The Ultimate Maya Resource for Intermediate to Advanced Users
Take your Maya skills to new levels with the sophisticated coverage you'll find in this authoritative Autodesk Maya Press reference and tutorial. From key basics through advanced techniques, our Maya experts provide the very latest professional-level instruction on Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited.
Early chapters offer a practical overview of Maya's interface. A "Quick Start" exercise lets novices create an animation the first day and covers the basics of node structure, keyframes, and basic lighting. Advanced users will broaden their skills with pertinent coverage for nCloth, mental ray integration, volume Fur rendering, advanced texturing tools, and enhanced MEL scripting. Practical tutorials reinforce learning with hands-on practice.
Welcometo Mastering Maya 8.5, the newest evolution of one of the most popular, well-respected books on Maya! This book aims to cover the needs of artists no matter their level of experience with Maya or CG in general, allowing beginners to gain insight quickly into work flows and allowing more experienced users to get into the nitty-gritty of the program to improve on their own work flows.
In this book, we cover the important theory behind every major component of Maya’s software and show you the ins and outs of how to accomplish tasks for vital steps of the production process, from modeling to rendering. Simple exercises throughout each chapter illustrate the points made by the writing team, and more in-depth tutorials take you step-by-step into more advanced methodologies.
We trust you will enjoy the information contained in this book and, more important, will come away from reading Mastering Maya 8.5 with a deeper knowledge of, and appreciation for, Maya and its place in CG production. Maya is a vast, deep program that allows the user an almost infinite range of possibilities. No one way of working is better than another, so hang with us, grab your mouse, and dive in. The best way—nay, the only way—to learn CG is to practice and work diligently. We think you will find that the samples and lessons in this book will give you a great way to start or continue your education.
