Class 1

I am going to do a little recap of all my classes up until this point to make sure I know what is going on and to refresh myself. I love what we are doing, it just gets over whelming at times and I just need to remember to sit there and breath in and out. I can do it!!! I know I can. Any who here is the first bit of information.

CLASS 1

The Basics. One has to understand their tools before they can us the program. First off using a make and Maya don't really mix that well ( my feeling on it). You have to make sure if you have a mac mouse that the 3rd button is on. Then another keep point one needs to remember is that in the main document line bar there is a help section. Click and go to Maya help. This place all the help you can get, but its a lot of reading just to let you know and you have to know what you are looking at to fully grasp what you need to read.

Status Line toolbar- is where a lot of your key functions one needs on working on the program. Starting left to right in naming off the tools.

Menu set menu- is the first one people need to find, because if not not a lot will happen in the program and one will get lost fast. The menus in Maya are grouped into menu sets. Each menu set corresponds to a module of the software: Animation, Polygons, Surfaces, Dynamics, and Rendering. Maya Unlimited has additional modules. As you switch between menu sets, the right-hand menus change, but the left-hand menus remain the same; these are the common menus.

File button- No brainier what these three buttons do, so not even going to explain. If you don't know then you need to go learn a computer

Selection tools or Mask- Is a section that holds many different ways to select. The selection tools determines what type of objects or components you can select.

•  The selection mode menu lets you select common preset sections

• The selection mode buttons let you switch between select by hierarchy and combination mode, object mode, and component mode 

• The selection mask buttons let you make specific object/component types selectable or unable to select

 

• Selection options- lock or unlock current selection

• Snapping buttons-snap to grids, snap to curves. snap to points, snap to view planes, make the selected object live

• Render Buttons (( Not gone over just yet)) Basically it allows you get at jpeg of your work

• Then comes the Input mode area. 

Then there is the panel toolbar- the ones that I know what they do are as fallows.

• Select Camera -Selects the current camera in the panel as can do: View/Select Camera
• Shading buttons- allows to see different shading of the shape there is: Wireframe, smooth shade all, wireframe on shaded. (( there is more, but those are the current ones I know))
• Isolate Select too

Tool box- (tools top to bottom)

• Select tool- Lets you select objects and components ( quick command for mac Q)
• Lasso tool - ((not sure of what it does but it looks like it allows you to select objects and components based on your free formed shape around them.))
•  Paint Selection Tool- ((can be a pain)) Lets you select components by painting over them with stylus. ( quick command for mac to make brush selection bigger or smaller B)
• Move tool- Lets you select objects and components and move them in any direction (quick command for a mac w)
• Rotate Tool- Lets you rotate the object and components selected (quick command for mac E)
• Scale Tool- Lets you scale your object and components selected (quick command for mac R)

Those are all the tools I know how to use of right now.

Quick layout buttons

• Single Perspective View
• 4 Perspective View (More helpful when getting complicated shapes) 

As a designer one has to understand perspective and how looking at a object will effect your design. Now that I am modeling I have to be double that, because if something looks good on one side and not on the other it will not work!!!!! So turn that screen and view it from every angle.

MOUSE COMMANDS FOR VIEWING IT

LEFT- MOVE CAMERA ANGLE 360 baby :)
RIGHT- MOVE IN AND OUT CAMERA (( to get right on the object and focus right now it the quick command on a mac is f)
MIDDLE BUTTON (I find it to be the roller) LETS YOU CHANGE THE PLACEMENT OF CAMERA

That is what most of the commands I  remember off the top of my head that we learned, but there could be more. If not we covered it in the next class in depth. I know this is a lot, but one has to understand this is a big program and you have to know this if you want to make anything.