Introduction to 3D Graphics & Animation Using Maya (Graphics Series)

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review




Another difficult Maya book, December 31, 2007
By Akm (San Diego, CA)
This book is an introduction to 3D with Maya as the software package. It provides plenty of discussion on various 3D topics including modeling (polygonal, NURB and organic), rendering, lighting, and character rigging. Nonetheless, the majority of the pages are dedicated to hands on tutorials. The included CD has tutorial files, high resolution images and a copy of Alias Maya 7.0 Personal Learning Edition (PLE).

A strong emphasis on clean geometry is among the many useful topics and techniques covered by this book. However, learning from this book typically required working through some very difficult tutorials in an already difficult subject area. The steps in the tutorials generally start out quite detailed, but they eventually get a little vaguer. I believe the idea of this approach is to allow you to finish part of the tutorial on you own. Although this approach works for some tutorials, most were just too large and complex. For example, the tutorials in the last chapters cover modeling, texturing and animating a complete Unreal 2004 compatible game character. It was a struggle and I could not complete all parts of this continuing project. Still, I learned quite a bit in the process and surprised myself by completing as much as I did. Nevertheless, for a beginner level book, an arm or head would have accomplished the same with far less aggravation. This book is simply not long enough to properly cover projects of this amount, size and difficulty. Maybe space limitations are another reason you are left to finish a lot of the tutorial steps on your own. Still, there are a few other reasons working through the book proved difficult. For one thing, the colorless photos were pretty much useless. The high resolution images on the CD were a big help though. Sometimes these images were the only way to understand a given step. The book could have used some more editing, as it had plenty of mistakes. There were typos in the text such as repeated and missing words. Additionally, the names for menu and dialog boxes differed a bit from the included version of Maya that I had installed and used. Occasionally, a minor step was missing or an incorrect image was used (Check the CD for the correct images). There were also plenty of other little inconsistencies that mainly related to layer and object naming.

If you are able to get through all the chapters in this book, you will learn quite a bit about Maya and 3D modeling in general. But, it would have been nice if some of the harder projects provided more detailed and complete steps. Instead, you are left to complete much on your own, which is an approach that works better in an easier subject area. For 3D modeling, the tutorials and topics are probably a bit too hard for a true beginner and this is supposed to be a beginner level book. This book simply tries to cover too much material without committing to more pages. Ultimately, this is another book that introduces Maya with great frustrations.

Rating: 3.5/5




Great Book, August 16, 2006
By T. Miller (California)
overall i think this book is great. if your into after effects or whatever else and have little knowledge of a true 3-dimensional software package but the ability to understand, buy this book. if you think 3d animation is neat and something you wouldnt mind learning, stop right now. Maya and most other 3d packages are not to be taken lightly. it takes a long time to learn the software and even longer to learn how to apply it. ive bought many other "maya" books by many other authors and the reason i really like this book is if your learning, it explains details about the little things that most other books skip past assuming you already know. dont cut yourself short, get the most out of each tool and start learning at the beginning.



The best book I know of for Maya, April 17, 2006
By John Matlock (Winnemucca, NV)
As you might guess from the title, this book is about designing 3D objects, rooms and areas, often used in the writing of gaming software using the Maya software system.

The interesting aspect of the book is the way that it is written. Each chapter starts with a bit of theory which is followed by a tutorial. Thus you get a combined approach that I find works very well. Sometimes you read the theory and are left wondering just what he was talking about, and the tutorial shows you what he means. And conversely sometimes when you get lost in the tutorial having read the theory allows you to get yourself out of trouble.

Make no mistake, 3D modelling is not easy. The amount of work involved to get the image you want is significant. A sophisticated software package such as Maya makes it easier, and completely understanding what Maya does is a big help. This book is a good one to help you get there.

The book comes with a CD which includes all of the designs that the book describes. This way you can work with what the author has already done and see professional quality work. The CD also includes the Maya 7 Personal Learning Edition.