This week’s model challenge was a table, this at first sounded simple enough, however, the real challenge came in with the legs of the table, where I needed to start thinking outside the box. Initially, we were all given the exact same image to work with, which would give us a good base to start from when creating the table.

So naturally, I started with just a simple square which I then adjusted to be of a similar length to the photo, of course, I’d need to adjust the size of the table in future to match the rest of the features.

One thing that I noticed helped with models is the Subdivisions tab, this would allow me to add on more edges to the model, which in turn would help give it more detail, and make it easier for me to manipulate and create a more detailed model.

I noticed in some of the photos of the table that the edge of the table had a smooth to it, and I felt that recreating that would add a little more to the model, however, due to the way Maya works, and how much I knew of Maya, it would be near impossible to recreate this same effect on each side of the table, so I opted to do this on one side, and then cut the model up and mirror each section to recreate the look in the images.

It was at this point that I created a second similar-looking rectangle underneath the existing model, one problem being that due to the lack of photos that I had to work with, I couldn’t see how far up to extrude this new rectangle, but I put it to where it began to clip through the existing tabletop and then pulled it down, creating this look.

Next point was to create the separate table legs, I started with the top and created several rectangles, and adjusted them to be roughly in scale with the table in the picture and the table model that I had created so far.

Once I had scaled the cuboids to the correct size, I could adjust them later, but once I had them correct, I then duplicated them, and using the bottom view in Maya lined them up with the bottom of the table and then proceeded to move them into position.

Starting with the legs I created a cylinder, and the did the same subdivisions as I had done on the tabletop, however, I knew I only needed to do it on 2 of the axis, this would give me less to worry about when I did that I then fixed the height to a rough height similar to the table in the picture

Whilst experimenting with the cylinder, I quickly realised that creating the bulges in the picture would be difficult when it began to affect the rest of the model instead of just the intended points, so instead, I opted to create a base where I could edit and transform to suit the several different designs on the leg, to create this I used face mode to make the top and bottom smaller, whilst taking the sides of the cylinder and making them bigger, and moving them down to create this simple effect.

I knew that id still need to manipulate the main model, and I’d need to extend or shrink it depending on how I felt the model looked compared to the tabletop. I then duplicated the ball and moved them into place to something similar to the photos, for the actual leg itself, I needed to bulge out the top to create that slimming look going down 

Afterwards, I adjusted the ball models to make them more accurate, and then duplicated them, and using the same process with the other cubes, I moved them into place and finished the table.

Overall I’m very pleased with this project! I feel as though I learnt a lot from the last project and as such, I was able to put my knowledge into this table and complete it to a high standard.