Is Photoshop needed to learn Maya? - Page 2 - Simply Maya User Community

# 16 14-01-2003 , 12:06 AM

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The issue for someone at your point in all of this isn't learning Maya, it's learning about modeling, animation, lighting, and so on.

Drawing classes may be an excellent step but you have to ask what you want to *do* with your work. If you were pursuing lighting, a photography class might be a good place to start, as much of the 3D technology attempts to simulate, to one extent or another, photography.

Otherwise, learn whatever you can and don't make the mistake of thinking that knowing what buttons to push is enough!!

-- Mark

Mark R. Wilkins
author of MEL Scripting for Maya Animators
www.melscripting.com

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# 17 14-01-2003 , 12:18 AM

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Once again, good suggestions from Mark (he keeps beating to me what I want to say!).

I think drawing classes will help if you're really interested in modeling and/or animation. Drawing helps you visualize objects on paper before you even touch the computer. It also helps you to understand anatomy, shape, form, poses, etc.

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

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# 18 14-01-2003 , 06:50 AM

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Physics may also help if you're interested in animation

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# 19 14-01-2003 , 07:19 AM

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As someone who has a bachelor's in physics and works in animation, it does help somewhat, but less than you might think.

After all, the question isn't whether it's physically accurate, but instead whether it LOOKS right, which is a very different question.

-- Mark

Mark R. Wilkins
author of MEL Scripting for Maya Animators
www.melscripting.com

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# 20 14-01-2003 , 07:22 AM

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If you're interested in animation, take animation classes. Physics won't teach you how to animate.

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

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# 21 14-01-2003 , 08:07 AM

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Whats funny is Astrophysics is my major, and apart from demensions, acceleration of falling, thrown, fired objects, I don't think physics is that important when it comes to animation, I mean, there seems to be a lot of things that need to be considered first. And about the lighting, I think I am comfy with it, since I have been taking a lot of film classes. I could say, I want to animate a little, but nothing to severe, like the two towers golem, or anything, just maybe helping out some of my fellow film/video students with special effects and the such. The problem with taking animation classes is that Maya is not offered at my college. There is only so much that tutorials can teach.

I gave my love a chicken, it had not bones...Mmmmm, chicken.

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# 22 14-01-2003 , 08:54 AM

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physics is extremely valuable in certain areas, but less so in character animation as such:

* It's useful when doing procedural 3D effects animation, which tends to be either based on stateless mathematical models (like Houdini tends to encourage) or dynamics simulations (like Maya's particles and solid bodies.)

* It provides a mathematical foundation that's useful when thinking about how to use deformers in, for example, setting up characters.

* It can help you analyze the motion of inanimate objects a little better when figuring out how to animate them. For example: confetti spewed from a confetti popper (an early effects experiment of mine) doesn't travel in an unhindered parabolic arc like it would in a vacuum. Instead, it slows rapidly with frictional resistance being proportional to v^4 and soon achieves a terminal velocity. Being able to make good guesses about how inanimate things move can get you a lot closer a lot quicker to effects animation that people feel comfortable with. Of course, it only is a starting point...

-- Mark

Mark R. Wilkins
author of MEL Scripting for Maya Animators
www.melscripting.com

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# 23 17-01-2003 , 03:18 AM

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Instead of creating a new thread I thought I would just add to this one. Does anyone out there know of any good book so I can teach myself MAYA? Random tutorials here and there are great, but I want a foundation first, then one to the tuts.

I gave my love a chicken, it had not bones...Mmmmm, chicken.

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# 24 17-01-2003 , 03:26 AM

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I haven't looked at all the books, but I bought Maya 4 Fundamentals and so far it's been great! It's put together so you are working on a whole project one step at a time utilizing various functions of Maya and teaching you what they do...

Anyway...I would recommend it. Amazon.com lets you go through several pages...I found mine at my local Barnes and Noble.

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