Maya 2015

Lecture Details

When developing a complex model it is very helpful to have reference images immediately visible. We can import out images directly into Maya through the use of Image Planes. An Image Plane will display our reference images directly inside of the viewport window. We can also make use of multiple reference images in order to add Image Planes to each camera angle. The idea behind using Image Planes for the application of reference images is so that we can create our model’s shape based on the background image behind it.

It is best to have multiple reference images from specific angles when working on a complex model. We will be making use of front, top, side and back reference images for our character model. Using the various angles we will be able to develop our character model with much more precision having taken out much of the guess work. Importing reference images as Image Planes is an extremely valuable tool as you will come to learn over the course of the next few tutorials.

We will also take some additional steps to set up our image planes to scale. Using the snap to grid and interactive primitive creation we will create a box that will represent a six foot tall character. Once we have a visual indicator for how tall the character should be we can then scale our Image Planes to match the height of the character reference box. We will also want to group and name our Image Planes for quick access from the Outliner when we need to hide or show an Image Plane.

Disclaimer

The above video was developed by Brain Poof. The views and opinions being expressed by any narrator of any multimedia provided on this channel are the sole product of Brain Poof.