Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Incremental Saving,” Maya's Incremental Save feature makes it easy to maintain backups
of your work.) Because you created this as a new project, the Save File window will direct
you to the Scenes folder of that project. Save your scene as
planets
in the
.mb
(Maya
Binary) format. (If you're working in Maya PLE, you can only save your files as
.mp
iles,
which may not be compatible with full versions of Maya 2011. Maya PLE saves scenes as
.mp
files simply to differentiate them from full Maya-version saved files.)
The file
Planets_v1.mb
in the Scenes folder of the Solar_System project on the CD
shows what the scene should look like at this point.
Creating the Moons
For the planets with moons, create a new NURBS sphere for each moon. For simplicity's
sake, create a maximum of only two moons for any planet. However, feel free to make all
the moons for all the planets after you get a handle on this exercise.
The first moon will be Earth's. Use the top view to follow these steps:
1. Create a NURBS sphere, and scale it to about half the size of Earth using the Scale
tool. Visually estimate the size of the moon.
2. Move the sphere to within half a unit of Earth, using the Move tool by the
X
-axis.
There's no need to snap it to a grid point, so toggle off the Snap to Grids icon ( ).
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the remaining moons, placing them each within half a grid
unit from their respective planets. When placing two moons, place them on opposite
sides of the planet.
4. After you're done with all the moons, their placements, and their sizes, select all the
elements in the scene and press 3 to increase the display resolution on all the spheres.
This gives you a smoother view of the NURBS spheres. When you're finished, you
should have a scene similar to Figure 2.11 in perspective view. If you don't, it's clear
Maya doesn't like you.
Figure 2.11
The planets and
moons in position in
perspective view
