Implement Box Modeling

Box modeling is the technique of using the polygon‐modeling tools to shape a basic cube into a
more complex object. Once the form is established, you can add more geometry to create detail.
Over the years, as computer power and modeling tools have improved, the box model has also
evolved into a more rounded shape. To begin a human form, you will start with a smoothed cube.
This allows you to pull out the necessary amount of geometry for good surface flow.

Surface flow refers to the orientation of your polygon edges. Ideally, you want to have uniformly
spaced edges or polygon faces of equal size. Your edges should be perpendicular to each other,
creating square faces. Poor surface flow can result in poor deformation. The fewer the polygons,
the more important surface flow becomes.

There are two popular styles of polygon modeling: box modeling and extrusion (sometimes
called edge) modeling.

Box modeling is so named because it starts with a box (a cube primitive). Then the artist scales
the object, moves (translates) vertices and edges, and adds more faces by adding edges, so that
they create the 3D shape the artist wants. You can think of box modeling as sculpting. One
advantage is that it tends to make neat grids and is ideal for subdivision modeling.

Working with Smooth Polygons

There are two ways to smooth a polygon surface: you can use the Smooth operation (from the
Modeling menu set, choose Mesh ➣ Smooth), or you can use the Smooth Mesh Preview
command (select a polygon object, and press the 3 key).

When you select a polygon object and use the Smooth operation in the Mesh menu, the geometry
is subdivided. Each level of subdivision quadruples the number of polygon faces in the geometry
and rounds the edges of the geometry. This also increases the number of polygon vertices
available for manipulation when shaping the geometry

Figure :-From left to right, a polygon cube is smoothed two times. Each smoothing operation quadruples
the number of faces, increasing the number of vertices available for modeling.
When you use the smooth mesh preview, the polygon object is actually converted to a
subdivision surface, or subD. Maya uses the OpenSubdiv Catmull-Clark method for subdividing
the surface.

When a polygon surface is in smooth mesh preview mode, the number of vertices available for
manipulation remains the same as in the original unsmoothed geometry; this simplifies the
modeling process.

◆◆ To create a smooth mesh preview, select the polygon geometry and press the 3 key.
◆◆ To return to the original polygon mesh, press the 1 key.
◆◆ To see a wireframe of the original mesh overlaid on the smooth mesh preview (see Figure),
press the 2 key.

Figure: - This image shows the original cube, the smooth mesh preview with wireframe, and
the smooth mesh preview without wireframe.

The terms smooth mesh preview and smooth mesh polygons are interchangeable; both are used
in this book and in the Maya interface.

When you render polygon geometry as a smooth mesh preview using mental ray®, the geometry
appears smoothed in the render without the need to convert the smooth mesh to standard
polygons or change it in any way. This makes modeling and rendering smooth and organic
geometry with polygons much easier.

Bézier Curves
Bézier curves use handles for editing, as opposed to CVs that are offset from the curve. To create
a Bézier curve, choose Create ➣ Curve Tools ➣ Bezier Curve Tool. Each time you click the
perspective view, a new point is added. To extend the handle, LMB-drag after adding a point.
The handles allow you to control the smoothness of the curve. The advantage of Bézier curves is
that they are easy to edit, and you can quickly create curves that have both sharp corners and
rounded curves.
What is Slide edge tool in Maya?

In the Modeling menu set, select Mesh Tools > Slide Edge Tool > to open these options.

Note: By default, the Slide Edge Tool stops sliding edges whenever the selected vertices touch
the next vertices on the sliding edge. You can override this behavior by pressing the Ctrl key so
that the vertices move beyond.

What do you mean by Splines?

Splines. Spline primitives are curves made up of two or more segments. Use Splines for fur,
simple stiff shapes, and complex ribbon shapes like long or curly hair. Sphere. Sphere primitives
define a sphere with controllable length, width, and depth.

What is spline modeling?

Spline or patch modeling: A spline is a curve in 3D space defined by at least two control points.
The most common splines used in 3D art are bezier curves and NURBS (the software Maya has
a strong NURBS modeling foundation.) ... A cage of splines is created to form a "skeleton" of
the object you want to create.

3D Rendering

Rendering is the final stage in the 3D computer graphics production process. Though the wider
context of rendering begins with shading and texturing objects and lighting your scene,
the rendering process ends when surfaces, materials, lights, and motion are processed into a final
image or image sequence.

3D rendering is the 3D computer graphics process of converting 3D models into 2D images on

a computer. 3D renders may include photorealistic effects or non-photorealistic styles.

The key to successful rendering

The key to rendering is finding a balance between the visual complexity required and the
rendering speed that determines how many frames can be rendered in a given period of time.
Rendering involves a large number of complex calculations which can keep your computer busy
for a long time. Rendering pulls data together from every sub-system within Maya and interprets
its own data relevant to tessellation, texture mapping, shading, clipping, and lighting.
Producing rendered images always involves making choices that affect the quality (anti-aliasing
and sampling) of the images, the speed with which the images are rendered, or both.
The highest quality images typically take the most time to render. The key to working efficiently
is to produce good-enough quality images in as little time as possible in order to meet production
deadlines. In other words, choose only the most economical values for options that let you
produce images of acceptable quality for your particular project.
How to render a frame in Maya?

Preview Rendering (also known as Render Current Frame) can be started by clicking
the render button in the RenderMan shelf. The Image Tool (it) pops open by default. The usual
methods in Maya for rendering the current frame also work.

To render a frame from within Maya

In the main Maya window, click the Render Current Frame button, or select Render > Render
Current Frame.
Maya renders the current scene and displays the image as it renders in Render View.

To re-render a frame from within Maya

Select Render > Redo Previous Render from the main menu bar.
Maya renders the scene from the previous camera and displays the image as it renders in
the Render View window.

To cancel the in-progress render

Press Esc.