Maya 5 Fundamentals

By Garry Lewis

Presenting a review of 3D fundamentals, this book covers Maya 5 content creation. It helps you learn about Maya's interface and tools; modeling with NURBS and polygons; and more. It explains the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0735713723
• ISBN13: 9780735713727
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: New Riders Pub
• Length: 450 Pages
• Weight: 2.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.3" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

This is where you learn how to use Maya!

Ok. Where do I start? People say this is not a good book, it's not well explaned, and a lot of other bad things about the book, but believe me, it's a great book, one of the best maya books for beginners 'in Maya', not in computer graphics. This book teaches you how to use Maya as a professional, but there is no magic, you need to practice and study hard to become a good artist, not just go through pages and pages without getting the idea of how it all works. Don't forget you'll have to read other books too, not only software books, so be careful before judging authors and their books for being 'not good explained. There is bad books, but in my opinion this is not one of them.

Maya 5 Fundamentals by Garry Lewis and Jim Lammers

I agree with pswoods review on this book. Three D animation is a whole new universe, which requires an enormous base of information and a very long learning curve. Currently acquiring skills with Maya requires a steep investment in classes or expensive company learning cds. There are few comprehensive books for new Maya users. The book's enclosed CD is also a vital part of getting answers to difficult and complex questions.This book is more than just fundamentals, though it does that very well. I have Maya 4.5 Fundamentals, and was eagerly waiting for the new material in Maya 5.0. Maya 4.5 has the same slow foundation, and fewer projects. Maya Fundamentals 5.0 is a rather ambitious collection that quickly moves from the basics to new and complex projects. (modeling the human head and the office building)Indeed, this is a good value and will give more "bang for the buck" that one would expect.My only regret is not having another cd with Jim Lammers' relaxed and insightful presentation.

Maya 5 Fundamentals

I highly recommend anyone who wants to learn Maya buy this book. The companion DVD-ROM tutorials is worth more than many Maya books I have Combined. I did have some problems to get the DVD-ROM working,because Microsoft Media Player needs to be version 9/on Windows XP. Not your movie rental DVD format.

4.75 Stars - Best Edition so Far

This is the only viable low-cost training resource for people new to Maya, as far as I'm concerned. I actually worked through the first edition when I was new to Maya myself, coming from other 3D software. I received a review copy of this edition from the publisher.Features:DVD with video tutorials illustrating the book content: Maya 5 Fundamentals bridges the giant expanse between the extremely expensive video products that have comparable quality information, and on the other side, a shanty town of lower-cost pedagogical materials that include books of widely varying quality and homemade CDR and DVDR videos that tend toward specificity and sophomorism.Hotkey tear-out card: I happen to think it's better for the student to copy hotkeys into a notebook that is dedicated to Maya, but the fact that it is included shows that the authors know what is important.Brief history of computer graphics: this book is covering the bases quickly to get everyone on the same page by chapter 2. Tips on building a PC to run Maya: they hit this issue on the head. It really doesn't take a cutting-edge machine - just the right amount of power where you need it. CG beginners using this book as an entry point into a new world of creativity will find a friend in this brief section.Extremely well organized overview for each chapter: this includes key terms, hotkeys to memorize, and a simple outline of the chapter. I'd say that the order and pacing of curriculum is better than in the first edition. The student is up and running quickly with modeling and animation, but not too far ahead of the theory and technique that make them work.Workflow tips: how to organize project folders, using auto-save, etc. This is valuable stuff. One of the hardest things on which to find good info is *how a program thinks*. M5F has this in spades. Great introduction to rendering and Paint Effects: Maya isn't widely known as a great renderer for some reason - I guess because of its speed issues and quirks - but it has much more potential for realizing your imagination than any other integrated renderer of which I am aware. This book does a great job of getting you started toward *thinking* in terms of the renderer's nuts and bolts, plus it gets you started with Paint Effects.Price: I am amazed that you can find *any* book on this subject with a DVD, color plates, professional editing and layout, and an index for this price. When you consider that this is by far the best book of its kind, it's a no-brainer.Regrets: I would like to have seen a discussion forum on the book's support site, with the authors active in discussion (i.e. free tech support). The poly modeling section chooses an approach and sticks with it. I guess this is fine, considering that the main purpose of the book is teach *Maya* - not every technique in all of 3D. However, I would personally rather see students learning box modeling, rather than the piece-and-stitch method presented here. I know a lot of people get good results