Select these 8 edge loops (highlighted below) from the top, and Delete them as we don’t need these edges anymore. Scale this edge loop outwards a bit to make it equal to the other one. Go to Edit Mesh > Insert Edge Loop tool, and insert an edge loop near the middle edge loop. Because a diamond’s bottom part, which is called the ‘Culet’, is usually short. Then select the bottom vertex and move it upwards a bit. Just see the diamond reference and observe the shape of the diamond. Scale these vertices a little bit outwards too. In the Perspective view, go to Vertex mode and select all the top vertices of the cone and then move them upward a bit. Press 5 on the keyboard to turn on Smooth Shade All. For the proper visibility I’m using the magnifier to zoom in on the specific area. Now in the Top view create a polygon Cone with a Subdivision Axis of 16 and Subdivision Cap 2. After that click on ‘Accept’ and your project folder will now be created. Type the name, set the location and click on ‘Use Defaults’. Open Maya, go to File > Project > New, and set a new project folder for the diamond. You can easily examine the shape, details and cuts of the diamond. I have some reference images of diamonds for you. Because its shape is a bit tricky and the shape is the most important part of making the diamond look like a real diamond. Sometimes people get annoyed while trying to achieve perfect caustics, but don't worry at all, as it will be created automatically with the help of some special settings in our light setup.įirst of all we have to gather some information about the shape of a diamond. You know that caustics are a beautiful effect, generated when light passes through glass, water or a similar kind of transparent object. Today I'm going to make a Diamond in Maya using simple polygon techniques and I will also show you how to create realistic shaders and light the scene using caustics.

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