Year 1 – Perfect Destination Project – Maya Modeling

Perfect destination idea: Bird nest with egg houses

Why I chose this idea: Being an international student, I feel like I have flown quite a distance from home. Expanding my wings in a new country and discovering who I am are emotions I correlate to baby birds.

Model of grass as of Jan, 18th 2022: MODEL FINISHED

I decided to model grass in order to add more detail to my bird nest environment. I applied the modeling techniques that I learned from modeling the low poly rocks and trees (retopologizing and changing the mesh). I then colored the different blades of grass with three shades of green.

Model of bird as of Jan, 11th 2022: MODEL FINISHED

Making this bird was a fun learning experience that I enjoyed. I did come across some difficulties in figuring out how to make the mesh mirror/reflect. This model was one of the hardest ones I made for this project in my opinion. I am looking forward to animating it!

I used the YouTube tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR51NqIk27Y

Model of park bench as of Jan, 11th 2022: MODEL FINISHED

Made this park bench following the YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X-Yof7l9n0). I learned how to use ‘create polygon’ tools and how to make my models look cleaner using the grid snapping tool when drawing out my shapes. I am very happy with this model and definitely will apply what I learned to future models.

Model of trees as of Jan, 10th 2022: MODELS FINISHED

I followed a YouTube tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u7nPb-0wl4) to learn the basics on how to make a low poly tree. This was so fun and easy that I made more than one tree to make sure I remembered the steps on how to make them! I also made some low poly rocks using the same modeling method.

Model of bird nest as of Jan, 10th 2022: MODEL FINISHED

I followed a YouTube tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n2hy9Y7Dhg) to make this bird nest. I did remake it multiple times to obtain a shape (of the bird nest and of the floor) which I was happy with. For this model I learned how to use the cloth simulator/animator and how to use the curves and surfaces modeling technique. I am quite proud of this model (:

Model of feather #2 as of Jan, 10th 2022: OLD VERSION OF FEATHER #2

I used the Quad Draw to start making another feather, it will look different than the feather #1. I was having some problems getting the Multi Cut tool to work, so I used Edge Loops with 3 sections to help in getting more details further along the modeling process.

DELETING AND STARTING OVER FEATHER #2:

After having difficulty in shaping the feather to look more symmetrical, I deleted the whole object and started over again with simple cubes (extruding to form a straight shape and mirroring half of it)

Model of feather #1 as of Jan, 6th 2022: MODEL FINISHED

I made this feather using the Quad Draw tool; then extruding and shaping to fit my draft sketches.

Model of egg house as of Jan, 6th 2022: MODEL FINISHED

I have fixed the inside circle and leveled it out to make a smooth floor on the inside of the egg house. I’m sure the was a simpler way to make the floor but I still pushed though.

Model of bird house as of Jan, 6th 2022: MODEL FINISHED

Model of egg house as of Dec, 10th 2021:

As you can see, I am working on filling in the center of the birdhouse floor. I’m sure there is an easier way to do this, however so far it seems to be working. my plan is to get closer to the center, level out the floor, and fill in the middle using the fill in tool.

Model of egg house as of Nov, 15th 2021: