacing (textures +
lighting), Rigging, Animation, Rendering, and Visual Effects.
DOWNLOAD: You can get a free, full student copy of this program
using your .EDU email address at Students.Autodesk.com. Create a
student account and keep the download window open for the entire
installation process! Maya works best on a system that is less than 3
years older than the version number.
3-BUTTON MOUSE: this program is intended to be used with a 3-
button mouse, and you will usually need to treat the middle scroll-wheel
as a button.
3. QUICK INTERFACE OVERVIEW (see image, next slide):
Maya’s top MENU changes based on the chosen MODULE (upper left
rolldown). Choose “Modeling” (called “Polygons” in older versions) for
modeling menus like Mesh, Edit Mesh, Mesh Tools, Mesh Display, UVs etc.
To set preference or activate plugins, look under the Window menu.
The SHELVES below the menus contain quick creation options. Use the
Polygons shelf for modeling in this course. These items are also to be
found in the Create menu.
The Viewports are the work area in the center, with their own menu
options. You can turn off the Grid under “Show” and make objects see-
through by hitting Shading > X-Ray. Under Panels you can change the
view to Perspective, a flat Front/Top/Side, or a camera you create.
The vertical Left bar contains Transforms, recent Tools, and viewport
configuration presets. LeftDoubleClick any of these for options.
The bottom contains animation controls.
The right side is the Panels, including:
• Channel Box: enter basic transforms on a selected object
• Attribute Editor: dive into that object’s node parameters
• Modeling Toolkit: access to useful tools like MultiCut and Extrude.
Maya Interface 1: Quick Overview
5. Maya Interface 3: Viewport/Object Controls
Note the upper-right Perspective (Persp) viewport, meaning distant objects
appear smaller. Use a 3-button mouse, hold down [Alt] + a button to change
the view (NOTE: treat middle as BUTTON to Pan the camera, not as a wheel):
Change the Viewport Camera Location and Angle:
Orbit: [Alt]+LeftClickDrag mouse.
Pan: [Alt]+MiddleBUTTONclickDrag
Zoom: [Alt]+RightClickDrag (choppy zoom = scroll the middle wheel).
Change the Viewport Camera Type:
In the last viewport menu Panels, choose an Orthographic (top, front, side,
bottom) or Persp view. Change back to original Persp view for now.
Create Geometry from the Polygon Shelf (top). Start with a box.
Change the display mode of the selected viewport with number keys:
[4] = Wireframe, [5] = Surface, [6] = Textures, [7] = Lighting.
6. Maya Interface 4: Viewport/Object Controls
We use Object Transforms to change objects we
create: [w]= move, [e] = rotate, [r]= scale
MOVE: Gizmo has 3 arrows/axis for up-down (Y=
green), side-to-side (X=red), and forward-back
(Z=blue). LeftClickDrag an axis to move the object
in that direction (selected=yellow). You can also
LeftClickDrag the blue square at the gizmo center
to move in an orthographic view (top, front, side),
but use axis-arrows for precision in Persp view.
ROTATE: 3 circles making a gimbal ball. Each circle
goes around an axis, for example the green circle
at the equator is around the vertical Y axis.
SCALE: Click the center block (light blue, or yellow
when selected) to scale UNIFORMLY (equally in
all dimensions, no distorting). Click a single axis to
scale NON-UNIFORMLY (to stretch or squash the
object only in that direction).
7. Maya Practice 1: Make a Tower
Tap the SpaceBar to see all four Viewports: Top, Persp, Front and
Side (Right). You can hover the mouse over any of these and tap
spacebar again to fill the screen with that view.
Make a bunch of objects from the polygon shelf and use
multiple views to help you stack them into a tower.
Consider putting them all in
the same place in the Top
View (upper left), and then
raising them above each
other in the Front (lower left)
or Side View (low right).
Have fun-- rotate the objects
in interesting directions to
make them feel like they are
just barely balancing!
8. Maya: Change the Pivot
By default, the pivot location on most objects is in their center. This means if
you rotate an object, it rotates around the center. If you want to rotate
around a side, like opening and closing a door, you need to move the pivot:
1. hit [d] to get the special gizmo for pivot changing, grab an arrow and
move the pivot where you want it to go.
2. As always, orbit around your view ([Alt]+LeftClickDrag) to see your object
from multiple directions and check your placement.
3. Hit [d] again to return to the normal transform gizmos (it is a toggle)
This can also be used to scale an object sitting on the ground so that it “scales
upward” and stays on the ground, rather than scaling outward and needing to
be repositioned: hit [d] and move the pivot to the base of the object.
When you Combine or Boolean objects, the resulting new pivot is usually in
the world center (0/0/0), regardless of where the object is located.
To quickly put the pivot in the center of a selected object, go to the Modify
menu and choose Center Pivot. The you can hit [d] to further adjust.
9. Maya: Object Inputs and Duplicate
Create a box (Polygon Shelf), stay selected, see the Channel Box (right panel)
ENTER TRANSFORMS: At the top of the Channel Box panel (on the right) note
the Transforms at the top: specific axis channels for Move, Rotate, and Scale.
You can type a value directly into these channels and hit [Return]. You can
also drag dynamically: If you select one or more Channels by name (LeftClick
on the name, or LeftClickDrag to select multiple names), you can then
MiddleMouseClickDrag in the Viewport to scroll through values on those
Channels!
ENTER INPUTS: Scroll down the Channel box to see Inputs. Click the object
name below inputs to open parameters for that object, including size/shape
and subdivisions. Try increasing your box size. Set all subdivisions to 3x3x3, to
cut two lines around the box on every side (see example next screen).
DUPLICATE: To copy an object, select it and hit [Ctrl]+[d] and then use the
Move [w] tool to pull the copy away. Note by default the duplicate lacks the
Input node. You can make a duplicate that also has the Input node by clicking
that option under Edit menu > Duplicate Special (where you can otherwise
create an instance relationship and/or a mirror by setting a scale axis to -1).
11. Maya Component Transforms
ENTER COMPONENT MODE: RightClickHold on a selected object to choose a
component: Vertices, Edges, or Faces. Then select a part of the object and
Transform (Move [w], Rotate [e] or Scale [r]) that part.
SELECT either by clicking-on or selecting-around. You can add to your selection by
holding [Shift] while you click on or select around other parts of the object.
Remove a part from your selection by holding [Ctrl] while clicking on the part.
[Shift]+[Ctrl] while selecting around ensures previously selected areas do not get
deselected, which holding [Shift] alone can do.
NON-UNIFORM FLATTEN: Use Non-Uniform Scale to flatten components: Select a
bunch of vertices and choose the axis that is perpendicular to the flat surface you
want to make. Click and drag that axis to flatten the vertices into a single plane!
SELECT A LOOP OR RING: In Edge component mode, LeftDoubleClick an Edge in
the middle of your box to select the edge loop around the form. To get a ring,
select an Edge, then [Shift]+LeftDoubleClick a parallel Edge. You can also select a
Face and [Shift]+LeftDoubleClick a neighboring Face to get a ring of Faces.
EXIT COMPONENT MODE: To stop working on the components of one object in
order to work on another object, you need to get out of component mode and go
to Object Mode: RightClickHold on the object to choose Object Mode, and then
LeftClick at empty space in the Viewport to completely deselect that object.
12. Maya Modeling Tools 1
MODELING TOOLKIT: Switch from Channel Box to the Modeling Toolkit, upper right.
At the top, easy buttons for choosing components (Vertex, Edges, Face) or Object
Mode. Below are lots of useful tools for revising your model:
EXTRUDE: Select one or more Faces, hit Extrude, and pull out new geometry. Transform,
then hit extrude again! Or, select faces and hold [Shift] to drag-Extrude.
CONNECT: Select two or more parallel Edges, hit Connect to draw a line perpendicular
between them. In parameters below, change number of lines drawn. If you select 2
vertices, Connect will draw a line between.
MULTICUT: Cut lines anywhere on your model. Must END on a line or vertex. Hit [Return]
to end one cut and start the next! Hit [W] to end a cut by switching to the Move tool.
BRIDGE: Select opposite Edges or Faces and create bridging geometry between them.
BEVEL: Select an Edge at a corner to make it many Edges, resulting in a curved corner.
Select the four vertices of a square to make them into 8 vertices in order to extrude a
more rounded shape (circle the square!).
TARGET WELD: Select a Vertex, LeftClickDrag a yellow indicator to a target / destination
vertex, release to snap and weld that Vertex to the destination. Also works with edges!
COMBINE: Select two objects in Object Mode and hit Combine to make them a single
object. Then Bridge Edges/Faces or TargetWeld/Merge Vertices between them!
13. Maya Modeling Tools 2
Important Menu tools (NOTE: Stay in Modeling Module):
Mesh menu:
FILL HOLE (Edges): LeftDoubleClick an Edge of a hole to select hole ring. Hit Fill Hole to
create a polygon connected to all sides. Fails if mesh has interior geo or doubles Vertices.
Edit Mesh menu:
MERGE (Vertices): Weld together all selected vertices within a certain distance
threshold. By default this is set low, perfect for removing doubled vertices caused by
accidental/un-pulled extrusion. Select around all or some vertices and hit Merge.
COLLAPSE (Edges): Turn a selected edge to a vertex, located at the old edge center.
Mesh Tools menu:
CREATE POLYGON: In Front, Top, or Side Viewports, draw the outline of a desired 2d
shape using as few vertices (LeftClicks) as you reasonably can. Hit [Return] to complete
the shape. You can then select the face and extrude!
Mesh Display menu:
SOFTEN/HARDEN (Edges): Select around all edges and hit Soften or Harden edges to
remove or add the appearance of facets or hard seams to your model.
REVERSE (Faces): Select all faces on a black-appearing model to flip “Normals” (Normals
are the direction the surface faces. Should be outward, but can accidentally get flipped,
like a Create Poly extruded in the wrong direction).
15. Maya: How to Fill Holes
3D Modeling is a process of solving problems by combining the
provided tools into techniques. There are many solutions to
most geometry problems, and deciding which to use is
sometimes based on circumstance and sometimes purely by
artist preference. For example here are 3 ways to fix a hole in
your mesh:
FILL HOLE: In Edge Component mode, Double click an edge to
select around the hole, then in the Mesh menu click “Fill Hole.”
Only works on clean geometry.
OR: BRIDGE: Select an Edge on one side of the hole, [Shift]+
select an edge on the opposite side, and hit Bridge.
OR: STRIP MODELING: Select an Edge on one side, hold [Shift]
for Extrude and PULL OUT a plane (dynamic edge extrusion,
called “Strip Modeling”). TargetWeld the new Edge to an Edge on
the opposite side.
16. Maya Practice 2: Make a Chair from Primitives
Make a basic chair with a seat, four
thin legs, and a back support. Arrange
duplicates of a Polygon Box into this
form using the Channel Box, multiple
Viewports, and Transforms (Move,
Rotate, and Scale).
Use Edit > Duplicate Special to turn on
Duplicate Input Graphs so each
duplicate retains inputs.
17. Maya Practice 3a: Extrude a Chair From 1 Box
INPUTS: Create a Box, and in the
Channel Box panel set these Inputs:
Width = 10, Height = 2, Depth = 10
Subdivision Width=3, Subdivision
Height=1, Subdivision Depth=3
ADJUST COMPONENTS: RightClickHold
to choose the Vertex component mode.
In the Top View, select AROUND each
center row of vertices to MOVE it closer
to the side (vertically and horizontally),
in order to make the corner squares
smaller for extruding legs. (You can
alternatively select both center rows
and use a non-uniform scale to push
them away from each other).
18. Maya Practice 3b: Extrude a Chair From 1 Box
EXTRUDE LEGS: In the Persp view switch to Face component
(RightClickHold), orbit to view the bottom ([Alt]+LeftClickDrag), and
select the four bottom corners (Hold [Shift] to add to selection). In
the Modeling Toolkit, hit Extrude once and use the Move tool (W) to
pull the new legs straight down to your desired length.
19. Maya Practice 3c: Extrude a Chair From 1 Box
EXTRUDE BACK POSTS AND BRIDGE: Orbit to view the seat top, select
the back two corner squares, and Extrude the back posts. To make the
back-support between those posts, either Extrude up again or select all
the post vertical Edges and hit Connect to draw the line between them.
Then select the top facing Faces (between the posts) and hit Bridge!
20. Maya Practice 4a: Build a room
Make Walls and Floor out of
thin boxes. Create a window
and a door by arranging the
wall as a few smaller boxes
surrounding a hole instead of
a single big one.
Arrange objects to represent
furniture, getting as detailed
as you can.
To extrude a round shape
from a square (like a round
handle from the cabinet
door), select the vertices of
the square and hit Bevel in the
Modeling Toolkit. This will
split each vertex into at least 2
vertices, and the square
becomes an octagon.
21. Maya Practice 4b: Build a room
FOR HOMEWORK, please
build your room with a floor,
all (four) walls, and a ceiling.
Make these out of boxes and
keep the walls as separate
objects, for easy adjustment
and later texturing.
Windows and doors, as seen
above, can be made by
Moving and Scaling multiple
boxes to fit each other.
Place the ceiling box in its
own Display Layer so it an
easily be made visible/
invisible.
22. Maya Practice 5a: Make a Wooden Dinosaur
With Create Poly we start a model with a
complex shape and Extrude:
1. Start in the Front Viewport.
2. Activate Mesh Tools > Create Polygon.
3. Draw the outline of your dinosaur by
LeftClicking (to make a vertex, immediate
release) and moving the mouse (to choose
the next place to LeftClick).
4. Use as few vertices as possible to outline
the rough form. Go all the way around and
just before you get back to the start hit
[Return] to finish the shape.
5. Make adjustments in the Vertex
Component mode with the Move tool. Use
MultiCut to draw more vertices if desired.
In the Persp Viewport use the Face
component mode to select the entire shape
and Extrude out the form. Go to Object Mode
and you are done making a flat wooden toy
dinosaur!
23. Maya Practice 5b: Make a Wooden Dinosaur
For a more rounded form with all 4 legs, remove the 2
legs, Extrude torso from either side, re-Extrude legs:
1. Use MultiCut or Connect to draw lines between the
two vertices at the top of each leg (on both sides)
to make the legs separate faces from the rest of the
body (note: if these tools are not working, you may
have accidentally extruded multiple times, thus
creating extra vertices. Select around all vertices
and hit Edit Mesh > Merge).
2. In Face mode select legs, hit [Delete], DoubleClick
the hole edges and hit Mesh > Fill Hole.
3. In Vertex mode use MultiCut or Connect to
separate the tail and the neck from the body, then
select the body and Extrude on both sides.
4. At the bottom of your model there are now four
spaces. Extrude the new legs.
5. Use Edge-Connect on the legs to add knees, select
all edges and Mesh Display > Soften Edge.
24. Maya: Organizing Your File
DISPLAY LAYERS: Located at the bottom of the Channel Box. Allow us to store
objects for hiding/ showing and freezing/ unfreezing. Create as many layers as
desired (see create button top of Display Layers rolldown), select one or more
objects and RightClick on the layer to add them.
OUTLINER: One of your panel options is the Outliner, which lists all objects
in your scene alphabetically and hierarchically (child objects appear below
parents). You can open the Outliner in many ways: from the Window
menu, from the Viewport configuration presets at the bottom of the left
Tools panel, or under the Panel menu in any Viewport. To make full use of
this tool, consider how you name your objects.
NAMING: Objects can be named at the top of the Channel Box. Don’t leave
default names on any objects– change them to a relevant name for your
project, and include prefixes for categories.
For example, if you are making a bookshelf with a variety of book sizes,
consider naming the furniture Bookshelf and the books themselves
BookBig, BookWide, etc. so they will be grouped together in the Outliner
(you can also get them to group together by parenting them under the
main object, by dragging them in the Outliner on top of the main object).
Avoid spaces in names (use humpCap notation or underscores _), always
start with a letter, and avoid special characters (like punctuation).
25. Maya: Clean Modeling
BROKEN GEOMETRY (unheigenic, non-modular) tends to not work well. It
breaks tools like MultiCut and selection techniques like loop-selection,
and gives unpredictable or broken results with rendering and animation
(polygons flying everywhere). Practice cleaning up your models!
Always have one or more FACES selected before hitting Extrude. Never
hit Extrude in Object Mode, or you extrude the entire object, with
doubled faces everywhere. If you cannot undo (because you saved/closed
the program) you will likely have to start the model over. Always extrude
with faces selected!
If you Extrude multiple times without pulling out the faces, you are
doubling all of the vertices around those faces. To quickly clean this up,
select the object, RightClickHold for Vertices, select around the entire
mesh, and hit Edit Mesh > Merge (at default threshold, 0.001) to weld the
doubled vertices.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, DELETE HISTORY: With EVERY model: as you edit a
mesh you add HISTORY to it, as seen at the bottom of the Channel Box. If
this history gets too long it can cause Maya to become unstable and crash.
Every hour or so of modeling, select the object and hit Edit > Delete By
Type > History!
