Hour 1. Introduction to Autodesk Maya and This Book

Welcome to the world of Autodesk Maya! In this hour, we will introduce you to the program itself and go over a few of the goals of this book. We will also describe how to get the most from this book and how to set yourself up for success in learning this amazing program. Wherever your interest in Maya comes from—be it a career change, a hobby, or just plain curiosity—you have embarked on a long and rewarding journey.

Instead, the main tools and menus will be described and utilized to give you a deep enough understanding of Maya to feel like you can dive in further on your own. Our goal is to empower you to not be daunted by Maya’s literal thousands of menus and options. We want you to not be afraid to try a new parameter or experiment with different attributes at will. An experimental attitude and a strong sense of adventure are both necessary to take on Autodesk Maya. Our goal is to take you through the steps to internalize this powerful software. Our goal is to give you the process to “teach yourself” Maya.

Like all modern 3D programs, Maya is full featured, meaning it has all of the tools to create 3D imagery from start to finish. This includes tools for modeling, texturing, rigging, animating, lighting, rendering, and much more. Much of the task of learning this program is finding the right tool for the job; rarely is there actually no way to do something. This book will show you the layout of the program, and how to find the right tools.

At its heart, Maya is built on MEL script, a simple but powerful scripting language accessible to you within the program. This language is powerful enough that artists and technicians alike have created thousands of scripts that extend Maya’s functionality even further than the amazing depth it already contains. Of course, you can actually get very far in Maya and a career in 3D without ever writing a single line of MEL script. Maya’s user interface has seen incremental improvement ever since Autodesk took over its development. The UI is very streamlined and customizable. Labels are clear, the Help file is complete, to say the least, and most if not all of the features are accessible through more than one menu. The authors of the program have put an enormous emphasis on making Maya artist-friendly. I’m always happy to say that I believe they are succeeding.

Maya is limited only by your imagination. At the same time, certain skills take a lot of practice to become familiar with their nuances. Many of the concepts presented in this book will be completely new paradigms for you. For instance, you will be asked to imagine what a texture on a 3D object would look like if the object was pounded flat and laid out onto a grid (the basic approach to creating and editing UV sets covered in Hour 6, “Unfolding UVs and Applying Textures”). You may be asked to imagine a bumpy surface’s height expressed as an image with values from black to white representing low to high areas. This will be a new way to think of the world around you, but it can be exciting as well. Many artists have confirmed that I’m not the only one that starts to stare off in the distance imagining how to model an object. You can also get too immersed; if you find yourself reaching for the Undo key when you drop a plate on the kitchen floor, it’s probably time to take a break!

Maya has so much depth that it’s easy to get lost. Most professionals in the CG field understand that to be competitive in today’s market, specialization is key. This means that the different tasks, such as modeling, texturing, and lighting, are all given out to different artists in a production. Because it is impossible to be an expert in every single aspect of CG, we will not try to go so far into a concept that you miss some broader topics within Maya. Also, good generalist knowledge is a huge advantage when you decide on your specialty. Animators who understand lighting can be more effective on the job because they are thinking about issues that affect their work down the pipeline. Riggers who can model are able to fix small problems they encounter when they receive a mesh from the modeling department. You are beginning that generalist training right now. And although the program can swallow you up, this book will give you the tools you need to avoid getting lost. Your experience in learning it will be greatly improved if you commit first to learning how to teach yourself the program as opposed to thinking all the answers are right at your fingertips.

FIGURE 1.1 A typical screenshot in this book. Objects will be centered, menus will be shown, and when possible, the menu selection will be highlighted.

As you can see in Figure 1.1, the screenshots will be presented with as much information as possible without crowding the frame. Menus are typically all arranged at the top of the Maya window; however, Maya allows you to “tear off” menus (remove them from their dock and have a floating menu window wherever you choose). In order to present the important details to you, often the menu being discussed will be torn off and the menu option we have chosen for the task at hand will be highlighted, as it is in Figure 1.1. Try to not let the floating menu confuse you; your Maya screen will look different because your menu will be located in its original position at the top of the screen. Although having the menus expand from the top is good for saving on screen real estate, it makes for a little bit of trouble when showing you a nicely composed screenshot, as illustrated in Figure 1.2.

FIGURE 1.2 The exact same menu and option is shown as in Figure 1.1, but in the default position. Selecting the dotted line at the top of a menu allows you to “tear off” the menu into a floating window. Don’t let the position of a menu in a screenshot fool you.

Occasionally we’ll be highlighting a button and not a menu item. In these instances, sometimes Maya does not highlight the button in a very visible way. In order to make sure you do not get lost, we will emphasize the button by applying a mask on the figure, as you can see in Figure 1.3.

FIGURE 1.3 When a button or a field is the focus of the lesson, the area in question will be masked to draw your attention.

Drawing—Perhaps the most beneficial skill to have as you dive into the world of animation is the ability to draw. For most, drawing is a painful task that usually ends in frustration. Have a sketchbook with you at all times, and try to force yourself to draw at least once a day. First of all, the best CG artists are masters of observation. Lighters get inspired by the way that light and shadow react in the real world and get lost staring at seemingly mundane things. Animators try to find the nuance in motion, and spend a lot of their time observing. Modelers also need to have an attention to detail so they do not have to spend too much time gathering a mass of reference material for every little thing they are assigned to create. Drawing teaches us to observe details. Moreover, drawing is visual communication. Sketching ideas to show your supervisor, thumbnailing a scene, and even creating a few drawings to pitch an idea to a client are all scenarios that are frequent in this business. You don’t want to be left out of the communication loop because of a barrier like not being able to draw.

Painting—Like drawing, painting is a form of visual art that contributes to your overall appreciation of beauty. Plus, it’s hard as heck. Animation, modeling, and nearly all of the tasks involved in CG can be characterized as moments of sheer excitement with hours and hours of painstaking work in between. I don’t mean to suggest that all painting has to offer is to buff up your saint-like patience to cope with the monotony of CG; on the contrary, working on a painting in your free time is a fantastic wind-down from the high stakes world of production. Not to mention, the techniques of classic painters such as color mixing, contrast, and understanding the fine properties of light can make you a powerful asset to a team.

Photography—Another fine pursuit for individuals wanting to round out their artistic knowledge. Photography teaches us to compose a shot, thinking about issues such as framing, composition, positive and negative space, and focus. So much of the way that we see the world changes when we look through a camera; it is a huge advantage in your career and your training to understand how to re-create what the lens sees. Particularly if you are planning to enter the visual effects industry, photography is a worthwhile hobby.

Acting—Animators are known as the “shyest performers in the world.” We create tear-jerking subtle performances, nail-biting action scenes, all the while sitting in dark rooms hiding behind a big computer monitor. It’s true—many fantastic animators are very shy people. To break out of that shell can mean a huge boost in your work. As scary as it is, enroll in an acting class, or better yet (to me anyway), an improv class could be just the thing you need to take your animation to the next level. You learn subtext, character development, physicality, and the truth to be found in every scene. Best of all, it’s a blast (once you get over the crippling fear part, of course).

Music—Believe it or not, music is extremely beneficial to learning CG. The benefits of playing an instrument cannot be overstated at combating the effects of Repetitive Stress Injury. Music is social, good for getting away from the desk every once in a while. For animators, understanding concepts such as rhythm and texture in music translates nearly 1:1 in physical work.

Sculpture—We can’t leave out sculpting, especially since a huge push of the last 5 or 6 years has been to make modeling organic shapes as near to the experience of working with clay as possible. Autodesk’s flagship product in this arena is called Mudbox, and it tries to re-create the act of sculpting with great success. Force, form, structure, and silhouette are for some reason so much more apparent with real clay. It doesn’t even have to be clay you use—wood, marble, wax, metal, any of the mediums can keep you grounded in the real world, the visceral. Perhaps all I have to mention is that the most amazing modelers I know, who work on blockbuster films, all sculpt in their free time.

A. It is far more valuable to your growth as a 3D artist and to your career to know the concepts behind the tools of Maya. This book will show you the concepts and give you a starting point for learning as opposed to holding your hand through some specific tutorials.

Q. I’ve used another 3D program before. Should I start completely over with Maya?

A. Having some 3D experience is invaluable to the process of learning Maya. It can only help. At the same time, Maya has some very specific ways of doing things, specific terminology, and some tools that don’t show up in competitor’s software. Best to start at the beginning.

Q. Are there other learning tools you recommend?

A. Of course! I would turn to the Internet to give you extra information and support. For me, there is nothing like the support of fellow artists, so online forums such as www.cgtalk.com are amazing resources for connecting with like-minded individuals.

Q. I don’t have Maya. How can I get it?

A. Autodesk offers a free evaluation of all of their software. The Maya evaluation period is 30 days—plenty of time to try it out and follow along with this book. Educational pricing is also available, as well as a free student license for those in an accredited school. Check www.autodesk.com for details.

2. How much time does it take to learn Maya completely?

3. When this book gives you an extra piece of information that steers you away from a potential roadblock or file crash, it will come in the form of a what?

4. The screenshots in this book are composed to maximize information, but that might mean a menu that normally appears at the top is depicted as floating in the middle of a panel. What is it called when you make a floating menu?

5. Name some of the tasks of CG artists.

2. It takes dedicated individuals years to fully understand even a facet of this program.

3. A “By The Way” keeps you from doing things that might truncate your file, or impede your learning.

4. A floating menu has been “torn off.” Don’t let this confuse you—look at the top of the screen for the equivalent menu.

5. Modeling, texturing, UV’ing, rigging, animating, lighting, rendering, and more!