Product Description

This exceptional, full-color Maya Press title -- produced by Alias, the software's creators -- is a comprehensive mid-cycle revision that uses the award-winning short film Blue as the basis for the book's all-new hands-on tutorials. Artists, students, educators, and hobbyists will appreciate this book's comprehensible coverage of 3D and Maya basics. Project-focused lessons use actual production files from the film Blue to teach you most of the tools available in Maya Complete. The companion DVD includes instructor-led tutorials, scene files, artist interviews, and Maya PLE. Also includes Alias's Sketchbook Pro Version 1.1.1, $129.99 value.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #538267 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 653 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781894893749
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Back Cover
This exceptional, full-color Maya Press title – produced by Alias, the software's creators – is a comprehensive mid-cycle revision that uses the award-winning short film Blue as the basis for the book's all-new hands-on tutorials. Artists, students, educators, and hobbyists will appreciate this book's comprehensible coverage of 3D and Maya basics. Project-focused lessons use actual production files from the film Blue to teach you most of the tools available in Maya Complete. The companion DVD includes instructor-led tutorials, scene files, artist interviews, and Maya PLE. Also includes Alias's Sketchbook Pro Version 1.1.1, $129.99 value.

About the Author
This official book is written by Alias, the creators of Maya.

Customer Reviews

The Learning Maya Overhaul is Complete . . . .
From the days of Maya 1 all the way to 6.5, Alias has used basically the same tutorials every single time: Bouncing Ball, Jack-in-the-Box, Space Battle, Primitive Man, and Salty the Seal have been included in every foundation book, and while there will always be a special place for ol' Salty, a change was much needed. In this series, we finally get everything we wanted.

The entire Foundation book is based on the short film Blue, which means that you learn step by step how to create a very basic and simplified scene from the movie (including Blue himself, which I thought was pretty cool to say the least). All the basics are covered just as well as in the previous Foundation books, from Polygons to NURBS to dynamics and animation to MEL, all important topics are covered in detail. What makes this book stand out is how it will tell you step by step how to do something once, then cut you loose and let you experience it all by yourself, which is an excellent way to understand the material.

Finally, the icing on the cake, the extras. Not only does the CD contain videos of the more important lessons demonstrated plus all the saved completed projects and images, it comes with:

*Alias Sketchbook Pro (yes you have it forever, not a trial)
*The Short Film Blue and interview with the creator
*Extra lessons in both Sketchbook and basic texturing in Adobe Photoshop (or whatever paint program you have).

If you have get this book, then there is nothing to do but to go out and buy a tablet and stylus also. The basics of Sketchbook are taught in the very last chaper, something that is a must for storyboarding and sketching ideas, plus how to make your own textures and incorporate them back into Maya (something that was sorely lacking in previous books). If you are serious about taking on the beast that is Maya, then this book is a huge step in the right direction, you will come out with a thorough understanding of the basics of Maya, plus other tools to get you started making your own projects. This is a must have.

Alias has stepped up to bat with this one!
Finally, a good way to learn Maya at home. I think this is a great book for many reasons. Though not for everyone, I will try and elaborate on my experiences with the book, and my perspective on how to best use it.

First off, a bit about where I come from, so you can gauge how useful this review will be: I am a former graphic designer turned filmmaker (and film graduate student) whose main strengths lie in programs like photoshop, flash, illustrator, etc. I do some VFX work in After Effects and Shake as well. I am fairly knowledgeable, good with computers, and a pretty quick learner. I am, by no means, however, a math wiz or 3d guru.

I've finished the first Unit of the book, and skimmed the rest of the book. I'd say I have a fairly strong understanding of most of the topics covered by this book.

So about a year ago I decided I wanted to learn Maya. First I got the Peachpit Press Visual Quick Start guide for Maya. This was a cute little intro to about 1% of the vastness of the Maya universe. Wanting to step it up, I got "Maya 6: The complete reference." Wow, what a painful experience that was. Unfortunately, while it's quite detailed, it's also quite un-proofread. Many of the examples are convoluted and flat our wrong... so now I am on to Learning Maya 7: Foundation.

First good point: Through line. As mentioned in other reviews, for most of the chapters, this book works you through creating a scene from an animated movie (which is also included on the disk). This allows you to explore basics, modeling, texturing, animation, and Rigging (quite some detail on rigging). These are the main focuses of this book. There are some other chapters on the Trax Editor, using sketchbook, etc. But the gist is, go through this book and you will be able to model, texture, and animate. The best thing is, working through one scene, you really feel a sense of accomplishment, like you are using all of the different elements of Maya together in harmony. It's so easy to get discouraged and just quit, but this through line approach really gives you more self-confidence.

Second good point: Clarity. This may be debatable. Some people want a vivid personality, some comedian to write funny lines and keep them awake with humor. I personally, like technical books to get to the point. And that's what this book does. The writing is clear, concise, not unfriendly or overwritten. You get stuff done! If you feel like you're doing too much too fast, you can always do it again. But very seldom do you stop and scratch your head going, "huh?" The book has a very clear way of explaining what's important and not important. It also focuses on training you to use hotkeys and hot boxes as much as possible.

In saying that, I did note a few typos in the book. For example, they refer to the Macintosh location of the Maya Documents folder incorrectly. Also, sometimes they tell you to go to a menu and you have to look around for which specific menu that is. Nevertheless, these errors are few and far between.

My last point relates to you, the user. If you are new to the world of computer design and animation altogether, then I think this book may not be for you. In fact, learning Maya may not be the best approach. I used to teach a graphic design class and I always started with Photoshop. I think that's the quintessential design core. There are a lot of concepts, both technical and artistic, that should be covered before even getting into Maya if you really want to use it for all it is worth. For example, a knowledge of film lighting will greatly GREATLY help you light your scenes dramatically. A knowledge of vector vs raster imagery will help you understand the differences between hardware and software rendering. And so on. So please, don't get ahead of yourself. This book is the foundation of Maya, not the foundation of computers.

Ok, that being said, this book is fantastic. I just wish I had more time right now so I could dive into it for a week.

WONDERFUL INTRODUCTION TO MAYA!!
It's pretty great for beginners, but if you have NEVER used a 3-D package before, I suggest doing the INTRODUCING MAYA 7: FOR BEGINERS first. I also suggest using the previous FOUNDATION BOOKS which include Salty the Seal and the spaceship battle since they teach things that aren't in this book. (As you can see, I'm a firm believer in grasping this program.)

As for ALIAS SKETCHBOOK PRO, yes it's free. Granted, I figured it out after two months, but I got it!

1.Just open the "START HERE" link in the LEARNING MAYA FOLDER.
2.Click on the "ALIAS SKECTHBOOK PRO" link and copy and paste the serial number that they provide.