Maya Fundamentals
Getting Started with Maya
Starting Maya
Getting help
On-line
documentation
Alias web site, tutorials,
tips, techniques
The
Workspace
Menu
sets
F2 -
Animation
F3 -
Modeling
F4 -
Dynamics
F5 -
Rendering
Menu entries, menu option settings
Many
commands offer user-specified options and settings
Tear-away
menus
Shortcuts
(i.e. Save scene: CTRL-s, Help: F1)
Status
line
Commands
and settings represented as icons
Can expand
and collapse grouped sections
Shelf
Commonly
used tools, current tool
Commands,
operations as icons
Can
create customized shelves
Tool
Box
“QWERTY”
transformation tools
Selection,
Lasso selection
Translate,
Rotate, Scale
Last
tool used
Quick
layouts
Iconic
representation of panels and layouts
Each
panel contains different “view” of scene
Multiple
panels create different layouts
Layer
editor
Layers
used to group objects for viewing/rendering/templates
Workspace
View
scene from selectable panels
Panels
can be arranged in different layouts
Channel
Box/Attribute Editor
Provides
access to values representing scene elements
Timeline
(animation controls)
Time
slider, current frame, playback
Range
slider, start/end frames (scene, playback)
Auto
key setting, Animation preferences
Command
Line
Enter
MEL commands (Maya Embedded Language)
Virtually
every command can be executed with MEL language
System
feedback line
Help
Line
Useful
information, instructions, system information
Display
(Display->UI
Elements)
Selecting
specific elements
Hiding
all elements
Hiding
menu bars in main window and panel (Window->Settings/Preferences->Preferences)
Question:
Why might we want to hide all user interface elements?
Hotbox
Press
and hold spacebar
UI
elements as a semi-transparent pop-up menu set
Useful
when hiding UI elements and faster access
Completely
customizable
Access
to main menus and marking menus
Marking
menus
UI
elements as a pop-up menu set
Also
customizable
XYZ coordinate space
Reference
system to position and locate elements (i.e. model, camera, light)
Three
dimensional space represented by three orthogonal axes (meeting at right
angles)
X
axis – representing width, horizontal position
Y
axis – representing height, vertical position
Z
axis – representing depth, into/out of screen
Maya
assists in identifying each axis with separate color
Red – X axis
Green – Y axis
Blue
– Z axis
Axes
originate at common point called the origin; represents 0.0,0.0,0.0 in X, Y, and Z
Axes
also called “world axes” or “global axes”;
describes position relative to the “world”
Objects
contain their own coordinate axis called “local axes”;
describes position relative to itself
Graphical
representations of the world space positive axes can be viewed in two
ways
Display->Heads
Up Display->Origin Axis (world axes drawn at origin in world)
Display->Heads
Up Display->ViewAxis (world axes drawn at bottom-left
corner of view window)
Units and Coordinates
XYZ space
divided into units for measurement and positioning
In
virtual, simulated space, units can represent anything we like (i.e.
centimeters, yards, …)
If
working from exact blueprints or architectural plans, can specify units
Windows->Settings/Preferences->Preferences,
Settings, Working Units
Units
are represented in a plane on the XZ axis used as a “ground plane”
reference
Grid
options including number of unit lines to show, length of plane, etc… (Display->Grid options box)
Positions
are measured in units from the origin termed coordinates
Positions
are represented using this XYZ coordinate system as a triplet (X, Y, Z)
(1.2,
1.9, -2.6)
1.2 units in X from the origin
1.9 units in Y from the origin
-2.6 units in Z from origin
Cameras and Views
By
default, four cameras in different positions and projection type are create in
any scene
Orthographic
Projection - three
cameras represent the view of your scene in orthographic projection
Scene
elements are projected onto a 2D view plane using parallel projection lines
Elements
“farther away” from the 2D plane are same size as elements closer
Useful
for exact positioning
Top
view
(“birds-eye”, views from top looking down on XZ plane)
Front
view (views from
front looking forward at XY plane)
Side
view (views from
side looking to the side at YZ plane)
Perspective
Projection - one
camera simulating “real-world” viewing
Scene
elements are projected onto a 2D view plane using lines converging to a point
Elements
“farther away” from the 2D plane are smaller than elements closer
Creates
sense of “foreshortening”
Useful
for simulating real-world viewing projection
Perspective
View (views world with foreshortening)
Showing
cameras
Cameras
(including the default cameras) can be shown in views
Display->Show->Cameras,
Display->Hide-Cameras
Three orthographic
cameras (top, side, front)
Perspective camera
Moving
cameras
Changing
camera position and orientation changes view of scene
Alt+Left Mouse Button: Tumbling (rotates camera
around origin)
Alt+Middle Mouse Button: Tracking (translates
camera up/down, right/left in view plane)
Alt+Left and Middle Mouse Buttons: Dolly
(translates camera in/out of view plane)
Previous
and next camera views can be toggled using [ and ] keys
Saving
camera views
Camera
views can be saved by creating bookmarks for later retrieval
In
selected camera view panel, View->Bookmarks->Edit
Bookmarks…
Bookmarked
view is displayed and can be retrieved, View->Bookmarks->Edit
Bookmarks…