Making the Gun: Setting Up

To begin modelling the gun, I had to set set up my Maya modelling environment first. I opened the Scattergun schematic in Photoshop and cut out the side, top-down and front views of the gun from it.


Then, in Maya, I used the Viewport Layouts tab bar on the left-hand side to switch into the four viewport layout, with top-Y, front-Z and side-X ortographic cameras as well as a normal perspective one.


From the top of the side-X viewport I accessed the View menu, where I found the Image Plane sub-menu and finally selected Import Image. Then I selected the side view image of the gun. I did this for the other viewports and images as well.


Of course, the images were all on top of each other now. I approximately readjusted their locations and rotations using the Tool Box options on the left, then I used the Channel Box's transform attributes options for more precise positioning. Then I brought up the Outliner (scene hierarchy) from the Viewport Layouts tab bar and grouped the three object together by selecting them and pressing CTRL + G. Then I renamed them and the group for future reference.

With the schematics properly set up, I can begin modelling. In my next post, I will detail the creation of a rough model of the gun. Stay tuned!

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