Maya 2022 Advanced: Character Modeling

Name: Maya 2022 Advanced: Character Modeling
Author: Stephen Steinbach

Explore advanced character modeling tools in Maya 2022.

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 7 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is Steven Steinbach, and in these lessons we're going to create a character alien head, using reference planes. We're gonna start with the eyes and build out the loops for the eyes. We'll build out the loops for the mouth, connect them, then build the nose, then build out the mesh from the side of the head to the back. We'll be using locking loops for deformation, for animation. So to begin, let's go to file, new scene. Then let's go over to the workspace, go to general, and let's reset general workspace. So to begin let's go to the front view, tap the space bar, and go down to the front and tap again. Let's go to view, image plane, import image. And I'm navigating here to my images and I have a front view. Press open. I wanna bring the transparency down. To do that, let's go to the attribute editor. Go to alpha gain, and let's bring that down to 0.6. Okay, let's just bring this up to about here. Okay, let's go back to the side view now, and we'll do the same thing. Go to image plane, import image. This will be the side view. In the attribute editor let's put that 2.6, and let's move that up. And next, let's go to the top view. We'll repeat the process, image plane, import image, top. Let's bring our alpha to 0.6. Then let's go to the back view. To get to the back view, hold the space bar, Maya's hot box. Let's go to Maya. Left click to back view. You'll see the front view there. We're going to insert image plane. Import image. Back view. And let's bring that up. And let's bring this to 0.8 and check for alignment. And finally, let's just look at this here. Perspective. And let's just toggle around to make sure everything's aligned. Okay, so let's rename these. So this is gonna be front, this will be side. Image plane, here is the top. And the final is the back. Okay, now we don't want to see the back view in the front view. And to have this not visible, select the back image plane in the attribute editor. Let's go to display and look in the back, and that eliminates that. And let's group these. So I'll hold the control key and select each of these planes. Go to edit group. Then let's double click and call it Ref. And finally, let's select the Ref here. Let's go to the channel box, layer, create layer from selected. And I'm just gonna call this Refs. Hit save. Then on this third checkbox, clip to R and deselect. Now you won't be able to select them in the view port. In the next lesson, we're going to begin with creating the model, starting with the eye loops. Thanks for watching.

Advanced Provider : Stephen Steinbach 7 Lessons · 56m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

Edge looping the right way is critical for effective modeling in animation. If the loops aren’t created the right way, you will not get accurate deformation when animating. These lessons will go over the skills needed for edge looping, beginning by creating an eye loop for our alien character in Maya 2022.

In these lessons, you will discover how to create character models with correct edge looping, including eye and mouth loops without N-gons (illegal polygons). Once the eye loops are created, we will walk through constructing a mouth pocket and mouth loops, and using the Bridge tool to combine the eye loops with the mouth loops. Next you will see how to build the nose, making sure all the polygons are four-sided, and then how to build out the rest of the head and neck. We’ll demonstrate how to mirror the mesh and weld the vertices in the center. With the mesh now complete, you will learn how to use the multi-cut tool in the Modeling Toolkit to check for correct edge flow and looping.

What You'll Learn

Create correct edge looping for character models, including eye and mouth loops without N-gons (illegal polygons)
Construct a mouth pocket and mouth loops, then use the Bridge tool to combine eye loops with mouth loops
Build the nose with all four-sided polygons, then build out the rest of the head and neck
Mirror the mesh and weld the vertices in the center to complete the model
Use the multi-cut tool in the Modeling Toolkit to check for correct edge flow and looping
Create, modify, and combine meshes while applying various modeling methods

Key Takeaways

Edge looping done correctly is critical for effective modeling in animation, because incorrect loops prevent accurate deformation when animating.
Character models should be built with correct edge looping and without N-gons (illegal polygons).
The Bridge tool is used to combine the eye loops with the mouth loops on the alien character.
Keeping all polygons four-sided is emphasized when building the nose and the rest of the head.
The multi-cut tool in the Modeling Toolkit lets you check a completed mesh for correct edge flow and looping.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in this course?

You will learn to create character models with correct edge looping, including eye and mouth loops without N-gons, construct a mouth pocket, build the nose, head, and neck, mirror the mesh and weld center vertices, and review edge flow using the multi-cut tool in Maya 2022's Modeling Toolkit.

What software does this course use?

The lessons use Autodesk Maya 2022, including its Bridge tool, multi-cut tool, and Modeling Toolkit.

What character do I build in this course?

The lessons walk through modeling an alien character, starting with the eye loops and progressing through the mouth, nose, head, and neck.

What topics do the lessons cover?

The lessons cover Image Plane Setup, the alien head's eye loops, mouth, nose and connections, the side and back of the head, and mirroring with vertex welding.

What skills does this course build?

It builds skills in 3D modeling, Autodesk Maya, geometric modeling, solid modeling, and visual modeling, supporting the Autodesk Maya Certified User track.