Beginner's question: a path to maya ?

[JohnPark]

Hi Alexander,
I think you've got a lot of good ideas on getting started -- traditional art, design, photography, acting, theatre lighting, sculpture, and almost any other fine art are great things to study. 3D animation is a very broad topic, and it's good to get exposed to a wide variety of things along the way. I'd recommend my book -- what a surprise! -- for learning about the fundamentals of Maya in the categories of workspace, modeling, animation, shading, lighting and rendering. It's called Understanding 3D Animation Using Maya. I also like Alias's book The Art of Maya for giving a very nice visual overview of the basic things the software can do.

Once you've done some work in it you may find that you like a particular area more than others. If you seem drawn to animation, check out the 3 Cameron Hood DVDs from Gnomon. Get all the animation books you can, especially Richard Williams Animator's Survival Kit. Consider going to an animation school or enrolling in animationmentor.com.

If you're into rigging I'd get Inspired 3D Character Setup by Mike Ford and Alan Lehman, and check out the rigging DVDs from Gnomon and Digital-Tutors.com. Look at the rigs and tutorials on rigging101.com. A traditional book I love is Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germain.

For modeling, read up on the techniques of Bay Raitt and look at Dave Komorowski's site thehobbitguy.com. Get involved with the WIP forums on this site.

Jeremy Birn's Digital Lighting & Rendering is a great book for lighters. And I really think Jeremy Engleman's Gnomon DVDs are an excellent introduction to Rendering.

This is absolutly just the tip of the iceberg as far as learning materials go, but I hope this helps you out in finding a place to start.
-JP

[P.Alexander]

This has helped me out alot, thank you very much for taking the time to answer my thread. Now I atleast know where to start.

It's much appreciated !

Alexander

[Pochoy]

Like Alexander, I'm very new to graphics. I'm, at the moment, trying to learn modeling. My target is to achieve toon like characters. But i'm not not able to do so. My question is now, would it be useful to start with simple hardsurface modeling, then try to make them more and more complex? Or should I start with organic modeling?

Regards

Pochoy

[gorgon]

Its always easier to make more geometrical objets in 3D, so I would say that making some random objects for practise (toaster, chair, whatever) would give you some good experience with the tool set and some confidence for when you are ready to take on something more challenging (like a figure)

[Loukor]

Hello Alex,

It has been 2 weeks now since I started using Maya. I have used 3D studio max for about 3 weeks before and I noticed that Maya is more efficient and powerful.

This is what I have been doing so far (2 weeks),
[Not in order]

1. Going to CGtalk.com to look at other's WIP and Finished Work for Motivation.
2. Looking at CGtalk.com's News section and General Section.
3. Reading and understanding a book called "Introducing Maya 6 : 3D for Beginners" by Dariush Derakhshani (Sybex). I am on the Catapult part in this book.
4. I bought another book called "The Complete Reference : Maya 6", I am going to use it after I'm done with my first book.
5. I am planning to buy Video Tutorials also from Freedom of Teach or Gnomon.

So far in my 2 weeks I have learned alot about Maya but not everything.. just basic's.

[Cleveland]

there's a lot to be said for starting on simple geometric objects. after you've done a couple of those, make sure you challenge yourself at the same time as you take on a project that you're enthusiastic about. you will learn best when you take a project from start to finish. from modelling to texturing and rigging and binding and animating. this can be a problem for those with time restraints, but you'll get a feel for everything that this world has to offer. and you'll know what you like. obviously if you have no interest in animating then don't concentrate on it too much, but you'll need to know something about that to make your rigging useful, and you'll need to know something about rigging to make your model useful. i'm new at this, but i got the freedom-of-teach dvd as a tutorial for my second model ever. at the start it was a little confusing, but after a while i think i'm getting the hang of it. challenge yourself.


welcome.

[P.Alexander]

hey,

thx for taking the time to reply guys !
I'm beginning to understand maya a bit better now. I even made my first full animation woaaaah :D
Even though it was achieved by following a tutorial, I'm still very proud of this ball ^^
link: http://www.3dtek.nl/~flow/ktu/ballLesson3c.rar

Anyways, I'm planning on buying some of these gnomon dvd's and the two books you mentioned, thx ;)

I also started learning drawing, which is so much fun.
I use andrew loomis' book "how to have fun with a pencil" at the moment, which has been very helpfull for learning the basic. the book is actually ment for children, but hey I'll always be a child :D

If u have other great id's, don't hesitate !

Greets,
-AP

[DezFX]

A very good source of free CG training is offered via VTMs (Video Training Modules) at 3D Buzz.com (http://www.3dbuzz.com). They have videos covering almost every major program out there, the main ones being Maya and 3DS Max. I would highly recommend checking out these videos as well as the forums on that site. In addition to those VTMs you may want to check out a book called Maya 6: Visual Quickstart Guide (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0321247469/qid=1110063458/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/104-0013222-5552764?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). I recommend this book to all beginners because the author does a nice job of explaining what you are doing. Most books, including the two mentioned previously, tend to skip steps that are assumed to be common knowledge. This is a problem when dealing with someone new to a program because not everything is obvious to them. I would suggest starting out with the 3D Buzz VTMs before moving on to the Gnomon DVDs. That may piss some people off at school, but I am just being realistic. LoL While I LOVE the Gnomon DVDs and think they are a great learning tool, they can be a little advanced and quickly go over the head of a true beginner.

[solarflare]

I am surprised noone has mentioned www.3dbuzz.com (http://www.3dbuzz.com/) yet. While the webpage layout is not the best, its worth the time to figure it out and find a gold mine of training videos for beginners. They also will be starting an online beginner class with 10+ hours of training videos, plus assignments, feedback, and other stuff...for only like $150 (if you can get in the first class...$200 for later classes). Strikes me as a MUCH better value than anything else out there. Just gotta get signed up whenever they start the singups =).

Digital-tutors also wasnt mentioned, in case you don't know about them. They have videos similar to Gnomon, but somewhat more oriented towards beginners. Plus free videos on the webpage that are helpful, and give you samples of their content. I think there is also a www.lostpencil.com (http://www.lostpencil.com/), which I have heard good things about (but never got anything from them so I can't really vouch for it).

As for books, I have spent a ton of money on a bunch of them (this is my hobby and I have a habit of throwing lots of money into it even though its not quite logical for me to do so). It kindof depends on what you want to do what books you should invest in. Probably do not follow my example and get a bunch =). I am thrilled to have them all, but there are so many I can't just concentrate on one. I would recommend the training videos to teach you as a beginner, because its just so much nicer to watch someone do things, and to see how a more experienced user uses the program (plus it makes the whole program seem so much less intimidating). One book not mentioned for animation would be Stop Staring by Jason Osipa (I think). It is just facial animation, but I found it a fun and well written book. It goes into a lot of detail, and really is a book I am looking forward to delving further into (I have read almost half but not followed tutorials/examples at all yet).

Some other small recommendations (that I have failed with so learned through experience they are bad to do): don't overpurchase. Get one book or one dvd at a time (unless you can get a great deal with a bundle). Go through them, and then go onto the next one. Prices could drop before you get the next video/book you wanted, or you could get inspired by the video/book you are on, and learn a whole lot more and no longer need the other book/video. Also, focus on Maya. I made the big mistake of getting so fascinated with all the software, and so much wanting to see the other features of other programs, that I am now trying to learn 4 dif programs. I am having fun, and learning a lot...but not nearly as proficient with any single program as I wish I were. I don't think you should bother learning another program until you are quite experienced with the one you are currently learning (Maya in the case). Just try to avoid looking at the amazing detail people using Z-brush achieve, or the 3d-buzz vtms of the really cool effects they can easily achieve with Houdini until you are using Maya pretty good =) (and then since I could get the student edition I am also learning xsi since it was so amazingly cheap =P).

Edit: bah to dezfx. I should have typed less!

[DezFX]

Sometimes it pays to not be so long winded. :p

As for the 3D Buzz Fundamentals class (http://sv2.3dbuzz.com/vbforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101099), I am in the experimental class and I can attest to the teaching styles that it will be a great course to be a part of. I don't think I will be taking part in the Maya Fundamentals class, not for lack of interest, but more for lack of funds and hopefully lack of time. I hope to be working in the near future and be too busy to take any classes. :deal: Except for possibly one or two more at Gnomon. That is until one of the future classes becomes available, that I am not allowed to talk about at the present time. Then I am for sure in there! It's something that even I cannot pass up. :thumbsup:

[solarflare]

Yeah...its funny. I am about the quietest person you would ever meet, but I am abnoxiously long winded in emails and on forum posts =P. Anyways, to be brief and sum up:
www.3dbuzz.com (http://www.3dbuzz.com)
www.digital-tutors.com (http://www.digital-tutors.com)
www.lostpencil.com (http://www.lostpencil.com)

Stop Staring by Jason Osipa

Don't buy too much too fast =P.

[P.Alexander]

hey,

thx DeZFX and solarflare, you've been really helpfull. Especially 3Dbuzz is a very helpfull link, thx!
Solarflare I enjoyed reading your long comment, i really appreciate ^^

If u guys have any more thought don't hesitate !

cya,
-AP

[Johany]

Hi everyone i am new to this forum and to Maya. I am a traditional artist drawing, painting mostly. I want and need to learn Maya since its a requieremt for my career (Game Art and Desing) but i can't take Maya classe for the moment. So i thought to start ahead and see how it is. I want to thank P. Alexander for starting this thread since i was about to ask the same questions. With all those links and tutorials i am going to have fun for some time.

[P.Alexander]

Glad it not only helped me out, good luck with learning maya (although I'm a bit late) and I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I do ! ;)

[P.Alexander]

Hey Ryan, thanks alot for the advice !

I know these gnomon DVD's are topnotch learning material, the only problem is that my parents won't let me use their credit card to buy them online (and since I'm 17 I don't have my own..:sad: )
These DVD's along with ballistic's books are on my wishlist, luckly enough there's a possibility to get them anyhow since my sister is going to the USA this summer, so she could buy them and bring them along !

Concerning drawing, are there books/tutorials who cover drawing (speed painting) with a wacom tablet ?

Greets,
-AP

[NitroLiq]

You can also try SimplyMaya (http://www.simplymaya.com) for both pay and freebie project video tuts. The site is geared towards newer users and has an active forum as well. For digital painting and character creation, try Don Seegmiller's book (http://seegmillerart.com/contents.htm). It's available for both Painter and Photoshop.

[Cuprum]

The most useful book for beginner (less than one month of expeirence) is to press F1 button :thumbsup: . It's the most accessible and important source. Other books and videos are only additions to it. I read many books and saw many videos, but the main part of my knowledge I obtained from Maya Help (as you know,we get the most of information about any discipline at first month). If you know the basics, you would understand, how to do ALL THE THINGS YOU NEED TO DO.

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