The Art of Maya

Rating:
Summary: A nice book
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.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful & Inspiring
Review: The ART of Maya is just that, it is first about the art one can create using A|W's Maya software package. It is part coffee table book, part inspirational book, and a general how-to as well. It does not provide nitty-gritty details of how to accomplish many things, but rather gives a good overview and direction towards possible ways to accomplish certain goals.

This may not be the first book you want when studying 3D, but it is well worth reading for its inspirational qualities. This will apply to 3d artists using any software, though Maya users will of course gain more.

The point of this book is that most volumes out there are straddled with the obligation of teaching some hard and cold how-to facts. They get bogged down with numbers, workflow directions and lots and lots of dialog boxes. There is no way around this. But it leaves little room on the pages, nor time from the author to show what can be done and how beautiful your work can be. This book is specifically about those subjects, and quite obviously is not trying to be an instructional book.

Think of purchasing this book after you have gone through much of the learning curve and are looking to take your work to a higher technical and AESTHETIC level. At that point it will be well work your time.

Rating:
Summary: If your new to Maya, or 3D in general, this book is #1 pick!
Review: The book starts off introducing you to the world of Maya and 3D, and how they are used. At first glance, you may not relize it, but this book is jam packed with information on Maya.
It explains Modeling, Animation, Character Development, Splines, Nurbs, Use of Maya for Games,and many other subjects. Now, if your a person that knows all of Maya, and has already made great 3D animations that could appear on TechTv's "EyeDrops", then this book is not for you. But if you need a detailed understand of how the program works with you and how you can get the most of of Maya. Then get this book.

It is 225 pages long, and includes Maya Personal Learning Edition, SO EVEN IF YOU NEVER USED A 3D PROGRAM, YOU CAN START RIGHT AWAY. If you are really serious in 3D, and you want to put in that effort to go the distance, then start here. Then I might suggest purchasing more books and checking out www.digital-tutors.com as well with the video tutorials. It is an awesome combination.

Warning: Buy this book from Amazon!!!! this book is tons cheaper then when I got it in the store, so please save yourself about 20 bucks and pick this one up online.

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Rating:
Summary: the contents is not suitable for the title
Review: the printing is very beatiful,the cover is attractive, but
thier is no wide explanation for the ideas,no depth in the concepts,you can name it dictionary of maya not art of maya.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful explanation of 3D
Review: There are dozens of manuals and "how to" books out there for 3D artists. However, there are very few that help the reader understand the fundamentals of how the software works and why the workflow is set up the way it is. The Art of Maya explains the process of working in 3D better than anything out there. I've been a professional animator and 3D artist for over ten years and this book blew me away. The illustrations are terrific, the text is very clear, and the illustrations are amazing. Nope, it's not a manual. You won't learn which button to click while holding down the alt key, but you will come away with a better understanding of the software and the field. A great book, buy it!

Rating:
Summary: a useless book except the CD-ROM Maya PE5
Review: this book is useless. after finish the whole book, you will know nothing about CG or Maya. The book comes with Maya Personal Edition software which is useful, but soon will be available free from maya website.

Rating:
Summary: Still not impressed
Review: This was the first Maya book I purchased. Being that the book claims to be for "beginners" I quickly became dissappointed. I didn't even bother finishing the book at the time because I wanted to LEARN Maya, not hear about what it is capable of. I bought another book and finally got over the learning curve. I then decided to go back and read this book again. Although there are some very general concepts revealed in this book, I still came away feeling like the time was wasted.

Rating:
Summary: Still not impressed
Review: This was the first Maya book I purchased. Being that the book claims to be for "beginners" I quickly became dissappointed. I didn't even bother finishing the book at the time because I wanted to LEARN Maya, not hear about what it is capable of. I bought another book and finally got over the learning curve. I then decided to go back and read this book again. Although there are some very general concepts revealed in this book, I still came away feeling like the time was wasted.