Datasheet

2 Chapter 1: Texturing and Lighting a Product, Part 1
Project: Reviewing the Scene File
Before starting the texturing process, review the scene file and its contents. Open the
headphones-start.ma scene file from the ProjectFiles/Project1 folder on the DVD. The
scene hierarchy, surface UV texture space, camera setup, and unique light box geometry
should all be examined before proceeding further.
Checking the Hierarchy and UVs
The headphones model is constructed from 16 polygon surfaces. The surface nodes are
grouped together as a single hierarchy (see Figure 1.1). You can view the hierarchy through
the Hypergraph (Window

Hypergraph: Hierarchy) or the Outliner (Window

Outliner).
You can select group or surface nodes through the Hypergraph and the Outliner. Technically
speaking, a node is a construct that holds specific information and any actions associated with
that information. In Maya, a node may be a surface, a light, a camera, a material, and so on.
All the polygon surfaces carry a completed UV texture space. That is, each surface’s
UV points are arranged in such a fashion that the texturing may begin immediately.
The UV points are laid out as a single shell or as multiple shells surrounded by empty
UV texture space (see Figure 1.2). You can examine the UV texture space of a surface by
selecting the surface and choosing Window

UV Texture Editor.
Approaches for examining and utilizing the UV points and shells
are discussed in the section “Creating Custom Bitmaps” later in this
chapter. Technically speaking, UV texture space refers to a coordi-
nate system that relates pixels of a texture map to positions on a sur-
face. UV points represent the location of a polygon’s vertices within
a UV texture space.
If polygon faces overlap within the UV texture space, they share
the same section of an assigned texture. Hence, the majority of sur-
faces in the headphones scene possess a UV layout that avoids over-
lapping faces. The few faces that are allowed to overlap are for small,
unseen parts of the model. For an example of such overlapping, see
the section “Creating Custom Bitmaps” later in this chapter.
Working with Multiple Cameras
The headphones scene file contains two perspective cameras: persp and Render. By default,
the persp camera is included in every Maya scene file. You can use the persp camera to exam-
ine different parts of the model. The Render camera, on the other hand, is positioned and
animated for the final render and should not be moved. To switch between persp and Render
in any view panel, choose Panels

Perspective

camera name from the view panel menu.
Note that the Render camera has the Resolution Gate option activated. The Resolution
Gate appears in the view panel workspace as a green box with a grayed-out outer area (see
Figure 1.1
(Left) Hypergraph
view of the head-
phones hierarchy.
(Right) Outliner
view of the same
hierarchy. Group
nodes are indicated
by the white trap-
ezoid symbols.
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