Synopses & Reviews
Take your animations to the next level with this essential guide to Maya 2010. Packed with character animation techniques and the secrets of professional animators, How to Cheat in Maya 2010 provides the tips and tools to help you create high quality animation in the most efficient way possible. This comprehensive guide to animating with Maya contains gold-mine coverage, including animation techniques, using Maya’s tools with the 12 animation principles, working with constraints, and even foolproof lighting tricks to show off your work.
With this essential handbook, learn which circumstances call for which techniques, and how to get quality results fast. You will not only learn how to be productive in Maya, but also be given access under the hood to the actual scene files of a professional animator. Covering such topics such as pose to pose blocking, layered animation, fixing gimbal lock, facial animation, and much more, How to Cheat in Maya 2010 is an invaluable resource for artists and animators alike.
-- See "under the hood" of a professional animator's workflow with beginning and ending scene files for every technique and workflow example in the book.
--Complete, step-by-step walkthroughs of essential techniques every animator needs to know such as walk cycles, pose-to-pose blocking, lip syncing to dialogue, and much, much more.
-- Proven "How to Cheat" series - Learn to create impressive, appealing animations using the fastest techniques possible, containing everything you need to know about Maya as a character animator.
--Includes rarely discussed topics, such as reading spline curves, avoiding gimbal lock, animation layers, creating appealing lighting for demo reels, and features interviews with some of the most experienced animation leads and TDs working in the industry
-- Learn to apply these professional techniques to your own animations with the accompanying DVD which includes all scene files to follow along with, as well as final versions to study in the Graph Editor
-- See "under the hood" of a professional animator's workflow with beginning and ending scene files for every technique and workflow example in the book.
--Complete, step-by-step walkthroughs of essential techniques every animator needs to know such as walk cycles, pose-to-pose blocking, lip syncing to dialogue, and much, much more.
-- Proven "How to Cheat" series - Learn to create impressive, appealing animations using the fastest techniques possible, containing everything you need to know about Maya as a character animator.
--Includes rarely discussed topics, such as reading spline curves, avoiding gimbal lock, animation layers, creating appealing lighting for demo reels, and features interviews with some of the most experienced animation leads and TDs working in the industry
-- Learn to apply these professional techniques to your own animations with the accompanying DVD which includes all scene files to follow along with, as well as final versions to study in the Graph Editor
Synopsis
Breathe life into your animations with this essential guide to Maya 2010. Packed with classic animation techniques and the secrets of professional animators, How to Cheat in Maya 2010 provides productivity tips and tricks to help you get things done in the most efficient way possible - and obtain quality results with minimum effort You will not only learn how to be productive in Maya, you will also be given a peek under the hood at the actual scene files of a professional animator. This comprehensive guide to Maya including animation techniques, troubleshooting common problems, props and scenery creation, and even foolproof lighting tips to show off your work.
With this essential handbook, learn what circumstances call for which techniques, discussing such topics such as character animation, pose to pose blocking, layered animation, rigging, shading and rendering. With recent credits including Horton Hears a Who and Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaur, Professional Animator Eric Luhta has extensive experience of both using and teaching Maya. How to Cheat in Maya 2010 is an invaluable resource for artists and animators alike. The DVD includes all Maya files, as well as video files of the animations demonstrated in the book. An accompanying web site will also be part of the package.
-- Format of instruction lets animators apply techniques and concepts to their personal work and vision.
-- Scene files included so that readers can see under the hood of a professional animator's work.
-- Efficient, creative presentation lets readers quickly understand how to apply a technique to a multitude of uses.
-- Character animation focus fills an overlooked niche.
-- Video files with demonstrations for animators to follow along frame by frame.
Synopsis
This comprehensive guide to animating with Maya contains gold-mine coverage, including animation techniques, using Maya's tools with the 12 animation principles, working with constraints, and even foolproof lighting tricks to show off one's work.
About the Author
Eric Luhta is a professional animator whose recent credits include "Bioshock 2", "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs", "Horton Hears A Who!", and numerous television commercials. Eric has extensive experience with Autodesk’s Maya, including teaching it, as an instructor for the Maya Training Program at AnimationMentor.com. He currently lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and 3 computers.
Eric Luhta is a professional animator whose recent credits include “Bioshock 2,” “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “Horton Hears a Who!” and numerous television commercials. Eric has extensive experience with Maya, including teaching it as an instructor for the Maya Training Program at AnimationMentor.com. He currently lives in Los Angeles, CA, with his wife and 3 computers.
Table of Contents
How to Cheat In Maya Topics Outline Section 1: Character Animation in Maya Essential Maya Concepts in Character Animation Animating The Graph Editor Applying animation principles Pose to Pose Blocking Layered Animation More Animation Techniques
Section 2: Adding to your animation Modeling Props for Your Characters Rigging Props and Scenery Shading Foolproof Lighting Solutions Rendering