Maya is big. It is really, really huge. The book you hold in your hands and all the exercises within represent a mere sliver of what can be created in Maya. Mastering Maya takes years of study and practice. I have been using Maya almost every day for ten years, and I'm still constantly faced with new challenges and making new discoveries.
Learning Maya is similar to learning a musical instrument. Both Maya and music require practice, study, patience, and determination. Just as the best musicians make playing their instruments seem effortless, the best Maya artists make visualizing the impossible seem easy. This is because the musician who masters music and the artist who masters Maya have spent years and years studying, practicing, and perfecting their skills and understanding.
This book is meant to be a guide to help you not only understand Maya but understand how to learn about Maya. The title Mastering Maya implies an active engagement with the software. This book is packed with as many hands-on tutorials as I could provide to keep you actively engaged. If you're looking for a quick reference guide that simply describes each and every button, control, and tool in the Maya interface, use the Maya documentation that comes with the software instead. This book is not a description of Maya; it is an explanation illustrated with practical examples.
The skills you acquire through the examples in this book should prepare you for using Maya in a professional environment. To that end, some features, such as lighting and rendering with mental ray, nDynamics, and Maya Muscle, have received more emphasis and attention. Features that have not changed significantly over the past few versions of the software, such as Maya Software rendering, standard Maya shaders, and older rigging techniques, receive less attention since they have been thoroughly covered elsewhere.
Maya 2009 is significantly different from Maya 2008. It is clear, from the changes made in this version, that Autodesk is fully committed to the continued evolution of Maya as a visual effects tool. Features such as the Nucleus dynamics solver are now firmly established and will continue to incorporate other aspects of Maya in future versions.
When you read this book and work through the exercises, do not hesitate to use the Maya help files. The authors of this book will not be insulted! The Maya documentation has a very useful search function that allows you to find complete descriptions of each control in the software. To use the help files, click the Help menu in the Maya menu interface. The documentation consists of a large library of Maya resources, which will appear in your default web browser when you access Help. Experienced Maya artists never hesitate to use the help files to find out more information about the software; there is no shame in asking questions!
This book is written for intermediate Maya users and users who are advanced in some aspects of Maya and wish to learn more about other aspects. The book is intended to be used by artists who are familiar with Maya and the Maya interface or who have significant experience using similar 3D packages. If you have used older versions of Maya, this book will help you catch up on the newer features in Maya 2009.
If you have never used Maya or any other 3D software on a computer before, this book will be too challenging and you will quickly become frustrated. You are encouraged to read Introducing Maya 2009 (Derakshani, Sybex 2009) or to read through the tutorials in the Maya documentation before attempting this book.
Here are some principles you should be familiar with before reading this book:
The Maya interface
Computer image basics such as color channels, masking, resolution, and image compression
Computer animation basics such as keyframes, squash and stretch, and 3D coordinate systems
Standard Maya shaders, such as the Blinn, Phong, Lambert, Layered, and Anisotropic materials, as well as standard textures, such as Fractal, Ramp, Noise, and Checker
Lighting and rendering with standard Maya lights and the Maya Software rendering engine
The basics of working with NURBS curves, polygon surfaces, and NURBS surfaces
Your operating system. You need to be familiar with opening and saving files and the like. Basic computer networking skills are helpful as well.
Here is a description of the chapters in this book. The lessons in each chapter are accompanied by example scenes from the DVD included with the book.
- Chapter 1: Working in Maya
discusses how to work with the various nodes and the node structure that make up a scene. Using the Hypergraph, Outliner, Hypershade, Attribute Editor, and Connection Editor to build relationships between nodes is demonstrated through a series of exercises. References, the Asset Editor, and containers are also introduced. These features have been created to aid with large Maya projects that are divided between teams of artists.
- Chapter 2: Maya Cameras
provides an in-depth discussion of the Maya virtual camera and its attributes. A number of exercises provide examples of standard and custom camera rigs. Stereo 3D cameras are also introduced as a new feature.
- Chapter 3: NURBS Modeling in Maya
walks you through numerous approaches for modeling parts of a helmet for a space suit based on a concept drawing created by a professional artist.
- Chapter 4: Polygon and Subdivision Surface Modeling
continues to build on the model started in Chapter 3 using polygon and subdivision surface techniques. Smooth mesh polygons, creasing, and soft selection are demonstrated on various parts of the model.
- Chapter 5: Animation
demonstrates basic rigging with Inverse Kinematics as well as animating with keyframes, expressions, and constraints. Animation layers, which are new in Maya 2009, are explained.
- Chapter 6: Animating with Deformers
takes you through the numerous deformation tools available in Maya. Creating a facial animation rig using blend shapes is demonstrated, along with using lattices, non-linear deformers, and the geometry cache.
- Chapter 7: Rigging and Muscle Systems
explains joints, Inverse Kinematics, smooth binding, and proper rigging techniques. Maya Muscle is introduced and demonstrated on a character's arm. This chapter was cowritten by Eric Allen, author of Body Language: Advanced 3D Character Rigging.
- Chapter 8: Paint Effects and Toon Shading
provides a step-by-step demonstration of how to create a custom Paint Effects brush as well as how to animate and render with Paint Effects. Toon shading is also explained.
- Chapter 9: mental ray Lights
demonstrates a variety of lighting tools and techniques that can be used when rendering scenes with mental ray. Indirect lighting using Global Illumination, Final Gathering, and the Physical Sun and Sky Shader are all demonstrated.
- Chapter 10: mental ray Shaders
describes the more commonly used mental ray Shaders and how they can be used to add material qualities to the space helmet created in Chapter 3. Tips on how to use the shaders together as well as how to light and render them using mental ray are discussed.
- Chapter 11: Texture Mapping
demonstrates how to create UV texture coordinates for a character's head. Applying textures painted in other software packages, such as Adobe Photoshop and Pixologic's ZBrush, is discussed as well as displacement and normal maps and sub-surface scattering Shaders.
- Chapter 12: Rendering for Compositing
introduces render layers and render passes, which can be used to split the various elements of a render into separate files that are then recombined in compositing software.
- Chapter 13: Introducing nParticles
provides numerous examples of how to use Maya 2009's most powerful new feature: nParticles. In this chapter, you'll use fluid behavior, particle meshes, internal force fields, and other techniques to create amazing effects.
- Chapter 14: Advanced nDynamic Effects
demonstrates a variety of techniques that can be used with nCloth to create effects. Traditional rigid body dynamics are compared with nCloth, and combining nCloth and nParticles is illustrated.
- Chapter 15: Fur, Hair, and Clothing
discusses how to augment your Maya creatures and characters using Maya Fur, Maya Hair, and nCloth. Using dynamic curves to create a rig for a dragon's tail is also demonstrated.
- Chapter 16: Maya Fluids
explains how 2D and 3D fluids can be used to create smoke, cloud, and flame effects. The fluid pond effect is used to create milk for a hypothetical cereal commercial, and a demonstration of how to render using the Ocean shader is given.
- Chapter 17: MEL and Python
walks you through the process of creating a time- and labor-saving MEL script, illustrating how MEL is a very useful tool for all Maya artists. The Python interface is also explained.
Note
The companion DVD is home to all the demo files, samples, and bonus resources mentioned in the book. See Appendix B for more details on the contents and how to access them.
I enjoy hearing from the readers of my books. Feedback helps me to continually improve my skills as an author. You can contact me through my website www.bloopatone.com as well as see examples of my own artwork there.
Sybex strives to keep you supplied with the latest tools and information you need for your work. Please check the book's website at www.sybex.com/go/masteringmaya2009, where we'll post additional content and updates that supplement this book should the need arise.