Overview
In this unique full-color book, a cadre of professionals led by Maya expert and best-selling author, John Kundert-Gibbs, team up to share what they've learned using Maya in the CG trenches.Contributing authors include veterans of such high-profiles projects as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Star Wars: Episode I, The Perfect Storm, as well as animations featured at SIGGRAPH.
Whether you're new to the field or already have solid 3D experience, Maya: Secrets of the Pros offers insights and step-by-step instructions designed to help you build and sharpen a range of critical skills, including:
* Preparation techniques for modeling and animation
* Improving motion capture and lip synching
* Creating crowd scenes from a small number of base models
* Controlling dynamics in plot-driven sequences
* Developing massively complex particle systems for film effects, such as those in The Perfect Storm
* Modeling subdivision surfaces
* Creating a GUI animation set-up for animators
* Using effective natural lighting
* Writing software for a multi-platform renderfarm
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewPlot and characterization aside, the CGI work on films like Star Wars: Episode II and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is beyond stunning. If you use Maya, work like this doesn’t merely stand as a goal: It gives you a benchmark to surpass. To create tomorrow’s Maya miracles, stand on the shoulders of the giants. Learn from their work. Read Maya Masters: Secrets of the Pros.
In this full-color, oversize book, John Kundert-Gibbs and a coterie of top-flight Maya pros share their skills and their projects. Creating crowd scenes from just a few base models. Building massively complex particle systems for film effects. Getting animation and motion capture to work together seamlessly. But also the behind-the-scenes techniques that helps the pros succeed when there’s never enough time. (For example, a full chapter on strategies for accelerating the time-consuming preproduction and early production stages, which often take so long that there's little time for the animation itself.
Now that Alias|Wavefront has released a free “Personal Learning Edition” of Maya, students and professionals are flocking to the package in unprecedented numbers. If you want your skills to stand out from this growing crowd, you won’t find a more valuable resource. (Bill Camarda)
Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks For Dummies®, Second Edition.