Maya 8 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide (Visual Quickstart Guides)

Adding sophisticated new tools that give modelers even more control over polygons, an already cool program just got even cooler. Here to take budding 3D artists from 0 to 60 fast in Maya 8 is the eagerly anticipated update to everybody's favorite Maya tome: Maya 8 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide! In these pages, best-selling authors Morgan Robinson and Nathaniel Stein use a combination of task-based instruction and strong visual aids to take readers step by step through all of Maya's essentials: navigating the interface, modeling elementary and complex objects, unsurpassed character rigging and posing, mastering deformers, shaders, and renderers, and more. Both beginning users, who want a thorough introduction to the topic, and more advanced users, who are looking for a convenient reference, will find what they need here in straightforward language and through readily accessible examples, peppered with tons of timesaving tips and tricks.

Morgan Robinson is an animator at Anzovin Studio. She created The Setup Machine 2.0, an animated character setup and weighting tool for Maya.

Nathaniel Ste in has taught courses on modeling at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is currently an animator and modeling supervisor at Anzovin Studio and has worked on games such as Sid Meier's Railroads and Halo 2, as well as a variety of films and shorts.