Maya in 24 Hours, Sams Teach Yourself

Kenny Roy started in the animation industry in 1997 as a dust buster on a children’s animated feature. Since then, he has gone on to animate some of the most memorable characters on screen, from Scooby Doo to King Kong. In 2007, he founded Arconyx Animation Studios in Los Angeles, where he directs projects ranging from TV commercials to short films and visual FX. An animation teacher for almost 8 years, Kenny is also a multiple-published author in animation and a world-traveling lecturer.   Fiona Rivera has animated and created 3D graphics for independent film, iPhone apps, marketing, university TV, and training courses. Fiona initially trained in 3D at Escape Studios, a premier visual effects academy in London, and went on to study character animation through Animation Mentor, where she met Kenny Roy. In addition to freelancing for companies such as Strange-Box.com, she has taught and developed undergraduate and postgraduate university courses in 3D animation, 3D modeling and rendering, and visual effects. Fiona has also created stereoscopic immersive virtual environments for European research projects and is currently researching related new technologies.

HOUR 1: Introduction to Autodesk Maya and This Book   1
Our Goal   1
What Is Autodesk Maya?   2
Our Approach   3
How We Use Screenshots   4
Supplementing Your 3D Training   6
Setting a Pace for Learning Maya   8
Summary   8
Q&A   9
Workshop   9

 

HOUR 2: Menus and Navigating the Maya UI   11
The Maya Interface   11
Starting from the Default Maya Interface   12
 The Top Area   13
 The Center Area   18
 The Left Area   19
 The Right Area   21
 The Bottom Area   23
Axes, Planes, Coordinates   24
The Outliner   24
Summary   26
Q&A   26
Workshop   27

 

HOUR 3: File Types and Managing Assets   29
3D File Types   30
 Maya Scene Files   30
 Maya Binary   30
 Maya ASCII   30
Other 3D File Types   31
 OBJ   32
 FBX   32
 ANIM   33
 ATOM   33
2D File Types   33
 Texture File Types   34
Miscellaneous Formats   37
Maya Projects   37
 Set Project   37
 Creating a Project   38
Summary   39
Q&A   39
Workshop   40

 

HOUR 4: Modeling with Polygonal Geometry   43
Objects in Maya   44
Creating Polygons   44
 Polygons   46
Summary   57
Q&A   58
Workshop   58

 

HOUR 5: Modeling NURBS Curves and Surfaces   61
What Are NURBS?   62
 Curve Components   62
 Surface Components   63
Modeling with NURBS   65
 Creating a Simple Surface   66
More Uses for Curves   74
 Animation Controllers   74
 Path Animation   74
Summary   77
Q&A   78
Workshop   78

 

HOUR 6: Unfolding UVs and Applying Textures   81
What Are UVs?   82
 More Complicated Models   83
Texturing in Maya   88
 Applying Our Texture   90
 Standard Material Options   91
 Standard Materials   93
Customizing Our Blinn   94
Summary   97
Q&A   97
Workshop   98

 

HOUR 7: Creating Node Networks in the Hypershade   101
Navigating the Hypershade   101
 The Panels   102
Creating a Simple Network   108
Summary   116
Q&A   116
Workshop   117

 

HOUR 8: Character Modeling   119
Character Model Basics   120
 Working From Designs   120
 Using Symmetry In Modeling   125
Starting a Model   128
 Edge Loops   129
Continue Refining Your Model   133
 Multi-Edged Intersections: Poles   134
 Adding the Arms   135
 Inside the Mouth   138
 Armpits and Shoulders   138
 Hands   139
 Eyelids   140
 Elbows and Knees   140
Smoothing   142
 Smoothing Reduces Detail   142
 Deciding on Smoothing   142
Crease Edges   143
Combining Geometry   143
 UVs Review   145
Summary   148
Q&A   148
Workshop   148

 

HOUR 9: Relationships and Making Nodes Work Together   151
Viewing Relationships   152
Creating Connections   154
 The Connection Editor   154
 Connecting New Attributes   159
Other Relationships   162
 Expressions   162
 Driven Keys   163
 The Relationship Editor   164
Choosing the Right Relationship   165
Summary   167
Q&A   167
Workshop   168

 

HOUR 10: Basic Rigging: Preparing Objects for Animation   171
What Is a Rig?   172
Why We Rig   172
Preparing Your Mesh   173
Simple Hierarchy   176
 The Geo Group   178
Adding Controls   178
Adding Functionality   180
 Creating the Bend   181
Summary   183
Q&A   183
Workshop   184

 

HOUR 11: Character Rigging: Articulating Characters   187
Joints   188
Forward Kinematics Versus Inverse Kinematics   189
Starting a Rig   190
 Placing Joints   191
 Mirroring Joints   194
 Finishing the Joint Chain   194
Jaw Joint   196
 Joint Orientation   196
Adding IK to the Arms   197
Adding Controls   199
Connecting Controls   203
 Connecting the IK Hand Controls   204
Other Controls   204
 BlendShape Control   205
 Eye Target   205
Final Cleanup   206
Summary   208
Q&A   208
Workshop   209

 

HOUR 12: Skinning: Attaching Geometry to a Rig   211




The Skin Nodes   211
Rigid Bind   212
 Flexors   214
 Deform vs. Transform   215
Smooth Bind   216
Skinning Sam   216
Painting Weights   217
 Painting   217
 Prune Small Weights   220
 Locking Weights   221
Adding More Deformation   222
Summary   225
Q&A   225
Workshop   226

 

HOUR 13: Animation: Adding Movement to Your Scene   227
The Principles of Animation   228
 Squash and Stretch   228
 Anticipation   228
 Staging   228
 Straight-Ahead Action and Pose to Pose   228
 Follow Through and Overlapping Action   229
 Slow In and Slow Out   229
 Arcs   229
 Secondary Action   229
 Timing   229
 Exaggeration   230
 Solid Drawing   230
 Appeal   230
Time in Maya   230
The Timeline   231
The Range Slider   232
What Is a Keyframe?   232
Creating Keyframes   233
Using AutoKey to Set Keys   235
Manipulating the Timeline   236
Copying and Pasting Keys   237
The Graph Editor and Editing Keys   239
 Working with the Graph Editor   240
 Interpolation and Tangents   241
 Buffer Curves   244
The Dope Sheet   246
Editing Motion with the Trax Editor   248
Constraints and Animating   250
 Constraint Versus Parent   250
Using Other Animation Tools   252
 Creating Dynamic Relationships with Expressions   253
 Creating Animation on a Path   254
 Driven Keys   256
An Animated Scene   257
Summary   258
Q&A   258
Workshop   259

 

HOUR 14: Creating and Adjusting Cameras   261
Creating Cameras   262
Common Camera Attributes   265
 Camera Attributes   265
 Depth of Field   268
 Output Settings   269
 Environment   269
 Special Effects   270
 Display Options   270
 2D Pan/Zoom   271
 Movement Options   271
 Orthographic Views   272
The Different Camera Types   272
 Camera   272
 Camera and Aim   272
 Camera, Aim, and Up   272
 Stereo Camera and Multi-Stereo Rig   272
Animating Cameras   272
 Keyframing   273
Summary   276
Q&A   276
Workshop   277

 

HOUR 15: Making Diverse Shapes with BlendShapes   279
BlendShape Node   280
Applying a BlendShape   281
Creating BlendShapes   284
 Sculpting Geometry   285
 Adding a BlendShape   289
 Making Controllers   290
Corrective BlendShapes   291
Other Uses for BlendShapes   293
Summary   294
Q&A   294
Workshop   295

 

HOUR 16: Animating Using Dynamics and Simulations   297
What Are Dynamics?   298
 What are nDynamics?   298
 Physics in Action   298
 What Does Simulating Mean?   299
Getting Started with Rigid Bodies   299
 Creating the Scene   300
Getting Dynamic   302
 Let the Apple Fall from the Tree   302
Simulating the Apple Falling   307
The Rigid Body Solver   310
 Creating a Cache   310
Summary   311
Q&A   311
Workshop   312

 

HOUR 17: Scripting and Automating Common Tasks   315
MEL Scripting Basics   316
Writing Scripts in the Script Editor   317
Learning MEL from Maya in Action   320
Getting Help on Commands   322
Creating a Universe with MEL   325
 Creating a Universe with MEL: Intermediate   329
Making Use of the Shelves   335
Summary   337
Q&A   337
Workshop   337

 

HOUR 18: Using Particles to Create Effects   339
What Are Particles?   340
 What Is an Emitter?   340
 Particles or nParticles?   340
Getting Started with nParticles   341
 Editing the Attributes of an Emitter   345
 Making More Adjustments   349
 Copying Attributes by Using Presets   352
Creating a Cache   354
Summary   355
Q&A   355
Workshop   356

 

HOUR 19: Lighting Your Scene Correctly   359
Lighting Basics   360
 Observing Light and Shadows   360
Creating Lights and Shadows   361
 Maya Light Types   362
 Casting Shadows   366
 Positioning Lights   367
Common Light Attributes   370
 Spot Light Attributes   372
Getting Started with Three-Point Lighting   374
 Creating the Key Light   374
 Creating the Fill Light   377
 Creating the Back Light   378
Summary   380
Q&A   381
Workshop   381

 

HOUR 20: Applying Hair and Cloth for Realism   383
Applying Fur and Hair   384
 Loading Fur   384
 Applying Fur   384
 Modifying Fur Attributes   385
 Applying Hair   386
Follicles and Curves   388
Creating Dynamic Hair and Fur   389
 nHair and Dynamics   390
 Fur and Dynamics   390
nCloth and nDynamics   391
Attaching nCloth to Other Objects   392
Characters and Clothes   393
Animating with Hair and nCloth   394
Summary   397
Q&A   397
Workshop   398

 

HOUR 21: Rendering Final Imagery   399
Render Basics   400
 Render Buttons   401
 Rendering Single Images   402
 Render View   402
 Rendering Regions   405
 Comparing Saved Images   406
 Fine-tuning with IPR   407
Render Settings   409
 Common Settings   410
 Quality Presets   413
Rendering Animations with Batch Render   415
 Check Render Settings for Batch Rendering   415
 To Batch Render   417
 Viewing in FCheck   418
Summary   419
Q&A   419
Workshop   419

 

HOUR 22: Working with Film   421
Importing a Film Plate   421
Using a 3D Tracked Camera   424
Setting Up the Scene   424
Scene Scale   426
Masks   429
More Camera Settings   430
 Clip Planes   430
 Film Back and Film Gate   431
Common Render Settings   431
Aspect Ratios and Resolution   431
Color   432
Summary   433
Q&A   433
Workshop   434

 

HOUR 23: Correct Project Management and Scene Workflow   435
The Maya Project Structure   436
Naming Conventions   437
Directory Structure Issues   438
Referencing Pipeline   439
Relative and Absolute Paths   441
Good Project Workflows   441
Pull or Push Workflows   442
Project X Workflow Case Study   443
Summary   445
Q&A   445
Workshop   446

 

HOUR 24: Ideal Settings, Preferences, and Hotkeys   447
Settings and Preferences Basics   448
 User Preferences   449
 Saving and Deleting Preferences   455
Hotkeys   456
 Hotbox and Marking Menus   456
 Common Hotkeys   458
Summary   467
Q&A   467
Workshop   467

 

Index   469