Introduction to Maya 2012
In this Introduction to Maya 2012 tutorial, we will help you get a strong understanding of Maya and how it works. Software required: Maya 2012 and up.
What you'll learn
In this Introduction to Maya 2012 tutorial, we will help you get a strong understanding of Maya and how it works. You'll get the chance to work with many of the Maya instructors here at Digital-Tutors who will show you how to use some of the major components of Maya. In this tutorial, we'll start by giving you the foundational skills and vocabulary you'll need in order to move around within Maya, and then we'll jump right into the Modeling section of the course. After completing the modeling section, you'll get the chance to try your hand at texturing, rigging, animation, dynamics, and finally, lighting and rendering your own animation. Our goal is not to weigh you down with technical information in this tutorial, but rather to help you form good habits and strong workflows so you can become a proficient Maya artist. Software required: Maya 2012 and up.
Table of contents
- Camera Navigation and Object Creation in Maya 6m
- Maya Interface Overview 11m
- Creating Your First Maya Project 7m
- Saving Maya Files 7m
- Viewport Shading Modes in Maya 8m
- Object Transformation Tools 18m
- Working with the Channel Box and Layer Editor 11m
- Using the Attribute Editor 7m
- Grouping and Parenting Objects in Maya 11m
- Working with the Maya Hotbox 10m
- Selection Masks in Maya 5m
- Writing Your First MEL Script 10m
- Working with Shelves in Maya 8m
- Modeling Section Overview 1m
- Lofting the Fuselage with Curves 10m
- Trimming out Part of the Body 6m
- Creating the Sides of the Cockpit 7m
- Building the Wing Base 9m
- Converting the Wing to Polygons 12m
- Cutting Flaps from the Wing 6m
- Building the Rear Engine Block 9m
- Adding Curved Pipes to the Engine 8m
- Starting the Turbo Fan 7m
- Building the Fan Blades 6m
- Starting the Front Spine Piece 12m
- Adding Detail to Finish the Spine 7m
- Duplicating Geometry to Add Overlapping Pieces 6m
- Adding Secondary Details on the Fuselage 6m
- Building Panels from Converted Geometry 9m
- Extracting Curves to Build the Windscreen 6m
- Building the Fins from Primitive Geometry 6m
- Modeling the Interior of the Cockpit 11m
- Adding the Exhaust Ports 8m
- Modeling Final Details 9m
- Importing Geometry and Adding the Fuel Line 9m
- Materials and Texturing Overview 1m
- Working with the Hypershade 7m
- Applying and Manipulating Simple Materials 7m
- Using Ramps 9m
- Adding Multiple Materials to Objects 6m
- Working with Transparency 4m
- The Basics of UVs 9m
- Working with Procedural Textures 8m
- Combining Procedural Nodes 10m
- Adding Specialized Materials 9m
- Using External File Textures 6m
- Working with Substance Textures 9m
- Rigging Section Overview 2m
- Creating Control Curves 14m
- Using Display Layers to Organize Our Rig 8m
- Modifying an Object's Orientation and Pivot 13m
- Utilizing Selection Handles 3m
- Working with Clusters 5m
- Creating Custom Attributes 6m
- Using the Connection Editor to Drive Attributes 5m
- Using Set-driven Keys to Simplify the Rigging Process 8m
- Automating Movement with Expressions 5m
- Adding a Speed Setting for the Expression 3m
- Drawing Your First Joint Chain 10m
- Using Maya's IK Handle Tool 8m
- Binding Geometry to Joints 6m
- Making Your Scene Animator-friendly 8m
- Animation Section Overview 1m
- Learning to Keyframe and Modify Keys on the Time Slider 14m
- Managing Keyframes in the Graph Editor 7m
- Seamlessly Cycling Animation 4m
- Animating an Object Along a Path 9m
- Modifying How an Object Interpolates Along a Path 3m
- Working with Autokey 5m
- Correcting Animation with Editable Motion Trails 4m
- Previewing Animation in Real-time with Playblasts 4m
- Animating the Flight Sequence 15m
- Animating the Fueling Line Separating from the Ship 15m
- Bringing Our Shot Camera to Life 12m
- Lighting and Rendering Section Overview 1m
- Working with the Maya Render View 10m
- Controlling Anti-aliasing Quality of Your Renders 7m
- Understanding Clipping Planes and Resolution Gates 8m
- Understanding the Various Light Types in Maya 6m
- Common Light Attributes 8m
- Adding Shadows to Your Renders 8m
- Changing the Render Stats of Objects 4m
- Matching Lights to a Photographic Environment 11m
- Using the Attribute Spread Sheet 8m
- Adding Motion Blur to Your Renders 5m
- Rendering an Animated Sequence from Maya 10m
About the authors
Delano works avidly as an animation author at Pluralsight. Starting his career at animation studios like Shilo, Delano has developed a strong passion for his talents. His animation and rigging background help him teach and create some of the most-watched training on Pluralsight. A few of his favorite projects that he has contributed to include: Character Interaction in Maya and in Softimage, Rigging the Human Face in Maya, Rigging Sea Creatures in Maya, and Rigging and Animating Transforming... more
Kyle was one of the first authors for Digital-Tutors, now a Pluralsight company. and has been a part of the team for over 10 years. Kyle began his career in computer graphics education as a college instructor and worked as a Digital-Tutors rendering tutor and curriculum manager since 2002. Kyle has contributed to many of the most popular projects and helped the Digital-Tutors team win awards throughout the company's history. Kyle has had the honor of having his art exhibited at the New York ... more
Justin thrives as a lead modeling author at Pluralsight. Growing up, Justin found a deep interest for the computer graphics industry after watching movies like Jurassic Park, Toy Story, and The Abyss. His ambition would lead him to work at Sony Imageworks in Los Angeles on movies like Monster House and Surf's Up. Justin has also had numerous articles, tutorials, and images published in 3D World and 3D Artist. As an author, Justin enjoys collaborating with fellow authors, especially on project... more