Mastering Autodesk Maya 2015 (PDF)

Expand your skills with complete Maya mastery

Mastering Autodesk Maya is the ultimate guide to the
popular 3D animation software. Author Todd Palamar draws on his
extensive professional animation experience to help readers take
their Maya skills to the next level. Written for those who already
know the basics of this enormous program, the book covers advanced
topics and professional techniques for modeling, animation,
texturing, and visual effects.

Fully updated to reflect Maya's latest features, the book takes
a hands-on approach to instruction, providing readers with a
diverse set of tutorials designed by real-world professionals to
showcase 3D animation and visual techniques used in industry
settings. Complete and comprehensive, the book makes an excellent
desk reference for the working animator, and is an ideal resource
for those seeking Maya certification. The unique combination of
challenging material and practical instruction make this
one-of-a-kind guide the ultimate Maya handbook. Topics include:

* Animation using inverse kinematics, keyframes, and
deformers

* Hard surface and organic modeling

* Proper rigging techniques, and working with Maya Muscle

* Xgen, Paint Effects, and rendering with mental ray

* Texture mapping, compositing, nParticles, and more

* Virtual filmmaking and scene management

The most complex skills are useless if they can't be applied, so
the book emphasizes the practical, day-to-day uses of each skill,
and discusses which solutions best fit which scenario. For the
computer animation professional seeking a more in-depth mastery of
this popular animation program, Mastering Autodesk Maya is
an excellent investment in the future of your career.