This week was my first time ever using Maya. I learned a few short cuts such as using “W” to move objects, “E” to rotate them and “R” to scale them. I also learned how to group objects together and how to move the stage using the right, middle and left mouse keys. We started off by creating a circular table using cylinders and 4 chairs using 1 cylinder, which I duplicated 4 times using shift and move to create the legs, and a cube for the seat. At first, I found Maya very intimidating. However, as we started with something simple, it was less scary the further on I got with the task.
I then created another table and chairs model, this time, giving the chairs a back to them by stretching cubes and cloning them. To create the stand for the table, I changed the size of the bottom face of the cylinder, giving it a wide base. After I finished this, I decided to create a fruit bowl to push myself a little further, allowing me to learn more about the software. The same way I widened the base of the table, I widened the top of a cylinder, then moved the centre vertex down to create a curved bowl shape.
For homework, we were tasked with modelling challenges. I created another table and 4 chairs, this time using only cubes. To create a martini glass, I used 3 cylinders and moved the edges and vertices of 2 of them to create cone shapes. Considering this week was my first time using Maya, I am happy with what I have created and haven’t found anything too overwhelming so far.
