Open a higher version file in a lower version of Maya

Here's a very short tutorial on how to open a higher version Maya file in a lower version of Maya. It's very easy, though not guaranteed to work in all cases. Click the link below:

http://www.imanishi.com/mayablog_en/2009/03/maya-faq-how-can-i-read-a-high.html

Modeling a cardboard box

This exercise requires me to use some new modeling techniques, discussed below.

Process

The first step was to create a cube with three divisions along its width, length and height. 

From the top view, I then selected the middle vertices and scaled them out to form the sides of the box. This is the top view:

Next, I extruded the top center face, then pulled it down inside the box to create the inside. This creates the space inside the box. I can now get a sense of the final cardboard box that will be created. It's interesting to see a model gradually take shape the more I work on it.

The faces at the top of each side were then extruded to create the cardboard flaps. The tutorial says to extrude all flaps at the same time, but I did opposite sides separately, since this makes it easier to select and rotate them later.

The faces for each flap were then selected, and rotated. To make sure the rotation pivot was at the bottom of the flap, I moved the pivot point for the faces by pressing the alt key (home key on a Mac).

Once the main shape of the box was created, I added a deformer to make the box look more old and worn, rather than too regular in shape. I was quite amazed at how powerful the deformer is!

This is my final box:

Techniques

An important technique is extrusion, which lets me create more geometry by pulling faces out from the model. The Maya Help file describes extrusion as "When you extrude a polygon component (for example, a face, edge, or vertex), you create additional polygon components from the ones you selected".

I can see that extrusion is a very important and powerful technique. 

I also learned how to move a pivot point.

The exercise briefly touches on deformers, which allow higher-level changes to an object.

Reflection

This was the first exercise where I had to model a real object using proper modeling techniques, and not just primitive shapes.

While the exercise was relatively easy, it does help me to see how more complex objects should be modeled.

I was a bit unsure why I had to scale the center lines out to the sides, but the next step made it clear that this was to create the middle and sides of the box, which allowed me to extrude the center face to create the inside space, and also the top faces to create the flaps.

This makes me realise that planning is very important for modeling - you can't just make it up as you go along!

I enjoyed this exercise, and feel happy that I have been able to recreate something that exists in the real world, even if it is just an old box :)

References

The Maya Help file has a section on extrusion.

I also checked a book in the library, called Maya At A Glance, which has some good explanations about extrusion (and lots of other techniques).

There are some good video tutorials about extrusion - click here: YouTube.