Learning Maya 4.0 [Paperback]

Alias|Wavefront (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2001

Learning Maya 4 takes you through over twenty project-focused lessons that offer hands-on experience with Maya’s key tools and techniques. The tutorials and workflows in the book have been optimized for version 4.0 and provide step-by-step instructions for utilizing the powerful tools that are available in Maya.

This full color book gives you hands-on experience and includes five project-based lessons that demonstrate how to model, animate, texture map, add visual effects, and render.

This book introduces you to the following topics:

* The Maya user interface
* Working in 3D space
* NURBS (Spline) Modeling
* Polygonal Modeling
* Keyframes and Motion Paths
* Trax Non-linear animation
* Forward and Inverse Kinematics
* Surface Deformations
* Camera and lights
* Shaders and Textures
* Rendering Techniques
* Particles and Dynamics
* MEL (Maya Embedded Language)

Learning Maya 4 includes a helpful CD-ROM of support files, tutorial movies and how-to lessons. The CD-ROM includes lesson files compatible with Maya Complete 4.0 and Maya Unlimited 4.0.

This is the perfect companion book to The Art of Maya, also published by Alias|Wavefront.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Learning Maya 4.0 is written by a team of Maya Education Specialists and is enriched by feedback from Maya developers and technologists.

Product Details

• Paperback: 554 pages
• Publisher: Alias|Wavefront (August 1, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 0968572553
• ISBN-13: 978-0968572559
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,999,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphic Design > Web Design > Web Graphics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Newbies to Pro's, June 4, 2002

By 

Antonio R Munoz (Los Angeles, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning Maya 4.0 (Paperback)

I have purchased several intro to Maya 4 books and really admire the processes, labs, and instructions in this edition. This book offers a more reliable step by step concept, where others skip from basics to advance techniques. Here you can start from the GUI to MEL scripting in comfort. Being new to 3D animation software, but experienced in networks, business, web, and desktop publishing, find this book to be the perfect starter for thoe's that need a hands on approach to learning. The instructions are set perfect visually to read and follow, not like other books where its nothing but paragraphs and you end up getting lost between the words. Even for the advanced, this book gives you great reference to do's and dont's that might have been forgot.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning Maya 4 by Alias/WaveFront, May 15, 2002

By 

Sunthorn PUANGCHINDA (Sean) (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning Maya 4.0 (Paperback)

It's what I am waiting for!!!
This book is about to show you how Maya works in practice, not just theory, insufficient examples and improper samples like others. The book contains color pictures with step by step instructions to create work, including five pratical projects that you are able to follow and get the fantastic results. The book presents the samples of significant features of Maya from basic to advanced, but of course, by its way that is not included all functions, in fact huge. However, the book also advises MEL, Maya Embedded Language if you like. That's perfect to me to continue magnificent works. I recommend this book as five stars.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for beginners., September 19, 2002

By 

KC Fang (Cape Town, ZA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning Maya 4.0 (Paperback)

If you are a newbie struggling to learn Maya, then Learning Maya 4, along with the manual, is the best reading material money can buy. Although the book is abit pricey, you will find it's well worth the money. It covers basic modeling in both polygon and NURBS, basic texturing and some simple dynamics and some excellent animation set-up. All the instructions are step-by-step based, so it's virtually impossible to get lost.

What I really like about the book, is the way they teach you the basics of the many editors in Maya that would otherwise be hard to figure out yourself. And the book also explains the reason for a specific action instead of telling you to blindly follow it.

By the time you are finished with the book, you will be ready to make animations of your own.