Unit

1 Introduction to Maya

Overview

In this section the students are introduced to the 3D environment as opposed to the 2D workspace they are
accustomed to. An overview of the interface and short cut keys are covered as well and creating and
manipulating objects.

Objectives
1. Students understand how the 3D environment works in the software
2. Students gain basic knowledge of the Maya interface
3. Students master the basic tools
4. Students understand how to move around in the environment

Teacher Preparation
Instructors need to understand the X,Y,Z coordinate system, the Maya interface, shortcut keys, how to create
and manipulate objects and how to move around in the scene properly. Teachers should also work through
each individual learning game to make sure they understand it thoroughly.

Content Outline
I. Introduction

A. 3D Space
1. X, Y, and Z coordinates
2. Positive and negative
3. Origin
4. Units of measurement
5. Views and viewpoints
6. Select tool
7. Channel box
8. Channel box game
B. Camera Navigation In 3D Space
1. Camera tumble
2. Camera track
3. Camera dolly
4. Navigation game

C. Move Tool
1. X, Y, and Z handles
a. Clicking on arrows only
2. Center handle
a. When to use, when not to
3. Hotkey
4. Move tool game

D. Rotate Tool
1. X, Y, and Z rings
2. Virtual sphere for all axes
3. View axis rotation
4. Hotkey
5. Rotate tool game

E. Polygon Primitives
1. Shelf tabs
2. Polygon shelf
3. Duplicate hotkey
4. Scale tool
5. Primitive building project
a. Move pivot
b. Duplicate
c. Snapping
d. Naming objects
e. Grouping
Activities

Introduction to Maya
Coordinates, Units, and the Channel Box:

Open channelBox.mb. This project file is used to demonstrate units in positive and negative space. Each
small sphere is 1 unit away from the origin. Give a short lecture on the cartesian coordinate system. Go
through the exercise once while the students observe then have them go through channelBox.pdf.

Navigation Tutorial:

Open navigationTutorial.mb. This project is used to demonstrate how to navigate in the perspective panel.
After showing students how to tumble, track, and dolly the camera tell them to fill their view with one of the
colored boxes. Right away the instructor can see whether or not the students are grasping the navigational
controls. After they fill the screen with a particular box tell them to locate a specific number on that box.
After they get moderately comfortable, start calling out colors and numbers. Do this until they can get to any
box with any number.
Move Tool Tutorial:

Open mantheTube.mb. This project is designed to introduce the move tool. The "W" hot key should be the
primary method of selecting the move tool. Show students the Tool Bar but re-iterate that the move tool is
accessed by hitting "W." The object of this game is to use the move tool to place each man in the properly
colored tube. Make sure that students move on only one axis at a time. They should never use the center
handle (yellow box) of the move tool in the perspective viewport. The man should sit in the center of the
tube with his arms resting on the top of the tube.

Rotate Tutorial I:

Open angulatorHeavy.mb. This project introduces the rotate tool. Students pick a color and start at the origin
by selecting the first arm. They rotate the arm until it fits inside the first ring of the same color. To select the
next arm they click on the sphere at the base of the arm. They then rotate that arm until it fits inside the
second ring of the same color. This continues until the arms are through all rings. Remember to have the
students rotate one axis at a time. This project is also good at building navigational skills. Depending on the
age and skill level of your students instructors may want to start out with angulatorLight.mb.
Rotate Tool Tutorial II:

Open shapeRotate.mb. In this tutorial students combine what they've learned about the move and rotate tools.
The object of the project is simple. Fit the puzzle pieces into the correctly shaped cube.

Primitives Building Project:

There is no file for this project. The assignment is to build a castle with polygon primitives
only. The castle in the image above is made up of cubes, cylinders, tubes and cones. The objective of this
project is to get students comfortable with creating and positioning polygon primitives. Be sure to walk the
students through each step of the process. This should include giving dimensions for objects as well as world
coordinates they can enter into the channel box. It is important that the instructor build the castle at the origin
of the grid.

There are a few more tools and concepts that should be demonstrated at this point:
1. Naming objects in the channel box
2. The duplicate tool
3. Changing the pivot point
4. Grouping
5. The outliner
6. The layer editor
Build the castle once while they watch and then build it a second time with the students following along.
Here is the order in which you should build the castle:

1. Create box in the center of the scene. Name it castleBase

2. Create a long skinny box for the upper walls. Name it upperWall.
3. Create small boxes to place on top of the upperWall.
4. Group the small boxes to the upperWall. Name the group upperWallGroup.
5. Create a cylinder and place it in one corner of the castle. Name it towerBase.
6. Create a tube and place it on top of towerBase. Name it upperTower.
7. Create a cube and place it on top of the upperTower. Name it towerBrick.
8. Move the towerBrick to the outer edge of the upperTower.
9. Change the pivot point so that its in the center of the tower.
10. Duplicate the bricks until they circle the entire top of the tower.
11. Group the all the objects that make up the tower. Name it towerGroup.
12. Duplicate the towerGroup and move it to another corner. Snap to vertex on this procedure.
13. Build the rest of the castle following the same work flow.

Total time: 4 hours

Assessment

Instructors can monitor students comprehension of concepts by watching them complete activities and
projects. Activities are designed so that progress can be monitored by simply looking at the students
workspace on the computer. Think of it like a puzzle. An observer can see whether the puzzle piece fits or
not by simply glancing at it.

Resources

Go to www.bavc3d.wordpress.com and click on Unit 1. There you will find project files and other updated
materials.