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Table Top
Select the Modeling 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 view 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.
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
If you do not see the channel box, hit the  button upper right side of the screen.
Legs
Click the front view in order to make the view active, Hit 4 on the keyboard to switch to wireframe instead of shaded.
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
Turn off the preference for the orientation Handle:
Select Windows->Setting/Preferences->Preferences
Select the Manipulators section
Uncheck Orientation Handle
Th gets in the way of the Pivot Handle. The orientation Handle is good for rotating the pivot center. You will not need to do this very often.
Set the pivot center:
Select the cylinder and select the Scale Tool button from the side tool box. Hold down the d key, this will switch over to change pivot mode. (You can also use the Insert key on the PC or use the Home key on a mac to toggle (not on a laptop)).
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.
Let go of d key. Click and drag on the square in the middle of the manipulator icon, this will scale down the entire cylinder in three axes.
Click and drag on the top square 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.)
Input translate 6 0 0 (6 units in the X axis, 0 in Y, and 0 in Z.)
Click on Duplicate Special
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 original leg to activate it. (Picking it again would make it inactive.)
Two legs should be active, the table top is inactive. (wireframe: 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 Duplicate Special
Look at the Table in Perspective.
Moving Around the Windows:
PC
Rotate or roll
PC: Alt + the left mouse button roll the camera persp view.
Pan
PC: Alt + the middle mouse button pans any view or panel.
Zoom
PC: Alt + the right button zoom any view or panel.
MAC
Rotate or roll
Mac: Option + the left button roll the camera view.
Pan
Mac no track pad: Alt + the middle mouse button pans any view or panel.
Mac with a track pad:
Open Windows/Preferences->Preferences
Under Interface (The top option) Select Two Button Mouse
Alt + Command + the track pad + the left + middle mouse button pans any view or panel.
(You only need to hit the track pad the first time you pan.)
Zoom
Mac: Option + the right button dollys any view or panel
Mac with track pad: Two fingers in track pad zoom in and out
Include the shift key to constrain 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.
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 top 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 light blue 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 button from the side tool box.
Click and drag on the square in the middle of the manipulator icon, this will
scale down the entire cone in three axes. Click and drag on the top square 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.
Pick the object type button  in the status line near the top.
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.
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 Windows->Rendering Editors->Hypershade
Click on the Phong icon in the create list 3 times to create 3 shader balls.
Click on the Lambert icon three times as well.
Select one or more objects from the scene.
In the Hypershade window:
Use the right mouse key over one of the shader balls to bring up the marking menu, select Assign Material to Selection.
Double click the shader ball you just assigned.
Click on the box next to the word Color, this brings up the Color Chooser.
Rename the phong shader if you like.
Assign shaders to everything in your scene.
Add Shadows to Your Lights.
Choose Windows->Rendering Editors->Hypershade
Switch to the Lights tab
Double click the pointLightShape node..
Click on the arrow next to Shadows, this opens the shadow options.
Under Depth Map Shadow Attributes:
Select Use Depth Map Shadows.
Lighten the Shadow Color to dark gray.
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 such as tablelamp.
Click the Save button.
A file will be stored in your scenes directory. A scene file contains almost everything:
Objects, Color information, Transformations, Animation, Backgrounds, Hierarchy, Lights, Windows, Dynamics, etc. This is stored locally on the hard drive of your computer. You may want to back it up somewhere else.
Read a Stored Model Back On.
Choose File->Open Scene
Select the file you want to retrieve.
Render into a test window.
Turn off Color Management:
Select Windows->Settings/Preferences->Preferences
Select Color Management
Uncheck Enable Color Management
Select Save
Press this icon upper right or middle 
Change Rendering Using to Maya Software
Under the Common tab:
Under the Image File Output arrow:
Choose Image format: Tiff
Under the Image Size arrow:
choose 960x540
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 View button located at the top of the screen.
Render to a File.
Select the Rendering section of Maya, choose from upper left of status line, or hit F6 button on the keyboard.
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
The image is stored locally in the images folder on your computer.
PC: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Documents\maya\projects\default\images
Mac: /users/$user/Documents/maya/projects/default/images
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