Perhaps you have a very large sci-fi scene to model. The efficient 3D artist will immediately set to building generic, modular panels to use as set dressing- perhaps dozens or more. Then of course you have to make sure they all fit together around your existing geometry and hope there are no recognizable duplicates to give away the trick.

Wouldn’t it be nice to just click one button and have Maya create unlimited, completely random procedural details with the utmost control over the final look and scale, all on the very same model surface you are already working on?
Now you can.

Introducing my latest python tool – PanelMaker for Maya! Simply select the faces you need additional details on and hit the Create Panels button – PanelMaker will handle rest! PanelMaker even remembers where it has modeled details in order to wrap additional panels around itself. These are no generic, one-face extrusions – you get varying sized, art-directed details to fit any style or look.

Here’s the user interface breakdown:

The Scale allows you to dial in the global size of your panels to match your existing model scale.

Depth can be set to randomly use new values on every panel for variety, or select a more unified setting for all panels.

The Panel Population is handy: you can instantly model just one panel, one of each type, or fill up your selected faces to a percentage of your choosing, up to 95%.

What are sci-fi details without Grooves? Dial in how many globally, and choose thin, thick or a mixture of both types.

Extrusions are the meat and potatoes of this tool, and they come in five flavors. Placing a checkmark next to a type enables the tool to generate variations of that extrusion type – for example, there are many versions of the Chamfer type that PanelMaker will randomly choose behind the scenes.

You can further customize your results of each extrusion type by choosing a small, large, random sizes, or specific sizes for each. The random inter-placement of the elements will further ensure your panels and geometry are truly unique and appealing.

Revert naturally erases your new panels, allowing you to further customize your settings and generate your details again and again.

With it’s sister app GreebleMaker, PanelMaker is the perfect tool to generate instant, unique base meshes with zero effort!

Ciao!

A single click and you’re bullseyeing womp rats with your T-16.