Maya 4 Fundamentals [With CDROM]

Maya 4 Fundamentals is an excellent resource for those wanting a hands-on introduction to Alias|Wavefront's high-end graphics software package. The book takes you through the basics of their modeling, materials, lighting and animation tools by presenting an overview and guiding you through a project whereby those tools are put to use. As an adjunct to the text a CD is provided which includes not only the individual project files but movies of actual on-screen demonstrations of the book's lessons so that you may follow the author's examples while concurrently running Maya. This is a fine book for those wanting to learn Maya's basics. References are provided for those wishing to explore more about the tremendous capabilities of this software. Readers with previous 3D graphics experience will find it easy to follow along; Lightwave and Max users will find useful appendices listing the specific similarities in the various aspects of the applications. For the novice Maya can certainly seem overwhelming in its scope - especially when confronting all the reference manuals for the first time. This book is a great starting point. Readers with previous Maya experience can certainly use this as a resource as well as a refresher course.

As an instructor in the Media Arts and Animation field, it is one of the hardest things assigning text in a classroom that you feel will serve as an excellent resource to your students new to 3D. Not only does this text allow for an easy understanding of the interface, it also supplies you with movies so that you may follow along with the tutorials. I have yet to find any book on the market so complete and thorough. For many students, especially those new to Maya and 3D, this book and its accompanying CD are a true gift in the classroom. This book is a real supplement to any instructional material and demonstrations offered in any beginning level 3D course. It is straightforward with concepts and offers a real down to earth understanding of Maya and its amazing tools. I also believe that those interested in 3D, but not interested in attending a college or classroom environment, will be able to work through this text and completely hone their skills using Maya. Great work guys!

The Authors do a terrific job in introducing a newcomer to the world of computer graphics and especially 3D application. It doesn't give you instructions without explaining why. The reader will come away with some solid understanding of the world of 3D. This book takes the mystery out of many terms that took me a while to understand. This book is not wordy, very well structured and easy to read. It includes movie files of step-by-step instructions that also give you visual guidance.This book is not only for beginners. As a Maya user I found good information that sped up my workflow. The authors also explain a way to use subdivision modeling in Maya Complete. A feature that is only available in Maya Unlimited.3D artists working with 3D Studio Max and Lightwave will also appreciate this book. At the end is a section that compares Maya with these two 3D applications.

I purchased the first three books published for Maya 4 (this one, "Maya" by Danny Riddell/Andrew S. Britt, and "Exploring Maya 4: 30 Studies in 3D" by Maximilian Schoenherr), and this one is definately the most useful, especially if you're a newbie or intermediate. Just the acompanying CD alone is worth the money! (It comes with video tutorials not unlike the popular Gnomon series that visually demonstrates the main points of the book, helpful info for Max users trying to migrate over to Maya, and includes an improved and extremely useful hotkey/marking menu system that I'm permanently going to use.) In 2 days I consider myself much more profficient than I was, and the Maya workflow seems to make more sense now. Cheers to Jim Lammers and Lee Gooding for writting a superior manual on this complicated program! Summary: Experienced users may end up skipping some of the chapters, but you're bound to learn something. Newer users will get a lot out of it (including confidence in your skills and professional working habits). If you get only one Maya book, make it this one.

CG and 3D artists who have have had some experience with 3d modelling will fare the best with this title, however, the accompanying CD narrated by Lammers is visually helpful for the beginner, as well. Simple tutorials and practical methods will get you using Maya in about two weeks. The learning curve for Maya is well above the average 3D program, but with persistence this book allows the reader to interpret the daunting user-interface for Maya. Aptly named, "Fundamentals" this book is also an excellent reference for moderate users who are not using all of the available tools in Maya. I will look forward to another installment by Lammers and Gooding that tackles more advanced tutotials and methods.