Customer Reviews

Mastering Maya 3

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading the various reviews already posted here, I have come to the realization that there are two distinctly different kinds of beginners. One is people with no background in 3D modeling and animation. The other has experience with the digital arts, but none with Maya itself. If you are in the first category, then this book is probably not for you. Then again, Maya itself probably isn't, either. It is a very complicated program, with tremendous power, and this book is not meant to teach the basics of 3D Modeling, Texturing, or Lighting. It IS meant to teach the basics of translating your skills into Maya know-how, and it does that admirably through the use of a series of hands-on projects that allow you to experiment with your burgeoning skills.

I beg to differ with Timothy on the issue of this book not being for beginners. It is a great step-by-step tutorial book that is great either complimenting the Alias|Wavefront documentation or without it.

I am a beginner with Maya Unlimited and have found this book to be very valuable in learning the quirks and operation of the program.

Some material may be skipped by more advanced users (like those who do not need to be taught the interface) but everyone from beginner to the advanced will find something in this book.

I would highly recommend this book for teachers of computer graphics to use a textbook if your class focuses on Maya.

If you are determined to learn Maya 3, this is your roadmap. A comprehensive tome, to be sure - not for the beginner or dabbler. Worth the money, and perhaps my favorite amazon purchase to date. It's exhilirating. Keep in mind there is nothing about Cloth or Fur. Also, I'd love to see the job market studied - pointers for demo reel creation and what employers are looking for. These are just nit-picks though, I highly recommend the book. Great price, great CD-ROM. Great job John & Peter.

I've been an animator/TD now for just over 7 years, and though I've been using Maya since it was PowerAnimator, I've really only used it for animation...the last time I dabbled in set up was back in Alias (I spend the majority of my time in Houdini).

Anyway, I recently bought this book and read it cover to cover. I thought it was a good overview, giving pretty good examples of how the majority of the tools work. I even found the general interface overview useful...skimming it I found a handful of nifty tricks I didn't realize I could do.

The character set up section gives the author's method, which is a good starting point. But realize it's not the only way, as trial and error are the best teachers.

The UV section for mapping polygons is okay...I found the Maya Illuminated: Games book a good supplement, as it goes into depth where Mastering Maya glosses over.

Take it all with a grain of salt. Some of the suggestions wouldn't fly in production, and the author's personal examples in the picture gallery are kind of embarrassing. Thankfully there are some real production examples included, for those who are new.

All in all, it's more fun to read than the actual Maya manuals, and things are organized in a constructive fashion. One last dig: like the Maya manuals, Mastering Maya tosses the world "procedural" around whenever possible...and they can do it until they're blue in the face, but there's nothing procedural about Maya. It's as procedural as Photoshop, and history lists don't equal proceduralism.

I just needed to get that off my chest. ;)

.... ok, as a Newbie to maya this book is kind of ' not so easy ' so if you know even few stuff about maya it will be good for you, if not read the Maya manuals and then order this book ! Anyway the book is really helpfull with all the basic and needed stuff such as: modeling, animation, character animation, lightning, rendering, particle system, soft-bodies, mel scripts, paint effects and MUCH more ! the proccess of learning with the book is really Fun. If you are beginer in maya (like me) or even professional this book is really helpfull and highlly recomand to order it ....

This book is pretty much as basic as you can start off (considering you already know how to use your computer)...the first 3 chapters tell you what the buttons do & when to use them (it even covers a little bit of MEL). The rest of the book has you apply it, whether it be in character animation or particle effects. keep in mind there's 28 chapters. However, the cd is just about useless. One important (and biased) aspect is that THE AUTHOR USED TO WORK FOR ALIAS WAVEFRONT...so he is very eager to say "isnt this feature neato" and "wow-wee to this program". By the way, if you have Maya Unlimited 3.01...this book isnt gonna teach you how to play with your extra $8,000 worth of toys. Sorry, one last thing...you might wanna save your money Maya 4 comes out in 1 1/2 months. (check www.aw.sgi.com if you dont beleive me)

This book is excellent for beginners OR intermediates. It is crystal clear - no beating around the bush!
I took Maya at school and found this book really good to review topics that I had forgotten or havnt used in awhile!

A +++++++

This book is great for beginners. I can't really say anything about it's worth for professional artists and advanced Maya users, as I am but a mere beginner. Anyway, I downloaded the free trial version of Maya 4 and bought this book and I am now cranking away! I didn't know anything about 3D modeling before, although I have a CAD background.

The book is very well organized and each chapter (that I've worked through so far) has lots of examples of how to apply the techniques described in the book.

It is excellent with respect to teaching you how to do things in Maya, but it lacks in general 3D design principals, which is to be expected from a book with the word Mastering in its title.

Now, if I could just find some good books on basic techniques (ie. when to use NURBS over polygons), etc. I'd be set!

This book is absolutly amazing. I just bought the book today and within the 1st chapter I learned more about maya then I could of imagined. I am was a 3d studio max user but just switched from it to maya and I thought it would be hard to get used to the maya GUI. Within the 1st chapter of this book it seems like I have been using maya forever.. Book is written in a well way that teaches you more and you won't forget what you learn! go out and buy it!

It's still version 3, but it doesn't matter. Mastering Maya 3 is one of the best beginner/intermediate books you can buy. I used Maya 4 and now Maya 4.5 and have had only benefits using this book. It has helped me along from being a beginner to being very familiar and capable with the software. I've used and seen a lot of the other books out thee, but I haven't seen a better book that covers things in the depth and range that Mastering Maya does. It's not for people new to 3D, but if you have experience in another 3D package and are moving over to Maya, it is excellent.