The new edition of this perennial bestseller is the ideal initiation to 3D and Maya. Starting with the basics, it builds from the ground up, combining straightforward text with practical examples that make it fun and easy to learn Maya's core tools while introducing the latest Maya 2008 features. Follow clear-cut, step-by-step lessons while you learn by doing using a wealth of hands-on files provided on the CD. You'll also find compelling examples in the full-color insert.
Introducing Maya 2008
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
Enter A New Dimension With Maya 2008
The Academy Award–winning Maya 3D animation and effects software is the top choice for film and video artists, game developers, and 3D design professionals. Learn to build, render, and animate your own digital models and scenes, and begin to develop professional-level Maya skills with Introducing Maya 2008.
This new edition of a perennial bestseller is the ideal initiation to 3D and Maya. Starting with the basics, it builds from the ground up, combining straightforward text with practical examples that make it fun and easy to learn Maya's core tools while introducing the latest Maya 2008 features. Follow clear-cut, step-by-step lessons while you learn by doing using a wealth of hands-on files provided on the CD. You'll also find compelling examples in the full-color insert to inspire you.
The enclosed CD features images, movies, and scene files that let you view material from the book. The support files will enable you to complete all of the tutorials. The CD also includes Maya Personal Learning Edition software.
Learn to navigate the Maya 2008 interface
Experiment with modeling by creating a hand, a rocket, and a locomotive
Explore the basics of NURBS, polygons, and subdivision surfaces
Discover the nuances of shading and texturing
Rig a locomotive model for automated animation
Create more natural lighting with mental ray® Final Gather and Global Illumination
Use Maya's Render Layers and an Ambient Occlusion pass for greater reality
About the Author
Dariush Derakhshani is an award-winning 3D animator, author, and educator. He has worked on movies such as The Fantastic Four and Pan's Labyrinth, the South Park TV series, and numerous commercials and music videos. He teaches Maya and 3D animation and is the author of Introducing 3ds Max 9 and all the Introducing Maya books as well as coauthor of Mastering Maya 8.5 from Sybex.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book.,
By Somewhereinla (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Introducing Maya 2008 (Paperback)
I have been doing visual fx for a living for 15 years and have read quite a few books over the years... This is definitely one of the better one I have used. If you have little or no experience with Maya and need to learn the basics, this is an excellent book. The tutorials are fun and very well explained. A great beginners' book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Much reading at the beginning, fun as reward,
This review is from: Introducing Maya 2008 (Paperback)
This book just ROCKS! written in a telling style, with a bit of humor and generally easy to follow. I am happy that Dariush Derakshani explaines why he uses certain settings on functions, and what the results are if you don't do it that way.
only but a few small errors now and than, but nothing more than a wrong option button mentioned or so wich had more books about 3D programs I own so that is not realy a minus. The first two chapter are nothing more but general information(naturally), wich may be boring and of point to some people, but thereafter the fun starts with especially chapter four in wich you will make a complicateted object of wich you can be proud of when you are finished.In that chapter also, you can find out that there is more than one manner to accomplish something. One time I could not find a function Dariush explained, and ended up using a differend approach, with the same result:P. I am not yet finished with the book but sofar, I love it... I can see my understanding of 3D and Skills growing everyday.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book,
This review is from: Introducing Maya 2008 (Paperback)
This is an excellent book for beginners, weather you are taking a class or flying solo it has everything you need to learn the fundamentals!
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
(learn more)
paint effects, global illumination, ambient occlusion, specular color, color chooser, incremental save, curve tool, bump mapping, animation preferences, ambient color, start frame, section spans, film gate, control vertices, project curve, ambient occlusion pass, scrub your animation, modeling with polygons, boiler cap, cameral panel, gross animation, lighted mode, file texture node, sourceimages folder, scenes folder Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Attribute Editor, Graph Editor, Maya Software, Edit Mesh, Auto Keyframe, Render View, Set Key, Layer Editor, List Selected Focus Attributes Help, Final Gather, Script Editor, Node Behavior, Choose Window, Detach Surfaces, Display Show Help, View Shading Lighting Show Renderer Panels, Split Polygon, Rendering Editors, Connection Editor, After Effects, Display Level, Click Create, Maya Vector, Per Particle, Motion Blur Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
paint effects, global illumination, ambient occlusion, specular color, color chooser, incremental save, curve tool, bump mapping, animation preferences, ambient color, start frame, section spans, film gate, control vertices, project curve, ambient occlusion pass, scrub your animation, modeling with polygons, boiler cap, cameral panel, gross animation, lighted mode, file texture node, sourceimages folder, scenes folder Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Attribute Editor, Graph Editor, Maya Software, Edit Mesh, Auto Keyframe, Render View, Set Key, Layer Editor, List Selected Focus Attributes Help, Final Gather, Script Editor, Node Behavior, Choose Window, Detach Surfaces, Display Show Help, View Shading Lighting Show Renderer Panels, Split Polygon, Rendering Editors, Connection Editor, After Effects, Display Level, Click Create, Maya Vector, Per Particle, Motion Blur Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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