Mastering Maya 7

Description

This official, Alias-endorsed guide offers comprehensive, in-depth coverage of the Maya interface. You'll find:

• A Quick Start overview followed by in-depth coverage of the Maya interface and all of the tools for modeling, texturing, animation, and special effects.
• Information on of all of Maya's latest features as well as chapters on advanced topics.
• Material on Maya Unlimited topics such as cloth, fur, and fluids.
• A logical organization that that follows the typical Maya workflow.
• Tutorials for modelers and animators from all disciplines.
• A CD-ROM with tutorial files and the Maya Personal Learning Edition.

 

Table of Contents

Introduction.

Chapter 1:  The Maya Interface.

The Interface.

Working in View Panels.

The Main Maya Windows.

Customizing the Interface.

Summary.

Chapter 2:  Quick Start: Creating an Animation in Maya 7.

Maya Project Structure.

Creating and Editing Objects.

Pivots and Placement.

Maya Node Structure.

Assigning Materials Using the Hypershade.

Keyframe Animation.

Basic Lighting.

Rendering Frames.

Summary.

Chapter 3:  Polygonal Modeling.

What Is a Polygon?

Polygonal Modeling Principles.

Creating Machismo.

Modeling Machismo’s Body.

Summary.

Chapter 4:  NURBS Modeling.

Understanding NURBS.

Modeling the MacGizmo.

Summary.

Chapter 5:  Subdivision Surfaces.

Understanding Subdivision Surfaces.

Start with a Template.

Modeling the Head.

Details, Details, and Subdivision Surfaces.

Summary.

Chapter 6:  Advanced Modeling.

About Blend Shapes.

Assembling Machismo.

Off with His Head!

The Incredible (Edible) Blend Shape Machine.

Blend Shapes: Sneers, Blinks, and Smiles.

Molding the Full-Head Blend Shapes.

The Paint Blend Shape Weights Tool.

Summary.

Chapter 7:  Basic Animation.

Animation Types.

Keyframe Animation.

Understanding Animation Work Flow.

Hands On: Bouncing a Ball.

Converting Cycled Animation to Curves.

Summary.

Chapter 8:  Character Setup and Rigging.

Deformer Types.

Forward and Inverse Kinematics.

Hands On: Creating a Skeleton.

Creating a Full Body IK Skeleton.

Binding and Weighting the Character.

Summary.

Chapter 9:  Character Animation.

Step Away from the Computer!

Reference Sources.

The Animation Process.

Animating Joe Generic.

Establishing Timings.

Where Do We Start?

Refining Your Animation.

Summary.

Chapter 10:  Nonlinear Animation.

Working with Poses.

Working with Clips.

Hands On: Working with a Full Body IK Animation Rig.

Summary.

Chapter 11:  Lighting for Animation.

Understanding Lighting.

Basic Lighting Work Flow.

Types of Lights.

Light Manipulator.

Using Shadows.

Light Effects.

Summary.

Chapter 12:  Shading and Texturing for Animation.

Understanding Maya Textures.

The Hypershade.

Building Simple Shading Networks.

Shading the MacGizmo.

Shading Machismo: The UV Foundation.

Creating Machismo’s Texture.

Summary.

Chapter 13:  Rendering Basics.

Rendering an Object.

Creating and Animating Cameras.

Setting the Camera and Resolution.

Adding Depth of Field.

Adding Motion Blur.

Using the Render Settings Window.

Rendering with Maya Software.

Hardware Render and Hardware Render Buffer.

Vector Rendering.

Working in the Render View Window.

Layer Rendering, Compositing, and Editing.

Ultimate Rendering Checklist.

Summary.

Chapter 14:  Advanced Rendering with mental ray.

Introduction to mental ray.

Understanding Render Settings.

mental ray Custom Shaders.

mental ray Lights, Shadows, and Fog.

mental ray Motion Blur.

Indirect Illumination.

Image-Based Lighting and HDRI.

Surface Approximation and Displacement Maps.

Summary.

Chapter 15:  Maya Embedded Language (MEL).

MEL Is Fundamental.

What Is a Scripting Language?

The Script Editor.

What Is an Attribute?

How to Get Help with MEL.

Hands On: Creating a Light Setup Using MEL.

Variables, Loops, and Branching.

Debugging MEL Scripts.

A Comment on Commenting.

Creating a GUI.

Using Procedures and Scripts.

Summary.

Chapter 16:  Paint Effects.

Understanding Paint Effects.

Painting with Paint Effects.

2D Canvas Painting.

3D Paint Effects.

Paint Effects and Animation.

Understanding Tubes: A Rose Tree Tutorial.

Summary.

Chapter 17:  Rigid Body Animation.

Rigid Body Dynamics Basics.

Creating a Simple Rigid Body.

Working with Fields and Impulses.

Animating between Active and Passive Modes.

Adding Constraints to a Rigid Body.

Using the Rigid Body Solver.

Converting (Baking) a Rigid Body Animation into Keyframes.

Summary.

Chapter 18:  Using Particles.

What Are Particles?

Using Particles for Effects.

Manipulating Particles with Fields and Goals.

Advanced Particle Expressions.

Summary.

Chapter 19:  Fluid Effects.

What Is a Maya Fluid?

Drag-and-Drop Fluids.

Creating and Editing Fluids.

Painting into Containers.

Creating an Ocean Effect.

Creating a Pond Effect.

Hands On: Creating a Disappearing Cloud Effect for Machismo.

Summary.

Chapter 20:  Maya Hair.

Fundamentals of Hair Systems.

How to Make Hair.

Hands On: Apply Hair to a Head.

Hair Dynamics and Collisions.

General Work Flow Speedups.

Cache.

Rendering Hair.

Using Hair to Drive a Skeletal System.

Summary.

Chapter 21:  Maya Fur.

Creating Fur.

Fur Attribute Maps.

Adding Fur to a Character.

Summary.

Chapter 22:  Maya Cloth.

Understanding Cloth.

Panel Cloth.

Collision Objects.

Cloth Properties.

Cloth Solver Attributes.

Tailoring Pants with Panels.

Creating Cloth Objects.

Recording and Saving the Cloth Animation.

Animation and Cloth Simulations.

Adding Dynamic Fields to Cloth.

Summary.

Appendix:  Introducing Toon Shading.

Understanding Toon Shading.

Applying Fills.

Generating Toon Lines.

Toon Line Techniques.

Using Paint Effects Strokes with Toon Outlines.

Toon Line Modifiers.

Summary.

Index.