Hello there, welcome to this video! Let's see in a short time everything
you need to know to start using Autodesk Maya 2017!
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Autodesk Maya is a software used to make 3D graphics and animations
by using a simple direct interface. In this beginner tutorial we will
see the most important tools to create a basic project, but consider that
you may need more practice and experience to make more complex ones.
Maya has several kinds of objects and tools, used to build a complete
custom 2D or 3D model, all listed right above your main workspace. Let's
start with the 2D tools.
To draw basic 2D objects, also called NURBS, you have to use the tools
under the Curves/Surfaces tab. Hover on a tool button to know its
function, and click on it to drop the respective object. For example, the
NURBS Circle drops a circle, whereas the NURBS Square drops a square. But
if you choose the EP Curve Tool, you can draw a custom curve, by fixing
points and nodes. You can either click once on your workspace to fix a
point, or click and hold on it to check a preview of the curve, and
release the click to drop the curve shape. If you choose the Pencil Curve
Tool, you will draw freehand by clicking and dragging on your workspace.
These 2D curves always lay on the ground plane, which is the plane
indicated by the two X and Z axis, as you can see from the cartesian
system in the bottom left corner.
To draw precisely, set your project preview carefully. Use your mouse
wheel to zoom in and out. Hold ALT down and click and drag to rotate the
project in 3D. Hold ALT down and click and hold on your mouse wheel to
enable the Pan tool, used to adjust the workspace centre (or target).
Maya can use snappings to make drawings easier, through the several
Snapping tools right above. You can snap your pointer to the workspace
grids, curves or points. In this way, you won't need to be very precise
at picking the right points or taking the right measurements.
If you make a mistake on anything, use CTRL+Z to undo your latest action.
Besides simple 2D curves that lay on a 2D ground plane, you can also drop
2D objects like the surfaces. These indeed are 2D objects without any
volume, that occupy all three space dimensions, so the X and the Z axes,
indicating length and width, but also the Y axis, indicating the height.
All surfaces tools are in the right section of the Curves/Surfaces tab.
Basically, there are two main ways to create a surface. One is to use
ready templates, like Spheres, Cubes, Cylinders and so on. Just click
once on the respective tool, and these are dropped in the centre of your
workspace. Other tools are able to create custom surfaces with a more
complex shape, by selecting one or more 2D existing curves first. For
example, the Revolve tool creates a surface by revolving a 2D path around
the Y axis. The Planar tool creates a surface by selecting and covering
any custom 2D closed curve. The Extrude tool creates a conductor surface
by selecting a closed curve to take as a constant section, and another
open curve to use as main direction.
All surfaces do not have any volume. To create 3D solids with volume, you
have to use the drawing tools under the Polygons tab. These tools drop a
regular shape on your workspace, like a Sphere, a Cube, a Cylinder or a
Cone. Then, starting from these basic shapes, you can realize custom
shapes as you like. Let's see shortly how to do so.
Inside Maya there are different ways to edit a system: you can edit a
single object as it is, or you can work with multiple objects at the
same time. Even more, you can choose to edit either of the object
subcomponents, like vertices, sides or faces. For this reason, you have
to know how to use the selection tools inside Maya.
The selection tools are located on the far left. The first one is called
Select tool, and selects one object per time by clicking on them. This
will be highlighted in green color. Click outside to deselect.
Also, if you click and drag with the Select tool, you will create a
selection area, that is used to select all objects that fall inside it.
This allows you to select more objects at the same time, in order to edit
all of them in the same way while using any editing tool.
You also have other two selection tools more below. The Lasso tool
selects objects by using a freehand selection area. Whereas, the Paint
Selection tool works just with the object subcomponents, so with its
vertices, edges and faces. These are all selected as you brush on them,
with a radius indicated in red on the pointer.
Once the object, group of objects or subcomponents are selected, you
can start editing them by using the features and the tools we are going
to see.
Let's suppose to select a whole single object. You can use CTRL+X to cut
or remove the object, and CTRL+C and CTRL+V to copy and paste it.
If you enable the Move tool, a cartesian system appears on the object
itself. Each arrow represents the respective axis direction it refers to.
So, if you click and drag on the blue arrow, you will move along the Z
axis only. You can also move along a plane, by clicking and dragging from
the colored squares, or move completely freely by clicking and dragging
from the central square.
If you enable the Rotate tool, you will be able to 3D rotate your object
respect to the different cartesian axes, depending on the color chosen.
Use the external light blue circle to rotate with respect to your own point of
view on the project.
If you enable the Scale tool, you can scale the object towards any
direction. If you want to scale the object without deforming it, just
drag from the central yellow cube.
Each of these tools seen can be adjusted through the Tool Settings panel
that you can open through its button in the top right corner.
It is quite different working with a whole object (as seen), or its
inner subcomponents. In fact, if you try to move or rotate the object
subcomponents, you will be able to deform the object and especially
customize its shape as you like most, by applying the editing tools on
them. You can manage the object subcomponents through the Modeling
Toolkit panel on the right. Here you can choose to work with the whole
object, its single vertices, its single sides, or its single faces. Check
how the selection becomes blue when you select any of the object
subcomponents. Once the kind of subcomponent is fixed, use the selection
tools to select the right ones, and then start editing!
Depending on the kind of object selected, you can use other advanced
editing tools available inside Maya. For example, if you have a 2D curve
selected, you can use all the advanced editing tools under the Curves
section. So if you use the Curve Editing tool, you can edit the curve
just made and, in case this is linked to any surface, this will be
updated live. If you have selected a Polygon, you can use Smooth to
increase the number of subcomponents of the object, in order to make it
smoother and so to edit it more precisely. Use Bevel Components to add
bevel on the contours. Consider that all these advanced editing tools
are related to the right kind of object, as the color of the tool
suggests.
To customize the shape of solid polygons more efficiently, you can use
the 3D tools under Sculpting. These allow you to edit Polygons more
easily, without using the Polygon subcomponents. Just select the whole
object polygon, enable the sculpting tool interested, and check the Tool
Settings panel to adjust the brush size, hardness and style. Then just
click and drag to apply the tool on the object. In case the tool does not
work, make sure to have selected an object with a sufficient smoothness
level with respect to the brush size and hardness chosen on the tool, as long
as there is enough matching between the brush size and the object size. Otherwise
the tool may not work as expected.
Let's see now the very basis to make a simple animation!
The timeline to which all the animations do refer in time, is right below
your workspace. Time is divided into several frames, one after another,
that can be played in sequence by using the player on the right.
In short, animations on an object work by using keys or keyframes. These
are fixed points on your timeline that do save the object characteristics,
such as attributes, size, position and even effects. In this way, if you
place two of these keyframes, one after another, an animation is made,
which passes from the state saved by the first keyframe to the state
of the second one. Plus, the distance between the two keyframes does
fix the animation speed between the two. The farer the keyframes are,
the longer the animation will be.
To apply animation, select the object to animate, fix the frame where
you want the animation to start, and press the S key from your keyboard.
This fixes the first keyframe, that will save as state the actual
attributes your object has at the moment. Then fix the timeline playhead
on the frame where you want the animation to end, and then edit the
object. A new keyframe will be automatically added, and saves the final
object characteristics that you have reached. If you play the system, the
animation is made between the two different states.
If you make a mistake, and you need to remove a keyframe, simply place the
playhead on the keyframe, right-click and go to Cut.
If the animation is too short in time, just enlong the timeline by
typing the number of the maximum frames on the right.
Of course, each object on the project has independent animations, so an
independent set of keyframes each. But still, they do share the same
project timeline of course. Even more, animations can be applied on
object subcomponents as well, in order to edit your object shape in time!
The animation is always made by frames. This is then converted in time
by using a conversion factor in frames per second (fps), that you can
fix by going to Animation preferences, and then to Time Slider.
Once your project is made, you can save it by going to File and then to
Save Scene As... These projects are saved in a .mb format, and can be
opened anytime.
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