VENKATESH: MAYA

Maya Nurbs Modeling Lantern Tutorial

Let's start with Maya nurbs modelling. In this tutorial we will be focusing on modeling an old style lantern. The tools will we use are EP and CV curve Tools and Revolve and Extrude surface Tools.We will try to go all step by step in making of this beautiful lantern. Its always a good practice to have a reference photo or a dummy with so there be a more accuracy in your final output. But here, we didn't got a good reffrence.

Open up your maya application. Move to shelf tab and click on Curves shelf

The third from the left is an EP(Edit Point) curve tool.
You can also get to the EP curve from the Create Menu- EP Curve Tool.

In the image above just above EP Curve Tool there is one more curve tool that is CV(Control Vertices) Curve Tool, which is not available in the curve shelf tab, to get it into the curve shelf tab go to Create Menu with Ctrl + Shift button press and click on the CV Curve Tool. What you will get now, a new tool available at the end of the Curve shelf tab as you can see in the image below

Note :- Shelfs are available for doing work quickly, it's just kind of shortcut available to us to get our work done more quickly, rather than going again and again back to the Menus, we can switch to our desired shelf tab and work in our own pace.

We have set our scene with the required tools we will be using in the modelling process, now step ahead and move to the side view of your scene.Click on the CV Curve Tool on the curve shelf tab and start creating the base of the lantern,

As you can see in the image above I have cretated the outer line of the base of the lantern , the reason we have created the half side of the base, becoz next we are going to revolve it that will make the whole complete round base, after making the point at right places hit enter and we have done with the outer line of the base. The next is to manipulating the CV's if you think there we need modification in the shape.To make modification in the curve right click on the curve and you get the options with which you can do the modification. Now get into the object mode and you have the shape something like the below one.

You have pivot point at the center of the shape, now with shape still selected go to Surface-Revolve and click on the little square button next to the Revolve. Now you have Revolve window pop up. Go to Edit- Reset Settings, and now click on revovle

You have now the basic base surface like this

Now go to Create- Nubbs Primitive and click on Sphere, with this you have a sphere on the panel, now place it on the top of the base of the lantern and scale it down on the Y axis.

Now with CV CCurve tool create the shape something like this image in the side view

Get into the object mode and revolve it as we did for the base of the lantern after revolving it we get the shape of the surface

Again move in the side view and with CV Curve tool create the side handles of the lantern

In this step we are going to use the extrude tool for that we have already created a path on which the will extrude. Now go to Create-Nurbs Primitive and click on circle. We have to manipulate this circle to get our desired shape, place the circe on the botton of the path shape at it is in image below

Select the both the shape, first select the circle after that select the path shape and now go to Surface- Extrude and click on the little square button next to the extrude to get its properties and select the properties as in the image below and click on extrude.

You have something like this, now we need to duplicate the handle to place it on the other side, for that select the handle and press CTRl+D to duplicate it, now we have a another handle to place it on the other side go to attribute editor and make thescale z axis value to negative