Katana Sheath Strap Experiments.

This is an example of the straps that was created on my sheath for my Katana, one of my tutors showed me how to do this so I can experiment and find the right pattern and design for the strap so it fits my Katana design. To do this I first have to highlight the faces I want to use, then I extrude these faces outwards until I am happy with the thickness of the strap I want. After this I then extract it to make it its own object and make it separate from the actual sheath. I then bridge back the missing faces so there are no gaps in my sheath, after this is done I then experiment with the straps using the soft selection tool to curve it and move it about until I am comfortable with the design and feel like it fits with my Katana design. I will try to design the strap on my sheath based on my final design I created in Photoshop.

This is my final product of the strap that I created in Maya for my Katana. I also added some extra straps to make it look like there was a knot on the strap with the straps hanging down. I also made a slit in my sheath for where the blade would fit to add extra detail. To do this I first used the multi-cut tool and added more dimensions at 80% by holding down the shift button. I then selected the vertices that I wanted and pressed R for the scale tool, I used this to straighten the vertices. After this I then extruded the edges to create a case inside where the blade would fit into so it’s not just hollow inside. Here is a screenshot to show my work.

Some problems I encountered while experimenting with the sheath strap was, again, I wasn't sure about how to make my sheath strap as I still wasn't very experienced with Maya and didn't know much about the programme. To solve this problem I asked for help of my tutors and this tought me new ways on how to use maya and different techniques that would help me in the future. Some choices I had to make were choices like how I wanted my strap to look like, and where on the sheath it would go.