Michael McKinley is originally from southern Mississippi, where he grew up in a rural environment. Knowing from an early age that video games were his dream, he packed up after high school and set out to make his way in the world. He is now a senior environment artist working at Zombie Studios in Seattle, Washington. He has worked in the game industry for seven years on a variety of titles, including NFL Street 3, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Garden Defense, and SAW. Not to mention a long list of titles that for whatever reason didn't make it to release!

Michael is the author of The Game Artist's Guide to Maya as well as The Game Animator's Guide to Maya. Back in the day, he was a teacher's assistant in Maya classes at Collins College in Tempe, Arizona. He can be found frequently working as an administrator at www.simplymaya.com and is always open to questions or comments about Maya or game development.