Introducing Autodesk Maya 2013 E-Book

Dariush Derakhshani

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 892

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

A complete update to the popular Autodesk Official Training Guide for Maya Maya is the industry-leading 3D animation and effects software used in movies, visual effects, games, cartoons, and other animation. This bestselling, official guide is a must for 3D beginners who want a thorough grounding in this dynamic and complex software. Fully updated for the newest version of Maya, the book explains the interface and the basics of modeling, texturing, animating, dynamics, visualization, and visual effects. Fun and challenging tutorials lead you through the nuances of the software and offer plenty of chances to practice what you've learned. * The Autodesk Official Training Guide for Maya, endorsed and promoted by Autodesk to its 2,500 Authorized Training Centers worldwide * Maya is the 3D animation and effects software used in the film, game, and advertising industries; it's a complex program and this book gives beginners the knowledge and confidence they need * Shows how to master the interface and the basics of modeling, texturing, animating, and visual effects * Step-by-step tutorials offer realistic, professional challenges for those new to 3D and those switching from another 3D application * Materials are available for instructors who want to use this guide with their students Introducing Autodesk Maya is the perfect guide to get you up and running on the world's most popular professional 3D application.

Leseprobe

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Introduction to Computer Graphics and 3D

Art?

Computer Graphics

A Preview of the CG Process

Animation

The Stages of Production

Preproduction

Production

Postproduction

How It All Works Together

The CG Production Workflow

Modeling

Texturing

Animation

Lighting

Rendering

Core Concepts

Computer Graphics Concepts

Basic Design Concepts

Basic Film Concepts

Planning a Production

Lighting

Basic Animation Concepts

Summary

Chapter 2: Jumping in Headfirst, with Both Feet

You Put the U in UI

A Quick Screen Roadmap

Keys and Syntax in Maya

Mouse Controls

Making Selections

Manipulating Objects

Project Overview: The Solar System

The Preproduction Process: Planning

Creating a Project

The Production Process: Creating and Animating the Objects

Creating the Sun and the Planets

Saving Your Work

Creating the Moons

Applying a Simple Shader

Creating the Animation

Hierarchy and Maya Object Structure

Understanding Nodes

Parents and Children

The Solar System Resumed

Animating Mercury’s Orbit Around the Sun

Creating Venus

Earth and the Moon

Using the Outliner

Outputting Your Work: Playblasting

Summary

Chapter 3: The Autodesk Maya 2013 Interface

Navigating in Maya

Exploring the Maya Layout

The Main Menu Bar

Work Panels and Navigation

The Manipulators

Soft Selection

Building a Decorative Box

Creating Reference Planes

The Channel Box/Attribute Editor Explained

Mapping the Box’s Reference Planes with Hypershade

The Hypershade Explained

Organizing Workflow with Layer Editor

Layer Editor Explained

Modeling the Decorative Box

Status Line Explained

Editing the Decorative Box Model Using the Shelf

The Shelf and Tool Box Explained

Continuing the Decorative Box Model

Time Slider and Help Line Explained

Finishing the Decorative Box Model

The Attribute Editor and Outliner Explained

The Outliner

Summary

Chapter 4: Beginning Polygonal Modeling

Planning Your Model

Choosing a Method

An Overview of Polygons

Using Primitives

Polygon Basics

Creating Polygonal Primitives

The Polygon Tool

Poly Editing Tools

The Poly Extrusion Tools

The Wedge Face Tool

The Poke Face Tool

The Bevel Tool

Putting the Tools to Use: Making a Simple Hand

Creating Areas of Detail on a Poly Mesh

The Add Divisions Tool

The Interactive Split Tool

The Insert Edge Loop Tool

The Offset Edge Loop Tool

The Combine and Merge Functions

The Cut Faces Tool

The Duplicate Face Tool

The Extract Tool

The Smooth Tool

The Sculpt Geometry Tool

Modeling a Catapult

The Production Process

The Base

The Wheels

The Winch Assembly

The Arm

Suggestions for Modeling Polygons

Summary

Chapter 5: Modeling with NURBS, Subdivisions, and Deformers

NURBS! NURBS!

NURBS Modeling

Levels of Detail

NURBS Surfacing Techniques

Combining Techniques

Surface History

Using NURBS Surfacing to Create Polygons

Converting a NURBS Model to Polygons

Editing NURBS Surfaces

Project Curve on Surface

Trim and Untrim Surfaces

Attach Surfaces

Detach Surfaces

Insert Isoparms

Patch Modeling: A Locomotive Detail

Starting the NURBS Pump

Adding End Caps

Stitching and Tangency

Integrating the Pump into the Locomotive Model: Importing a Scene

Using Artisan to Sculpt NURBS

Modeling with Simple Deformers

Modeling Using the Bend Deformer

Adjusting an Existing Axe Model

The Lattice Deformer

Creating an Alien Hand

Creating Alien Fingers

Animating Through a Lattice

Subdivision Surfaces

Creating a Starfish

Converting to a Subdivision Surface

Building a Teakettle

Creating the Base Polygon Model

Converting to Subdivisions

Converting Back to Polygons

Taking the Kettle Further

Summary

Chapter 6: Practical Experience

Evaluating the Table Lamp

Modeling the Base

Creating the Lamp Stem

The Stem

The Lampshade Bracket

Modeling the Lampshade

Making the Toy Airplane

Reference Images

Creating Reference Planes for the Images

Creating the Fuselage

Using Booleans to Finish the Fuselage

Cleaning Up the Fuselage

Creating the Propeller and Nose

Using References

Finishing the Toy Airplane

Making the Wheels

Updating the Reference

Summary

Chapter 7: Autodesk Maya Shading and Texturing

Maya Shading

Shader Types

The Lambert Shader Type

The Phong Shader Type

The Blinn Shader Type

The Phong E Shader Type

The Anisotropic Shader Type

The Layered Shader Type

The Ramp Shader Type

Shader Attributes

Texturing the Table Lamp

The Socket, Stem, and Lampshade

The Metal Parts

Textures and Surfaces

UV Mapping

Using Projections

Texture Nodes

Textures and UVs for the Red Wagon

Assigning Shaders

Creating a Shading Network for the Wheels

Putting Decals on the Body

Working with UVs

Texturing the Floor

Shading the Wood Railings

Finishing the Wagon

Photo-real Mapping: The Decorative Box

Setting Up UVs (Blech!)

Color Mapping the Box

For Further Study

Summary

Chapter 8: Introduction to Animation

Keyframe Animation—Bouncing a Ball

Creating a Cartoon Ball

Setting Up the Hierarchy

Animating the Ball

Throwing an Axe

The Preproduction Process

Setting Up the Scene

Preproduction: Keyframes and Motion Study

Animating the Axe: Keyframing Gross Animation

Adding Follow-Through

Adding Secondary Motion

Motion Trails

Path Animation

Axe Project Summation

Replacing an Object

Replacing the Axe

Transferring Animation

Animating Flying Text

Rigging the Locomotive, Part 1

The Scene Setup

Selection Handles

Animating the Locomotive

Animating the Catapult

Animating with Deformers

Summary

Chapter 9: More Animation!

Skeletons and Kinematics

Skeletons and Hierarchy

Forward Kinematics: The Block Man

Creating the Skeleton

Attaching to the Skeleton

The Block Man: FK Walk Cycle

Skeletons: The Hand

Rigging the Hand

Binding to Geometry

Binding the Hand: Rigid

Binding the Hand: Smooth

Binding the Hand: Interactive Skin Bind

Inverse Kinematics

Rigging the IK Legs

Creating an IK Walk Cycle

Further Uses for IK Chains

Basic Relationships: Constraints

The Point Constraint

The Orient Constraint

The Point on Poly Constraint

The Aim Constraint

Geometry and Normal Constraints

Scale, Parent, Tangent, and Pole Vector Constraints

Basic Relationships: Set-Driven Keys

Creating a Set-Driven Key

An Advanced Set-Driven Key: The Hand

Application: Rigging the Locomotive

Setting Up Wheel Control

Controlling the Wheel Arms

Controlling the Pump Arm

Controlling the Back Wheel

Finishing the Rig

Summary

Chapter 10: Autodesk Maya Lighting

Basic Lighting Concepts

Learning to See

What Your Scene Needs

Three-Point Lighting

Practical Lighting

Maya Lights

Common Light Attributes

Light Types

Lighting a Scene

Light Linking

Adding Shadows

Creating Shadows in Maya

Controlling Shadows per Object

Raytracing Soft Shadows

mental ray Lighting

Global Illumination: A Downloadable PDF Exercise

Image-Based Lighting

mental ray Physical Sun and Sky

Lighting Effects

Volumetric Lighting

Lens Flare

Shader Glow Effects

Lighting the Table Lamp and Decorative Box

Further Lighting Practice

Tips for Using and Animating Lights

Animating a Light

Using the Show Manipulator Tool for Lights

Summary

Chapter 11: Autodesk Maya Rendering

Rendering Setup

Choosing a Filename

Image Format

Frame Range

Camera

Setting Resolution

Selecting a Render Engine

Previewing Your Render: The Render View Window

Saving/Loading an Image

Keep/Remove Image

IPR Rendering

Reflections and Refractions

Raytraced Reflections

Rendering Refractions

Using Cameras

Creating a Camera

Camera Types

Camera Attributes

Motion Blur

Batch Rendering

Rendering the Wine Bottle

Selecting Render Settings Options

Setting Up the Scene

Setting Up the Camera

Batch Rendering and Playing Back the Sequence

mental ray for Maya

mental ray Quality Settings

Render Settings in Action!

Motion Blur with mental ray

Render Layers

Render Passes in mental ray

Rendering the Still Life in Layers

Final Gather

Ambient Occlusion

The Living Room

Rendering the Results

Compositing the Results

HDRI

Displacement Mapping the Decorative Box

Reflection Map

Displacement Mapping

Rendering the Lamp and Decorative Box

Adding an IBL

Fixing Final Gather Noise

Blurring Reflections with the mia_material

Let’s Get a Little Closer

Adding Depth of Field

Wrapping Up the Lamp and Decorative Box

Summary

Chapter 12: Autodesk Maya Dynamics and Effects

An Overview of Dynamics and Maya Nucleus

Rigid and Soft Dynamic Bodies

Creating Active and Passive Rigid Body Objects

Moving a Rigid Body

Rigid Body Attributes

Animating with Dynamics: The Pool Table

Creating the Pool Table and the Balls

Creating Rigid Bodies

Animating Rigid Bodies

Additional Rigid Body Attributes

Baking Out a Simulation

Simplifying Animation Curves

Fun Dynamics: Shoot the Catapult!

nParticle Dynamics

Emitting nParticles

Emitter Attributes

nParticle Attributes

nCaching Particles

Creating an nCache on Disk

Animating a Particle Effect: Locomotive Steam

Emitting the nParticles

Setting nParticle Attributes

Setting Rendering Attributes

Introduction to Paint Effects

Paint Effects Attributes

Toon Shading

Customizing Maya

User Preferences

Shelves

Hotkeys

Color Settings

Summary

Where Do You Go from Here?

Index

Gallery: Beginners’ Gallery

Acquisitions Editor: Mariann Barsolo

Development Editor: Kim Wimpsett

Technical Editor: Keith Reicher

Production Editor: Rebecca Anderson

Copy Editor: Linda Recktenwald

Editorial Manager: Pete Gaughan

Production Manager: Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley

Vice President and Publisher: Neil Edde

Book Designer: Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Compositor: Kate Kaminski, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Proofreader: Jen Larsen, Word One New York

Indexer: Ted Laux

Project Coordinator, Cover: Katherine Crocker

Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed

Cover Image: Dariush Derakhshani, Shaun Seong-young Kim, Dan Wilson, Greg Dylan Harris

Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-118-13056-8 ISBN: 978-1-118-22570-7 (ebk.) ISBN: 978-1-118-23846-2 (ebk.) ISBN: 978-1-118-26312-9 (ebk.)

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TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Autodesk and Maya are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing Introducing Autodesk® Maya® 2013. This book is part of a family of premium-quality Sybex books, all of which are written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching.

Sybex was founded in 1976. More than 30 years later, we’re still committed to producing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles, we’re working hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the paper we print on, to the authors we work with, our goal is to bring you the best books available.

I hope you see all that reflected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your comments and get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an email at [email protected]. If you think you’ve found a technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com. Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex.

Best regards,

Neil Edde

Vice President and Publisher

Sybex, an Imprint of Wiley

To Max Henry

Acknowledgments

As this book goes into its ninth edition, I am thrilled that the Introducing Maya series is a favorite resource for students and teachers of Autodesk® Maya®. Education is the foundation for a happy life, and with that in mind, I’d like to thank the outstanding teachers from whom I have had the privilege to learn. You can remember what you’ve been taught—or, just as important, you can remember those who have taught you.

I also want to thank my students, who have taught me as much as they have learned themselves. Juan Gutierrez, Victor J. Garza, Robert Jauregui, and Peter Gend deserve special thanks for helping me complete the models and images for this book. Thanks to the student artists who contributed to the Color Insert and, of course, thanks to my bosses, colleagues, and friends at work for showing me everything I’ve learned and making it interesting to be in the effects business. Special thanks to HP for their support and keeping me on the cutting edge of workstations.

Thanks to my editors at Sybex and the folks at Autodesk for their support and help and for making this process fun. Thanks to the book team for bringing it all together: Mariann Barsolo, Kim Wimpsett, Rebecca Anderson, and Linda Recktenwald. My appreciation also goes ten-fold to technical editor Keith Reicher.

Thank you to my mom and brothers for your strength, wisdom, and love throughout. And a special thank-you to my lovely wife Randi and our son Max Henry for putting up with the long nights at the keyboard; the grumpy, sleep-deprived mornings; and the blinking and buzzing of all my machines in our apartment. Family!

About the Author

Dariush Derakhshani is a supervisor for Zoic Studios, a creative studio with offices in Culver City, California, and Vancouver, British Columbia. Dariush has been working in CG for more than 15 years and teaching classes in CG and effects production for close to 14. He is the best-selling author of a handful of books, including the popular Introducing Maya series.

Dariush started using Autodesk® AutoCAD® software in his architecture days and then migrated to using 3D programs when his firm’s principal architects needed to show their clients design work on the computer. Starting with Alias PowerAnimator version 6, which he encountered when he enrolled in the University of Southern California Film School’s Animation program, and working for a short while in Autodesk® 3ds Max® before moving on to Maya® jobs, Dariush has been using Autodesk animation software for the past 17 years.

He received an MFA in Film, Video, and Computer Animation in 1997 from USC. Dariush also holds a BA in Architecture and Theatre from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and worked at a New Jersey architecture firm before moving to Los Angeles for film school. He has worked on feature films, music videos, and countless commercials as a 3D animator and VFX supervisor, garnering honors from the London International Advertising Awards, the ADDY Awards, the Telly Awards, and a nomination from the Visual Effects Society Awards. He is bald and has flat feet.

Introduction

Welcome to Introducing Autodesk® Maya® 2013 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. It introduces you to Maya and shows how you can work with Maya to create your art, whether it’s animated or static in design.

The first edition of this book was written out of the author’s desire for a 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 come 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.

What You’ll Learn from This Book

Introducing Autodesk Maya 2013 will show you how Maya works and introduce you to every part of the toolset to give you a glimpse of the possibilities available with Maya.

You’ll learn the basic concepts underlying animation and 3D and how to work with the Maya interface. You’ll then learn the basic methods of modeling—creating objects and characters that appear to exist in three-dimensional space and that can be animated. You’ll also explore shading and texturing—the techniques of applying surfaces to the objects you create—and you’ll learn how to create lights and shadows in a scene. Animation is an enormously rich topic, but the practice and theory provided here will give you a solid footing. Next, you’ll learn how to control the process of rendering, turning your images into files that can be viewed. Perhaps the most dazzling capability of Maya is its dynamics engine, software that allows you to make objects behave as if controlled by the real-world laws of physics.

After you’ve finished this book and its exercises, you’ll have experience in almost everything Maya offers, giving you a solid foundation on which to base the rest of your Maya and CGI experience.

The goal of this book is to get you familiar enough with all the parts of Maya that you can work on your own and start a long, healthy education in a powerful and flexible tool.

You will, however, learn the most from yourself.

Who Should Read This Book

Anyone who is curious about learning Maya or who is migrating from another 3D software package can learn something from this book. Even if you’re highly experienced in another 3D package such as the open source Blender, or Autodesk® 3ds Max® or Softimage®, you’ll find this book helpful in showing you how Maya operates, so you can migrate your existing skill set quickly and efficiently. By being exposed to everything Maya has to offer, you’ll better understand how you can use its toolset to create or improve on your art and work.

If you already have cursory or even intermediate experience with Maya, culled from time spent learning at home, you can fill many holes with the information in this book as well as expand your experience. Self-education is a powerful tool, and the more you expose yourself to different sources, opinions, and methods, the better educated you’ll be.

In addition, this book is invaluable for teachers in the CG field. This book was written to cater to those who want to pick up the fundamentals of Maya as well as those who want to teach classes based on a solid body of course material. You won’t find a better basis for a class when you combine this book with your own curriculum.

How to Use This Book

To begin reading this book, open it to some page, and read.

Introducing Autodesk Maya 2013 approaches the subject in a linear fashion that tracks how most animation productions are undertaken. But the book has numerous cross-references; to make sure the chapters make sense, no matter in which order you wish to tackle them. You can open this book to any chapter and work through the tutorials and examples laid out for the Maya task being covered. Feel free to browse the chapters and jump into anything that strikes your fancy. However, if you’re completely new to CG, you may want to take the chapters in order.

Although you can learn a lot just by reading the explanations and studying the illustrations, it’s best to read this book while you’re using Maya 2013 so that you can try the exercises for yourself as you read them. If you don’t already have Maya, you can download an educational license or a 30-day trial version of the software at www.autodesk.com/maya. This book refers to a companion web page (www.sybex.com/go/intromaya2013) that contains all the example and support files you’ll need for the exercises in the text, which is valuable as an educational aid. You can use the example files to check the progress of your work, or you can use them as a starting point if you want to skip ahead within an exercise. The latter can save the more experienced reader tons of time. You’ll also find it valuable to examine these files in depth to see how scenes are set up and how some of the concepts introduced in the book are implemented. Because Maya is a complex, professional software application, the exercises are both realistically ambitious and simple enough for new users to complete. Take them one step at a time and find your own pace, accepting aggravations and failures as part of the process. Take your time; you’re not working on deadline—yet.

How This Book Is Organized

Chapter 1, “Introduction to Computer Graphics and 3D,” introduces you to common computer graphics terms and concepts to give you a basic overview of how CG happens and how Maya relates to the overall process. This chapter explores the basics of CG creation and its core concepts. In addition, it describes the process of CG production and discusses how to establish a commonly used workflow.

Chapter 2, “Jumping in Headfirst, with Both Feet,” creates a simple animation to introduce you to the Maya interface and workflow and give you a taste of how things work right off the bat. By animating the planets in our solar system, you’ll learn basic concepts of creating and animating in Maya and how to use its powerful object structure.

Chapter 3, “The Autodesk Maya 2013 Interface,” presents the entire Maya interface and shows you how it’s used in production. Beginning with a roadmap of the screen, this chapter also explains how Maya defines and organizes objects in a scene while you are set to the task of building a decorative box model.

Chapter 4, “Beginning Polygonal Modeling,” is an introduction to modeling concepts and workflows in general. It shows you how to start modeling using polygonal geometry to create various objects, from a basic-looking hand to a catapult.

Chapter 5, “Modeling with NURBS, Subdivisions, and Deformers,” takes your lesson in modeling a step further. It shows you how to model with deformers and surfacing techniques, using NURBS to create a patch model detail for a larger locomotive scene. You’ll also use subdivision surfaces, a hybrid between polygons and NURBS, to create a starfish.

Chapter 6, “Practical Experience,” rounds out your modeling lessons with a comprehensive exercise showing you how to model a child’s table lamp using polygons as well as some NURBS surfacing.

Chapter 7, “Autodesk Maya Shading and Texturing,” shows you how to assign textures and shaders to your models. Using a toy wagon model, you’ll learn how to texture it to look like a real toy wagon as well as lay out its UVs for proper texture placement. Then, you’ll create detailed photorealistic textures based on photos for the decorative box and table lamp models. You’ll also learn how to take advantage of Maya 2013’s ability to work with layered Photoshop files.

Chapter 8, “Introduction to Animation,” covers the basics of how to animate a bouncing ball using keyframes and moves on to creating more complex animation—throwing an axe and firing a catapult. You’ll also learn how to import objects into an existing animation and transfer animation from one object to another, a common exercise in professional productions. In addition, you’ll learn how to use the Graph Editor to edit and finesse your animation as well as animate objects along paths.

Chapter 9, “More Animation!” expands on Chapter 8 to show you how to use the Maya skeleton and kinematics system to create a simple walk cycle. This chapter also covers how to animate objects by using relationships between them. A thrilling exercise shows you how to rig a locomotive model for automated animation, one of the most productive uses of Maya.

Chapter 10, “Autodesk Maya Lighting,” begins by showing you how to light a 3D scene as you learn how to light the table lamp and box that you modeled and textured earlier in the book. It also shows you how to use the tools to create and edit Maya lights for illumination, shadows, and special lighting effects. The mental ray for Maya Physical Sun and Sky feature is explored in this chapter as an introduction to some sophisticated techniques for mental ray lighting.

Chapter 11, “Autodesk Maya Rendering,” explains how to create image files from your Maya scene and how to achieve the best look for your animation using proper cameras and rendering settings. You’ll work with displacement maps to create details in a model. You’ll also learn about the Maya renderer, the Vector renderer, and Final Gather using HDRI and image-based lighting through mental ray for Maya, as well as raytracing, motion blur, and depth of field. You’ll have a chance to render the table lamp and decorative box to round out your skills.

Chapter 12, “Autodesk Maya Dynamics and Effects,” introduces you to the powerful Maya dynamics animation system as well as nParticle technology. You’ll animate pool balls colliding with one another using rigid body dynamics, and you’ll fire the catapult. Using nParticle animation, you’ll also create steam to add to your locomotive scene. This chapter also shows you how to use Paint Effects to create animated flowers and grass within minutes, and it introduces you to using toon shading to achieve a cartoon look to your renders.

Hardware and Software Considerations

Because computer hardware is a quickly moving target, and Maya now runs on three distinct operating systems (Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7, Linux, and Mac OS X), specifying which hardware components will work with Maya is something of a challenge. Fortunately, Autodesk has a “qualified hardware” page on its website that describes the latest hardware to be qualified to work with Maya for each operating system. Go to the following site for the most up-to-date information on system requirements:

www.autodesk.com/maya

Although you can find specific hardware recommendations on these web pages, some general statements can be made about what constitutes a good platform on which to run Maya. First, be sure to get a fast processor; Maya eats through CPU cycles like crazy, so a fast processor is important. Second, you need lots of RAM (memory) to run Maya: at least 2 GB, but 8 GB is good to have, especially if you’re working with large scene files or are on a 64-bit system. Third, if you expect to interact well with your Maya scenes, a powerful video card is a must—although Maya will mosey along with a poor graphics card, screen redraws will be slow with complex scenes, which can quickly become frustrating. You may want to consider a workstation graphics card for the best compatibility (rather than a consumer-grade gaming video card). Several companies make entry-level through top-performing workstation cards to fit any budget. A large hard disk is also important—most computers these days come with huge drives anyway.

Fortunately, computer hardware is so fast that even laptop computers can now run Maya well. Additionally, even hardware that is not officially supported by Autodesk can often run Maya—just remember that you won’t be able to get technical support if your system doesn’t meet the company’s qualifications.

The Next Step

By the time you finish IntroducingAutodeskMaya 2013, you’ll have some solid skills for using Maya. When you’re ready to move on to another level, be sure to check out other Maya titles from Sybex at www.sybex.com.

You can contact the author at www.koosh3d.com. You may also go to the book’s web page at www.sybex.com/go/introducingmaya2013.

Chapter 1

Introduction to Computer Graphics and 3D

This book will introduce you to the workings of 3D animation (called computer graphics, or CG) with one of the most popular programs on the market, Autodesk Maya. It will introduce you to many of Maya’s features and capabilities with the intent of energizing you to study further.

The best way to succeed at anything is to practice. Go through the exercises in this book (more than once if you care to) and also think of exercises and projects that can take you further in your learning process. A book, class, or video can take you only so far; the rest is up to you. Imagination and exploration will serve you well.

This is not to say you can’t be a casual visitor to working in CG—far from it. Playing around and seeing what you can create in this medium is just flat-out fun. Don’t lose sight of that. If you feel the enjoyment slipping away, step away from the screen for a while. Understanding your own learning pace is important.

Throughout this book, you’ll learn how to work with Maya tools and techniques at a pace you set for yourself. This chapter will prepare you for the hands-on study that follows by introducing the most important CG concepts and the roles they will play in your Maya work. When you’re learning how to work with Maya, the most important concept is discovering how you work as an artist. If you have a basic understanding of the methodology and terms of computer art and CG, you can skim or even skip this chapter and jump right into working with Maya.