Maya 4.5 Fundamentals

In this chapter, you have taken your first steps into the full Maya experience. You were introduced to the vast number of techniques and tools Maya has to offer and have learned about the basic workflow. By using just one of the many animation methods ” path animation ”you were able to create an interesting scene. Along the way, you learned about the following concepts and methods :

• Introduction to modeling The foundation of your scene comes from the objects you model.

• Working with layers and groups You learned how to separate scene components into layers or group them together to make it easier to work with scene elements and keep things organized.

• Soft body dynamics You learned how easily you can deform a simple object to get a more complex effect and create the illustration of motion.

• Using constraints You have seen alternative ways of setting up object relationships, which give you more control over your scene.

• Basic animation You learned to use path animation as a simple way to animate objects.

• Adding shaders with Hypershade You learned how to import shaders and apply them to objects in your scene to add texture.

• Using IPR rendering Your ability to texture and light a scene in Maya is augmented by real-time previewing, which gives you instant updates of changes you make in your scene.

• Rendering You have seen how to set up a scene for final rendering and use Maya's FCheck utility to view the render.

It's always a good idea to stay organized as you work ” name the things you create; group objects, lights, and other scene elements when it makes sense; and so forth. It'll make all the other steps easier, as you've seen in this project when you hid layers or moved groups around. As you continue with Maya 4.5 Fundamentals , you're going to find that working in Maya becomes easier with time. It's even fun because Maya simplifies the process of translating complex visions into reality. Moving forward from here, you'll investigate each of the steps touched on in this chapter's project: modeling, adding materials, lighting, animating, and rendering.