Mastering Autodesk® Maya® 2012

Mastering Autodesk® Maya® 2012

Released August 2011
Publisher(s): Sybex
ISBN: 9780470919774

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

The exclusive, official guide to the very latest version of Maya

Get extensive, hands-on, intermediate to advanced coverage of Autodesk Maya 2012, the top-selling 3D software on the market. If you already know Maya basics, this authoritative book takes you to the next level. From modeling, texturing, animation, and visual effects to high-level techniques for film, television, games, and more, this book provides professional-level Maya instruction. With pages of scenarios and examples from some of the leading professionals in the industry, author Todd Palamar will help you master the entire CG production pipeline.

  • Provides professional-level instruction on Maya, the industry-leading 3D animation and effects software used in popular films, games, and commercials

  • Covers the very latest Maya 2012 tools and features, including the new fluid simulation tools

  • Showcases the techniques of professionals through numerous examples, demonstrating how to set up and manage 3D animation and visual effects pipelines

  • Includes challenging tutorials and real-world scenarios from some of the leading professionals in the industry

If you're looking for an in-depth, professional Maya resource to turn to again and again, this is the book you need.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Half Title Page
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. About the Authors
  8. Contents at a Glance
  9. Contents
  10. Introduction
    1. Who Should Buy This Book
    2. What's Inside
    3. How to Contact the Author
  11. Chapter 1: Working in Autodesk Maya
    1. Creating and Editing Maya Nodes
    2. Using the Hypergraph
    3. Displaying Options in the Outliner
    4. Creating Maya Projects
    5. Organizing Complex Node Structures with Assets
    6. File References
    7. Using Reference Proxies
    8. The Bottom Line
  12. Chapter 2: Virtual Filmmaking with Autodesk Maya Cameras
    1. Determining the Image Size and Film Speed of the Camera
    2. Creating and Animating Cameras
    3. Creating Custom Camera Rigs
    4. Applying Depth of Field and Motion Blur
    5. Using Orthographic and Stereo Cameras
    6. Using the Camera Sequencer
    7. The Bottom Line
  13. Chapter 3: Modeling I
    1. Understanding Polygon Geometry
    2. Using Subdivision Surfaces
    3. Understanding NURBS
    4. Surface Seams
    5. Employing Image Planes
    6. Modeling NURBS Surfaces
    7. NURBS Tessellation
    8. Modeling with Polygons
    9. The Bottom Line
  14. Chapter 4: Modeling II
    1. Modeling with Deformers
    2. Using a Lattice
    3. Combining Meshes
    4. Using Bevel Plus and Bevel Edges
    5. Using Curves
    6. Convert NURBS Surfaces to Polygons
    7. Boolean Operations
    8. Sculpting Polygons Using Artisan
    9. Advanced Polygon Editing Tools
    10. Working with SubDs
    11. The Bottom Line
  15. Chapter 5: Animation Techniques
    1. Using Joints and Constraints
    2. Inverse Kinematics
    3. Keyframe Animation
    4. The Graph Editor
    5. Playblast and FCheck
    6. Motion Path Animation
    7. Motion Trails
    8. Animating Constraints
    9. Animation Layers
    10. The Bottom Line
  16. Chapter 6: Animating with Deformers
    1. Animating Facial Expressions Using Blend Shapes
    2. Animating Blend Shapes Sequentially
    3. Animating with Lattices
    4. Animating Object Components with Clusters
    5. Animating a Scene Using Nonlinear Deformers
    6. Creating a Jiggle Effect
    7. Optimizing Animations with the Geometry Cache
    8. The Bottom Line
  17. Chapter 7: Rigging and Muscle Systems
    1. Understanding Rigging
    2. Creating and Organizing Joint Hierarchies
    3. Rigging the Giraffe
    4. Human Inverse Kinematics
    5. Skinning Geometry
    6. The Maya Muscle System
    7. The Bottom Line
  18. Chapter 8: Paint Effects
    1. Using the Paint Effects Canvas
    2. Painting on 3D Objects
    3. Understanding Strokes
    4. Designing Brushes
    5. Create Complexity by Adding Strokes to a Curve
    6. Shaping Strokes with Behavior Controls
    7. Animating Strokes
    8. Rendering Paint Effects
    9. The Bottom Line
  19. Chapter 9: Lighting with mental ray
    1. Shadow-Casting Lights
    2. Indirect Lighting: Global Illumination
    3. Caustic Light Setup
    4. Indirect Illumination: Final Gathering
    5. Image-Based Lighting
    6. Physical Sun and Sky
    7. mental ray Area Lights
    8. Light Shaders
    9. The Bottom Line
  20. Chapter 10: mental ray Shading Techniques
    1. Shading Concepts
    2. Creating Blurred Reflections and Refractions Using Standard Maya Shaders
    3. Basic mental ray Shaders
    4. Car Paint Materials
    5. The MIA Material
    6. Controlling Exposure with Tone Mapping
    7. Rendering Contours
    8. The Bottom Line
  21. Chapter 11: Texture Mapping
    1. UV Texture Layout
    2. Bump and Normal Mapping
    3. Displacement Mapping
    4. Subsurface Scattering
    5. The Bottom Line
  22. Chapter 12: Rendering for Compositing
    1. Render Layers
    2. Render Passes
    3. Render Pass Contribution Maps
    4. Lights and Contribution Maps
    5. Setting Up a Render with mental ray
    6. Command-Line Rendering
    7. Creating a Batch Script
    8. mental ray Quality Settings
    9. Antialiasing and Sampling
    10. The Bottom Line
  23. Chapter 13: Introducing nParticles
    1. Creating nParticles
    2. Spawning nParticles from an Emitter
    3. Making nParticles Collide with nRigids
    4. Using nParticles to Simulate Liquids
    5. Emit nParticles Using a Texture
    6. Using Wind
    7. Shading nParticles and Using Hardware Rendering to Create Flame Effects
    8. nParticles and Fields
    9. Real World Scenario
    10. Rendering Particles with mental ray
    11. The Bottom Line
  24. Chapter 14: Dynamic Effects
    1. Creating nCloth Objects
    2. Creating nCloth and nParticle Interactions
    3. Rigid Body Dynamics
    4. Soft Body Dynamics
    5. Creating Flying Debris Using nParticle Instancing
    6. Animating Instances Using nParticle Expressions
    7. The Bottom Line
  25. Chapter 15: Fur, Hair, and Clothing
    1. Adding Fur to Characters
    2. Rendering Fur Using mental ray
    3. Adding Hair to a Character
    4. Styling Hair
    5. Creating Hair Constraints
    6. Rendering Hair
    7. Painting nCloth Properties
    8. The Bottom Line
  26. Chapter 16: Autodesk Maya Fluids
    1. Using Fluid Containers
    2. Creating a Reaction
    3. Rendering Fluid Containers
    4. Create Fluids and nParticle Interactions
    5. Creating Water Effects
    6. The Bottom Line
  27. Appendix A: The Bottom Line
    1. Chapter 1: Working in Autodesk Maya
    2. Chapter 2: Virtual Filmmaking with Autodesk Maya Cameras
    3. Chapter 3: Modeling I
    4. Chapter 4: Modeling II
    5. Chapter 6: Animating with Deformers
    6. Chapter 7: Rigging and Muscle Systems
    7. Chapter 8: Paint Effects
    8. Chapter 9: Lighting with mental ray
    9. Chapter 10: mental ray Shading Techniques
    10. Chapter 11: Texture Mapping
    11. Chapter 12: Rendering for Compositing
    12. Chapter 13: Introducing nParticles
    13. Chapter 14: Dynamic Effects
    14. Chapter 15: Fur, Hair, and Clothing
    15. Chapter 16: Autodesk Maya Fluids
  28. Appendix B: Autodesk Maya 2012 Certification
  29. Appendix C: About the Companion DVD
    1. What You'll Find on the DVD
    2. System Requirements
    3. Using the DVD
    4. Troubleshooting
    5. Customer Care
  30. Index
    1. Symbols and Numbers
  31. Bonus Chapter 1: MEL Scripting
    1. Using a MEL Command
    2. MEL Scripting Techniques
    3. Procedures
    4. Using Maya Commands Within Python
    5. The Bottom Line
  32. Bonus Chapter 2: Using Toon Shading
    1. Toon Fills
    2. Toon Outlines
    3. Using Paint Effects Presets for Toon Lines
    4. The Bottom Line
  33. Color Gallery

Product information

  • Title: Mastering Autodesk® Maya® 2012
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: August 2011
  • Publisher(s): Sybex
  • ISBN: 9780470919774