Chapter 8: Introduction to Animation

The best way to learn about animation is to start animating, so you’ll begin this chapter with the classic exercise of bouncing a ball. You’ll then take a closer look at the animation tools Maya software provides and how they work for your scene. You’ll do that by throwing the axe you created earlier. Finally, you’ll tackle animating a more complex system of parts when you bring your locomotive to life.

Topics in this chapter include:

• Keyframe animation—bouncing a ball
• Throwing an axe
• Path animation
• Replacing an object
• Creating and deforming text along a path
• Rigging the locomotive, part 1
• Animating a catapult