We will start by discussing the foundational skills and vocabulary that will be essential as you begin your Maya learning. From there we will move directly into modeling, where we will begin building the vehicle that will be used for the duration of this course. Once the vehicle is built we will move into texturing, rigging, animation, dynamics, and we will finish up with the lighting and rendering of our final animation.

In this tutorial, we'll start by giving you the foundational skills and vocabulary you'll need in order to move around within Maya, and then we'll jump right into the Modeling section of the course. After completing the Modeling section, you'll get the chance try your hand at Texturing, Rigging, Animation, Dynamics, and finally, Lighting and Rendering your own animation. Our goal is not to weigh you down with technical information in this tutorial, but rather to help you form good habits and strong workflows so you can become a proficient Maya artist.

NURBS stands for Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline, but they are much more useful to a 3d artist than the name might indicate. In this series of lessons we’ll get up to speed on NURBS geometry and talk about some of the ways it can be used in our modeling workflows. We’ll begin by talking about the basic NURBS building blocks and look at the different NURBS components that can be manipulated to get the shapes we want. We'll cover methods for creating curves, the framework of NURBS objects. We'll then explore many of the ways that we can use curves to create different types of NURBS objects, from revolving to extruding and lofting. We'll also talk about using trimmed surfaces to create complex cut-outs and we'll discuss NURBS parameterization. In addition, we'll look at ways of attaching and detaching curves and surfaces, combining objects with Booleans, and methods of blending together multiple objects. In the end of this Maya tutorial, you'll have a better idea of what NURBS geometry is and how you can start to integrate it into your modeling workflow.

We will start off by learning how to properly set up and align your image planes in something like Photoshop, From there, we will learn how to begin importing your image planes into Maya, we will learn how to resize and reposition your image planes within the Maya viewports to make sure they are properly aligned in all your views, we will learn how to import animated image planes, as well as many other tools and features that will allow you to use image planes effectively in Maya.

We will use a project-based approach as we cover the basics of modeling, look at commonly used tools, and talk about some time-saving tips and techniques gleaned from production experience. We will begin by looking at the various types of geometry available to you and how you can actually convert between those different types. You will learn how to organize your model into hierarchies and keep your scene clean and efficient. We will also take a look at several modeling tools, including polygonal tools like extrude and the insert edge loop tool for adding resolution, NURBS tools like loft and extrude to create smooth surfaces, and a few subd tools as well. We will take a look at using a smoothing or subdivision workflow and use deformers to help shape our models. We are going to take a slightly different approach to this introduction course, in that we are not going to talk about all of the Maya modeling tools, but rather focus on the tools that you are going to find most useful as you begin the modeling process. Once you have a better understanding of how these tools work together, you will be able to create your own modeling solutions and really come up with a workflow that is comfortable to you.

Understanding how the various lighting tools in Maya work and behave is a very important skill for anyone who is getting started with this 3D application. In this Maya lighting tutorial, we will discuss the different types of 3D lights found in Maya, and methods for easily aiming and controlling your lights. We will also explore some of the specialized attributes found in certain light types, we will discuss the different types of shadows available in Maya, we will see how we can add depth and mood to our scenes though the use of volumetric light rays, as well as many other lighting tools and concepts that will help you establish a solid foundation in Maya.

Shading networks can be used in many different aspects of Maya including material and texture creation, lighting, special effects, and rigging just to name a few. Because these networks are widely used throughout Maya, this is one aspect of the application that nearly all Maya artists should be familiar with. This course will explore topics such as using various render nodes to create complex material and texture effects, building shading networks to simulate atmospheric effects, using shading networks for lighting purposes, and many other topics that will allow you to become a stronger, more efficient Maya artist.

We will start off by learning how to navigate through the Maya interface, and moving the Maya virtual cameras. We will then explore many critical aspects of Maya, such as creating and manipulating primitive objects, understanding the various components of Maya geometry, animating objects in Maya, working with lights and shadows, adding materials and textures to our scenes, rendering out animated sequences, and many other concepts that will help you get a solid foundational understanding of Maya and it's capabilities.

We'll take an introductory look into modeling so you can learn essential terms and definitions and build a solid foundation in computer graphics. We will start off by covering the basics of 3d models. We will then take a look at a variety of ways to work with models in Maya. After that, you'll learn about some of the Maya tools that can be used to construct models. And to wrap up, we will look at how geometry can be assembled into more complex models. This step-by-step Maya tutorial was developed with artists new to Maya in mind so we will be moving at a steady, easy-to-follow pace making sure you understand terms and basic techniques.

We will start off by explaining what a shading network is, and why is it such a powerful way to work. We will then begin exploring the Hypershade, which is where you will be creating your Maya shading networks and we will be covering many of the features, the workflows, and the concepts that will allow you to successfully begin creating your own shading networks in Maya.

Introducing the Beginner's Guide to Animation in Maya. In this course, we will start off by covering some ways we can view animation in Maya. We will then take a look at how to create and edit keyframes on the Maya timeline. After that, you will learn about the powerful Maya animation editor, the Graph Editor. And to wrap up this project, we will go over how to create a quick renders of your animations with playblasts. By the end of the course, you will understand essential terms and definitions and build a solid foundation for animating in Maya.

Introducing the Beginner's Guide to Rigging in Maya. In this course, We will start off by covering the most basic form of rigging, parenting. We will then take a look at how to modify the pivot of an object and how to work with groups. After that, you will learn about joints, inverse kinematics, and control objects. And to wrap up this project, we will go over the Maya binding process for skin deformations. By the end of the course, you will understand essential terms and definitions and build a solid foundation for rigging in Maya.

When starting out creating 3D models, it's one thing to learn the tools. It's another to learn to think like a modeler. In this course we'll cover some of the most important topics you'll need to be aware of when working as a modeler. We'll talk about the basics of breaking down a model into shapes and working with different geometry types. We'll learn to speed up our workflow by looking for repeated shapes or symmetrical objects. We'll also talk about working with reference images and thinking about how our model will be used. Another important topic we'll cover is working well within a pipeline. In addition to these lecture style lessons, we'll also use some practical examples to illustrate the fact that there are almost always multiple modeling methods for getting the same result. Once done, you'll be able to look at your modeling projects with a more critical eye and be able to more easily problem-solve your modeling issues.

UVs and UV layouts are important aspects of creating textures for our 3D models. They let us tell Maya how to apply the 2D images we create. Having a good UV layout can really make a difference in speeding up texture creation and optimizing your results.

In this course, we'll be taking a step-by-step approach, constructing a control rig that is solid and animator-friendly. We'll learn everything from proper joint placement and working with constraints, to learning how to utilize Maya's innovative and robust enveloping tools to remove the fear of painting weights and, instead, make the process an enjoyable one. We'll cover how to make our controls efficient and easy to comprehend, and we'll also learn how to work with custom shelves to quickly access tools so we can speed up our workflow.

We'll start the tutorial by giving you the foundational skills and vocabulary you'll need in order to move around within Maya, and then we'll jump right into the Modeling section of the course. After completing the Modeling section, you'll get the chance try your hand at Texturing, Rigging, Animation, Dynamics, and finally, Lighting and Rendering your own animation. Our goal is not to weigh you down with technical information, but rather to help you form really good habits so you can have a successful future using Maya.

In this series of lessons we'll learn how to use Maya's Assets system to organize a set of nodes into a single, easy-to-use location. Using Maya Assets, we can gather all of the attributes we need to edit into a single location for easier editing and animation. We'll begin this project by taking a look at how the Asset system works inside of Maya. We will then dive right in by adding our prebuilt rocket into a container to begin our asset and then learn the various methods of adding functionality to that asset. We will learn how to control the basic transforms of the rocket with the asset, view, and edit the shaders connected using the Asset Editor and create a custom icon displayed in the Outliner. Finally, we go over how to lock and black box our Asset so we only see the values we need to edit. This series of lessons will guide us through taking a model or object we already have, and creating an Asset around it to make it easier to control and animate. By using the Asset system in your own workflow, you can keep all of your objects organized and quickly editable.

Popular highlights include: Interface Overview, NURBS Modeling, Polygon Modeling, Subdivision Surfaces, Texturing, Procedural Textures, Hypershade, UV Layout, Building Control Rigs, Custom Attributes, Writing Expressions, Setting Key Frames, Path Animation, Dynamics, Particle Shader, Lighting, Image Planes, Light Linking, Environments, Displacement Maps, Rendering.

Popular highlights include: Trax Editor; Animation Clips; Poses; Constraint Clips; Expression Clips; Clip Moving, Scaling, Trimming, Cycling, Blending, Splitting, Merging; Absolute / Relative Clips; Import / Export Clips; Non-destructive Animation; Mixing and Deriving Animation; Time Warp Curves; Character and Sub-character Sets; Character Mapper; Character Redirection; Character Retargeting with Neutral Poses and Joint Labeling; Bake Simulation.

Popular highlights include: Maya Muscle Overview; Capsules, Bones and Muscles; Muscle Builder User Interface; Modeling Muscle Definition; Custom Muscle Shapes; Muscle Spline Deformer; Muscle Stretch Deformer; Muscle Skin Deformers; Sliding and Shrinkwrap; Painting Muscle Weights; Jiggle, Cycle and Rest Attributes; Relax and Smooth Attributes; Muscle Caching; Surface Attach; Muscle Setup for Symmetrical Characters.

Popular highlights include: Overview of Rigging Tools; Overview of Skinning Tools; Methods for Parenting Objects; Parent Constraints; Joint Display Settings; Joint Attributes; Adjusting Joint Orientation; Inserting Joints; Nondestructive Joint Removal; Changing Root Joints; Disconnecting Joints; Mirroring Joints; Using IK Solvers; Using Spring Solver; Spline IK Solver; Creating User-friendly Controls; Organizing Scenes with Groups; Adding Custom Attributes; Utilizing Maya's Hypergraph; Connection Editor; Point Constraint Tool; Orient Constraints; Aim Constraint Tool; Set Driven Key Relationships; Smooth Bind Tool; Modifying Smooth Skin Deformations; Avoiding Double Transformation; Mirroring Influence Data; Setting up Proxy Cages; Jiggle Deformers; Creating Flexors; Cluster Deformers; Copying and Pasting Flexors; Bind Pose Node; Wrap Deformer Tool.

Popular highlights include: Overview of Animation Tools; Manipulating Animation in Graph Editor; Ghosting Animation; Exploring Various Cycle Options; Editing Keys; Modifying Tangent Handles; Set Driven Keys; Creating Turn Tables; Outputting Animation for Preview; Copying and Pasting Key frames; Animation Curve Node; Dope Sheet; Motion Paths; Seamlessly Cycling Animation; Holding Current Keys; Insert Keys Tool; Breaking Tangents for Weight; Optimizing Key Frame Data; Animating with Constraints; Overview of Trax Editor; Fine-tuning Function Curves; Baking Animation Data; Simplifying Function Curves; Breakdown Keys; Buffer Function Curves.

Popular highlights include: Basics of Python Coding; Plug-in Development; Rewriting MEL as Python; Variables and Types; Print and Concatenation; Loops and Lists; Working with Selections; Scripting for Automation; Creating a Procedural Gear Generator; Building Custom UIs with Python; Creating Motion Trail and Lags; Timeline Based Scripting; Python in Maya Expressions; Creating a Tkinter GUI; Working with Mayapy Shell; Working with Python Editors.

Popular highlights include: Introduction to Particle Systems; Understanding Rigid Body Simulations; Overview of Dynamic Fields; Setting up Simulations; Particle Instancing; Rendering Particles with Maya Hardware; Software and Hardware Render Buffer; Fire Effects; Smoke Effects; Lightning; Fireworks; Explosive Effects; Attaching Particles to Curves; Creating Soft Body Effects; Colliding Particles with Surfaces; Rigid Body Simulations with Weighted Objects; Particles Interaction with Rigid Bodies;

Popular highlights include: Overview of Maya Light Types; Setting up Depth Map Shadows; Utilizing Raytrace Shadows; Light Decay Rates; Creating Custom Light Intensity Curves; Controlling Render Statistics for Geometry; Creating Volumetric Lighting Effects; Building Shaders to Simulate Visible Light Sources; Adding Environment Fog to Scenes; Simulating Realistic Camera Effects with Light Glows; Light Linking; Creating Gobos and Projectors; Practical Lighting Exercises and Scenarios.

Popular highlights include: Overview of Modeling Tools in Maya; Introduction to Various Types of Geometry; Surface Conversions; Proxy Modeling; Combining Geometry; Mirroring Geometry; Incorporating Animation to Modeling Workflow; Using a Polygon-to-Subdivision Workflow; Principles of Creating Clean Geometry; Adding Edge Resolution; Working with NURBS Curves, Surfaces, and Trims; Naming and Organizing Assets; Shader Creation and Assignment; Combining and Separating Multiple NURBS Surfaces; Manipulating NURBS Seams with Stitch; Lofting to Create Geometry using Multiple NURBS Curves; Creating Geometry along Paths with NURBS Extrude; Manipulating NURBS Parameterization; Generating Symmetrical Geometry; Extruding to Add Resolution in Specific Areas; Adding and Re-routing Edges with Split Polygon Tool; Interactively Adding Edges around Objects; Building High-res geometry with Low-res Cages; Creasing to Change Hardness of Sub-D Edges; Reshaping High-res Geometry with Lattice Deformers; Creating Interlocking Chain Links with Animated Snapshot.

Popular highlights include: Walk Cycle Diagram; Layering Body Mechanics; Follow Through and Weight; MEL Scripting for Animators; Transforming Male Walk into Female Walk; Translating Walk Cycle Forward; Keying in Channel Box; Graph Editor; Insert Key Tool; Breaking Tangents to Create the Illusion of Weight; Editing Tangents for Seamless Cycling; Cycling with Pre and Post Infinity; Please note that the project files provided with this training kit require Maya 7 to be opened. If you do not have Maya 7, you can create your own character rig with the help of our Character Setup in Maya training kit.

Popular Highlights Include: Polygon Modeling; NURBS Modeling; Texturing; Lighting; Animation / Rigging; Rendering; UV Layout; Hypershade; Particle Simulations; Environments; Interface Overview.

Popular highlights include: Toon Rendering; Mesh Brush; Optimizing Scenes; Light Based Effects; Control Curve Based Effects; Secondary Animation; Custom Brushes; Paint Effects Overview.