- ALIGNED IMAGE PLANES
- ALPHA ONION SKINS
- MAYA CARD TRICKS
- MAPPING VERSUS MODELING
- INSERT HERE WHILE DRAWING CURVES
- EXPLICIT, R-RATED NURB TESSELLATION
- TESSELLATION VERSUS CVs
- LINEAR VERSUS CUBIC HEROICS
- CONSTRAIN THOSE UNRULY CURVES
- THE REVOLUTIONS WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
- BI-RAILING THE MISSING GLASS SLIPPER
- SLIPPER REBUILDING
- SHADY, UNDESIRABLE ELEMENTS IN MAYA
- RANDOMIZE THOSE CVs
- JUNKYARD DUMPING SIMULATION
- USE OF PHOTOSHOP AS A MODELING TOOL
- AUTOTRACING FOR FUN AND PROFIT
- PHOTOSHOP PATHS TO MAYA CURVES
- WRESTLING WITH DISPLACEMENT
- ANIMATE YOUR MODELING
- SET SUBTLETIES
- TRANSFORM TOOLS SHORTCUT
- INTERROGATING POINTS AS TO WHERE THEY LIVE
- FACE PROPOGATION VIA SHELL IN POLY SELECTION CONSTRAINTS
JUNKYARD DUMPING SIMULATION
Need to model a junkyard with piles upon piles of random objects, all resting on top of each other? You could painstakingly orient each one manually, or you could try this Killer Tip. Take the objects to be piled, raise them up in the air above a plane set at ground level, and with them all selected, choose Soft/Rigid Bodies, Create Active Rigid Body in the Dynamics menu set. With all of them still selected, select Choose Fields, Gravity. Now pick the ground plane and choose Soft/Rigid Bodies, Create Passive Rigid Body. Then play back until the pieces fall onto each other in a jumbled heap, saving you hours of tedious monotony. Aren't 3D apps great? Don't forget to lock down the objects and delete the extra dynamics baggage on the objects by choosing Edit, Delete by Type, Rigid Bodies.