New to Maya

# 1 01-02-2006 , 03:12 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006

Posts: 6

Now don't go making me look stupid because I know it takes a lot of time and devotion to become skilled with Maya. With that out of the way I wanted to make a post to ask everyone a few questions.

1. How long did it take you before you really started to feel comfortable with Maya?

2. Did you use books, DVDs/tutorials, or schooling to learn?

3. Do you use Maya in your everyday job and if so what do you do?

Those should be a good start. I am just starting to break into the program. I am actually a mechanical engineering student but computer graphic and animation are kind of a hobby. I could only dream to actually be considered talented someday LOL. Anyways, just wanted to see how others in these forums got there start and where it took them. I know I'm going to bank on engineering but it would be great to someday be able to make money on the side with Maya.

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# 2 01-02-2006 , 03:25 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2005

Location: Boston, MA

Posts: 2,314

i learned by simplymaya and self teaching,
i got used to mayas interface in a month or so
and i dont got no job, lol, im 14! user added image

Environment Artist @ Plastic Piranha
www.joopson.com

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# 3 01-02-2006 , 11:16 AM

Subscriber
Join Date: Jul 2005

Location: London

Posts: 520

I think it depends how much time you spend using maya.
In my case it is similar to you I study illustration and do maya on the side. They don't teach or even have the software in my college.
It think the basic interface is fairly straightforward, if you do not get intimidated by 10 million submenues and buttons you don't have a clue about what they do.
It took me about 3-4 months to start feling comfortable. But I am not sure, Maya to me is this alost "epic" program and I could imagine that it could take some years of experience to know it by heart.
But there are still vast areas of maya which are really "foreign" to me.
Generally I try to use all I can get for help, borrow books from libraries if you are not sure about what to buy. Buy or download video tutorials, search the web, take in as much as you can.
I hope this is of some help.

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# 4 01-02-2006 , 02:15 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Mar 2005

Location: London

Posts: 1,135

i started by myself and the best way to learn at first is to play around wiv the tools to see wha they do atleast i found this way useful
i now learn it at college but i also do lots of tuts from here and other sites includin books from alias

a tip i would recomend it the free dog tut here if u havent done that already

just pratice and u will get better

Now at SMU doing BSc 3D Computer Animation so its hard to get on here
My wire render tut https://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...threadid=20973

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# 5 08-02-2006 , 09:58 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2005

Posts: 126

i started learning maya.. about 6 month ago i think.. Now i work at a CG company modeling.

i took a local college class. I use Maya everyday, some Houdini, Bodypaint3d, Photoshop, DeepPaint (all these i learned at work, i am not great at them)

i had no money.. so I learned only through free tutorials online

My website is HERE

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# 6 08-02-2006 , 12:23 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2005

Posts: 7

Just wanted to wish u luck. I'm not gona share my experience because i don't really have any. I just started maya a couple of weeks ago. So good luck.

kik

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