Introducing Maya 2008 will show you how Maya works and introduce you to every part ofthe 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 theMaya interface. You’ll then learn the basic methods of modeling—creating objects andcharacters 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 theobjects you create—and you’ll learn how to create lights and shadows in a scene. Animationis an enormously rich topic, but the practice and theory provided here will give you asolid footing. Then you’ll learn how to control the process of rendering, turning yourimages into files that can be viewed. Perhaps Maya’s most dazzling capability is its dynamicsengine, software that allows you to make objects behave as if controlled by the realworldlaws of physics.Once you’ve finished this book and its exercises, you will have some experience inalmost everything Maya offers, giving you a solid foundation on which to base the rest ofyour Maya and CGI experience.The goal of this book is to get you familiar enough with all the parts of Maya to get youworking on your own and to start a long, healthy education in a powerful and flexible tool.You will, however, learn the most from yourself.
