Maya 8 at a Glance +CD

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review




Good Book.....CD included is useless., May 6, 2008
By Lynn M. Vance (Starke, Florida)
I'm a little familiar with computer animation(online college - 2yrs.) and
i've seen my share of pc animation tools and programs. I chose this one just to get a basic knowledge of this thing they call "Maya" and to my dismay...i was kind of dissapointed.
Now i am in no way knocking the book nor any 'Maya' program itself and here is a short list of why i was dissapointed in this particular product.

1. CD that comes with the book would not fully install.
- when asked to 'register' your product i was taken to the 'Autodesk'
website (Ok..no problem , that's a typical software protection procedure)
but the thing is when you finally do go to register , you are asked to type in the 'Installation Key'(which by the way does not come with the book)- Hmm...I'm thinking "Hey isn't the reason why I'm here in the first place is because the installation needs a "Key" to unlock the installer" ??? How can i give you the key code to register it when that's
precisely what I'm here for??? Then i thought..Ok, maybe i did something wrong between actually inserting the CD and pressing the "Software" icon in the CD menu..hey it's possible right? But that was not the case here.

2.Maya 7 PLE (personal learning edition) is the program included w / the book , yet the website directs you to a 'Maya 8.0 or 8.1' PLE edition.
Again....no problem. Maybe it's an updated version being that the CD that came w / the book is dated 2006 , so i downloaded it.
Fine...i can deal with that , but how about those who are are entirely new
to this and cannot see through all the vagueness of the procedure ???

3. No help at all from the site itself about installing the version that's
on the CD. Very vague help files that re-direct you to faqs pages on (Q&A)
that will leave a new commer just as confused as (he or she) was when they were asked to register to get the install key.

In short...If you have never worked with Maya at all, then this book/cd combo is *NOT* for you. It's not for beginner's no matter what you read in *ANY* of the Amazon review's because( Ten to One) most of these reviewer's are familiar with 'Maya' in some shape or form..they're just not familiar with version #8. I don't dislike this package but then again
i am familiar with animation on the pc...but how about those who aren't ??
Search carefully for other programs if you are an *Absolute* beginner , Amazon has quite a few of them , but before you buy , do some research on the web about the one you want to buy.

5 STARS for the book , i am enjoying it , but the final score is (3 Stars)
due to the lack of help and confusion you'll get when you install "Maya 7 PLE" and get the runaround on thier site.
B.T.W - Don't waste your time calling or emailing this company for support on this product...because "It ain't gonna happen"
Once again..This is not recommended for the absolute beginner , but there
is another 'Maya' program that i have just glanced at on this site with the words "Maya - for beginner's" or something close to that in the title , so maybe I will check that one out as well.
-Remember..there's a reason why the (NO#8) follows the programs title.
-angelknight8



Maya Means- Not Real; Maya At A Glance- Unreal, February 20, 2008
By Orion (New York)
I've Been drawing since the age of 5 (my mommy says so) and started painting at 13. Making the transition to Digital Artist was very hard for me. One subject is digital sculpturing! If your a beginning Artist or an Old Timer like me, Listen Up! Get This Book!!!
I Got It and started reading, studying & doing every single day almost none-stop, I couldn't put the book down, I fell asleep at my desk twice reading & doing, And, Get This; I learned Maya in 1 Month!!!
This book is Awsome for beginners or Old Timers like me!
It's made the transition from traditional to digital so much more easier for me!
Simple yet powerful!
Like the bullets for a gun, This book is made for Maya!
I Love This Book!
Isabelino Gonzalez



Great book for Newie!, January 18, 2008
By Justin "The 3D Freak" Thomas (You Guess, AR USA)
I am an 3D Max user for 3 years. Now I'm straving to learn about Maya. At first, I wasn't sure I want to spend all of my time with big thick book like "Learning Autodesk Maya 8|Foundation" since I know nothing about Maya. When I first open the Maya PDE 8 and take a look thru the interface of it. It looks so complicated so I decided to stick with 3D Max for a while. Now finally I found at a store a book called Maya 8 at a Glance. After I took a look pages by pages, I knew its a great start for me. The book is thin and full of photos with simple descriptions. Great to start with! Instead of reading so much from a thick book. It'd easily turn me off.. Run out of patience. Anyway, now I've finished that book and am totally ready to buy Learning Autodesk Maya 8 Foundation" or "Mastering Maya" since I feel more comfortable with what I've learn so far with Maya thanks to that great book. So I recommend that book any newies to start off with! It's better off starting with basic thin book than thick book! You'll understand mostly what the author is talking about after reading Maya 8 at a Glance.




Ridiculous CD, July 15, 2007
By Lucas M. Haley (Portland, OR United States)
I initially really enjoyed the fast pace of this book, but was pretty dismayed to find out that the CD for this Maya 8 book only has Maya 7 on it. How could this have happened? Its nonsense.



Good for begginers, May 19, 2007
By Cliff J. Landers (Mabelton, GA USA)
This book covers most of the basics in MaYa 8. It is ok to get you a feel of how the program works. The CD has examples of the info covered.