Maya 8 at a Glance +CD [Paperback]

George Maestri (Author), Mick Larkins (Contributor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470056576 | ISBN-13: 978-0470056578 | Publication Date: October 2, 2006

The Visual Key to Maya

One look and you'll see that this Maya book is different from all the others. It presents the core Maya features visually, using pages packed with striking graphics and loaded with concise explanations of the Maya interface. This expanded edition includes more tutorials; updated material on modeling, animation, rendering and dynamics; and new coverage of Toon Shaders, along with other exciting Maya tools. Engaging step-by-step lessons provide hands-on reinforcement as you learn. Start your adventures in Maya with this full-colour, visual guide—the perfect introduction to Maya 8.

• Use Paint Effects to create images from scratch or add painterly qualities to existing images.
• Learn how Maya's MEL scripts can help with tasks, such as connecting a curve's CVs to joints to pre-visualize a skeleton.
• The enclosed CD includes the Maya Personal Learning Edition and all the files you need to complete the tutorials.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Visual Key to Maya

One look and you'll see that this Maya book is different from all the others. It presents the core Maya features visually, using pages packed with striking graphics and loaded with concise explanations of the Maya interface. This expanded edition includes more tutorials; updated material on modeling, animation, rendering and dynamics; and new coverage of Toon Shaders, along with other exciting Maya tools. Engaging step-by-step lessons provide hands-on reinforcement as you learn. Start your adventures in Maya with this full-color, visual guide—the perfect introduction to Maya 8.

Use Paint Effects to create images from scratch or add painterly qualities to existing images.

Learn how Maya's MEL scripts can help with tasks, such as connecting a curve's CVs to joints to pre-visualize a skeleton.

The enclosed CD includes the Maya Personal Learning Edition and all the files you need to complete the tutorials.

About the Author

George Maestri is an industry veteran and founder of Rubberbug Studios. His clients have included CBS, Fox, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and he has worked on such shows as South Park, Rocko's Modern Life, and Karen and Kirby.

Mick Larkins is the technical art lead at Hi-Rez Studios in Atlanta and coauthor of Mastering Maya 7.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Sybex (October 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470056576
• ISBN-13: 978-0470056578
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphic Design > 3D Graphics

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for newbies, April 13, 2005

By 

J. S. Monkey - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maya at a Glance (Paperback)

don't know anything about 3D? don't know anything about Maya? like pictures? this book is great! it has hundreds upon hundreds of color illustrations and explains in lamen terms what you are doing. there is more than one picture, and in most cases four or five, for everything explained and for every variation that he talks about.

if you know anything about 3D or Maya then this book may not be for you, but i have spent a lot of money buying books on Maya and 3D modeling and animation and this is the first one that i can actually follow. he explains everything very well and then moves on, but the book is laid out in such a way that if you need to look something up you don't have to read the entire chapter again to understand it! if my dog could read then he could learn how to use Maya with this book. definitely for beginners though... if you want to make the next "Gollum" this book doesn't do that, but if you want to start somewhere this is definitely the place.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for any Animator, February 27, 2006

By 

E. Velez (Miami, Fl USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Maya at a Glance (Paperback)

I bought this book not knowing what to expect. What I found was a book full of valuable resources and tips to help out any aspiring or current animator. The book was simple to understand coupled with the tutorials at the end of each chapter makes this an essential for anyone interested in computer animation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good book., May 1, 2007

By 

James Beswick "Borat brought glory to Kazakhstan" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maya 8 at a Glance +CD (Paperback)

This book helped me a lot, this book gives you a quick general overview of all the major functions of Maya, without going into too much detail. It's not too long and is full of lots of colourful pictures, which makes it easy to read compared to other Maya books which can be huge and daunting in their detail.
I recommend this book to people who have never done any 3d animation who are interested in trying it, as the name suggests it is essentially a beginners book; don't expect to be able to produce a short movie at the end of it. This book merely skims the surface of a giant program, but it'll give you an idea of how to go about creating an animation.
It's good to just start out with this book to give you an idea of what Maya involves, and after finishing you can start with one of the larger Maya books that are out there to explore it deeper and be able to produce your own short animations or models depending on what you want to use Maya for.