Maya Related Books, wich to buy?

[mark_wilkins]

Maya Character Animation covers a LOT of great modeling information:

ISBN 0782141714

and Inspired: 3D Character Setup is really good for rigging:

ISBN 1931841519

-- Mark

[Wigaru Wiyamoto]

I wouldn't recomend any of the Inspired books on the principle that they're overpriced, overproduced, and poorly bound.

I think Maya 4.5 Savvy is out now, it's the sequel to Mastering Maya 3, which was excellent.

[ZippZopp]

i'm a total noob and i just picked up maya 4.5 fundamentals....i haven't really gotten into it, but browsed through it for 1/2 hour or so at the bookstore before buying it, and it looks pretty comprehensive. might want to give it a shot

[penguinpavilion]

I just picked it up, and it has really been great so far. Each of the books tutorials are accompanied by a video tutorial on the CD. So, I browse through the book version of the tut, start the video tut, start maya, keep the book handy, and have at it. I can't say authoritatively that it covers everything since I am only finishing up chapter 4, of a total of 15. But I spent quite a while in Borders leafing through the TOC. Again, the video tuts are great so far.

[Zmei]

Thanks for the tips guys.

I Think I'm gonna get Maya Savvy 4.5 this week.




Luis R. Lobo

[alexentremont]

Wise choice! I started learning maya with "Mastering Maya 3", which is the previous edition of Maya Savvy 4.5, and it contains a tremendous amount of info, well organized, and covers every aspect of Maya.

[Signal2Noise]

Sorry for butting in, but I thought I'd offer this piece of advice:

If you already own Maya 4 Fundamentals then DO NOT get Maya 4.5 Fundamentals. Most (90%) of 4.5 is just copied over from 4. They're basically the same book.

The Saavy book is an excellent choice!

[AmateurOne]

I've had all of sixteen days experience with Maya PLE and 12 books on Maya and digital imaging. But I too think "Maya 4.5 Savvy " is a very good choice. Though by far the best explanation of the Dependency Graph (which "is what gives Maya it's power and flexibility") is in "Complete Maya Programming..." by David Gould. I found the coverage of this in "MEL Scripting for Maya Animators" by Wilkins & Kazmier, as well as the basic structure of Maya itself rather opaque until I read Gould's chapter on the DG.

BTW None of the Learning Maya books from Maya nor "Maya Character Animation" by Choi have indices, which reduces their utility, IMHO.

[mark_wilkins]

Well, through our review process we got feedback that told us we were exactly where we needed to be in the DG coverage, but as you've found out, different people find different approaches to the material easier to follow.

David's discussions of the DG includes a much more thorough discussion of how Maya internally recalculates the DG, for one thing, but we chose not to get that deeply into such aspects because they're not nearly as much a factor for most MEL development as they are for plug-in development, which we'd decided not to cover.

Please e-mail me what you would have liked to see done differently. We'll use the information to prepare for the book's next edition.

-- Mark

[mark_wilkins]

Oh, and by the way, I tend to agree with some of the criticisms of the Inspired: books mentioned above. HOWEVER, the 3D Character Setup book contains better material on the topic than most others I've seen.

-- Mark

[AmateurOne]

I'm sorry, I was unfair to your book. I should have made it clear that I found your material on the DG very much worth reading the second time, and that I'm glad to have your book. Trying to be analytic--I had been struggling with how the graph structure worked and why Maya has this rather different "all in one" scene based approach. And I finally got it from Gould's chapter. That made an impression. Perhaps if I had read his first and yours second I wouldn't have gotten it till I read yours. This is not trivial stuff; I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed and may have just needed more exposure to the ideas. And partly it may be that I have a greater personal sympathy for Gould's writing style. As you suggest--learning can be surprisingly individual and subjective process.

[mark_wilkins]

Yikes! Didn't mean to jump on you! It's perfectly OK to say what you said! :D I just wanted to communicate that it's not always possible to find a single clearest way to present material to everyone.

Believe me, when we get around to revising the book, I'll keep your comments in mind.

-- Mark

[tropistic]

I'm pretty happy with the book as it is Mark. I'd much prefer to hear you're working on Volume 2 ;)

Jay

[CJcuervo]

SO between 4.5 fundamentals and 4.5 savvy, which would you say is a better choice for someone who isnt new to cg at all, but new to maya?

and any suggestions on a good book for texturing in Maya or in general?





CJ

[Wigaru Wiyamoto]

Definitely Maya 4.5 Savvy. The Fundamental books obviously just cover basic fundaments. Savvy will give you a very thorough knowledge of Maya.

[Plasticbag]

Maya fundamentals only teaches the surface. Maya Savy is just an update from Mastering Maya 3.0.

Go for something deepter, Jejin Choi's book might be a better choice.

[iso]

thanks for the tip on the savvy book. I had placed an order for the fundamentals, and was able to change the order in time (before being shipped).

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