Introduction to Maya 2011
In this Maya tutorial, we will help you get a strong understanding of Maya and how it works. Software required: Maya 2011 and up.
What you'll learn
In this Maya tutorial, we will help you get a strong understanding of Maya and how it works. You'll get the chance to work with many of the other Maya instructors here at Digital-Tutors who will show you how to use some of the major components of Maya. We'll start the tutorial by giving you the foundational skills and vocabulary you'll need in order to move around within Maya, and then we'll jump right into the Modeling section of the course. After completing the Modeling section, you'll get the chance try your hand at Texturing, Rigging, Animation, Dynamics, and finally, Lighting and Rendering your own animation. Our goal is not to weigh you down with technical information, but rather to help you form really good habits so you can have a successful future using Maya. Software required: Maya 2011 and up.
Table of contents
- Creating Your First Object 5m
- Overview of the User Interface 16m
- Creating a Project in Maya 5m
- Saving Files and File Types 5m
- Viewing Geometry 8m
- Getting Used to Qwerty 9m
- Channel Box and Layer Editor 9m
- Using the Attribute Editor 6m
- Grouping and Parenting 5m
- Working with the Hotbox 8m
- Selection Masks 3m
- Writing Your First MEL Script 6m
- Working with Shelves 6m
- Modeling Project Overview 1m
- Modeling the Basic Shape of the Engine Shell 12m
- Building the Rear of the Engine from Nurbs 12m
- Extracting a Rim from the Front of the Engine 12m
- Extruding a Vent from the Top of the Engine 10m
- Adding Slats to the Main Vent of the Engine 9m
- Modeling the Rear Cone and Thrust Ring 11m
- Adding Radial Struts Around the Engine 9m
- Building Vents on the Sides of the Engine 9m
- Adding a Power Coupling and Side Rail 13m
- Creating the Basic Shape of the Cab 6m
- Modeling the Cab Interior 11m
- Building the Windshield and Exterior Panels 13m
- Adding Rails Over the Racer Cab 13m
- Building the Cable Connectors and Hood Ornaments 12m
- Modeling Cables from Nurbs Curves 15m
- Texturing Project Overview 1m
- Hypershade Overview 7m
- Applying and Manipulating Materials 12m
- Modulating Color Using Ramps 11m
- Adding Multiple Materials to Objects 5m
- Using Transparency with Our Materials 4m
- Using UVs to Prepare Polygons for Texturing 10m
- Working with Procedural Textures 6m
- Working with External Texture Maps 7m
- Using Bump Maps to Simulate Depth 7m
- Combining Ramps with Other Procedural Nodes 9m
- Adding a Car Paint Material 11m
- Using the 3D Paint Tool to Paint Textures 9m
- Introduction to the Rigging and Animation Process 1m
- Creating Control Curves for Our Objects 10m
- Using Display Layers to Organize Our Rig 6m
- Organizing the Scene and Using Selection Handles 6m
- Creating Custom Attributes 4m
- Using the Connection Editor to Drive Values 6m
- Writing Your First Expression 9m
- Adding a Speed Setting for the Expression 9m
- Using Set Driven Key to Simplify the Rigging Process 10m
- Drawing Your First Joint Chain 11m
- Binding the Geometry Onto Joints 13m
- Making the Scene Animator-friendly 6m
- Adding Random Movement Through Expressions 10m
- Removing Channels from the Channel Box 4m
- Learn to Set Key Frames and Use the Time Slider and Graph Editor 6m
- Managing Key Frames with the Graph Editor 11m
- Creating a Cycling Animation 6m
- Animating Objects Using Path Animation 8m
- Using the Auto Key Feature 8m
- Modifying Key Frames Using the Time Slider 6m
- Creating Playblasts to Preview the Animation 7m
- Introduction to the Lighting and Rendering Section 1m
- Overview of Various Light Types in Maya 5m
- Exploring Common Attributes of Maya Lights 12m
- Rendering with Depth Map Shadows 7m
- Rendering with Raytraced Shadows 7m
- Using Image Planes to Create a Renderable Environment 7m
- Matching Maya Light Sources to a Photographic Environment 10m
- Using the Attribute Spreadsheet to Adjust Multiple Objects 12m
- Isolating Shadows with the Use Background Shader 7m
- Using Light-linking to Control an Object's Illumination 7m
- Matching the Maya Camera to a Photographic Environment 8m
- Using the 2D Pan/Zoom Feature in Maya 5m
- Adjusting the Rendered Smoothness of NURBS Objects 6m
- Adding Displacement Maps to Maya Geometry 7m
- Batch-rendering Your Animated Sequence from Maya 13m
About the authors
Kyle was one of the first authors for Digital-Tutors, now a Pluralsight company. and has been a part of the team for over 10 years. Kyle began his career in computer graphics education as a college instructor and worked as a Digital-Tutors rendering tutor and curriculum manager since 2002. Kyle has contributed to many of the most popular projects and helped the Digital-Tutors team win awards throughout the company's history. Kyle has had the honor of having his art exhibited at the New York ... more
Delano works avidly as an animation author at Pluralsight. Starting his career at animation studios like Shilo, Delano has developed a strong passion for his talents. His animation and rigging background help him teach and create some of the most-watched training on Pluralsight. A few of his favorite projects that he has contributed to include: Character Interaction in Maya and in Softimage, Rigging the Human Face in Maya, Rigging Sea Creatures in Maya, and Rigging and Animating Transforming... 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