Tools and Modeling Techniques in Maya

From reading chapters 3 and 4 I was able to look at the tools used in Maya in new ways and understand more what they are capable of. It was interesting to learn some of the real-life tools that they were based off of, like how extrusion is similar to something like a pasta machine, or how a lathe is an actual tool to shape wood with a steel blade. It also helps to think of free form modeling like modeling something out of clay; you have to keep changing views to keep up with every alteration like a sculptor does by walking around their creation. There were a lot of different modeling techniques featured in chapter 4 that were helpful to see written out. Now that we’ve spent some time in Maya I understood the ideas a lot better because I’ve experienced them by trial and error, and feel more confident in modeling things in different ways.