New to Maya, need help on book choise

# 1 21-07-2003 , 04:57 PM

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Join Date: Jul 2003

Location: Norway

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Hi everyone..

I wonder if ennyone can tell me what books i should buy, for learning about maya and all its features..

And where to get em on the web..

Thx for helping me out..

Xigen :bgreen:

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# 2 21-07-2003 , 05:26 PM

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You could start by going through the docs/tutorials that come with maya. You could also subscribe to SM and go through all the video tutorials. As far as books go, try Maya Fundamentals by Jim Lammers which will get you up and running in no time. Maya Saavy 4.5 is good also. You can get them at any major book store (online or walk-in)...barnes and noble, amazon, etc.

"Terminat Bora Diem, Terminal Auctor opus."

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# 3 21-07-2003 , 06:20 PM

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I second Maya Fundamentals. It's not always perfect, but I feel like it's forcing me to do things the right way, as painlessly as possible. And sometimes it's even fun. Pretty good for someone who usually hates learning out of books. user added image

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# 4 21-07-2003 , 06:22 PM

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Maya Character Animation is rather good and covers lots of different areas. I'd second looking at some tutorial videos including the ones on thi site though, it's a good way to pick up new things imho.

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# 5 21-07-2003 , 07:02 PM

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I just picked up "Maya Secrets of the Pros" and I gotta say i love it.
I find it's so indepth, as it gets into some of the more advanced features of the program. One chapter was written by Habib Zargarpour(ILM) and goes over how to create wave crest mist ala The Perfect Storm. I bought 4.5 Fundamentals awhile ago, its good start, but it barely scratches the surface of Maya.

Also some general knowledge books will defintly help out. Digtial Painting and Texturing is a good general book, which happens to use Maya as it's main software.

________

- Jacob

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# 6 21-07-2003 , 08:44 PM

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Maya Fundamentals is probably the best book to get you up and running relatively quickly. Like people have said in other posts, it's not perfect and definitely not super in-depth, but it will put you on the right track for learning Maya.

Maya 4.5 Savvy is another great all-around book. I usually recommend that one to all of my intermediate and advanced students. It's fairly in-depth and does cover a wide range of topics. It can be daunting at first, but it's a good long-term book.

I'll second the votes for Maya Character Animation and Maya: Secrets of the Pros, but I will say that those are definitely more advanced books, especially Maya: Secrets of the Pros. Those would be good second or even third books for when you are more comfortable with Maya and ready to tackle more advanced topics. A warning about Maya: SOTP: it doesn't really provide step-by-step directions on how to do things. It is more of an overview/summary/quick-tip type of book. It definitely assumes you have a strong working knowledge of Maya and will not cover anything even remotely considered foundational.

Danny Ngan
Animator | Amaze Entertainment
my website | my blog | my job

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# 7 22-07-2003 , 12:09 AM

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Im thinking about ordering Maya Savvy, it seems to be a good book. I just hope its pretty in-depth since I am tired of the shallow books just pouring through lots of topics but just scratching the surface.

Björn 'santa' Fredriksson

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# 8 22-07-2003 , 11:07 AM

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Location: Norway

Posts: 21

Hello everyone.

Thanks for the help.. user added image

This will be my to do/buy list, after reading youre text.

1. Currently reading Docs/tutorials/ watching Sm videos.

2. Order Maya Fundamentals. (maby nr 5 will be out soon)
will ask about that..

3. Maya Saavy

4. Digital painting and texturing

5. Maya Charackter Animation

6. Maya Secrets of the pros

Xigen :bgreen:

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