Introduction to Maya - Modeling Fundamentals Vol 2
This course will look in the fundamentals of modeling in Maya with an emphasis on creating good topology. It's aimed at people that have some modeling experience in Maya but are having trouble with complex objects.
# 1 09-03-2009 , 07:49 PM
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Room Modeling

Hi all,
I wanted to model a room with furniture inside. I was able to model the walls, door and window,but when it comes to getting inside the room I couldn't. How can I access the interior part of the cube(room) so that I can add a simple table inside it. This might be a silly question, but I'm a beginner and I'm stacked for days now.Please help me.

# 2 09-03-2009 , 09:14 PM
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Welcome to SM. Though. I don't quite understand, what do you mean you" couldn't get inside the room"? Do you mean navigating in 3D space?


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# 3 10-03-2009 , 01:07 AM
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Try going into Wireframe mode (hit 4) or scaling all of the objects in the scene really large so that you can easily zoom inside the cube, or go into X-ray mode, or cut off a face of the cube, or just delete the cube and make 3 thin cubes as walls...

You've got a lot of options here, if I understand the question.


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# 4 10-03-2009 , 03:37 AM
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I would create a layer in the layer editor (check help file for info on using layers). Then I would put the room (walls, floor, etc) on a layer so that I could turn off/on the layer when needed.

Other than that, I would just zoom in until I was inside the room.


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# 5 10-03-2009 , 03:45 AM
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Gect sorry for the confusion, what I meant I couldn't add objects inside the room as I wanted because it's already closed with the walls(it has only a door).

Ajmooch has understood my question though.Just now I'll give it a shot.But it would be great if you told me how to get into the Xray modeuser added image..
Thank You!!

# 6 10-03-2009 , 04:11 AM
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Ah I see. I'd use layers as suggested, that way you can template the walls so you can use them as guides without them actually getting in the way or being edited. And this is where you find xray mode -->

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# 7 13-03-2009 , 10:30 AM
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View Port

Layer worked perfectly, but I get another problem related to view port. When I try to get an object close to the screen, it goes away to the sides (getting away from the screen).
Second one is, my front and top view change simultaneously. Being in the Top view I was rotating the object to get its bottom view.I think during this time I did messy operations, now when I try to get the Top view to what it was at the beginning, the Front view also changes just the same with the things I do in the Top view.
Perfecto and GecT ,Thanks!!

# 8 13-03-2009 , 10:44 AM
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what you do mean 'it goes away to the sides'? post a screen shot... user added image
you're probably scrolling up too close and the camera is intersecting with your object... just don't scroll up so close

if i read your second 'problem' right then it's not a problem
when you rotate your object in one view of course it's going to rotate in the other views or the other views are showing you the object incorrectly...

if you rotate an object to see the bottom of it you can just rotate it along the x or z axis 180 degrees (you can do this accurately in the channel box on the right there)

if you want to return it back to its original orientation then assuming you haven't done a freeze transformations after you've rotated it you can just go Modify > Reset Transformations




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# 9 13-03-2009 , 12:11 PM
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Thanks. For the second question, how can I get the top view show the TOP of the object and the front View the FRONT side of the object because right now both of them show just the same part of the object.

As for the first one, here is a screen shot.It shows when I scroll to get it closer. If I didn't get it close enough it will appear so small and selecting faces or edges will be difficult, and when I get it more close it disappears off the screen.

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# 10 13-03-2009 , 01:08 PM
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Try selecting your object in "Object Mode", then press the letter f. It should zoom in on your object and center it on your screen. If you still have problems getting close enough, then you might need to adjust your camera's attributes (Near clipping plane, and Far clipping plane).

Other than that, I'm not really sure.

Edit: Also, You are trying to view the top of your object in the perspective view pane, have you tried to view the top of your object in the top view pane? In your screenshot, you have the translate button selected in your toolbar on the left side of your screen. 7 buttons below that one, is the 4 view pane button. Click it, then put your cursor over the view you want, then press the space bar.


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Last edited by Perfecto; 13-03-2009 at 01:10 PM.
# 11 13-03-2009 , 11:25 PM
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oh right, i think i get what you mean now!

for your first query you can do as perfecto said, and select an object (in object mode) and hit f on your keyboard (that will focus you on whatever is selected, it also changes the camera's point of interest to that object to, so when you rotate (orbit?) the camera it will rotate around that object

you can move the camera by holding down alt and middle mouse button.

if you haven't done so already then check out the Zoom, pan and roll: Navigation essentials video... it appears in the dialog that first pops up when you start up Maya
if you had clicked the 'do not show this at start up' checkbox then just click Help > Learning Movies

if you didn't know how to navigate around your scene then i'll assume you moved away from the center (origin) of your scene by fluke user added image



in addition to Perfecto's edit note you can tap space bar anytime and you'll switch between the last two views. By default it's the enlarged perspective view and the four pane view




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# 12 14-03-2009 , 03:00 PM
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Thanks Perfecto and Chirone.I've not tried what you said because I can only access Maya in my college's lab. How much would the proprietary Maya software cost?May be I should try to have it on my laptop so I can work all the time. But that's if it is not expensive. I've browsed the net, and it was too expensive, so just wanted to know what I read was right.

# 13 14-03-2009 , 06:26 PM
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I'm not exactly sure, but I think the educational version of Maya complete is around $200 USD.


Don't be satisfied with what you can do but rather strive to do the things you can't do!
Exceed Expectations!
# 14 15-03-2009 , 06:53 PM
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Perfecto, that's not comparable with what i come across browsing the net - almost 6000$. May be i have seen a price for different version.

As usual another beginner questionuser added image
Every time i used Insert Edge Loop Tool, i'm not able to create a polygon or nurbs primitives afterwards.
Lets say I had a cube and i Interted edges using Insert Edge Loop Tool to that cube. Then, when i want to add more cube to my scene Create->PolygonPrimitive->Cube does nothing(it doesn't create a cube as it is supposed to do).Why is that? Help!

# 15 15-03-2009 , 06:59 PM
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is your original cube in the centre of the grid? if it is then the other cube will be created inside it... perhaps thats your problem.

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