There
are a variety of techniques you can use to create 3D polygonal models in
Maya:
Primitives are
three-dimensional geometric shapes you can create in Maya. The primitive
shapes available include spheres, cubes, cylinders, cones, planes,
and many others. You can modify the attributes of basic primitives to
make them more or less complex. You can also split, extrude, merge,
or delete the various components on the primitive’s polygon mesh
in order to modify the primitive’s shape. Many 3D modelers begin
with polygon primitives as a basic starting point for their models.
This technique is referred to as primitive-up modeling.
Individual
polygons can be created using the Create Polygon Tool.
This tool lets you place individual vertices in the scene view to
define the shape of an individual polygon face. You can then split
or extrude the polygon face to create additional polygon faces that
are attached to the first one and build your polygon mesh in that
fashion. This Create Polygon Tool technique
can be useful when you need to closely match a particular shape
or outline. For example, if you needed to model a particular 3D logotype
for an animated logo sequence or trace the outline of a 2D image using
a bitmap image imported onto an image plane as a reference.
Polygons
can also be created by converting an existing NURBS or subdivision
surface models using the Convert features
found under the Modify menu.
