Discover how to build commercial-quality, anatomy-based CG characters using Maya with "Maya Feature Creature Creations, Second Edition." In today's competitive entertainment market, animated movies and video games require superior graphics and realistic characters, making it imperative that 3D artists and designers master state-of-the-art software like Maya. With this book, you will learn all of the steps required to create a character, from concept to completion. Using step-by-step instructions and explanations, the book lays out a method for building anatomy-based, photo-realistic computer-generated characters with physicsdriven skin. The most up-to-date techniques and technology are presented, including how to create skin and muscle deformations, and how to rig your character without binding tools. You will also gain an understanding of how to work within a high-resolution pipeline. Insight and advice from a professional animator will help you troubleshoot along the way. "Maya Feature Creature Creations, Second Edition" provides you with all the skills and techniques needed to create your own fantastic, Hollywood-style creatures and characters.
Todd Palamar began his career creating traditional special effects for low budget horror movies. Self-taught and passionate about stop motion animation, he quickly gravitated to computer animation. After working on numerous straight-to-video movies, he switched gears and entered the video game industry. You can visit Todd Palamar's website at www.speffects.com
