• Particles and Particle Shapes
• Lifespan and Particle Render types
• Emitters and Particle Collisions

This video explains the basics of polygon modeling and how to extrude faces. If you right click on the polygon surface you will see a list of components. Just click on faces and you will now be able to select faces once a face has been selected you can move, rotate, scale or extrude the face. If you are interested in polygon modeling you should look at some of the other videos on our site which highlight some of the newer features in Maya’s Polygon tools.

• Pressing F9 will let you access polygon vertex mode
• Pressing F10 will turn on polygon edge mode
• Pressing F11 will turn on polygon face mode
• If you are extruding multiple faces it is a good idea to turn on Polygons> Tool Options> Keep New Faces Planer

• When working with Sub-divisional (sub-d's) it is important to always try to get as much work done in the low resolution poly proxy mode.
• By adding localized detail in the sub-d model you can avoid having lots of geometry for a small detail
• My personal recommendation when using sub-d's and refining is to not go past level 2 refinement until you are almost done with the model.
• Once you go past two refinements it is really hard to make large changes because of so much detail in the small areas.
• I would use delete history and clean topology to keep the surface light and easy to use.
• When using sub-d's you should split your panel so you have two perspectives and in one panel turn on sub-d's in your view menu and in the other perspective turn off sub-d's so you only see the polygon proxy.
• Pressing 1, 2 or 3 on your keyboard will switch your smoothness of the surface.
• Sub-d's are made up of two types of modes: Poly Proxy Mode and Hierarchy Mode.

This video shows how you can take two NURBS curves and Extrude one along the other to create a surface that matches the profile curve. With this technique, you can modify the surface by making adjustments to the original curves because of history.

• When using extrudes be sure to double check your settings.
• Choose your profile curve (the curve which represents the cross section of the tube) first.
• Then select your path curve (the curve which represents the overall shape and direction of the curve).

• You can use any fonts you like for the text tool and it can be a useful tool to get simple shapes inside of Maya.
• Check out some of the ding fonts on your system and on the net to expand your library of shapes.
• When creating lofted shapes from your curves, many people like to convert to polygons so each face can be textured for a true bevel look to the text.

This tutorial will take you through the process of creating a closed curve by stitching two halves of the curve together. This curve can then be used to cut a hole through a NURBS surface using a trim.

• When creating a trim it is very important to remember that although it might look like the surface is tearing render it and make sure it is not torn.
• When combining curves together it is important to first rebuild them and make sure the directions of the curves are in a circular pattern
• If you try and attach the curves and close them and they are overlapped you might end up with a loop

History can also cause problems further down the pipeline so we also learn how to delete the history on an object and why deleting history is important. This also shows how to look at Up and Downstream Connections in the Hypergraph to see the connections between various nodes that make up an object.

• By deleting the history on an object, you delete the input nodes that make up the final surface.
• Sometimes it is a good practice to delete the history on an object once you are finished modeling it.
• DO NOT delete the history of an object after it is bound or has deformations on it because it will disconnect the deformation.

This lesson takes a detailed look at how to use the Sculpt Surfaces Tool for modeling on a NURBS surface. This also covers many options in the Sculpt Tool, including brush size, switching brush operations, sculpt variables and mirroring brush strokes.

• Use this tool to get your surface started for hand push and pulling of control vertices (cv's)
• To resize your brush press the B key on your keyboard and click and drag to make a larger or smaller brush
• You can turn off the display of the wireframe if you want; just go down to display and turn off wireframe on shaded

This lesson demonstrates how to take one surface type and convert it to another. For example, you can model a NURBS object and convert it to a polygon object for final output or integration into another surface.

• You can convert from any surface type into any other surface type.
• This tutorial was created in version 4.5 but if you use version 5.0 + you will have many more options for converting surface type including Polygon to NURBS and Paint FX to Polygon.
• You can control the number of final polygons that will be created if you go into the option box when creating the conversion.

This tool is used to divide faces and add detail where you need it when modeling. For this lesson, you will see how to split faces and add detail in specific areas by using the Split Polygon Tool. There are a number of options in the split polygon tool. If you double-click on the tool or go to the options, you can turn on magnet or snapping to make it easier when splitting polygons.

• When splitting polygons using the split polygon tool, press ENTER to finish using the tool.
• If you make a mistake press the BACKSPACE to go back to a previous split.
• If you want to move the split point you are drawing after you have clicked on the edge press middle button and drag to move the split point.

This video covers how to use the Loft tool to create a surface from a series of NURBS curves. We will also show how to alter the surface by adjusting the original curves taking advantage of Mayas history and node based architecture.

• When creating curves to be lofted, it is important to make sure the curves are all arranged in the same direction.
• It is also important to ensure the curves have the same number of spans.
• You can find out the number of spans using the attribute editor and looking at the total spans for the curve.
• Because of history, you will be able to make modifications to the original curve and have those changes pass through the loft node and result in a new surface which mimics the curves.
• Some uses of this process could be to make the original curves bound to surfaces or soft bodies and create the loft after the simulation or deformation takes place, resulting in a faster rig or simulation.

• Use the Graph Editor to adjust animations
• Cycle animation curves to repeat motions
• Tweak curves with tangent handles

• The difference between Smooth and Rigid binds
• To create joints and move them with IK handles
• To bind a skeleton to a mesh

• To deform an object to flow along a motion path
• About Motion Path Parametric Length
• Warping with Lattice point modification

• Create curves for motion paths
• Attach objects to a motion path
• Properly orient an object in the direction of the path

• The basics of clusters
• How to make clusters out of components
• How clusters can be used for modeling and animation

• Setting up reference images via Image Planes
• Modeling with Lattice deformers
• Creating a base shape out of NURBS surfaces

• Building the eyelids with surfaces and lofts
• Building the mouth and tongue

• Using and rebuilding curves to get defined shapes for the face
• Using Extrude and Planar to make a faceplate
• Deforming objects with a lattice deformer

• Building the ears and tweaking its components to get the desired shape
• Using Lattices for further tweaking
• Learning some tips on using Fur

• Using the 3D Paint Tool to paint maps for Fur
• Using Photoshop to adjust Fur maps
• Adjusting various Fur settings

• Shade fur and connect it
• Have various lights affect fur
• Use Shadow Maps with fur

• Adjusting the noise amplitude and frequency of the Base Color to get different colored fur strands
• Adjusting the noise values of the length to get random fur length

The blur tool will blur the pixels that you are selecting. This tool does not have a threshold so if you keep the mouse held down it will keep blurring.
The sharpen tool increases clarity by increasing the contrast of the pixels on your layer. Use this tool with caution because on a low-resolution image it can turn your image into a few colors and make the image look very alien.
This tool will allow you to shift pixels on your layer. Kind of like finger painting. Don’t like to use this tool very much because it also smears the layer.

• If you are using the blur tool and you need to use the sharpen tool you can press Alt to switch to the sharpen tool temporarily. This works with the sharpen tool also.
• When using the smudge tool make it a habit of clicking the mouse button repeatedly instead of clicking and dragging. This will reduce the amount of smearing.

The eraser tool works in two modes. Either it will paint the background color onto the image or it can erase the pixels on the layer. In order to erase the layer you need to make sure the transparency lock is turned off.
 

 


You use the background eraser tool by clicking and dragging on the background portion of an image. In the example you see clicking on the boarder between the dark gray and white areas erases the background.

• If you are trying to erase part of an image and the eraser tool is painting the background color you need to change the layer from the background layer to a normal layer. Just alt double click on the layer to make it a regular layer.

• To make a gradient in a horizontal, vertical, or in a 45-degree angle press shift as you drag your mouse to the second point.
• Alt-Backspace to fill with foreground color and Ctrl-Backspace to fill with background color.
• Shift+Backspace will bring up the fill option box.

Healing Brush

Like the cloning tools, you use the healing brush tool to paint with sampled pixels from an image or pattern.

The healing brush tool also matches the texture, lighting, and shading of the sampled pixels to the source pixels. As a result, the repaired pixels blend seamlessly into the rest of the image.

If there is a strong contrast at the edges of the area you want to heal, make a selection before you use the healing brush tool. The selection should be bigger than the area you want to heal but precisely follow the boundary of contrasting pixels. When you paint with the healing brush tool, the selection will prevent colors from bleeding in from the outside.

Note: the healing brush tool is different from the stamp tool in the way that it samples the color and applies it to an image.

Patch tool

Like the healing brush tool, the patch tool matches the texture, lighting, and shading of the sampled pixels to the source pixels. You can also use the patch tool to clone isolated areas of an image.

When repairing with pixels from the image, select a small area to produce the best result.

• Fine tune your selection but changing the amount of tolerance in the option bar.
• A higher tolerance will create a larger selection.
• To add to your selection, press shift as you click your mouse again and you will add those colors to your selection.
• To remove colors from your selection, press alt as you click on those colors and you will subtract from your selection.

• SHIFT + click and drag to add to the selection
• Subtract from the selection by pressing ALT + click and drag
• If you press shift as you click and drag the marquee will become a perfect square/circle.

• The Auto Select Layer option will take the top most layer and move it when you click and drag. Be careful, because this can cause unexpected movements.
• Show Bounding Box can be a real time-saver, because it lets you free transform a layer by just clicking on the layer and using the Bounding Box handles to resize, rotate or position the layer.

• You can use the option bar to change the color of the notes so you and your team could color code each of you to keep track of each others notes.
• The Audio Annotation tool will allow you to create a voice message to leave embedded in the file you are editing.
• You can only use this tool in Photoshop Documents or PSD files.

• If you click and drag a point you will get handles to adjust the curvature of the path you are drawing.
• To remove colors from your selection, press alt as you click on those colors and you will subtract from your selection.

• Using Quickmask mode
• Quickmask Shortcut keys
• Changing Quickmask options

• Press Shift while dragging a custom shape to constrain the proportions of that shape.
• If you open the option box for the Line Tool you can turn on arrows for either the start of the line or the end of the line.
• For additional shapes, click on the drop down box in the options bar and load shapes.

Hover over the actions palette to learn about each button.	Another feature is the batch feature which allows you to run an action on an entire folder of images. You can also create droplets that are small programs that can be shared. You just go to File > Automate > Create Droplet.
Stop Recording	Start Recording
Playback Action Highlight an action and hit this button to play it back.	Create a New Set Use sets to organize your actions into groups.
Create a new Action This button will bring up the Actions Options and allow you to name the Action. You can also use this option box to choose a shortcut key so you can access the action faster.	Delete Action This button will remove the action from your set.
Action Palette Options You can access many different menus in this option menu but the most important one would be the save and load section as well as the Action Palette Options (see below).

Tips / Tricks

• You can turn the actions palette into buttons for easier access by going to the to the Actions Palette Options and choosing button mode. Now you have one-click access to your actions.