Rating: 
Summary: Just what I needed to start using Maya
Review: Before I purchased "Art of Maya" I looked through it at a local bookstore. I was impressed with how clearly it laid out a series of quick tips and techniques. As others have noted, it is not a "manual" nor does it claim to be. But, it shows many important techniques that a new user to 3D and Maya can get going on creating with Maya in a relatively short period of time. In many instances, the techniques shown helped clarify areas of operation that I did not understand via the built-in tutorials that came with Maya. I still have much to read in this book. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Just what I needed to start using Maya
Review: Before I purchased "Art of Maya" I looked through it at a local bookstore. I was impressed with how clearly it laid out a series of quick tips and techniques. As others have noted, it is not a "manual" nor does it claim to be. But, it shows many important techniques that a new user to 3D and Maya can get going on creating with Maya in a relatively short period of time. In many instances, the techniques shown helped clarify areas of operation that I did not understand via the built-in tutorials that came with Maya. I still have much to read in this book. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: All colour, no substance.
Review: Don't buy this book if you are a beginner. It's not practical - The book looks beautiful, large format, all colourful, but no substance. If I could give it 0-star, I would, but the scale would not let me.Rock
Rating:
Summary: All colour, no substance.
Review: Don't buy this book if you are a beginner. It's not practical - The book looks beautiful, large format, all colourful, but no substance. If I could give it 0-star, I would, but the scale would not let me. Rock
Rating: 
Summary: New to 3D? New to Maya? - Buy this book!
Review: Don't buy this expecting a reference guide or an in-depth training manual, this book is neither. If you need a manual, go for 'Learning Maya 4' by Alias Wavefront instead. The 'Art of Maya' follows in the footsteps of other titles by Alias Wavefont in being quite expensive, but if you are new to the Maya software and to 3D work in general then this book is probably for you. It has 226 pages of inspirational information which gives a great overview of what the Maya software is capable of, hints and tips on how to approach different modeling tasks and explanations of workflow and functionality. It succeeds in wetting the appetite of the reader, if you didn't believe the Maya tagline of 'Can you Imagine' you will after you read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Useless Book
Review: I already knew that the book was little more than a brochure for Maya, but I bought it because it claimed to have the Personal Learning Edition on CD, rather having to go through the long download time to get it. Waste of time, since the CD does nothing more than set up the download, then try to connect to the Alias/Wavefront website to obtain the data. I have a different book, the Maya Bible, that gives me all the learning resources I'll need for awhile, but I still can't start since the disk doesn't have what it says it has. Don't bother with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy for those with some previous experience...
Review: If you're looking for an in depth detailing on how to use Maya this book isn't for you, I'd suggest reading the Maya Saavy series instead. As hobbyist Maya user for the last two years I did find this very interesting though. Unlike many technically oriented books, it visually illustrates the different parameters of the tools and methods. The examples are vivid, large and well labeled. Such as the paint effects section, you can see the difference in choosing tube length and the possibilities you have by applying pressure sensitive strokes. The back is filled with case studies and the various ways Maya is integrated into daily CG work, such as the classic Bingo animation or the morph targets used in Vampire the Masquerade game. I recommend that users with some degree of Maya experience, that are visual learners give this book a chance. Do NOT expect to learn how to deal with the interface or skin a character, purchase a book more specialized for modelling, creating shaders, etc..
Rating:
Summary: Worthy for those with some previous experience...
Review: If you're looking for an in depth detailing on how to use Maya this book isn't for you, I'd suggest reading the Maya Saavy series instead. As hobbyist Maya user for the last two years I did find this very interesting though. Unlike many technically oriented books, it visually illustrates the different parameters of the tools and methods. The examples are vivid, large and well labeled. Such as the paint effects section, you can see the difference in choosing tube length and the possibilities you have by applying pressure sensitive strokes. The back is filled with case studies and the various ways Maya is integrated into daily CG work, such as the classic Bingo animation or the morph targets used in Vampire the Masquerade game. I recommend that users with some degree of Maya experience, that are visual learners give this book a chance. Do NOT expect to learn how to deal with the interface or skin a character, purchase a book more specialized for modelling, creating shaders, etc..
Rating:
Summary: This book blows!
Review: In order for me to explain how bad this book is, allow me to compare it to a cook book... You pick up the cook book and thumb through it's pages admiring all the beautiful pictures of the things that you could be making. Eager to make a great tasting meal, you pop open the book and begin to read. It doesn't take long for you to realize that there aren't any instructions listed near ANY of the pictures! This is much the same with "The Art of Maya".... beautifully decorated in full-color pages, but it lacks the most important aspect of a computer book... the "how to" part!! This book is nothing more than an overdone advertisement for Alias|Wavefront. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against A|W, I think they're doing some fantastic stuff, but this book never should've made it to the shelves. All this book does is tell you ABOUT the program. You don't learn HOW to do anything. I have come away from this book thoroughly disappointed. SAVE YOUR MONEY! THIS BOOK ISN'T WORTH IT!!
Rating:
Summary: Another review
Review: Maya as a computer program is wonderful. I like it much more than 3d studio max. I think this program is gaining market share and will continue to, especially since it is cheaper than 3d studio max.
This book clearly establishes the pros and cons of Maya versus 3d studio max, and how to use it. Very nice.
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