Any suggestions for best tutorials? Thanks!!

(Or is there a book that's better than any of the online tutorials?)

usually the online stuff and books aren't current with the version of Maya

there are tutorials that come with Maya, and they can also be found on the Autodesk website

these are the tutorials that are current to the latest version of Maya

i think it's best to start there (theres a button in the help menu that goes to tutorials) since versions do seem to go through quite a few changes...

once she is used to the layout and how to do a few of the basics then you can look around for online tutorials, video tutorials, and books so you wont be surprised when some tutorial says: "now switch to the modelling menu set...." and she's all "THERE IS NO MODELLING MENU SET! :mg: "

what i did when i found there were such things as video tutorials after following links in the CG Society forums was google video tutorials

i ended up reinforcing the basics with the stuff from 3D Buzz and learnt new tricks that weren't in the Maya tutorials from here and Gnomonology




expect to pay for tutorials that cover anything that isn't basic



ok, i think i mis-read your question...
i can't point you towards any animation specific tutorials that would come with the models and stuff all set up so you can just focus on animating...

sorry

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that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D