BA3 Digital Modeling - Introduction

Today, we were given an introductory lesson in how to make a ‘Companion Cube’ in Maya. Apparently, when 3d modellers first start out, they are often required to make a crate. The ‘Companion Cube’ is a bit of an inside joke in the Portal series. For it harks back to this idea. Kind of like the teapot, in relation to 3d graphics. I found it all really interesting, as we learned how to actually build an object that could be used in a real game engine.  The cube was a good starting point. It was simple, geometric and fairly easy to make. The cube itself wasn’t just a flat cube. It also has several protruding shapes, some with curving surfaces. Today, we got as far as making the core shape, whilst manipulating the surfaces to create a slender border, lining the cube’s edges. We started with a pre-prepared reference image, which we imported into Maya. We used this picture as an outline, so to get the proportions on target. We then went through the process of learning some of the basic tools used for controlling polygons, and ended up with a part-complete, Portal Companion Cube. It was very cool.