Lothar's hints and tips on Maya

Tools to avoid

Never use :

Boolean Tool; If you want to join two mesh together - use combine or split polygon tool. This is because it is not good for real-time rendering in games. It is fine for models for movies etc.

Ngons: Triangulation does not matter - because everything you produce will become triangulated in the game. Things like caps on cylinders are fine. You do not need to avoid n-gons when the face is completely flat, If the plygon has faces facing different angles etc, curved edges etc, you need to avoid it. This is a case-by-case study. You need to test out whether it works etc. When the angles in a flat face are very extreme - then dividing up the face makes the model more stable.

Cut-Tools: Sometimes when you are using Cut-tools you need to make sure that there are not unnecessary verticies which are too close together and this in turn can mess up your geometry anyway. Basically this tool can give you a lot of headaches. The more vertexes you have, the less control you have,

Unwrapping UVs: You must use the checkerboard pattern to show your stretched areas. Then analyse the model and chose which mapping method you should use to project your texture. Then select the faces for say planar mapping - no need to extract - and then go to create UV's then Planar Mapping. Then you need to use whatever the rest of the model works best with. In UV editor use the tool Polygons>Relax which allows you to even the vertex range. This can also stretch the UV texture. Then you can pull and adjust the UV's manually whilst looking at the perspective view in Maya to create a Chequerboard which is completely even.

Every Vertex in your low poly mesh should add something to your model. Each one should have a use, or a purpose.

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Robin Silcock

I am a Second Year Games Art and Design student at Norwich University of the Arts. After exploration of a number of roles in my first year, I am now looking to graduate as a 3D Artist with applicable skills in Maya, Mudbox, ZBrush and Photoshop. I understand that my skills in this field are not there yet - but I aim to achieve this goal through consistently working through the programs in my University and Personal Projects. I love to be busy - I have always had a lot of things on my plate since the age of 7 where I successfully balanced school with Ballet, Tap, Horse-Riding, French, Piano and Singing Lessons! In the same fashion, my university schedule is just as hectic and varied; I am a Peer Mentor to first year students, Student Rep for Second Year, and President of the Enterprise Society. Like I said, I love to be busy! I am a Games Hippie - so to speak - I believe that Games if designed and harnessed in the right way, will be able to help solve many of the global issues we have today - even if it starts off in a small way. Just look at the positive effects that Facebook and Twitter have already had... When navigating my blog;

Works in Progress - This section is a constantly running account of all my current projects - personal and for university. It will contain reference images and website links and sometimes less than coherent posts, so be prepared!
Finished Pieces - This is where you will find my more polished artwork. Looking for help with Maya? Check out the posts tagged "Maya How-To's"