Requirements
- Need to find a way to create shapes in Maya by hand that don't stem from basic primitive objects.
- Need to look into a straightforward way to create complex shapes in Maya.
- Need to find a way to specifically create the body of a guitar in Maya, without box modeling it (would look too blocky).
Research
- For research, I started out with searching 'how to create new shapes in Maya', which led me to Maya's own page on the Polygon Tool.
- This page details the process of creating a new polygon by drawing points on the ground plane and linking them at the end
'This is useful if you have a specific 2D shape that you want to trace' - Lines 2-3
- This was exactly the case, so I looked more into the Polygon Tool to find more details about how it can be used.
- Found a project related to head modeling that used the Polygon Tool to create an outline of a head's side view with the tool as an initial step.
'Use as many points as you think would be necessary to create the outline. ' - Step 1, Lines 2-3
- This project went on to demonstrate the Extrude Tool, which was used to raise the outer edge to make a 3D shape.
- I knew this would be all I needed to create the body of a guitar in Maya.
Research sources:
Draw a Polygon (2020) Draw a polygon | Maya 2020 | Autodesk Knowledge Network. Available at: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2020/ENU/Maya-Modeling/files/GUID-AA992773-5F7D-4D77-AF55-11211A294A64-htm.html (Accessed: January 6, 2023).
Head modeling (no date) Project 3. Available at: https://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse458/10au/content/projects_458/project3/index.html (Accessed: January 6, 2023).
Implementation
- Went into Maya and started out by importing an image plane of a guitar.
- Used the Polygon Tool to trace over the body of the guitar and its headstock.
- Also used the Boolean Tool to add some small details to the body of the guitar, and extruded some faces on the headstock to act as tuning machines.
- Connected these two pieces using a long, thin cuboid as a fingerboard and created a full guitar.
Analysis
- I believe that, for what I ended up needing the Polygon Tool for, I was able to thoroughly research this tool and find the results I needed from Maya themselves rather than combing through forums.
- I think I implemented my newfound knowledge on the Polygon Tool very well for a first attempt, and was able to come out with a guitar model that I was proud of.
- Conducted successful research that suited all of my initial requirements.