INTRODUCING AUTODESK MAYA 2016

INTRODUCING AUTODESK MAYA 2016

INTRODUCING AUTODESK MAYA 2016

Welcome to Introducing Autodesk® Maya® 2016 and the world of
computer-generated imagery (CGI). Whether you’re new to 3D graphics or
venturing into Autodesk’s powerhouse animation software from another 3D
application, you’ll find this book a perfect primer, freshly updated from the
previous edition (Maya 2015) for the new interface introduced in Maya 2016.
This book introduces you to the Autodesk® Maya® software and shows how
you can work with Maya to create your art, whether it’s animated or static in
design.
Fourteen years ago, the first edition of this book was written out of the
author’s desire for solid, comprehensive, and yet open-ended teaching
material about Maya for his classes. This book exposes you to all the facets of
Maya by introducing and explaining its tools and functions to help you
understand how Maya operates. In addition, you’ll find hands-on examples
and tutorials that give you firsthand experience with the toolsets. Working
through these will help you develop skills as well as knowledge. These
tutorials expose you to various ways of accomplishing tasks with this intricate
and comprehensive artistic tool.
Finally, this book explains workflow. You’ll learn not only how specific tasks
are accomplished but why—that is, how they fit into the larger process of
producing 3D animation. By doing that, these chapters should give you the
confidence to venture deeper into the Maya feature set on your own or by
using any of the other Maya learning tools and books as a guide.
It can be frustrating to learn a powerful tool such as Maya, so it’s important
to remember to pace yourself. The number-one complaint of readers of books
like this is a sense that either the pace is too fast or the steps are too
complicated or overwhelming. That’s a tough nut to crack, to be sure, and no
two readers are the same. But this book offers you the chance to run things at
your own pace. The exercises and steps may seem challenging at times, but
keep in mind that the more you try—even the more you fail at some attempts
—the more you’ll learn about how to operate Maya. Experience is the key to learning workflows in any software program, and with experience comes
failure and aggravation. Nevertheless, try and try again, and you’ll see that
further attempts will be easier and more fruitful.
Above all, this book aims to inspire you to use Maya as a creative tool to achieve and explore your own artistic vision.

DARIUSH DERAKHSHANI