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Exploring Maya 2017

by Eddie Russell and Justin Marshall

Maya is one of the most powerful and widely-used 3D applications in the industry. In this course, you'll learn about the different tools and workflows that Maya provides. Software required: Maya 2017.

What you'll learn

Maya is a very broad 3D application and it can be difficult at the beginning to know where to start. In this course, Exploring Maya 2017, you'll get an overview of several of the key areas of Maya and some examples of how to put that knowledge into practice. You'll begin by getting an overview of the Maya interface and you'll learn to navigate the 3D view where you'll be able to interact with all of your models and scenes. Next you'll take a look at how to work with 3D models and you'll learn about some of Maya's modeling tools and workflows. Animation is next, as you learn to set key frames, modify timing, and work with your playback controls to get your models moving around the scene. You'll also learn to work with materials and textures to give your models the appearance of different types of surfaces. You'll finish the course by learning to add and manipulate lights in your scenes, and use Arnold to render out final images of your projects. This course will give you a great head start on working in Maya, but it only scratches the surface of this powerful 3D application. Software required: Maya 2017.

About the authors

Eddie began teaching creative professionals over ten years ago for Digital Tutors. In 2014 Digital Tutors was acquired by Pluralsight and he continued his focus on creating high quality training for artists in both the film and games industries. With a background in graphic design and illustration Eddie has always been focused on visual appeal. This can be seen through his courses in which he shares secrets for achieving production level quality for concept art, illustrations, textures, mater... more

Justin thrives as a lead modeling author at Pluralsight. Growing up, Justin found a deep interest for the computer graphics industry after watching movies like Jurassic Park, Toy Story, and The Abyss. His ambition would lead him to work at Sony Imageworks in Los Angeles on movies like Monster House and Surf's Up. Justin has also had numerous articles, tutorials, and images published in 3D World and 3D Artist. As an author, Justin enjoys collaborating with fellow authors, especially on project... more

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