In Maya- how can I merge mulitple primitive cubes together into one parent item? (And is this actually needed for using in unity etc)?

Question

Im trying to make some 3d models in Maya and then put them into Unity as characters which I can give rigidbody to etc. (Im new to Unity and 3d modelling software, but i have a small amount of programming experience in LWJGL, LibGDX and XNA).

I'm focusing on making some assets out of blocks. To give a kind of 2.5D feel to a platform game.

I have made the following image but as you'll see its just a bunch of cubes. I think i need this to be turned into a single piece (but im not sure if 100% necessary or not). Of course, I will be adding animation to this by way of moving the blocks about for different frames of animation.

As I said, im very new to this so I may be doing things completely wrong.

Heres the image:

What i need is to be able to refer to this as one piece with its own transform position, scale etc that I can adjust. Currently if I select it all and try to change the scale it only changes on of the cubes scale even when all are selected.

Also once I've created this and want to add it to my game in unity, will each cube get a rigidbody when i add it or will the whole item get it as standard?

Thanks for any help

Answer 1

What I was taught to do in Maya was to first remove faces that are inside of the model. These are unnecessary and up the poly count for unused faces. You can do this by selecting faces with the RMB and using delete on the desired faces.

You'll next want merge based off edges or off vertices.

Use the RMB again and choose vertices or edges, select all the ones you wish to merge, go to edit mesh, and hit merge.

You have to do them bit by bit because if you try to merge them all at once they'll merge onto an average point and ruin the model. You can alter how close they merge together by changing the threshold.

Try this video for assistance as well. You know it works when there's only one vertex and not two. You can also tell that by selecting a single vertex (that you intended to merge to) and dragging it around. If they've properly merged you won't be able to drag a vertex and have it separate into two, and it should move the whole side, and there won't be gaps in the edges (if you drag it away you won't suddenly see inside the model).

Notes based off some comments you made:

• There won't be a parenting structure that you can see changed like Unity has.

• When you import it into Unity, Unity should see it as a complete model, granted it's actually a complete model. If none of the pieces are connected, they won't be in Unity.

• It's good to do this as you go but it's not necessary.

• I was actually taught to build based off one item. So start with a cube and just build from there, so that you're not doing this cut and merge etc. This basically involves adding vertices to the cube and pulling them out to grow the original cube into the model you want.