3D Animation for the Raw Beginner Using Maya

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Acknowledgments

Several of the models that appear in this book were created by other people. e three

characters in the cabana scene were made from base characters bought from Daz3D. Some

of the other smaller items in the scene, in particular the potted plants, chairs, table, and

palm trees, are from Daz3D as well, as are a few of the textures used in the scene. Hiro, the

character I covered in a pink material, is also a Daz3D character.

e terrain in the canyon scene was made by D&D Creations. I enjoy shopping on their

site. eir work is awesome.

e photographer who shot the evergreen bush texture image is Tyler Olson. e pho-

tographer who shot the cactus texture image is Jens Ickler.

e cactus photograph was taken by my daughter Martina. e unit circle technique

for teaching trigonometric functions was taught to me by my daughter Isabelle; she clearly

went to a better high school than I did. My wife, Wendy, spent an enormous amount of

time editing the manuscript. She also created the texture shown in Figures 9.15 and 9.16.

Faculty members always thank their students, and in this case it is quite sincere. I teach

classes that are a mix of computing and ne arts students. My students are always fun to

teach—and they have taught me a lot.

Sarah Chow, my editor, has been extremely patient with me and has been very respon-

sive to my concerns and questions.

Autodesk freely hands out a student version of Maya and does not hobble it in any

fashion. My university has had a many-seat lab and classroom license of Maya for several

years. But it’s very nice that my students can install a full version on their home machines

and therefore do not have to camp out in the computer lab. I do, however, fully respect

Autodesk’s intellectual property rights. I personally own a commercial license, although

some of the gures in this book were created with the student version of Maya. Given that

Maya is the general-purpose animation application of choice all around the world, its com-

mercial license fee is surprisingly low.

Finally, feel free to e-mail me at: [e-mail].