I initially found Maya intimidating, however, once I followed Alec’s cactus character tutorial I found I began to settle into it.
I completed my cactus model with a newfound understanding of Maya that I was able to bring in to class for Weeks 1-2.
Having moved from another course, my first day was exciting and intriguing. We mostly spent it overviewing the model, but we also built a ‘table and chairs’ model using basic Maya polygon primitives. This further enhanced my understanding of the shortcuts, specifically the QWERTY-based ones.
Maya scene: Stools and table.mb
In Week 2, modelling became more complex and I modelled a milkshake, vase and flower.
Maya scene: Milkshake.ma
This was a good introduction to extrusion and how impactful it can be when creating dynamic, dense objects with more complex forms.
Some key things I learned were to always Delete by Type, Type History as well as Freeze Transformations. I assume this comes in useful when Mapping and Animating.
I also looked at modelling a TIE fighter and X-Wing, but at this stage I wanted to focus on developing more basic modelling skills (going to come back to this after I finish my 3D object!).