Customer Reviews

Learning Autodesk Maya 2010: Foundation (Autodesk Maya Techniques: Offical Autodesk Training Guides)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I reviewed the 2009 version, then returned that in favor of this one since I have Maya 2010. Unfortunately this book falls short in the same way.

Some steps require basic knowledge of Maya or you'll get lost. At one point you create an object, then on the next page, you'll notice that the object has been moved above the plane, but there's no mention of this until it happens again later with another object.

There were a few steps that I was able to follow based on prior learning that made up for the lack of details in this book. Like the 2009 version, the book lost me when after guiding me through the production of a bunch of houses, it instructs you to create a cylinder which will be a light post. Cool. So you go into component mode and it leaves you, stating "shape the geometry as follows". Um, I am a b-e-g-i-n-n-e-r.

Again I referred to prior learning, recalling how to manipulate objects in component mode. I also thought that I was being too critical. After all, in a classroom, maybe a instructor would challenge the student to produce based on what has been taught. I don't mind that form of learning IF there's an 'answer' somewhere, like how to do it. I don't see a cross-reference.

My light post came out okay. But next, there was a more complicated object, and the instructions? Create a prism, enter a few numerical settings for the geometry then "shape the light as follows" referring to a photo of a completed object. HOW? I only made it to page 70 (of 600+) and I'm lost already. This from someone who took Maya for 2 semesters in college years ago, was able to create a complicated object following video tutorials online, and is a motion graphics artist.

I can follow good instructions, but I opted for this book to really understand 3D creation in Maya so that I can get an assignment and know how to build it, what tools to use and why vs. following tutorials with 'wow' factors based on advanced users' creativity that leave me having absorbed nothing suited for my less advanced skillset. I hope to find that book, but this isn't it.

This book is meant to be an introduction and foundation for learning Maya. It *is not* meant to be an introduction into 3D software. The book assumes that you already have some experience with 3D software in general. As such, it is not going to hold your hand and explain every minute detail general 3D concepts.

This book does a very good job of explaining how Maya works for the user who already has some 3D experience. It is not a 'beginners' book.

I bought this book to get up to speed on Maya to begin an internship - my prior experience in 3D is a semester of Lightwave which I threw myself into and absolutely loved. Before starting this book I looked through the Maya documentation and went through the free tutorials Autodesk provides. Other than that I had no prior exposure to Maya.

My experience differs from the one other review that's here right now, but I find a lot of the criticism was right on. I didn't have any trouble getting through creating houses, lampposts, etc. but this book does have an insidious tendency to leave out one piece of critical information. If it wasn't organized as a 'cookbook' this might be all right, but in this format it has the effect of taking you out into the woods and then leaving you there. Sections on character modeling and inverse kinematics were particularly guilty of this. In some cases you will find that the corresponding reference file (provided on the DVD) works better than what you get by following the instructions because it breaks some of the rules the instructions told you to follow.

It is still possible to get a lot out of this book, however, and redoing something a few times will give you a sense for what the instructions are trying (and sometimes failing) to get across as well as making you much more adept at using the hypergraph. Not the best learning experience, but effective nonetheless. There is a ton of good information in this book and it *does* manage to be very effective at teaching you something once and then just referring to it thereafter, which really tests your memory and helps to ingrain useful techniques that you will use over and over again.

It took me about six weeks (or 100 hours) to get through this book, and that includes redoing several things. It really ought to have been tested and proofread better, because it could have been great.

Let me start by saying Maya is NOT for everyone. It is very powerful, and thus very complex. Only approach Maya (and books on Maya) with the proper amount of grey matter and patience.

This book covers a LOT of ground and moves fast, so if you get stuck on something, search the web to go deeper on the subject. I got stuck on p.90 - Revolve the Drum. You need to make sure to draw your drum is over the pivot point for this to work. If it's created some distance away from it, it will create a giant drum. I found that out by going to YouTube to learn more and saw the person using the pivot point with their object. It may have been mentioned in the book earlier, but again, you're going to be drinking from a fire hose here, so be patient.

I did not find missing steps, just steps that I needed additional clarification on once in a while, again, there is a wealth of information out there on the web if you get stuck.

I found the book to be extremely helpful, it's elevated my game greatly as it were. It covers an amazing amount of ground so be patient and you will be greatly rewarded. It covers Primitives, Shaders and Textures, Animation Basics, Dependencies, Modeling, Testuring, Skeletons, Skinning, IK, Rigging and more Advanced Animations and Motion Paths, Paint Effects, Deformers, Lighting and Rendering.

I highly recommend this book, it's 637 pages of quality color paper. It says it includes $208 of free models from TurboSquid. You'll get out of the book what you're ABLE to put in.

I was taking an animation class at school and I did not know how to use Maya at all, this book though, which is made by the people who created Maya (Autodesk), really helped me learn how to use the software, and I was eventually able to create my final project of a dancing robot after only 10 weeks of using maya.

I opened this book and expected it to be able to teach me a lot. Well, not so much because the lay out of the book isn't the best. Parts of the book skip around too much. Also, There is one project in here, making a dog and his moped.

it is fast, but sometime it will come as folded pages..
which I am not happy about that..

Nice get-to-start in Maya overview book. Especially like the tutorials supplied via DVD diskette. Book was new and in off-the-counter shape. But if you are a student and need the book right away, I do not recommend ordering through Amazon as it took a month to reach me. Spend a few extra dollars and order from Barnes & Nobel and you'll have it in-hand within 3-4 days for pick-up at your local store. If time is not a consideration, then Amazon is the way to go!

Great book for those that are just starting Maya or those getting to know a new version, but if you are wanting to learn Maya and have never used it this book will be hard to fallow.

This book does a very good job at teaching all of the basic aspects of Maya software. If you complete the book you will have a good understanding of the tools in Maya, and will be able to build upon that foundation. If you have patience enough and devote yourself, you WILL be able to learn this amazing piece of software.