vii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments, xxi
Author, xxiii
e Books Web Site, xxv
Chapter 1 Getting Oriented 1
FOCUS AND APPROACH OF THIS BOOK 1
A Necessarily Nonlinear Approach to Learning 3D Animation 2
Perhaps the Most Important Principle 2
3DBYBUZZ.COM 3
WHAT MAYA DOES AND DOES NOT DO 3
THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF GAMING 4
WORKFLOW WITHIN AND AROUND MAYA 4
Other Applications Commonly Used by Animators 4
e Big Picture 4
1. Storyboarding 5
2. Maya 6
3. Soundtracks 8
4. Video 9
5. Deploying Your Video 9
Inside Maya 9
Other Application Needs 10
WORKING WITH PREFAB CONTENT 10
THE CABANA OF COOL CONCEPTS 10
THE SMALL SUBSET APPROACH TO LEARNING 3D ANIMATION 11
Every Animation App Is Unique 11
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 11
viii Table of Contents
PREREQUISITES 12
CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK 12
Section I 12
Section II 15
A MOTIVATIONAL EXAMPLE 15
ART AND ENGINEERING 18
A FINAL NOTE 18
SeCtion i
Chapter 2 The Maya Interface and Modeling Concepts in Maya 21
THE 3D WORLD OF MODELING AND ANIMATION 21
SEEING THE 3D WORLD THROUGH THE EYES OF MAYA 22
A Warning: e Maya Interface Can Be Intimidating, Dont Be Dispirited 22
e Main Window 23
A Note on Changing Geometry Modes 24
e Hypershade 24
An Object and Its Attributes 26
e Render View for Creating Single Render Tests 26
Render Settings and the Batch Renderer for Creating Multiframe
Renderingsfor Video 29
How to Find Something in the Maya Interface 31
Mayas Data Folders 31
TWO KINDS OF MODELING IN MAYA 32
Terminology 32
Meshes 33
Surface—And Not Solid—Modeling 34
Vector versus Raster Graphics 35
Polygon and NURBS Modeling 36
Choosing between Polygon and NURBS Modeling 37
NURBS Modeling Modes 38
MAYA IS ALWAYS RENDERING 38
SUBDIVISION IS ALIVE AND WELL 38
CUDA 38
CURVED LINES, BEZIER, AND NURBS 39
CORE TOOLS: TRANSLATE, SCALE, AND ROTATE IN MAYA 42
Table of Contents ix
Some Trig 42
Translation, Scaling, and Rotation in 3-Space 44
In Sum 44
REFERENCE 44
Chapter 3 Modeling, Creating Materials, and Rendering 45
MODELING AS A SUBJECTIVE PROCESS 45
Deliberate Modeling 45
Models and Objects 46
Top-Down Modeling 46
Adding Detail with Precision 47
Choosing the Model Hierarchy 47
Building Models in Separate Scenes and Using Display Layers 48
Create Versions of Models at You Can Retreat To 48
In Sum 48
More on Layers in Maya 49
USING CURVED LINES AND MENTAL RAY TO MAKE A NURBS
GLASSDISH 51
From Curved Lines to Smooth Surfaces 51
Creating a Series of NURBS Curves 52
Revolution! 53
Putting a Glass Material on the Dish 55
Two Soware Renderers 56
Two Important Perspectives 58
Rendering by Tracing Rays 60
Glass in mental ray 62
e Background 65
More mental ray Computations: Quality 71
More mental ray Computations: Indirect Lighting 73
Shadows as Roots of Models 74
mental ray’s Advantage 74
e Renderer’s Main Job 75
USING POLYGON EXTRUSION TO (START TO) MAKE A HAND 75
Polygon Modeling: Basic Shapes 75
Recursive Renement 75
e Hand 76
x Table of Contents
USING NURBS LOFTING AND EXTRUSION TO MAKE A SAGUARO
CACTUS 79
Using Reference Images 81
NURBS Extrude 84
Sculpting 86
Loing 89
Projection 90
Lo Again 91
In Sum 92
Chapter 4 Hierarchies of Objects, a Polygon Example, Detailed
Polygon Modeling, and a NURBS Example 93
BASIC CONCEPTS 93
Modeling Hierarchies 93
Objects 93
Formal Notions 94
Hierarchies 94
Another Example 96
Extending the Notion of a Hierarchy 97
e Importance of the Outliner 97
USING BEVEL, EXTRUDE, DETACH, AND COMBINE TO MAKE A MAILBOX 98
A Working Set of Polygon Modeling Tools 98
Creating a New Edge 98
Beveling 100
Extrusion 101
Detach 106
e Clip 106
BEVELED LETTERS 107
MAKING A POLYGON MOAI 109
Rapa Nui 110
A Modeling Exercise: Making a Moai on Your Own 110
Making a Moai with Polygon Modeling 111
Smoothing and Rendering 113
SMOOTHING A POLYGON MODEL: MANY CHOICES 113
Smooth Tool 114
Using the Smooth Tool Locally 114
Table of Contents xi
Adding Faces and Manipulating New Faces, and Beveling Edges 115
Manipulating Normals to Smooth Edges 116
Smoothing with mental ray, without Changing the Geometry 120
SURGICALLY MENDING AN IMPERFECT MODEL 121
Merging Edges in a Single Piece of Geometry 121
Removing a Face with Merge to Center 122
Filling in a Hole in a Polygon Model with a Bridge Tool 123
MAKING SMALL AND GRACEFUL CHANGES TO A MODEL 126
Sliding an Edge 126
So Move 127
Aligning Objects 128
USING THE SWEEP OF A CYLINDER AND RESIZING TO MAKE A
BREADBOX 132
A NURBS Surface 132
e Sweep of a NURBS Surface 135
Nested Objects 135
Finishing the Geometry of the Breadbox 137
Chapter 5 Materials, Bump Maps, Lights, Projection versus
NormalTextures, Connecting NURBS Surfaces, and
Layered Textures 159
e Bottom Line 159
WORKING WITH MAYA MATERIALS TO MAKE A TABLETOP 160
Ways to Surface a Model 160
Textures and Materials for the Maya Soware Renderer 160
Bump Maps 161
Finishing the Table Scene 162
Materials or Textures? 163
LIGHTS 164
Ambient Light and Shadows 164
Directional Light and Shadows 164
Point Light and Shadows 164
Spotlights and Shadows 164
Area Light 165
mental ray Light Shaders 165
mental ray 2D and 3D Lights 165

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