Maya 2015 in Simple Steps

Maya 2015 IN SIMPLE STEPS provides an in-depth and systematic introduction to the latest iteration of the very popular 3D modeling and animation tool. This book introduces the world of 3D computer graphics and focuses on the key concepts that are needed to enhance the skills required for modeling, texturing, lighting, animation, rigging, skinning, and rendering. The book follows an easy to understand and step by step approach to concepts. This book helps you to create your own 3D models and animate them with step-by-step instructions, hands-on examples, and screenshots. The content of this book is presented in such a way that it will be equally helpful to beginners as well as advanced users.

The book covers:

• An introduction to the concept of 3D computer graphics
• An explanation about the modeling techniques used in Maya: NURBS modeling and polygonal modeling
• The process of rigging, which involves the arrangement and management of deformers, expressions, and controls in an organized manner
• The procedure to create bones in the form of joints for creating character animation, such as walk cycles
• The concept of skinning, which is a procedure to bind the vertices of a mesh with bones that attach the mesh with the skeleton
• The techniques used in Maya to create various lighting effects, such as glow, fog, motion blur, and lens flare, with the combination of lights and renderer
• Paint Effects, which is essentially a brush-based, pressure sensitive tool used to create 3D elements and 2D textures
• Maya Dynamics, which is an animation technique that allows you to set up objects in a scene and animate them on the basis of physical forces
• The various types of renderers in Maya and the concept of rendering layers