Maya 3DPrimer Guide v3

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“Maya® 3D Primer: Quick Start Guide to Begin Using Maya® for Environment Art”
Copyright ©2023 World of Level Design™ LLC. All rights reserved.
Updated/Published: January 2023

Current Version: 3.0
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Knowing where to start and what you need to learn is the hardest part of
learning any new modeling software.
After the initial excitement and enthusiasm passes, you are now faced with
the default interface of Maya and a question.
“Now what?”
Maya is a very expansive and complex piece of software. If you attempt to

learn it without a specific focus, you are quickly going to find out how
difficult that becomes.
Following guide was created with one thing in mind – to help you start
learning Maya for game environment art.
In this guide you will learn:
• What to do before launching the software

• First time inside Maya
• Secrets to getting started with Maya quickly
• How to fix and avoid most common beginner mistakes
• Modeling basics and how to begin working with 3d objects
• Geometry modeling basics exercise
• 11 modeling tools to focus on as a beginner that will get you 80% of
the results
• UV Basics
• Important Maya shortcuts
Everything in this guide is aimed at a complete beginner with Maya but an

intermediate or advanced users will find tools, techniques and principles you
may have not known or forgotten about.
Please submit any mistakes and typographical errors you find to

support@worldofleveldesign.com
Thank you for reading this guide and spreading the word about
World of Level Design.com
4
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Section 1: Principles and Concepts
• 4 Ways to Download Maya (For Indie Devs, Freelancers, Hobbyists and
Students)
• Learning Maya As a Complete Beginners
• Understanding 3D Concepts
• 4 Primary Modeling Methods
• What are UVs
• Overview of 3D Asset Creation Pipeline Workflow
Section 2: First Time Inside Maya

• Interface Overview
• Highlight What is New in This Release
• Using Viewports: Perspective and Four Views
• Utilize Full View
• Use Quick Layout Menu
• Viewport Navigation
• Center View on Objects and Rotate Around Centered
• Keep Menu Set Switched to Modeling
• Turn Off Display of Animation Playback Controls
• Adjust Viewport Background Color
• Channel Box vs Attribute Editor
• Organizing and Managing Your Work with Projects
• Starting New Scene
• Saving Your Scene
• Opening Existing Scenes
• Enable Poly Count Heads Up Display
• Utilize Custom Modeling Shelf
• 4 Editors You Need to Know About
• Setting Preferences Window
• Resetting Maya to Default Settings
Section 3: Modeling Basics or How to Begin Working

with Objects
• Creating Polygon Primitives
• Break Your Scene Down to Geometric Shapes
• Interactive Polygon Creation
• Basic Maya Controls While Working With Objects
• Option Boxes
• Quick Way to Find Correct XYZ Direction
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• Using Channel Box for Object Manipulation
• Correctly Set Polygon Primitive Size/Scale Values
• Selecting, Moving, Rotating and Scaling Objects
• Naming/Renaming Objects in Your Scene
• Right Click Access Object Component Mode
• Selecting, Moving, Rotating and Scaling Components
• Wireframe, Shaded and Textured Views
• Viewport Setting for Modeling
• Switching to XRay View for Modeling
• Enable/Disable Grid
• Use Isolate Select
• How to Snap Objects to Grid, Vertices and Edges
• Control Object’s Pivot Points
• Center Pivot Point on Objects
• Custom Polygon Display
• Custom Polygon Display: Highlight Border Edges and Backface Culling
• Custom Polygon Display: Face Options
• Custom Polygon Display: Reset Settings
• Properly Delete Polygons/Faces, Edges and Vertices
• Duplicating Objects
• Deleting Objects Construction History
• Press G to Repeat Last Used Tool
• Freeze Transformations on Objects
• Using Hotbox Controls
Section 4: Geometry Modeling Basics Exercise

• Exercise Overview
• Start and Save New Scene
• Human Scale Reference
• Walls and Columns
• Duplicating Objects
• Pillar Support
• Ceiling
• Top Wall Detail
• Final Block In
Section 5: 11 Modeling Tools to Get Started

• Extrude
• Bevel
• Multi-Cut
• Connect
• Circularize
• Combine/Separate/Extract
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• Bridge
• Target Weld
• Booleans
• Soft/Hard Edge Control
• Reverse Faces
Section 6: UV Beginner Basics

• UV Mapping vs UV Unwrapping vs UVing
• Access UV Editor
• Creating New Materials and Assigning Them to Objects
• Final UVs Should Be Inside 0-1 Space
• UV Editor Navigation
• Select, Move, Rotate, Scale UVs
• What is a UV Shell
• UV Editor View Modes
• UV Toolkit
• Create New Material and Assign a Color Texture
• Display Texture Image
• UV Projection Methods
• UV Texture Seams
• Preserve UVs Option
Section 7: Maya Shortcuts for Environment Art

• Navigation Perspective Viewport
• Navigation Orthographic Viewport
• Scene Management
• Viewports
• Selecting Objects
• Selections in Component Mode
• Undo
• Delete
• Deleting Components
• Object Manipulation
• Viewport Options
• Snaps and Pivots
• Duplicating
• Tool Shelf
• Outliner/Hypergraph
• Hypershade
• UV Editor
• Modeling Tools
• Append to Polygon Tool Active
• Workflow
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Section 1 contains overview of using Maya such as how to download,
important 3d principles, modeling methods and overview of 3d asset
pipeline.
4 Ways to Download Maya (For Indie Devs,

Freelancers, Hobbyists and Students)
There are 4 ways to download Maya.
If you are a student you can get access to Autodesk products that includes
Maya for 1 full year, for free.
• Educational Maya: https://www.autodesk.com/education/edu-

software/overview?sorting=featured&filters=individual
You can get a free trial of Maya for 30 days.
• Maya 30-Day Trial: https://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/free-

trial
For subscriptions, Maya has two primary versions.
Standard Version that cost about $1,700+ annually.
• Maya Standard Version:

https://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/overview?term=1-
YEAR&tab=subscription&plc=MAYA
More affordable Maya Indie version that is only about $290 annually. If you
want to use Maya as a hobbyist, freelancer or indie developer and you make
under $100,000 per year with Maya you qualify to get the indie version.
• Maya Indie: https://makeanything.autodesk.com/maya-indie
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Note: I don’t have any affiliations with Autodesk. I’m a user who enjoys
using Maya software. Also prices listed are based on November of 2022.
Learning Maya As a Complete Beginners

Maya is a very expansive and complex piece of software. You can use Maya
for modeling, UVing, shading/texturing, animation, rigging, visual effects,
rendering and much more.
You have to ignore the tools and menus that you do not need to use and
only focus on what you do need.
Approach learning Maya as a specialist, not as a generalist.
But before you can focus on specializing, you have to understand Maya
interface, navigation, basic object creation and manipulation as well as
important principles so you build a strong foundation.
This is what “Maya Primer” guide is all about. It will give you the essential
principles and techniques to get started with Maya, the correct way.
Understanding 3D Concepts
Different words are often used to describe a 3d model: mesh, object, asset,
model, static mesh. All mean the same thing.
Each 3d model is made up of vertices, edges and faces:
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There are 3 different types of faces you'll come across when modeling:
triangle, quad, n-gon:
• Triangle: face with 3 edges

• Quad: face with 4 edges
• N-Gon: faces with more than 4 edges
Triangles and Quads are good.
N-Gons are something you want to avoid.
4 Primary Modeling Methods

There are 4 primary modeling methods you need to know about. Polygonal,
subdivision, sculpting and NURB/Curve modeling. Each is used for a specific
end result but there are many overlaps and all of them could be used within
a single asset creation.
Polygonal Modeling:
• Meshes are composed of vertices, edges, faces

• Can be low-poly, mid-poly or high-poly depending on the project
• Used in game development
• Most common modeling method you'll be using and the one you should
focus on learning first
• Software used for Polygonal Modeling includes Maya, 3dsMax, Blender,
Modo etc.
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Subdivision Modeling:
• Uses polygonal objects to creates high-poly, high-quality meshes

• Used in film, animation, product design, rendering and high-poly
creation
• Not often used in games directly but can be used to create high-poly
meshes for Normal Map baking
• Meshes have to be smoothed (subdivided) in Maya
• Subdivision Preview Mode in Maya can be toggled with 3 hotkey, press
1 to go back to polygonal mode
• Requires holding edges to prevent mesh collapsing so you have to
approach Subdivision with a slightly different mindset than straight
Polygonal Modeling
• Subdivision Modeling should primarily contain quads with minimal
triangles and minimal n-gons for the mesh to Subdivide properly
• Software used for Subdivision Modeling includes Maya, 3dsMax,
Blender, Modo etc.
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Sculpting:
• Sculpting is a type of modeling that allows you to create high-poly,

high-resolution objects that contain millions of triangles
• Sculpting meshes are not used directly inside a game engine (although
that’s slowly changing with UE5 Nanite technology). Also sculpted
meshes are not used for animation.
• Sculpted meshes are often created as high-poly objects in order to
bake the object and surface detail information via Normal Maps
textures.
• Software used to create sculpted meshes using ZBrush, Mudbox or
Blender.
NURB/Curve:
• Objects are composed of splines, control vertices (CVs) and not

vertices, edges or faces like in Polygon or SubDiv based modeling
• NURB modeling is primarily used for engineering and industrial design
• Although NURBS can be converted to polygons
• NURB curves are often used to create more complex polygon objects
• Software used for NURB/Curve Modeling includes Maya, 3dsMax,
Blender etc.
Few other modeling methods that are more specialized are Photogrammetry,
Parametric and Procedural.
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What are UVs
UVing a model will allow you to make textures display correctly on a 3d
object.
There are 3 common terms you will encounter. UVing, UV Mapping, UV

Unwrapping. All have a slightly different definition but each is after the same
outcome.
UVs are texture coordinates of the object.
Instead of going into terminology and theory, I'm going to simplify them into
this: it's a process of projecting a 2D texture onto a 3D object.
• UV = XY
Each object you model has to be Unwrapped and UV's have to be laid out
correctly so it can be properly textured and for that texture to display
correctly.
To open the UV Editor go to UV > UV Editor then select the object for the
UVs to appear:
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Overview of 3D Asset Creation Pipeline Workflow
3D asset workflow pipeline is a process of creating a 3d object from start to
finish to use in a game, film or a portfolio render. It combines many parts of
the production into one such as modeling, sculpting, UVing, texturing,
material creation, import/export just to name a few.
If you are a complete beginner, many steps below may not make sense.
That is ok. Right now you are absorbing information presented and with
experience you will understand.
The asset creation pipeline workflow can be broken down into 3 difficulty
levels. Beginner, intermediate and advanced.
Beginner Game Asset Pipeline Workflow: Great for low-poly and mid-
poly work that don’t require the creation of high-poly meshes and baking
normal maps.
• Model the low-poly or mid-poly in Maya, 3dsMax, Blender etc.

• UV the model
• Texture
• Export/Import into a game engine
Intermediate Game Asset Pipeline Workflow: Great for hard-surface

meshes and environment assets that do not require sculpting pass.
• Model the low-poly in Maya, 3dsMax, Blender etc.

• Create the high-poly from the low-poly using Subdivision modeling
• UV the low-poly
• Bake Normal Maps from high-poly to low-poly
• Bake any other maps needed such as Ambient Occlusion
• Texture the low-poly
Advanced Game Asset Pipeline Workflow: Great for all types of meshes
(hard-surface and organics) that require a sculpting pass to create as much
object and surface detail as possible.
• Create base mesh in Maya, 3dsMax, Blender etc. or could be started

right in the Zbrush/Mudbox
• Export base mesh to sculpting software (ZBrush, Mudbox)
• Sculpt the high-poly
• Retopologize to get the low-poly
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• UV the low-poly
• Bake Normal Maps from high-poly to low-poly
• Texture the low-poly
Many of these steps overlap during production. Also testing, re-baking and
exporting/importing is something you’ll be constantly doing throughout the
entire process.
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Section 2 will cover viewport layouts, navigation, viewport options, setting
up projects, creating custom tool shelf and much more.
Interface Overview
Quick interface overview and names we’ll use for various panels and
windows:
1. Menu Sets 8. Animation Controls

2. Status Line 9. MEL Command Line
3. Tool Shelf 10. Help Line
4. Panel Toolbar 11. Script Editor
5. Viewports 12. Quick Layout Menu
6. Channel Box / Attribute Editor 13. Tool Box
7. Display Layers
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Highlight What is New in This Release
Upon Maya Launch you’ll see "Highlight What is New In This Release":
This shows you what's new and updated in Maya with green brackets around
new features:
You can disable showing new features and disable pop up window from
showing up:
You can also disable/enable this from Interface Preferences under Window >
Setting/Preferences > Preferences > Interface > Highlight What's New:
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Using Viewports: Perspective and Four Views
Viewports allow you to see what you are creating. Most common set up you
will use for modeling are maximized Perspective View and Four Views (2x2
split).
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Perspective View:
Four Views (perspective, top, side and front views):
Each viewport contains a lot of options for how to view your objects in it.
We'll cover some of them in later.
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For now, if you hover mouse pointer over any 4 viewports and hit Spacebar
- you will cycle between maximized and restored viewports.
Each viewport is mouse sensitive and by simply placing the cursor inside a
viewport and pressing Spacebar, Maya will maximize or restore that
viewport.
Use Spacebar to switch between maximized viewport and restored Four

Views.
• Spacebar = cycle between maximized and restored viewports
Utilize Full View

Full Viewport View will give you a bit more screen space to work with in each
viewport.
• Ctrl + Spacebar = full viewport view
You can do this with a single viewport:
Or with Four Viewport layout:
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Use Quick Layout Menu
Quick Layout Menu (bottom left) allows switching between different layout
panel configurations:
Right-click on any of the Layout Menu icons for additional options:
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Most commonly used are first 4 icons:
• Single Perspective
• Four View
• 1x1 Split (Front/Perspective)
• Outliner (shows you all objects inside your scene)
Single Perspective View:
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Four View:
1x1 Split (Front/Perspective):
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Outliner:
Viewport Navigation
Navigating viewports in any software has to become natural and automatic.
In Maya there are 2 different navigation viewports you have to master -

perspective and orthographic.
Perspective viewport (3d view) is going to be your primary view to work

in. It is essential that you master perspective viewport navigation.
• Alt + Left Mouse Button = rotate

• Alt + Right Mouse Button = zoom in/out
• Alt + Middle Mouse Button = pan left/right/up/down
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Orthographic Viewports are 2d views. Top, side, front and back. You will
often use these to move, align and model game environment objects. You
only need to know two shortcut keys for orthographic navigation.
• Alt + Right Mouse Button = zoom in/out

• Alt + Middle Mouse Button = pan left/right/up/down
Center View on Objects and Rotate Around Centered

Left click to select an object and press F to center view. This is very useful
function to bring any object inside the scene to your attention, centered in
the viewport.
• F = center view on selected object
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Now press and hold Alt + Left Mouse Click and Drag to rotate around it.
Doing this will temporarily center the rotational pivot point on the centered
object. Very useful function to look around the object as you model it.
• Hold Alt + Left Mouse Click and Drag = rotate around centered
selected object
Keep Menu Set Switched to Modeling

Menu Sets define Maya to be used for a specific pipeline creation. These
include Modeling, Rigging, Animation, FX and Rendering.
Whichever Menu Set is active, the first 7 drop down bar menus will be the
same but the rest will change based what you have set:
For environment modeling, you want to set this to Modeling.
Turn Off Display of Animation Playback Controls

Playback, Time Slider and Range Slider are used for animation controls and
we won't be using them for environment modeling.
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Let's hide these controls to maximize our workable area.
Go to Windows > UI Elements > Uncheck Time Slider and Range Slider. This
is also the menu you’d go to if you are missing some UI Elements to see if
they were turned off:
Adjust Viewport Background Color

Default viewport background may not be what you like. Press Alt+B to
switch between 4 different options:
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• Alt + B = switch between different background viewport options
For more customization go to Window > Settings/Preferences > Color

Settings:
3D Views:
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Channel Box vs Attribute Editor
Channel Box and Attribute Editor allow editing and adjusting properties for
selected objects. Channel Box is the compact view and Attribute Editor is
expanded view.
Channel Box:
Attribute Editor:
Press Ctrl + A to toggle between Channel Box and Attribute Editor or click
on the tabs here:
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• Ctrl + A = switch between Channel Box and Attribute Editor
Each object will contain variety of different options to edit and adjust.
Channel Box will have some limited options to set:
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Attribute Editor will offer more options to choose from:
For environment modeling you will be using both Channel Box and Attribute
Editor to set various dimensions for the objects such as width, height, depth,
subdivisions, renaming objects, setting input/output components and editing
material/shader properties on objects:
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Organizing and Managing Your Work with Projects
Anytime you are working in Maya you'll be working inside a Project. It is a
specific folder that contains your project's scenes, textures, images and
preferences. It is a way for Maya to organize your work and keep everything
in one place.
Since this is your first time in Maya you will not have an existing Project to
work in and will need to set one up.
You'll follow these same steps for any future new projects you work on.
SETTING UP NEW PROJECT
Go to File > Project Window:
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Click "New":
Name Your Project and in this case I named it "MyFirstProject":
Use any name you want but avoid using spaces.
Maya will allow having spaces but you want to develop good and consistent
work habits that extend beyond modeling. It is common practice to avoid
spaces in file names, shader names, object names, scripting and code. Of
course this depends on the software and game engine you are using. But it’s
best to avoid spaces all together so you don't run into problems in the future
no matter what software you are using.
Instead of spaces you should use _ (underscore) and - (dashes).

Examples:
• MyFirstProject
• My_First_Project
• My-First-Project
Define storage location for the project. This will be a folder where all files are
to be stored. Choose a location on your computer:
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I have "MyProjects" folder where I store all my projects into.
"Primary Project Locations" are folders where Maya will store specific
files within your project such as scenes, images, textures, sounds, scripts
etc:
These sub-folders are automatically defined and wouldn't need to be

changed. Many of these folders you don't need for environment modeling. To
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maintain simplicity with your first project - keep everything as default. Click
on "Accept":
PROJECT FOLDER
You now will have a Project folder inside defined location directory. This
folder name will be "MyFirstProject" (or name you used) and will contain
subfolders to store your files in:
You only need to set a new Project once. Maya will keep the last worked on
project active after you close and re-open the software.
With the Project set, if you attempt to start, save, open a scene or assign a
texture to a material, Maya will automatically look inside this project folder
and open appropriate subfolder to look into, organizing your content.
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SETTING MAYA TO EXISTING PROJECTS
If you need to set Maya to a different

Project already created, go to File > Set
Project:
Select a folder where your project is stored and click Set. For example, I
want "ModelingTests" as the active project. Select the folder and click Set:
Maya will now look into new set Project folder to retrieve and store files into.
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Starting a New Scene
Start a blank new scene by going to
File > New Scene:
• Ctrl + N = New Scene
Saving Your Scene

To save a scene go to File > Save As:
• Ctrl + Shift + S = Save Scene As
Name the scene and click Save As:
Once you've saved a scene once, any

additional saves can be done by using
File > Save:
This will save the update of the current scene over the same file.
• Ctrl + S = Save
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To save increments of the scene go to File > Increment and Save. This will
add an extension of .0001 to your file name. This is a quick and automated
way to save your scene as a new version without using Save Scene As:
Note: you must save your scene at least one time for "Increment and Save"
to work:
• Ctrl + Alt + S = Increment and Save
If you want to enable AutoSave go to Window > Setting/Preferences >

Preferences:
Select "Settings: Files/Projects" category and enable AutoSave:
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All auto-saved files will be placed inside "autosave" subfolder:
Opening Existing Scenes

Open existing Maya file scene by going to
File > Open and select the file to open:
• Ctrl + O = Open Scene
With "Open" window:
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1. Maya will look inside a set project and into "scenes" subfolder
2. Select the file you want to open
3. Click Open
Enable Poly Count Heads Up Display

Knowing your object's triangle, poly and vertices count is very important.
You should have Poly Count Heads Up display enabled by default. It is shown
in the top left of the viewport:
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But if you don't then go to Display > Heads Up Display > Poly Count:
Here is what each column represents:
• First Column: entire scene

• Second Column: selected object only
• Third Column: selected components
Everything we just covered will be access and used for environment

modeling at some point.
Utilize Custom Modeling Shelf

Tool Shelves in Maya offer a quick way to access some of the most
commonly used functions. Maya comes standard with a few shelves already:
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But it is better to create your own to place tools that you use the most.
Let’s create a custom tool shelf specifically for game environment modeling
to speed up our workflow.
CREATING CUSTOM SHELF
Left click on Gear Icon:
Choose New Shelf:
Name the Shelf:
You will now see new and empty "EnvModeling" shelf appear:
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ADDING ITEMS TO THE SHELF
Now that you have a new shelf, start adding most commonly used tools to it.
Hold Ctrl + Shift and as you keeping these two keys pressed, go to any icon
or drop down menus and left-click to add them to your custom shelf.
• Ctrl + Shift + Left Mouse Click = adds a tool/function to active shelf
Here is small list to start with, but of course you can keep it empty and add
only what you want to add:
• Basic Shapes such as Sphere, Cube, Plane, Cylinder etc

• Outliner
• Hypershade
• Freeze Transformations
• Center Pivot
• Custom Polygon Display
• Delete Edge/Vertex
DELETING ICONS IN TOOL SHELF
Delete icons from a shelf by Right-Click and

choose Delete:
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MOVING AND ARRANGING ICONS IN TOOL SHELF
Moving icons on your tool shelf is simple. You can either go to Shelf Editor:
In Shelf Content area, select the shelf you want to modify then the tool to
move up or down:
Or, inside the Tool Shelf, Middle Mouse

Click, Hold and Move the icon to new
location on the shelf:
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ACCESSING TOOL SETTINGS FROM CUSTOM SHELF
Many tools in Maya have options menu for additional settings. These setting
are accessed by clicking on small square box within drop down menus:
To open the tool settings from custom tool shelf, double clicking on the
icon from the shelf:
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SHELF EDITOR
Left click on Gear Icon and choose Shelf

Editor.
Shelf Editor allows to rename, add, delete,

arrange, change icons and set up different
colors for your shelves.
You can really go into detail customizing your

custom shelves:
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4 Editors You Need to Know About: Outliner,
Hypergraph, Hypershade and UV Editor
As an environment artist using Maya, there are 3 commonly used editors
you need to know about. These are:
• Outliner
• Hypergraph
• Hypershade
• UV Editor
OUTLINER
Outliner is one of two scene management editors in Maya (other being the
Hypergraph).
You will primarily use the Outliner for

organizing, locating and selecting
objects.
There are two ways to access the

Outliner.
First: in the main menu bar.
Window > Outliner:
Second: using Quick Layout Menu:
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The Outliner shows a hierarchical list of all objects in the scene in outline
form. It includes objects that are normally hidden such as default cameras:
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You can control what objects appear in the Outliner using drop menu. Use
Show > Objects > Filter by Which Objects to Show:
You can rename objects by double-clicking on the text inside the Outliner:
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HYPERGRAPH
Hypergraph is similar to Outliner allowing you to manage your objects within

your scene.
Although unlike the Outliner, Hypergraph shows a graphical view of the

scene hierarchy with object's relationship to each other. Here is organized
Hypergraph window from the “Modeling Exercise”:
To access Hypergraph go to Windows > General Editors > Hypergraph:

Hierarchy:
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The Hypergraph offers a bit more extensive scene management and control
than the Outliner, such as the ability to show and edit hierarchical
relationships or dependency relationships between nodes.
As a beginner and for most of modeling, use Outliner to manage/organize

your scenes.
HYPERSHADE
Hypershade allows building shading networks by creating, editing, and

connecting render nodes, such as textures, materials, and lights.
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There are three ways to access the Hypershade.
First: Window > Rendering Editors > Hypershade:
Second: as an icon in the Status Line
As a side note, you won't actually be creating materials in Maya for your
game assets. These will be done entirely inside your game engine. But you
will use Hypershade to create simple materials for UVing and checking your
textures in Maya.
UV EDITOR
UV Editor enables you to create, manage and layout object’s UVs.
In order to texture your object, you have to Unwrap UVs first. The UV Editor
is going to be used very extensively by you to create environment assets.
There are two common ways to access UV Editor.
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First: go to UV > UV Editor:
Second: use the Workspace UV Editing
You can also add UV Editor icon to your custom tool shelf.
Using Workspaces
Workspace allows you to maximize Maya interface for whatever you are
using Maya for.
It will re-arrange your interface layout, maximize important windows and

remove others.
You will find Workspace drop down menu at the top right of Maya interface:
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Setting Preferences Window
Maya contain a lot of various preferences that you can go through.
You could write an entire guide just on these preferences alone. But the key
is to use them on need by case basis.
To access preferences go to Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences:
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Then select a category you want to set preferences for:
Resetting Maya to Default Settings

Sometimes Maya will mess up and stops working like you’d expect. Menus
are gone, tools are acting weird etc.
Restarting Maya will sometimes fix it. But if not then you have an option of
resetting Maya back to factory settings.
I recommend you try to do everything else before resetting Maya

preferences.
By resetting Maya’s preference you will lose any custom shelves you
created, custom shortcuts you've set and custom tool settings. You will NOT
lose any files or projects.
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Steps to Resetting Maya:
• Close Maya
• Navigate to C:\Users\YOURPCNAME\Documents\maya folder
• Go into Maya Version folder you have installed such as maya2023
• Make a copy of prefs folder
• Delete original prefs folder
• Relaunch Maya
Maya will re-create the prefs folder with factory settings.
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Section 3 will focus on tools inside Maya that allows you to work with and
manipulate objects.
Creating Polygon Primitives

For game environment modeling you will be working with polygons. You will
start with basic geometric shapes to model from such as a cube, cylinder,
plane and sphere.
Two ways to create Polygonal Primitive objects are through Polygon Shelf
and through Create menu.
Create > Polygon Primitives: Choose Object:
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Poly Modeling Shelf:
Creating Polygon Primitives will place

an object in the center of the scene.
This center of the scene is known as 0,

0, 0 XYZ location or world origin.
XYZ gizmo is very important. You’ll be

working with it a lot.
• X = Red Arrow (side to side)

• Y = Green Arrow (up and down)
• Z = Blue Arrow (front to back)
Going back to Create > Polygon Primitives, you will notice a small box next
to each object:
This is tool settings menu. Many functions in Maya contain this options box.
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In the case of Polygon Primitives, you use an option menu to define few
parameters prior to creating that object. So instead of creating a cube first
then resizing it, you can enter specific values and create it:
Every time you create the same Polygon Primitive for whose tool settings
you've changed, it will retain those values until you reset the options back to
default.
To reset settings back to default, bring up the options menu for Polygon
Primitive object and go to Edit > Reset Settings:
In addition to Polygon Primitives, there is another object type you could use
to model with - NURBS.
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NURBS is geometry type based on surface curves.
Create > NURBS Primitives:
Few things about NURBS you should know:
• Avoid using NURBS as a beginner; once you've achieved some

proficiency with Maya and gone through the entire "Maya Foundation:
Home Study Course” you will be in a better place to experiment with
NURBS
• NURBS are very helpful to start modeling from to help you create a
complex curved surface that would be very difficult to achieve with
polygon primitives
• You will always end up converting NURBS to polygon object prior to
export into a game engine
• You will have to clean up and optimize a polygon object that has been
converted from NURBS
Break Your Scenes Down to Geometrics Shapes

Break everything you create into basic primitive geometric shapes.
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Everything you see in the world can be broken down to a cube, cylinder or
sphere. These basic geometric shapes are going to be your building blocks
as you construct your objects. Many of your game assets will be started
using these primitive polygonal shapes.
Later on in section 4 we will go through an exercise where we construct a

simple hallway with nothing else but modified cubes.
Interactive Polygon Creation

Interactive Creation option is not very often used but does offer a way to
quickly block in shapes without using values and input boxes.
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Also this option was enabled by default in earlier versions of Maya. Knowing
how to turn it off/on is helpful.
To enable go to Create > Polygon Primitives Interactive Creation:
Now, choose which Polygon Primitive you want to create and in perspective
viewport left-click and drag to create it. This will often require multiple clicks
and steps to set size and scale of each different Polygon Primitive:
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To disable go to Create > Polygons Primitives > Interactive Creation
(Uncheck):
Basic Maya Controls While Working With Objects

Basic object controls in Maya:
• Left Mouse Button = select object

• Delete = remove selected object
• Left Mouse Click and Drag = marquee select objects
• Shift + Left Mouse Click = Add to Selection
• Ctrl + Left Mouse Click = Remove from Selection
• Z = undo
Option Boxes
There are many tools in Maya that contain additional options. You will notice
a square box next to them when using drop down menus:
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Left-Click on the option box to access tool settings.
Here is an example of Extrude Tool options:
It allows you to set various options to a tool prior to using it in order to

achieve different set of results.
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Quick Way to Find Correct XYZ Direction
How do you find which color represents which XYZ gizmo direction?
It is not very apparent to a beginner to know which color represents which

XYZ direction.
• X = red (side to side)

• Y = green (up and down)
• Z = blue (front to back)
Quick reference is to take a look on the bottom left of the perspective

viewport:
This will tell you the direction of each gizmo for XYZ.
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Using Channel Box for Object Manipulation
With Move, Rotate and Scale tools you are able to manipulate the Polygon
Primitives without constraints.
But what if you know the specific values for movement, rotation or scale?
Let's say you know your cube has to be 300 in XYZ and rotated 45 degrees
along X only – how do you do this?
Using Channel Box you can Translate, Rotate and Scale a Polygon Primitive
with specific values. Select the object and look inside the Channel Box:
Now input values for Translate, Rotate or Scale:
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Now before you start using Scale option in the Channel Box, there is
something you should know about the workflow of setting specific size of
your object to start with.
Correctly Set Polygon Primitive Size/Scale Values

Here is the best workflow to set your object's initial size and scale.
Create a Polygon Primitive object:
Make sure the object is selected so its properties show up in the Channel
Box.
In the Channel Box, scroll down to INPUTS text and left-click on the name
below Inputs to open a menu. The name below INPUTS will vary depending
on the object you created. In our case it is "polyCube1". The menu will also
contain different options depending on the object:
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This is where you want to set the
first initial size and scale of your
object by defining Width, Height,
Depth and Subdivisions:
Here are a few different options you will see depending on which Polygon
Primitive you created.
Cube:
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Cylinder:
Sphere:
Using the Inputs property to set the initial width, height and depth is very
important. This is what I use at first and I do not use Scale XYZ values
above in the Channel box to start with.
The values you enter for Width, Height, Depth will be relevant to the scale of
the game and game engine you are using to export.
Important: all these values to enter to set the size are in centimeters (cm).
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Selecting, Moving, Rotating and Scaling Objects
To enable Move, Rotate, Scale and Select objects tools in Maya use the Tool
Box (left hand side menu below Shelf Options Gear):
But it is better to use hotkeys:
• Q = select tool
• W = move tool
• E = rotate tool
• R = scale tool
Left-click to select an object in the scene then use shortcut keys (W, E, R) to
cycle between 3 different manipulation tools (Move, Rotate, Scale). For each
tool you will see the gizmo change:
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Left Mouse Click or Middle
Mouse Click Hold and Drag
on X, Y, Z gizmo handles to
manipulate move, rotate or
scale that object.
Using X, Y, Z handles will only

Move, Rotate, Scale along
that specific axis:
Move and Scale tool will also

have universal handle to
transform along XYZ
together. You will find this in
the middle of the object.
Move along XYZ together:
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Scale on XYZ together:
Left Mouse Click or Middle Mouse Click Hold and Drag on middle
gizmo to move along XYZ together or scale on XYZ uniformly.
Naming/Renaming Objects in Your Scene

Naming objects is a good habit to start for organizing your scene. Also many
game engines will use the same object's name during export/import.
Select the object and in the Channel Box left click on pCube1 text (or other
default name Maya gives):
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Type in new name:
Guidelines to use while naming objects:
• Avoid spaces
• Use underscores or dashes instead of spaces
• Lower case are ideal but it is ok to use Capital Letters
These guidelines extend beyond Maya into game development to keep your
project and naming convention consistent.
For example, some game engines do not like if you include spaces in names
or capital letters. You can break the guidelines but it is best to maintain a
process that is consistent across modeling and game engine usage to avoid
problems and errors in your development pipeline.
Right Click to Access Object Component Mode

Object's Component Mode allows you to model Polygon Primitives by
manipulating vertices, faces and edges.
To access Object Component Mode, select it first then:
• Right Mouse Click and Hold on Select Object = enable component

mode
Then switch to vertices, edges or faces:
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As a beginner, ignore everything else except vertices, edges and faces.
Here are 5 hotkeys for Object Component Mode. Select the object and press:
• F8 = object selection
• F9 = vertex
• F10 = edge
• F11 = face
• F12 = UVs
When you are done manipulating components of that object, switch to

Object Mode (F8):
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Selecting, Moving, Rotating and Scaling Components
Just as you can move, rotate and scale each object using the following
shortcut keys:
• Q = Selection Tool
• W = Move Tool
• E = Rotation Tool
• R = Scale Tool
You can also move, rotate and scale various selected components (vertices,
edges, faces) of an object.
Switch over to one of the component modes and select one or more vertices,
faces or edges to move, scale or rotate. Here is a cube with top face scaled
in:
Moving, rotating and scaling components is going to be your primary way of

modeling game assets.
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Wireframe, Shaded and Textured Views
3 important viewing options are:
• Wireframe
• Smooth Shade All
• Textured
You can left click on each icon to activate it but shortcut keys are faster for
workflow:
• 4 = wireframe view
• 5 = smooth shade all view
• 6 = shaded view textured
Wireframe View:
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Smooth Shade View:
Shaded View Textured:
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There is also "Use All Lights" view, but you won't be lighting your scenes in
Maya LT/Maya, as it will be done inside the game engine.
Important: 1, 2 or 3 keys will enable Smooth Subdivision Preview mode. If

you press 2 or 3 by accident your object will change shape drastically. Select
the object and press 1 to set it back to normal.
Viewport Setting for Modeling

First thing you should enable is "Wireframe on Shaded". This is very useful
for modeling.
Click on "Wireframe on Shaded" icon in Perspective Viewport, shortcut key is

Alt+5:
During beginning stages of environment modeling activate the following:
• 5 for Smooth Shaded View (should be On by default)

• Wireframe on Shaded (Alt+5)
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Switching to XRay View for Modeling
Unlike Wireframe view, X-Ray view will make your objects in the scene semi-
transparent.
Activate X-Ray view from viewport toolbar:
X-Ray view is often used for modeling objects.
Enable/Disable Grid
Sometimes you'll need to disable grid from displaying in viewport to better
see your model such as when you need to check bottom of the object.
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Click on "Grid" icon to cycle it on/off:
Use Isolate Select

Isolate Select is extremely helpful for modeling. If you have multiple objects
in the scene but need to hide everything else from view except for one
object you are working on, use "Isolate Select". Select the object you want
to keep in view and click on "Isolate Select", shortcut key is Ctrl+1:
Everything else will be hidden except the selected object:
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When you need to show all, click on "Isolate Select" again or Ctrl+1.
How to Snap Objects to Grid, Vertices and Edges

You have to be able to snap your geometry to grid and to other objects in
the scene. This applies to nearly all models you create, especially when
creating modular assets.
To do this you have to know how to snap to grid, vertices, edges and modify
pivot points.
You'll only need know and use 3 grid options:
• Snap to Grids
• Snap to Curves/Edges
• Snap to Points/Vertices
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Left mouse click to enable Snap to Grid, Curves/Edges or Points/Vertices.
You can enable one or all of them:
In the viewport, select an object then Left Click Hold and Drag or Middle
Mouse Click Hold and Drag the object to snap.
Instead of coming up to the Status Line, you can use shortcut:
• Hold V and Move Object = snap to vertex point

• Hold C and Move Object = snap to curve/edge
• Hold X and Move Object = snap to the grid
You have to hold down V, C or X while moving the object to keep

snaps on. Make sure you have snaps disabled in the Status Line in order to
use these shortcuts.
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Control Object’s Pivot Points
Pivot Points control where the object is going to snap to, rotate and scale
from. It is very rare for the pivot point to be exactly where you need it
without modifying it. There are 2 ways modify pivot points:
• Insert = enable/disable object pivot modification

• Hold D = enable/disable object pivot modification
First way is to select the object and press Insert; this will enable you to
modify the pivot:
You can now modify object's pivot point and position it where you want it:
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You could also use X, C, V shortcut keys to snap the pivot point to grid,
curve/edge or vertex or enable snaps in the Status Line. Press Insert again
to exit pivot point modification tool.
Second way is to select the object, press and hold D key. This will
activate the pivot point modification tool:
While keeping D key pressed move and modify the pivot point. Also
use X, C, V shortcut keys to snap the pivot point to grid, curve/edge or
vertex.
Center Pivot Point on Objects

Quick way to modify a pivot point to the center of the object is to use Modify
> Center Pivot:
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Custom Polygon Display
Custom Polygon Display allows sets visual preferences for how you want to
view objects in Maya.
Some of these options include backface culling, display normals, texture

borders, open edge border and much more.
Many of these are very useful for game environment modeling.

Here are a few settings you need to know right now as you begin.
ACCESSING CUSTOM POLYGON DISPLAY
To enable settings for Custom Polygon Display go to Display > Polygons >
Custom Polygon Display:
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"Custom Polygon Display" window will open:
Most of the options inside Custom Polygon Display are also available under
Display > Polygons drop down menu:
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For quicker access to Custom Polygon Display settings, add it to your custom
tool shelf:
Custom Polygon Display: Use Highlight Border Edges

and Backface Culling
First two to enable are "Highlight: Border Edges" and "Backface Culling:
Keep Wire":
"Highlight: Border Edges" will display open borders on geometry. Open

borders is where there is a hole in geometry such as when you delete a face:
Off:
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On:
"Backface Culling: Keep Wire" will show the display of polygon faces that
are not going to be rendered in-game. Backfaces on game assets are
invisible:
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As you can see above, "Backface Culling" will show you which faces will not
render in-game.
Custom Polygon Display: Face Options

Face options contain helpful polygon display setting.
Center: displays a small square to indicate the center of a face:
Normals: displays face normals; the direction a face normal is pointing

indicates visibility of that polygon in-game. Note the green line pointing out
from the center of a polygon face. I also had to increase "Normals Size"
value to 10:
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Triangles: every game asset inside a game engine is made up of triangles.
While you model objects in Maya LT/Maya, it is easier to work with quads (4-
sided polygons) rather than triangles. But even though you are viewing
everything as quads in Maya, it is still made up of triangles. You can enable
to display triangles on your geometry with this option:
Non-planar faces: this highlights all non-planar faces to show which

polygons are not flat; non-planar faces could cause visual glitches in your
geometry.
Here is one non-planar face on the cube:
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In side view, you can see that one of the vertices has been moved which is
causing a non-planar face:
Custom Polygon Display: Reset Settings

To get back to default if you messed something up, in Custom Polygon
Display: Edit > Reset Settings:
The above settings are a good start. The rest should be enabled on the
"need to use" basis and as you become more proficient with modeling in
Maya.
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Properly Delete Polygons/Faces, Edges and Vertices
Deleting Components such as vertices, edges and faces seems like a
straightforward process. But there are a few issues with using Delete key
that can cause problems, especially for edges.
DELETE POLYGONS/FACES
Easiest component to delete is a polygon face. Switch to face Component

Mode and select the face you want to delete:
Press Delete or Backspace:
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• Delete or Backspace = remove selected face on the object
To delete multiple faces at once, select the face, press Shift + Left Mouse
Click to add to selection:
Press Delete:
DELETING FACES WITHOUT SELECTING
You can delete faces without selecting them. Switch over to face component
Mode and hover over a face you want to delete (don't left-click on the face
to select it, just hover over it):
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Press Delete while the mouse cursor is hovering over it:
DELETE EDGES
Deleting edges using Delete key will not remove shared vertices. This is a
problem.
Here is a selected edge, and by hitting Delete all seems normal:
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But switching over to vertices component Mode, you can see there are
floating vertices left:
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To properly delete an edge you must go to Edit Mesh > Delete Edge/Vertex:
Better yet, use a shortcut:
• Ctrl + Delete = Delete Edge
So the proper way deleting an edge is to use Ctrl+Delete which leave no

floating vertices:
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Here is what happens when you remove a supporting edge that helps to
form geometry of a cube using Delete:
Here is what happens when you remove a supporting edge that helps to
form geometry of a cube using Ctrl+Delete:
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Use Ctrl+Delete for most of edges you need to remove.
DELETE VERTICES
Using Delete key will work on floating vertices or vertices that are not
connected to 2 or more edges:
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Delete key will not work on vertices that are connected to more than 2
edges:
You will have to force delete by using Edit Mesh > Delete Edge/Vertex:
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Or use a shortcut:
• Ctrl + Delete = Delete Vertex Connected to More Than 2 Edges
Be careful force deleting certain vertices as it can create errors and collapse
your geometry. Here are 2 vertices deleted which collapsed our cube:
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Duplicating Objects
There are two ways to duplicate objects: Duplicate and Duplicate Special.
Duplicate will copy the object normally without any special options or
transformations:
• Ctrl + D = duplicate (Edit > Duplicate)
Duplicate Special commands will copy selected objects with

transformations applied to each copy. Select the object you want to
duplicate, press Shift+D then move the duplicated object:
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Now with the duplicated object still selected, press Shift+D again. It
will duplicate again but now remembering the previous transformation
values.
Continue to press Shift+D and it will continue to duplicate it along the same
exact pattern. This is very useful for creating repeatable patterns of
architecture:
Once you deselect the duplicated copy, Shift+D (Duplicate Special) will no
longer work for that object.
Duplicate Special will remember translate, rotate and scale. If you duplicate
using Shift+D, then modify distance, rotation and scale of the object and
press Shift+D again, it will remember and duplicate with these values.
• Shift + D = duplicate with transform (Edit > Duplicate with

Transform)
For individual objects use Ctrl+D for repeated pattern use Shift+D.
Delete Objects Construction History

As you model your game environment assets, Maya LT/Maya will keep all of
the object's construction history as you work on it.
At some point this will begin to increase your file size, decrease scene
calculation speed and slow down viewport rendering - unless you delete
construction history on that object.
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Here is an object that has been worked on and accumulated Construction
History:
Select an object in the scene that you want to delete construction history
on:
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Go to Edit > Delete by Type > History:
Or use a shortcut:
• Alt + Shift + D = delete history
Object's history has now been deleted:
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Do this every once in a while as your object accumulates history.
You may want to add "Delete History" tool to your shelf:
Press G to Repeat Last Used Tool

There will be many times when you need to repeat last used function instead
of coming up to a drop down menu or shelf icon. To repeat or activate last
used tool, press G.
• G = repeat last used tool
Very useful and helps to speed up your workflow.
Freeze Transformations on Object

Freeze Transformations will change
Translate, Rotate, Scale Transform inputs
and reset them to 0 in the Channel Box:
So if you moved the object, scaled and rotated, the values in the Channel
Box will be updated:
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You can freeze these values to 0
without changing the
size/rotation/scale of the model by
selecting the object and going to
Modify > Freeze Transformations:
This is very helpful when you want the object to return to a position in the
world where you "Freeze Transformations". For example, you Freeze
Transformations on an object at world origin 0, 0, 0:
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Then, if you move the object anywhere in the scene:
Then decide to move it back to 0, 0, 0; all you need to do is type in 0, 0, 0

for Translate/Rotate/Scale in the Channel Box:
The object will return to the position where you last used "Freeze
Transformation". Very useful for bringing object back to Maya's world origin
for re-exporting back into the game engine.
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Using Hotbox Controls
Hotbox is a way to access various drop down menus across the top of the
interface without having to go all the way up.
Press and hold the Spacebar to access the hotbox:
• Press and Hold Spacebar = hotbox menu access
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As you slowly become proficient in new software (3d modeling application, a
game engine or level editor) you have to put the acquired knowledge gained
so far into context of an exercise to better assimilate what you've learned.
Following exercise provides a framework to practice in.
It is important that you begin to master navigating viewports, becoming

familiar with Maya interface for environment modeling and creating, moving,
rotating, scaling, manipulating simple Polygon Primitives.
I can't stress enough how important it is to go through this exercises and

maybe go through it a few times.
Repetition is key.
Exercise Overview
We are going to use simple geometric Primitive Polygon shapes and model
the essence of an environment from a photo.
Here is the photo reference:
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Here is our goal in Maya:
Once you've gone through this exercise once using the photo reference
above, you can find a new photo of an environment to practice on.
You want to break the photo reference down into simple, primitive,
geometric shapes such as cube, cylinder, sphere etc:
You will then use these basic shapes inside Maya to block in the scene with
only Polygon Primitives.
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This photo reference is very simple and it only contains modified cubes:
Start and Save New Scene

Inside newly created project, start a new scene. File > New Scene:
Then right away, save this scene, File > Save Scene:
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Name this anything you want. I named mine "PrimitivePolyExercise".
Human Scale Reference

To make sure you model everything to correct scale and proportion in Maya
you need to establish two things:
1. Scale values for basic architecture that is specific to the game engine
you are working in
2. Human reference scale in the scene that matches the player character
in-game
Scale values will vary depending on the game engine used. These include
specific height, width and depth for walls, doors, stairs and windows so
everything you model will match from Maya LT/Maya to game engine upon
export.
There are too many game engines to cover for correct architecture and
player scale values. You'll have to look up these values for the engine you
are using. For Unreal Engine 5, see this and this in-depth tutorial.
So, what are the architecture and player scale values are we going
to use for this exercise?
We are going to establish our own. They are:
• Player Height: 6
• Player Width: 2
• Player Depth: 2
• Average Wall/Column Height: 12
• Average Wall Depth: 1
We will create a human reference scale that resembles the height, width and
depth of a possible character and model everything to it.
Important: the values above are in centimeters. Everything in Maya is

based on centimeters. 6cm in player height is extremely small. But we are
doing this as an exercise only. In real-production pipeline, you will be
modeling things to the specified dimensions of your given character in-
game.
Let's create a cube that will be used as human reference scale:
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Use Channel Box Inputs to set scale values:
• Width: 2
• Height: 6
• Depth: 2
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Modify the pivot point to bottom corner and snap the cube to the grid:
This is our human reference scale. Everything we now build has to be

proportional to this scale.
Walls and Columns

There are two ways to do this exercise, the correct way and a quick way.
Quick way is to use Move, Scale and Rotate tools to shape the walls and
pillars without paying attention to grid and object snaps:
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This will create a lot of problems. Your objects will not snap to the grid,
there are no modular components that can be reused and there is a lot of
overlapping geometry. Note the mis-alignment of geometry on the grid:
Correct way is to create a cube, use Input Channel Box with specific values
to reshape the size and to make sure that this object is snapped to the grid
and can be aligned to other geometry in the scene:
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Let's create our first initial wall. Create a cube and using Inputs in Channel
Box set the following dimensions:
• Width: 1
• Height: 12
• Depth: 12
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Modify pivot point to snap to a bottom corner and snap the wall to the grid:
Take a look at the player scale reference and the wall to see if they are in
proportion:
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We are only going to create this wall piece once and duplicate it for the rest
of the environment.
Now onto the column. Create a cube and using Inputs in Channel Box set
the following dimensions:
• Width: 3
• Height: 12
• Depth: 3
Modify pivot point to snap to a bottom corner:
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Position the column to align next to the wall. Hold X key to snap the column
to grid and other objects:
Go to vertices Component Mode for this column and select top 2 front
vertices and move them forward to create a slight angle in geometry. We
won't snap these vertices to the grid:
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We now have a wall and a
column. We will duplicate both of
them around our scene but
before we do that we need a floor
piece.
For the floor, create a cube:
The thickness of the floor will be

set at 1 by default.
Modify the pivot point to the top

corner of the floor cube and
snap this cube to the gird:
Instead of using Channel Box to resize, let's do this organically by modifying

vertices or edges. In top view, switch to vertices or edges Component Mode
and grab 2 vertices/edges:
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As you move these vertices/edges, hold X so they snap to the grid.
Resize the floor piece while looking at the reference and the human
reference scale to what seems the correct size:
Make sure the ground is below the grid and the player reference scale is on
top of it:
We now have a wall, column and ground which are all snapped to the grid:
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Duplicating Objects
Let's duplicate wall and column.
Use Shift+D to duplicate with transform. In section 3 we covered in detail

and difference between using Ctrl+D and Shift+D for duplicating objects.
Duplicate the walls and columns making sure they are aligned to the grid
and next to each other. Duplicate them on one side of the floor:
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Now we want to do the same thing for the other side. Select all the walls and
press Ctrl+D to duplicate.
127
Move them while snapping to the other side of the hallway, while snapping
these objects to the grid:
Select the column; duplicate it using Ctrl+D:
In the channel box, rotate the column 180 degrees. The axis you use to
rotate will depend on the scene orientation. So your rotating axis may differ:
128
Reason for column rotation is to keep the angle of the object facing the
hallway.
Move and snap the column to the opposite side of the hallway next to new
set of walls:
129
Duplicate the column along using Shift+D:
Pillar Support
We now need to add pillar support near the ceiling:
130
Create a cube and set the Width, Depth and Height to:
• Width: 3
• Height: 3
• Depth: 3
These values match the column, with exception of the height:
Modify the pivot point and place it in the top corner of the object:
Snap the pillar to the top of the column and so it overlaps the column like
so:
131
Switch to vertices Component Mode and move the four vertices on one side
to the other side, snapping to the grid:
132
We have a small problem with the pillar overlapping the column:
We need to fix this. We want to scale the pillar so it is fits inside the column.
If we do this now then it will scale from the pivot point like so:
133
This way could work, if we manually move the pillar over but we want exact
precision for future duplication. So we need to temporarily modify the pivot
point. Select the pillar and go to Modify > Center Pivot:
Scale the column on one axis, in my case this is z-axis. Notice how the pillar
is now being scaled evenly on both sides:
134
The pillar is now no longer overlapping and it is in the exact middle of the
column.
Modify the pivot again, but this time place it on the grid near the pillar
vertices. It will not be in the corner of the pillar model due to our scaling of
the pillar. But the pillar will now be on the grid due to our pivot point:
Duplicate the pillar across the ceiling using Shift+D to Duplicate Special:
135
Ceiling
For the ceiling, take the floor, duplicate it and move it up:
Remember to hold X when moving to align and snap to the grid.
Top Wall Detail

We need to add top wall detail seen here:
136
In real modeling scenario, you
would insert an extra edge and
extrude the top face like so:
Since we haven't covered modeling functions yet (Module 2 will focus on

Modeling Techniques), we'll duplicate the wall and use that as the wall detail.
Duplicate the wall:
137
Switch to Component Mode to vertices or Edges and move the bottom edges
up:
Position the wall detail on upper part of the wall:
138
Switch to faces Component Mode and move the front face of the wall detail
to make it extend beyond a bit, so it is not overlapping:
Duplicate the top wall detail across one side using Shift+D:
139
Then duplicate one of the top wall details:
Rotate it 180 degrees and snap it to the grid. Position it on the opposite side
of the wall.
Reason for rotation is due to the extra detail that’s protruding from the wall;
so the wall detail orientation has to be correct:
140
Duplicate it using Shift+D for the other side of the hallway:
Final Block In
Here is our final exercise block-in:
Following exercise is very important to practice and become familiar with all
everything you learned up to this point.
141
I would recommend going through it 2-3 more times using different
reference images. Focus on breaking down the architecture into simple
geometric shapes and capturing the essence of the environment using
nothing else but what you've learned so far.
142
You only need to know 11 modeling tools to get started modeling in Maya.
With these you'll be able to model most of environments and props.
Focus on mastering these 11 first.
1. Extrude
Extrude will create additional geometry from faces and edges.
Select faces or edges you want to extrude then go to Edit Mesh > Extrude.
• Ctrl + E = Extrude
Adjust Thickness, Offset and/or Divisions. Here I changed Thickness and

Offset:
143
Keep Faces Together Off will extrude each selected face separately, instead
of all together:
144
2. Bevel
Bevel will round out corners of your geometry.
• Select edges you want to bevel

• Edit Mesh > Bevel
• Ctrl + B = Bevel
• Fraction = size of the bevel
• Add segments for smoother rounded corner
3. Multi-Cut
Multi-Cut tool cuts geometry with edges and inserts edge loops. This tool is
extremely versatile.
145
You can access it through Mesh Tools > Multi-Cut or through Modeling
Toolkit.
Once enabled, Left Click Hold and Drag on an edge to begin the cut.
Continue left clicking to place additional vertices that will be connected with
an edge. You must end your cut on a vertex or an edge.
• Left Mouse Click = Insert Points

• Escape = Start Over, Remove All Previously Placed Cut Points
• Enter = Complete Cut
• Backspace or Delete = Undo Last Placed Point
• Left or Middle Mouse Click Hold and Drag = Edit Last Placed Point
In addition to cutting, you can also insert edge loops.
• Hold Ctrl + Left Mouse Click and Drag = Insert Edge Loop
• Hold Ctrl + Middle Mouse Button = Insert Centered Edge Loop
• Hold Shift and Left Mouse Click = Snap Point Along an Edge
Midpoint
146
• Hold Shift + Left Mouse Click and Drag = Snap Point Along an
Edge
You can also use Multi-Cut to Slice your geometry very quickly.
• Left Mouse Click and Drag = Slice

• Middle Mouse Click and Drag = Quick Slice
• Hold Shift and Left Mouse Click and Drag = Snap Angle and Slice
4. Connect
Connect Tool inserts additional edges between selected edges.
147
• Select 2 or more edges you want to insert extra edges in
• Mesh Tools > Connect or access through Modeling Toolkit
• Enter = Complete Connect Tool
There are some options in the Modeling Toolkit for the Connect:
• Slide: defines where the edge is inserted. 0.50 (default), edges are
inserted in the middle
• Segments: defines the number of connected segments that are
inserted into the mesh
• Pinch: defines the distance between the outer edges and the
connected segment
5. Circularize
Circularize will create a circle shape from selected faces or vertices.
148
Select 4 or more faces or vertices:
Go to Edit Mesh > Circularize. Add divisions if needed for more rounded
circle:
149
You can circularize a single face but you'll need to add divisions.
6. Combine/Separate/Extract
Combine: combines selected objects into one.
• Mesh > Combine
Separate: separates combined objects.
• Mesh > Separate
Extract: creates a separate, individual object from selected faces.
• Edit Mesh > Extract
7. Bridge
Creates geometry between faces or open border edges. Great for pipes,
curved roads, arches or anywhere you need to create geometry between
faces or open border edges.
150
Meshes being Bridged must be combined into a single mesh. You can’t
Bridge between two separate meshes.
Select faces or edges you want to bridge between. Number of selected edges
or faces on both sides must be the same.
Edit Mesh > Bridge or access through Modeling Toolkit. Add divisions if you
need extra edges within the geometry that was bridged.
• Divisions: number of segments to insert

• Twist: rotate the bridge
151
You can use Bridge to create geometry like arches or curved pipes:
Select open-border edges or faces:
Bridge and then set the following:
• Curve Type: Blend

• Add divisions
152
If you are getting inverted Bridge result then adjust the Direction Source or
Target to plus or minus.
153
8. Target Weld
Target Weld merges vertices or edges. Great for optimizing, cleaning up and
reflowing topology of your mesh.
Switch to vertex component mode and enable Target Weld through Mesh
Tools > Target Weld or access through Modeling Toolkit.
• Left Click and Drag one vertex to another to Target Weld

• Middle Mouse Click Drag = Merge to Center
You may also Target Weld edges by switching to Edge component mode and
using the same thing you did on vertices.
9. Booleans
Booleans allow you to merge 2 or more objects creating more complex
shapes that would be difficult to model otherwise.
154
There are 3 primary Boolean operations:
• Union = merges two objects (different from combine)

• Difference = subtracts one object from the other (Difference A-B and
B-A subtracts first object from the second or vice versa)
• Intersection = keeps the geometry that is intersecting
155
In Maya 2023, there are more Boolean operations but Union, Difference and
Intersections are the core 3.
The major downside of Booleans is they will require cleanup. They tend to
leave a lot of n-gons and stray vertices.
To minimize the cleanup and bad geometry, you have to line up your edge
geometry ahead of time.
In Maya 2023, Booleans can be edited in real-time. Once you apply a

Boolean operation, you can adjust the results by moving the objects around.
156
Delete History to finalize Boolean operation.
Use Attribute Editor for additional Boolean control such as changing Boolean
operation, visibility and changing Boolean layer stack:
We go more in-depth about how to use Legacy Booleans and new Maya 2023
Booleans in the “Maya Foundation: Home-Study Course”.
10. Soft/Hard Edge Control

Soft/Hard Edges are not so much as a modeling tool but they control how to
display your model properly.
Maya will automatically set hard/soft edges on your model but sometimes it
has a difficult time figuring out if an edge should be soft or hard.
Here is an example of a cylinder with all edges set to hard:
157
To change edges to Soft or Hard, select them first then go to Mesh Display
> Harden Edge or Soften Edge:
158
You can have both hard and soft edges on the same model.
Display visibility of Hard/Soft Edges:
• Select object and go to Attribute Editor

• Under Mesh Component Display, change Display Edges: Soft/Hard
• Dashed Edges = Soft

• Solid Edges = Hard
You can also enable this through Custom Polygon Display menu.
11. Reverse Faces

Face Normals control which direction the face will render. Sometimes the
face normal will be inverted (will be seen as black) and you may need to
Reverse the direction of those faces.
159
Select the face you want to reverse and go to Mesh Display > Reverse.
160
These Modeling Tools Are Just the Beginning
This was just a brief introduction into most commonly used Modeling Tools in
Maya. We spend a lot more time with each of these tools and more
additional tools in “Maya Foundation: Home-Study Course”.
161
UVing a model allows you to display textures correctly on a 3d object. There
are 3 common terms you will encounter. UVing, UV Mapping, UV
Unwrapping. All have a slightly different definition but each is after the same
outcome.
UV Mapping vs UV Unwrapping vs UVing

There are 3 common terms you’ll encounter: UVing, UV Mapping, UV
Unwrapping. All have different definition but each is after the same outcome.
Instead of going into terminology and theory, I’m going to simplify them into
this: it is a process of projecting a 2d texture onto a 3D object.
All objects will have a default set of UVs automatically created. For each
object to display textures correctly you have to Unwrap that object and lay
out the UVs so it can be textured.
Here is an example of the same model. First has been correctly Unwrapped,
second has default UVs and has not been Unwrapped.
162
You can tell by seeing the significant stretching and distortion of the
Checkered Tiles on second object. Also by how messy the UV layout looks.
To display Checkered Pattern inside Maya on any object, do this: select the
object and inside the UV Editor go to Textures > Checker Map:
Access UV Editor
To open UV Editor, go to UV > UV Editor then select the object for the UVs
to appear:
163
You can also use Maya Workspace: UV Editing to make your Maya Interface
only focus on UV Editing.
Creating New Materials and Assigning Them to Objects

Default material assigned to all objects in Maya is Lambert.
If you open up the Hypershade, you will see lambert1 as one of the
materials:
You can edit this default material to other colors by selecting the lambert1
icon in Hypershade and adjusting properties in the editor:
164
But it’s better to create a separate material and then assign them to your
objects.
To create a new Material in Maya follow these steps.
Open Hypershade and under Create section choose Maya:
165
Most common Materials to use in Maya are:
• Lambert: flat shaded, no specular highlight (great for modeling and

color image previews)
• Blinn, Phong and Phong E: all three allow you to have specular
highlights. Difference between Blinn and Phong/Phong E are how the
specular highlights are calculated (different reflection models).
Note: These four materials are just for you to use in Maya so you can see
what your object will look like. Each of these materials can use an input
image for Color, Specularity, Normal Map etc. You wouldn’t create a material
for a game engine in Maya. Each game engine has it’s own Material Editor to
use.
After you created a new material and adjusted properties for it, you can
apply it to your object.
Here I created a Blinn material and changed color to Blue:
166
In Perspective Viewport, select the object and Right-Click Hold to get drop-
down menu then choose Assign Existing Material > blinn1:
167
Final UVs Should* Be Inside 0-1 Space
The final UV Layout of the object’s UVs should be inside 0-1 space.
When I say should is because there are other methods of laying out UVs that
can be placed outside of 0-1 space.
Now, let me show you what default UV editor and object’s UVs look like. The
small square where you see the UVs currently occupy is 0-1 UV space. The
rest of the squares are outside 0-1 UV space.
168
As a beginner you should avoid all other squares except the important 0-1
UV space.
To get rid of all other grid spaces, you need to adjust your UV grid. Go to
View > Grid Options:
Change the settings to the following:
169
• Length and width: 1.0 units
• Grid lines every: 0.1 units
• Subdivision: 2
These options remove everything else you don’t need and give you the
coveted beginner 0-1 UV space to begin. Top right is your 0-1 UV space to
place all your UVs into. The rest of the squares are your working area.
Other UV methods include: tiling textures, trim sheets, UDIMs. All use the
UV space differently.
As a beginner, place your FINAL UVs inside 0-1 space and ignore
placing anything outside of 0-1 space (using other UV methods) until you
get more proficient Unwrapping models.
170
UV Editor Navigation
To navigate inside the UV Editor is simple and uses many of the same
Orthographic viewport navigation.
• Alt + Left Mouse Button Click Hold and Drag = Pan

• Alt + Right Mouse Button Click Hold and Drag = Zoom In/Out
• F = Frame View on Selected UVs
Select, Move, Rotate, Scale UVs

To make UVs appear in the UV Editor, you must select the object first.
Then Right-Click Hold in UV Editor and choose to work with different UV

component modes such as Edge, Face, Vertex, UV Shell and UVs.
171
When Unwrapping a model, you will be using all 5 options.
It’s important to note when switching to Edge, Face, Vertex component

modes inside the UV Editor - these are NOT the same as when switching to
Object Component Mode inside the viewports. If you are in the UV Editor
and you switch to Edge, Face, Vertex, you are switching to UV Edge, UV
Face and UV Vertex components.
For example by switching to UV Face component mode in UV Editor and then

moving the UV Face, you will only be adjusting the Face UVs and not
geometry of the object.
When you switch to any of the UV Component Modes you can then Move,
Rotate or Scale those UVs. The shortcut keys to do this are the same as
when working with objects.
• W = Move UVs
• E = Rotate UVs
• R = Scale UVs
If you switch to UV Component Mode, you are able to select individual UVs
of an object and move, rotate, scale.
172
What is a UV Shell
When you are looking at the UV Component Menu you will see UV Shell.
What is a UV Shell? UV Shell is one or more island or sections of

connected UVs.
Here is a default cylinder with 3 UV Shells:
173
You can also see how many UV Shells an object has by looking at UV
Statistics on bottom right of UV Editor:
The amount of UV shells your object will have depends on the 3d model.
Some have less, some have more. All matter of how complex your model is
and how the model will be textured.
When switching to UV Shell component selection, it makes it easier to select

the entire UV island so you can move it, scale it or rotate it.
UV Editor View Modes

When modeling you have different view modes you can switch between such
as wireframe, shaded, wireframe on shaded and so on.
UV Editor also has its own view modes to help you work with UVs better.
Go to View:
174
Here are some important shortcuts you need to know about:
• 4 = Wireframe
• 5 = Shaded
• 7 = UV Distortion
• 8 = Toggle Shell Borders
• 9 = Texture Borders
Most of these shortcuts also have their own icons in the UV Editor shelf.
Hover over the icons to see what they are but shortcuts should be your go to
for faster workflow.
The two UV view modes I recommend to enable and work with are Shaded
(5) and Texture Borders (9). These allow you to see if your UVs are flipped
and see where UVs are separated:
175
Flipped UVs are displayed with:
• Blue Color = Correctly Flipped

• Red Color = Inside Out UVs (UVs need to be flipped)
You can Flip UVs by selecting all the UVs or entire UV Shell then going to
Modify > Flip:
176
UV Toolkit
UV Toolkit will be one of the most useful toolkits available to you when
UVing. It contains everything you need to UV your 3d models:
Everything you see has an arrow and if you click on that arrow it will open
up all the options for that category to use.
177
If you do not see the UV Toolkit go to Tools > Show UV Toolkit:
178
The UV Toolkit will also be docked and available to you if you are using
Workspace: UV Editing:
Create New Material and Assign a Color Texture

Here is how to create a new material and assign a color texture to it so you
can display it in the viewport on your 3d meshes.
We are going to create a simple Lambert material with a color image

assigned to it. The steps would be similar if you were to create any other
Maya shader such as Blinn, Phong, PhongE etc.
Go to Hypershade and create Maya Lambert material:
179
Go to Property Editor and under Color click on the checkered box:
When Create Render Node window pops up, choose File:
Back in Property Editor you will be presented with a new menu options.
Under Image Name click on the folder icon:
180
This will open up sourceimages folder that is contained within your project.
Choose the texture image you want to assign and use.
Back in Perspective Viewport, select the object you want to assign the new
material. Right-Click hold to choose Assign Existing Material > lambert2
(or whatever the new material you created is named):
181
Display Texture Image
When you’ve already assigned a new material with a color texture on your
model there are a couple of ways to make that texture be displayed in the
viewport and in UV Editor.
In Perspective Viewport, press 6 to display Textured View or you can

click on the icon in the viewport toolbar:
In UV Editor you press the same shortcut key, 6 to toggle Display Texture
Image or go to Image > Display:
182
UV Projection Methods
There are multiple projection methods you’ll be using to start UVing your
objects. Some of these are:
• Automatic
• Planar
• Cylindrical
• Spherical
183
You’ll find these under Create in UV Editor and in the UV Toolkit under
Create:
Automatic Projection
Automatic mapping creates UVs by automatically projecting on 6 different

planes (top, down, left, right, up, down).
Automatic Projection is a good starting point but should never be the ONLY
thing you use to create UVs.
The major downside to using Automatic Projection is the amount of UVS

shells it creates. Especially for more complex objects that have a lot of angle
changes.
Here is Automatic Mapping result on an SNES controller model.
184
It is a good starting point but the final UVs should be more organized and 0-
1 UV space should be more utilized.
Here is a good example of UV layout of the same object:
185
To use Automatic Projection:
• Select the object

• Go to Create > Automatic
Every projection methods will also have options for you to take a look at.
Here are options for Automatic:
186
Planar Projection
Planar will project UVs on a flat plane using one direction. X, Y or Z.
You can Planar Project an entire mesh or selected faces only. I tend to
project only the faces I need.
• X = Left/Right
• Y = Up/Down
• Z = Front/Back
Select Faces you want to project and go to Create > Planar Options and
choose which Axis to Project from: X, Y or Z:
This will depend on the selected faces. If you project on the wrong Axis you
can just rerun the command and choose the correct Axis orientation.
Important: also in the options, make sure to enable Keep Image

Width/Height Ratio. This will not distort your projected UV shells and keep
the ratio true to your model:
187
Planar Projection is great for angular, hard-surface objects.
Planar Mapping will produce some overlapping UV shells, so you will have to
flip them.
Flipped UVs are displayed with:
• Blue Color = Correctly Flipped

• Red Color = Inside Out UVs (UVs need to be flipped)
You can Flip UVs by selecting all the UVs or entire UV Shell then going to
Modify > Flip:
188
Cylindrical Projection
Cylindrical mapping will project a cylinder to create your UVs. Of course this
will work best when applied to cylindrical shapes.
Just like with all projection methods, you can project an entire object or
selected faces only.
Select the faces or the entire object on your cylindrical shape and go to
Create > Cylindrical:
Cylindrical Projection will have a gizmo appear that you can move, scale,
rotate to project the UVs better. It’s a little difficult to use at first but by
simply selecting any of the handles you can manipulate the end UV result:
189
If you do project the entire object, you will have some faces that will need to
be re-projected using Planar option.
Spherical Projection
Spherical mapping will project a Sphere to create your UVs. Of course this
will work best when applied to spherical shapes.
Select the spherical shape and go to Create > Spherical:
Just like Cylindrical Projection, you will have a gizmo that you can
manipulate to adjust the end result of projected UVs.
Also Spherical Projection alone is not enough to finish the UVs. You will have
to run few other commands to make the final UV shell look good.
For example, running Unfold on the selected set of UVs will often fix
overlapping and stretched UVs.
Just a Start
There is a lot more that goes into UVing objects. Projections are only the
beginning. Usually you will use a combination of these with addition of few
extra functions within the UV editor such as Unfold, Cut, Sew and Layout.
You can learn more about how to UV using all these Projection methods and
more in the “Maya Foundation: Home-Study Course”.
190
UV Texture Seams
Texture seam is when there is a visual break of texture repetition; this break
causes a seam to be visible where a texture doesn’t line up.
Texture borders or UV shells will cause a texture seam. Anything you see
here where there is a thick white line (texture border) will be a texture
seam:
Your object WILL have seams.
There is no way around it. Place seams into areas where there are natural
seams.
Minimizing shells helps to minimize texture seams:
• Place UV seams in corners

• Place UV seams at geometry changes (90 degree angles)
• Place UV seams at material/texture changes
• Substance Painter offers a way to minimize texture seams in-software
by using Tri-Planar projection to place/paint textures
191
Preserve UVs Option
After modeling and UVing your mesh, you might need to come back and
optimize or adjust geometry. But if you do that after you've UVed your
object, you will mess up your UVs. In order to make adjustments to your
mesh without affecting its UVs, use Preserve UVs option.
Option #1:
Double click on the Move Tool and enable Preserve UVs:
Now, adjust UVs.
Option #2:
Press Ctrl + Shift + Right Mouse Click Hold = Transform Menu and
enable Preserve UVs:
192
With Preserve UVs You Can:
• Move/Scale/Rotate vertices, edges and faces (doesn't work in every

case)
• Bevel edges/faces
• Optimize geometry (merging edges/vertices)
Preserve UVs Has Issues When:
• Creating additional geometry (such as using Extrude or Bridge)
Preserve UVs will not work in every case. If you are adding additional
geometry and modifying the mesh beyond its original shape Maya will not be
able to Preserve your UVs.
Extrude Faces and Preserve UVs
193
To Extrude Faces and Preserve UVs use Maya LT/Maya Bonus Tools. This
only works when using Offset. But does not work when using Thickness.
Delete History on the mesh after you are done modifying/adjusting the
object's UVs to avoid any problems.
194
Maya shortcuts.
Navigation – Perspective Viewport
Rotate Alt + Left Mouse Button

Zoom in/out Alt + Right Mouse Button
Alt + Middle Mouse Button Pan Left/Right/Up/Down
Navigation – Orthographic Viewport

Zoom in/out Alt + Right Mouse Button
Pan Left/Right/Up/Down Alt + Middle Mouse Button
Scene Management
New Scene Ctrl + N
Open Scene Ctrl + O
Save Scene Ctrl + S
Save Scene As Ctrl + Shift + S
Increment and Save Ctrl + Alt + S
Viewports
Maximize/Restore Viewports Spacebar
Toggle Viewport Panel Toolbar Ctrl + Shift + M
Toggle Channel Box/Attribute Ctrl + A
Editor
Full Viewport View Ctrl + Spacebar
Center View on Selected Object F
195
Selecting Objects
Select Object Left Mouse Button

Move Object Left Mouse Click or Middle Mouse Click Hold
Add to Selection Shift + Left Mouse Button
Remove from Selection Ctrl + Left Mouse Button
Marquee Select Objects Left Mouse Click and Drag
Reverse Selection Shift + Left Mouse Click, Hold and Drag for
Marquee Selection
Selections in Component Mode

Edge Component Mode:
Select Edge Loop Double Click on Edge

Select Edge Ring Select One Edge then Hold Shift and Double Click
on an Edge next to the First
Undo
Undo Z
Undo Camera Movement [ ] (bracket keys)
Delete
Remove Object Delete
Deleting Components
Delete Polygon Face Delete or Backspace

Delete Edge Ctrl + Delete
Delete Vertex (Vertex Connected Ctrl + Delete
to More Than 2 Edges)
196
Delete Floating Vertices (Vertex Delete
Connected to Single Edge)
Object Manipulation
Selection Tool Q
Move Tool W
Rotate Tool E
Scale Tool R
Enable Object Component Mode Right Mouse Button Press + Hold

Menu
Object Selection F8
Vertex Selection F9
Edge Selection F10
Face Selection F11
UV or UV Shell Selection F12
Viewport Options
Wireframe View 4
Smooth Shaded View 5
Shaded View with Texture Maps 6
Lighting View 7
Cycle Between Various Background Viewport Colors Alt + B
Wireframe on Shaded Alt + 5
Snaps and Pivots
On/Off Pivot Modification Insert

Activate Pivot Modification Tool Hold D
Snap Object to Grid Hold X
Snap Object to Curve/Edge Hold C
Snap Object to Point/Vertex Hold V
Modify and Snap Pivot Point to Hold D + X
197
Grid
Modify and Snap Pivot Point to Hold D + C
Curve/Edge
Modify and Snap Pivot Point to Hold D + V
Point/Vertex
Duplicating
Duplicate Ctrl + D
Duplicate with Transform Shift + D
Tool Shelf
Add Items/Tool Functions to Hold Ctrl + Shift then Left Mouse

Active Shelf Click
Reorganize/Move Items on the Middle Mouse Hold + Drag
Shelf
Open Menu Options for that Double Left Click on Shelf Icon
Tool Function (if available)
Add Items/Tool Functions to Hold Ctrl + Shift then Left Mouse

Active Shelf Click
Reorganize/Move Items on the Middle Mouse Hold + Drag
Shelf
Open Menu Options for that Double Left Click on Shelf Icon
Tool Function (if available)
Outliner/Hypergraph
Add/Remove Item to/from a Ctrl + Left Mouse Button

Selection
Create a Group/Group Selected Ctrl + G
Objects
198
Hypershade
Opens Attribute Editor Double-Click on Material

Apply Material to Geometry Middle Mouse Click Hold and Drag
from Hypershade onto Object
UV Editor
Pan Alt + Left Mouse Button Click Hold

and Drag
Zoom In/Out Alt + Right Mouse Button Click Hold
and Drag
Enable UV Component Mode Right Mouse Button Press + Hold
Menu
Enable Switch Selection To Hold Ctrl + Right Mouse Hold and
Mode Menu Press
Modeling Tools
Extrude Ctrl + E
Bevel Ctrl + B
Append to Polygon Tool Active
Step Back/Undo Backspace
Workflow
Repeat Last Tool/Action Used G
Modeling Context Menu Hold Shift + Right Mouse Click and

Hold
199
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Maya is a very expansive and complex piece of software. If you attempt to

In this guide you will learn:

• What to do before launching the software

Everything in this guide is aimed at a complete beginner with Maya but an

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Section 2: First Time Inside Maya

Section 3: Modeling Basics or How to Begin Working

Section 4: Geometry Modeling Basics Exercise

Section 5: 11 Modeling Tools to Get Started

Section 6: UV Beginner Basics

Section 7: Maya Shortcuts for Environment Art

4 Ways to Download Maya (For Indie Devs,

• Educational Maya: https://www.autodesk.com/education/edu-

You can get a free trial of Maya for 30 days.

• Maya 30-Day Trial: https://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/free-

For subscriptions, Maya has two primary versions.

Standard Version that cost about $1,700+ annually.

• Maya Standard Version:

• Maya Indie: https://makeanything.autodesk.com/maya-indie

Learning Maya As a Complete Beginners

Approach learning Maya as a specialist, not as a generalist.

Each 3d model is made up of vertices, edges and faces:

• Triangle: face with 3 edges

Triangles and Quads are good.

N-Gons are something you want to avoid.

4 Primary Modeling Methods

• Meshes are composed of vertices, edges, faces

• Uses polygonal objects to creates high-poly, high-quality meshes

• Sculpting is a type of modeling that allows you to create high-poly,

• Objects are composed of splines, control vertices (CVs) and not

There are 3 common terms you will encounter. UVing, UV Mapping, UV

UVs are texture coordinates of the object.

• Model the low-poly or mid-poly in Maya, 3dsMax, Blender etc.

Intermediate Game Asset Pipeline Workflow: Great for hard-surface

• Model the low-poly in Maya, 3dsMax, Blender etc.

• Create base mesh in Maya, 3dsMax, Blender etc. or could be started

1. Menu Sets 8. Animation Controls

Four Views (perspective, top, side and front views):

Use Spacebar to switch between maximized viewport and restored Four

• Spacebar = cycle between maximized and restored viewports

Utilize Full View

• Ctrl + Spacebar = full viewport view

You can do this with a single viewport:

Or with Four Viewport layout:

Right-click on any of the Layout Menu icons for additional options:

Single Perspective View:

1x1 Split (Front/Perspective):

In Maya there are 2 different navigation viewports you have to master -

Perspective viewport (3d view) is going to be your primary view to work

• Alt + Left Mouse Button = rotate