Inside Maya 5 (Paperback)

~ Mark Adams (Author), Erick Miller (Author), Max Sims (Author) "Welcome to Inside Maya 5..." (more)
Key Phrases: blobby particles, deformer node, tweak node, Connection Editor, Graph Editor, Mark Adams (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Real-world solutions for real-world production environments!

Luis Cataldi, BlueSky Studios

Maya is a very powerful application. Before artists can create and share their ideas and visions, they must understand its complicated tools and learn to harness its power. Inside Maya 5 can help develop a functional understanding of Maya's many tools through solid examples and production-proven methods.

From the back cover

Are you familiar with the basic Maya tools? Can you complete most tasks with little or no reliance on the help files? Do your questions about Maya center on how to put all the pieces together and use the software in a production setting? If so, Inside Maya 5 is just what you want and need. Industry professionals who have worked for such houses as Digital Domain, ILM, PDI/DreamWorks, and Pixar provide insights into making great production decisions that take advantage of the power of Maya without compromising production quality - real-world solutions to real-world challenges!

You'll get coverage of:

• Using Maya in the digital studio pipeline
• MEL and the Maya API
• Modeling techniques for NURBS, polygonal modeling, and subdivision surfaces
• Modeling characters, sets, and props
• Maya's node-based architecture
• Particles and dynamics
• Character animation and rigging
• Lighting, shading and rendering
• Bonus interviews with Scott Clark (Pixar) and Paul Thuriot (Tippett Studios)

The companion CD includes the source files you need to complete the exercises in each chapter.

From the Back Cover

Inside Maya 4.5 is the only book on Maya that covers the entire production process from concept to completion. The authors are animators and modelers from some of the top animation studios in the business. Inside Maya 4.5 covers the newest tools and upgrades to the program as the name "Inside" truly implies. This book builds a complete computer animated project from beginning to end in the Alias Wavefront Maya software. The book and companion CD walk the reader through a step by detailed step workflow. Going through the book, the reader gains a deeper, more relevant knowledge of how to actually design and complete a short animated piece. The guest authors are respected professionals in the design, production, and execution of similar pieces. Such a book has never been done in Maya and would complement the New Riders' Inside Studio Max 4 by Kim Lee.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 936 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press (July 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735712530
• ISBN-13: 978-0735712539
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #605,823 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazed by Inside Maya 5.0, December 21, 2003

By	Meats Meier (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews

As the artist who created the cover for this book, I was sent a preview copy, so I have had a chance to read it cover to cover. I have been working with Maya since the first beta (and named a "Maya Master" by Alias at this years Siggraph) and thought that I had a pretty good grasp on what this program can do and how to go about doing it. I was wrong. There were many times while reading this title that I said, "Wow, I didn't know you could do it that way", or "Maya can do that?!"

I wish that I had this book when I was first attempting to do my short films, it would have saved me a lot of time. It covers everything that you would need to know in order to successfully bring your ideas to reality. This book is definitely not for beginners, it is for the artist that is looking for the knowledge that will get them to that next level....

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book, February 25, 2004

By	Darnell Jacobs (New York, New York, USA) - See all my reviews

Wow. After buying and reading several chapters of this book, I must say that it is has taught me alot of really good in-depth stuff so far, and that I whole-heartedly disagree with the previous post. It is true that this book is not a software manual... but anyone who needs a software manual should read the docs that ship with maya, and save your money for god sake!
This book seems to be geared specifically toward character work, but so far has been filled with tons of production "nuggetts" that I have immediately been able to use in the real world while currently working on a character project in Maya. I particularly enjoyed the Rigging chapter (nice!), Dynamics chapter, and the Advanced Connections chapter. All in all, having done professional film and commercial work already in Maya myself, I would recommend this book to anyone that isnt looking for a software manual, but instead is looking to learn the stuff that the manuals dont teach you, and that you normally end up learning the hard way!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Horribly Written, September 22, 2004

By	Susan A. Carson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read up to Chapter 8, I finally get to do some work in Maya and what happens? The writer doesn't explain anything in depth on how to do the steps, he say's extrude the profile curb curve on the profile gap curve, I know how to use maya(I read 4.5 Fudamentals) I do it and it completely fails looks nothing like the diagram, after fiddling around with surface direction and varios options under exrude I finally get it to work, only to later see that it has nothing to do with the actual project(I looked at their files on the cd). I can't follow any of this without having to experiment for hours trying to get a singl step to work. Maya 4.5 Fundamentals was great, It tought you the tools and exactley what to do, I guess I'll need a better book to go more in depth Maya.