Table Top

Select the Polygons section of Maya, choose from upper left, status line.


Hit the spacebar, this is a shortcut to display four views, or the Hot Box, if you hit it again it will display one view, the one the mouse was last over.


Make sure the select by object type button   is selected in the status line near the top. This lets you pick objects, rather than points etc.


Disable Interactive Creation. Choose Create->Polygon Primitives->Interactive Creation. Make sure there is no check mark here.


Choose Create->Polygon Primitives->Cube  A cube will appear at the origin.


Select the Move Tool button from the  the tool box on the left.   If your cube is still active, a manipulator icon will appear, click and drag on the green arrow to move the cube up approximately 4 units in the Y axis.


Select the Scale Tool button from the side tool box.       If your cube is still active a manipulator icon will appear, use this to change the size of the cube or use the channel box on the right side of the screen and input: 
ScaleX   8
ScaleY  .5
ScaleZ   8



Legs

Choose Create->NURBS Primitives->Cylinder


Select the Move Tool button from the side tool box.     Use this to move the cylinder or use the channel box on the right side of the screen and input: 
Translate X   -3 
Translate Y    3 
Translate Z    3


Set the pivot center:
Select the Move Tool button from the side tool box.    Hit the insert key on the keyboard, this will switch over to change pivot mode. (On the Mac use Home key.)

Click and drag on the manipulator's green line to move the pivot up in the Y axis to the upper edge of the cylinder.

Hit the insert key on the keyboard, this will switch back over to Move Tool mode,


Select the Scale Tool button from the side tool box.       Click and drag on the yellow box in the middle of the manipulator icon, this will scale down the entire cylinder in three axes.

Click and drag on the green box on the manipulator icon to scale the cylinder in Y. Notice it is scaling around the pivot point you changed.




Choose Edit->Duplicate Special->     (Open the dialogue window.)
Select translate   6   0  0          (6 units in the X axis, 0 in Y, and 0 in Z.)
Click on Instance
Click on Duplicate
Click on Close  to close the window.

Instance copy and position one leg to make two. In this case we are using instance rather than copy, instance uses less interface memory. An instanced object will share color and shape with the original object. The instanced object will have its own position, scaling and rotation.


Pick the Select Tool button from the side tool box.
Hold down the shift key and click on the leg that is blue to activate it.          (Picking it again would make it inactive.)
Two legs should be active, the table top is inactive.  (Blue = inactive, green = most recent selection, white = active.)


Choose Edit->Duplicate Special->
Select translate   0   0  -6          (0 units in the X axis, 0 in Y, and -6 in Z.)
Click on Instance
Click on Duplicate
Click on Close  to close the window.



Look at the Table in Perspective.

Alt + the left mouse button rotates the camera view or panel.

Alt + the middle mouse button tracks any view or panel.

Alt + the left and middle button dollys any view or panel.

Include the  shift key to make the moves gestural, i.e. constrained to horizontal or vertical.





Get Interactive and Make a Lamp.

Dolly and track the front view so there is enough space above the table for the lamp. (see section III above.)


Create->NURBS Primitives->Sphere->     (Base of lamp.)
Select Number of Sections 10
Click on Create


Select the Move Toolbutton from the side tool box. 
Click and drag on the manipulator's green arrow to move the sphere up in the Y axis, on top of the table.


Select the Scale Tool button from the side tool box. 
Click and drag on the yellow box in the middle of the manipulator icon, this will scale down the entire sphere a little in three axes. Click and drag on the green box to scale the y axis.



Interactively Move Points Around on the Lamp.

While the lamp base is active, type f, to frame the front view in on the lamp base.


Pick the component type button   in the status line near the top.
The CVs will automatically appear. This lets you pick CVs, rather than objects etc.
CV stands for control vertex, you can drag CVs to change the shape of the lamp.


Select the Move Tool button from the side tool box.   Click and drag a box over some of the CVs on the lamp to pick them. Click and drag one of the manipulator's arrows or center to move the CVs.


Try scaling and rotating CVs.





Lamp Shade.

Choose Create->NURBS Primitives->Cone



Pick the object type button in the status line near the top. This lets you pick objects, rather than CVs etc.


Select the Move Tool button from the side tool box.

Click and drag on the manipulator's arrows or center to move the cone above the lamp base.


Select the Scale Tool buttonfrom the side tool box.
Click and drag on the yellow box in the middle of the manipulator icon, this will
scale down the entire cone in three axes. Click and drag on the green box to scale the y axis.





Insert a Floor.

Choose Create->Polygon Primitives->Plane


Select the Scale Tool button from the side tool box.
Interactively scale the floor larger.


Delete Unwanted Objects.

Click anywhere in a view where there are no objects. This will turn off all objects.


Click and drag over the object you do not want.         


Choose Edit->Delete, or hit the delete or backspace key on the keyboard.


Type z to undo, if you change your mind. (You can setup a lot of undos.)


Type Shift z to redo, if you change your mind again.



Add a Light or Two to the Scene.

Select the Rendering section of Maya, hit F6 button on the keyboard, or choose from upper left, status line.


Click anywhere in a view where there are no objects. This will turn off all objects.


While nothing is selected, type f, to zoom each view one at a time around everything in your scene. This will give you more room to position your lights.


Choose Create->Lights->Point Light


Select the Move Tool button from the side tool box. 
Click and drag on the manipulator's arrows or center to move the light above the scene.


Click in the background of the Perspective or camera view to activate that window.


Hit 5  6 then 7 on the keyboard to switch to shaded, texture view with scene lights. 4 will put it back to wireframe.

4 = display active window wireframe
5 = display active window shaded with default lights
6 = display active window shaded and textured with default lights
7 = display active window shaded with first 8 scene lights




Color

Choose Window->Rendering Editors->Multilister...
Select Edit->Create...   (in the multilister)
Select the Materials tab in the Create Render Node window. (Rather than Textures, Lights, etc.)
Click on the Phong button three times, this creates three shader balls in the multilister.
Click on the Lambert button three times.
Click Close at the bottom.


Select one or more objects from the scene.


In the Multilister, select one of the Phong shader balls.
Choose Edit->Assign from the Multilister menu.

Double click the Phong shader ball you just assigned. (You should be in the Phong1 tab of the attribute editor.)
Click on the gray box next to Color, this brings up the Color Chooser.
Click Accept when you are done choosing a color. (Very Important.)


Rename the phong shader, make sure you are in the first tab.
Click the first tab
Change the name in the pink box across from shadingEngine:


Assign a shader to everything in your scene.



Add Shadows to Your Lights.

Choose Window->Rendering Editors->Multilister...


Double click the pointLightShape node..
Click on the arrow next to Shadows, this opens the shadow options.

Under Depth Map Shadow Attributes:
Check off Use Depth Map Shadows.
Lighten the Shadow Color to dark grey.
A depth map is a very fast way to calculate shadows for a render, they are not always precise.



Store a Copy of Your Model.

Choose File->Save Scene As         
Type a descriptive name like tablelamp.
Click the Save button.


A file will be stored in your scenes directory. A scene file contains:
Objects, Color information, Transformations, Animation, Backgrounds, Hierarchy, Lights, Windows, Dynamics, etc.



Read a Stored Model Back On.

Choose File->Open Scene
Double click the file you want to retrieve.


Render into a test window.

Choose Window->Rendering Editors->Render Settings...

Under the Common Tab:
Under the  Resolution arrow:
choose 320x240

Under the Image File Output arrow:
Choose Image Format Tif

Under the Maya Software tab
Under the Anti-aliasing Quality arrow:
Select Edge Anti Aliasing:Low Quality
Click Close to close the window.


Click on the background of the perspective camera view to make it active.

Click on the     render in new window button located at the top of the screen.


Render to a File.   
Go to the Render Module.

Choose Render->Batch Render

While the system is rendering, you may do other things with the software.

A method for looking at an image while it is rendering:  Render->Show Batch Render...