Maya First Time Tutorial |

Maya 2020

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut
labore et dolore magna aliqua. 
Jafar Darwis
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

In this lesson, you'll learn how to:

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 1
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

  reate 3D primitive objects

C
 Move, Rotate, and Scale objects
 View objects from di erent angles
 View objects in wireframe or shaded mode
 Change the shape of objects by moving vertices, edges, and faces
 Assign materials to objects
 Light a scene
 Render a nal beauty image

Before the lesson

T  o make sure that Maya appears and operates as it does in the lessons, set Maya to default
preferences.
 Learn the correct names for each section of the Maya Interface.
Note: This tutorial assumes you have Arnold renderer in your Maya installation (Arnold is included by default when installing Maya). If you do not
have Arnold installed you can add it by choosing "Modify" or "Repair" on your Maya installation in computer settings.

Making the cone

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 2
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 3
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 4
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 5
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 6
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 7
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

1. Switch to the Poly Modeling shelf.

2. Click the Polygon Cone button on the Poly Modeling shelf.
3. Select the Rotate Tool from the Toolbox (Hotkey: E) and rotate the cone upside down. Do this by either:
 Dragging the red or blue handle to manually rotate the cone around an axis. You can hold J while dragging to snap to 15 degree
increments, making a precise 180 degree rotation easy. Snapping also works for scaling and moving.
 Opening the Attribute Editor or Channel Box in the upper-right corner (), selecting "pCone1", and changing the Rotate X or Rotate
Z rotate attribute to 180.
4. Select the Scale Tool on the Toolbox (Hotkey: R) and scale the cone along the Y-axis (by dragging the green manipulator) until it
resembles an ice cream cone.
5. In the Tool Box, select Four View (Hotkey: Spacebar).
This displays all four default cameras at the same time: top, persp, front, and side. You can nd the camera names at the bottom of each
Viewport panel.

6. Select the Move Tool (Hotkey: W) move the cone in the "front -Z" panel so that it's standing on the grid.
Note: Four View gives you a front, side, and top view, alongside the perspective view. Objects can only be moved in two dimensions on the
non-perspective views, making them useful for precise editing.

7. Place your cursor in the "persp" view, then hit Spacebar again to enlarge it.
8. With pCone1 selected, go to the Attribute Editor (visible on the far right vertical column in the image below) and change its name from
"pCone1" to "Cone".
Note: Naming objects is very important when making scenes with lots of di erent objects. You can see the names of, and individually
select all your objects in the Outliner.

Making the ice cream scoops

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 8
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 9
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 10
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 11
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 12
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 13
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

1. From the View Panel menu, select Shading > Wireframe (Hotkey: 4). All objects now display as wireframes. This is useful for seeing
through objects.
2. Select the Polygon Sphere button on the Poly Modeling shelf.
3. Move (Hotkey: W) and scale (Hotkey: R) the sphere so that it ts in the cone.
Remember to use the camera tools (Tumble, Track, and Dolly) to view the cone from di erent angles and make sure everything is lined up.

4. Now you need to make a second scoop. You could use the sphere button again, or you can simply clone the original sphere by holding Shift
while moving it up.
5. Move (Hotkey: W) and scale (Hotkey: R) this sphere to look like a smaller second scoop above the rst scoop.
6. Change back to shaded display by going to the View Panel menu and selecting Shading > Smooth Shade All (Hotkey: 5).
7. In the Attribute Editor, change the name of the scoops from "pSphere1" and "pSphere2" to "Scoop1" and "Scoop2".

Adding detail
By now you should have a good understanding about how to move and manipulate primitive objects. You'll need to modify the elements that make
up these primitives to give them more convincing detail. In this case, let's modify each sphere's individual components to make them more ice
cream-like.

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 14
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

To add a bottom-bulge

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 15
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 16
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 17
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 18
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 19
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

1. Open the Modeling Toolkit via the upper-right corner () .

a. At the top of the toolkit, under Multi-Component, you'll nd Object Selection, Vertex Selection, Edge Selection, Face Selection, and
UV Selection.
b. Select Edge Selection.
Note: You can also change selection modes by holding the right mouse button over the scoop and dragging the cursor to Edge .

2. Select the edge loop above the rim of the cone on the scoop. Instead of selecting each edge one at a time, you can double-click one edge
to automatically select all edges in the loop at once.
3. Use the Scale Tool (Hotkey: R) to increase the size of the edge loop until it matches the size of the cone's rim.
4. You may notice that the scaled edge loop looks very sharp. To smooth it out, press 3 to view the sphere in Smooth Mesh mode. Do the
same for the top scoop.
Note: To revert back to the original unsmoothed display, select a scoop and press 1.

5. Use the Move Tool (Hotkey: W) to lower the edge so that it connects to the cone's rim.
6. Now select the lowest visible edge of the second scoop and move it down to connect with the rst scoop.

Now who ever saw such a perfect sphere of ice cream? It's time to add a droplet to the rst and second scoop.

To make a droplet

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 20
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 21
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 22
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 23
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 24
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 25
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 26
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

1. Go to Four View (Hotkey: Spacebar).

2. In the front -Z panel, activate wireframe mode (Shading > Wireframe or hotkey 4).
Note: While it is possible to make a droplet using the perspective view, lining up the droplet with the curve of the rst scoop is much
easier in the front or side view.

3. Change your from edge to vertex selection mode, either via the Modeling Toolkit or by holding the right mouse button over the scoop.
4. In the front -Z panel, select either the farthest right or farthest left vertex on the ring of edges you just pulled down on the second scoop.
5. Using the Move Tool (Hotkey: W), pull the vertex down and along the curve of the rst scoop so that it resembles a droplet.
6. Now switch to the side -X panel in Four View and change the shading in that panel to wireframe too.
7. In the side -X panel, select either the farthest left or farthest right vertex on the bottom scoop's edges (along the edge ring you moved
close to the cone's rim).
8. Use the Move Tool to drag this vertex down and along the edge of the cone.
9. Select the vertex above that and drag it down and away from the cone until the two vertices resemble a droplet (Use the perspective
window to make sure you are selecting the vertex that is directly above the one you just moved, and not the one to the side).
Note: You may need to make adjustments to the rst vertex as you are moving the second in order for it to resemble a droplet. If it looks
jagged, make sure Smooth Mesh is on (Hotkey: 3).

In order to give your scoops a more realistic appearance, you'll need to adjust their mesh so they aren't perfect spheres (imperfection is the digital
perfection, after all). You'll use Soft Select to do this, which gives you the ability to transform multiple components at once over a gradually
softening area of e ect.

To add some realism to the scoops

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 27
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 28
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 29
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 30
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 31
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

1. In the Modeling Toolkit, change to Face Selection mode and select a face on either scoop.
2. Turn on Soft Select by pressing B. The mesh will change to a gradient of color indicating Soft Select is on.
Note: Yellow areas will be fully a ected by any move/rotate/scale operations, while dark areas will barely be a ected at all. You can
adjust the Soft Select radius by holding B + click-dragging. If your radius is too big (i.e. your entire scoop turns yellow), you can start
from 0 by holding B + middle-dragging.

3. Use the Move Tool (Hotkey: W) to push the face inward, creating a dent.
4. Create some more dents using other faces until you are satis ed with the result.
Note: Don't worry if your scoops look a little different from this example. You do
you!

5. Double-check the droplets to make sure they still stick to the scoops / cone.

Adding color
Now that you've nished building a model, it's time to add some color to it by adding some materials.

Note: The remainder of this tutorial requires Arnold renderer to be included in your Maya installation (It is included by default. If you do not see
the Arnold features in your copy of Maya, you may have unselected Arnold during installation).

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 32
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

To assign a material to the cone

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 33
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 34
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 35
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

1. Hold the right mouse button over the cone and right-drag to Assign New Material... from the marking menu.
2. In the Assign New Material window, select StandardSurface .
3. In the Attribute Editor, click the white color eld in the Base color section and change it to a light brown / yellow.
4. Under Specular, set Weight to 0 to make it less shiny.
5. Rename the material in the standardSurface eld, "cone_MAT".

Now you'll repeat the process for the scoops, except with shinier materials.

To assign materials to the scoops

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 36
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

1. Hold the right mouse button over the rst scoop and select Assign New Material... from the marking menu.
2. Select StandardSurface .
3. In the Attribute Editor, change the base color to whichever avor you would like your ice cream to be.
4. This time, do not set specular weight to 0 for the ice cream.
5. Rename the material, "scoop1_MAT".
6. Repeat these steps for the second scoop.
Note: If you want the second scoop to be the same avor, you can hold the right mouse button over it and select Assign Existing Material >
scoop1_MAT to reuse the same material instead of assigning a new one.

You may notice that even though we left the Specular values alone, the scoops don't look any shinier than the cone. This is because we haven't
created any lights for the ice cream to re ect yet.

Lighting
Once you've nished applying materials, it's time to light and render your cone. Adding lights will create more convincing re ections and refractions
on your model, while rendering it will produce a high-quality image of your nal scene.

To light and render your scene

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 37
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 38
Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 39
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

1. Switch to the Arnold shelf.

Note: If you do not see the Arnold shelf, then it is possible you unselected Arnold during your Maya installation. You can obtain the latest
Arnold for Maya installer by visiting the Arnold for Maya Download Area .

2. Select Create SkyDome Light.

This creates a dome of even lighting around your object.

3. To view the scene with lighting, turn on Use all lights in the Viewport panel. You can also turn on Textures, Shadows, Screen space
ambient occlusion, and Multisample Anti-Aliasing for even higher quality results.
4. Now to render the nal image, click the Render The Current Frame button on the Status Line .
Note: If the lighting appears too bright or too dark, you can select the skydome and adjust its Intensity setting in the Attribute Editor.

5. To save your image, go to File > Save Image... in the Render View window.
We recommend saving in .jpg or .png format with the Color Managed Image - View Transform Embedded option enabled (right-hand side
of the Save Image le window).

Summary
Congratulations, you have just taken your rst steps in learning Maya. Feel free to experiment with your scene by adding toppings, modifying the
cone into a wa e cone, or adding/aiming Area Lights to make the render more dramatic.

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 40
 Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

A  fter completing this lesson, you now know how to:

 Create 3D primitive objects using the Poly Modeling shelf
 Move, Rotate, and Scale objects
 Change the view panels using spacebar or the Tool Bar
 Change to Wireframe Mode using 4, and Shaded Mode using 5
 Select and edit individual components using the Modeling Toolkit or the right-click marking menu
 Use the Soft Select tool by pressing B and adjusting the range by holding B + dragging the mouse
 Assign materials
 Add light to a scene by using the Arnold shelf
 Render images by using the Render the Current Frame button on the Status Line
For additional practice, you can try:

  reating ice cream toppings out of primitive shapes

C
 Adding more drips or scoops to your ice cream or modifying the cone's shape
 Model ice cream in di erent states (splattered on the ground, in a bowl)
 For more Maya tutorials, see the Intro to Maya series on the Maya Learning Channel on

Maya First Time Tutorial | Maya 2020

Page 41