Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Author

About the Contributing Authors

Introduction

Chapter 1: Working in Autodesk Maya

Creating and Editing Nodes

Using the Hypergraph

Connecting Nodes with the Node Editor

Creating Node Hierarchies in the Outliner

Displaying Options in the Outliner

The Channel Box

The Attribute Editor

Working with Shader Nodes in the Hypershade

Creating Maya Projects

Creating a New Project

Editing and Changing Projects

Organizing Complex Node Structures with Assets

Creating an Asset

Publishing Asset Attributes

Using the Asset Editor

File References

Referencing a File

Using Multiple Representations

The Bottom Line

Chapter 2: Virtual Filmmaking

Determining the Image Size and Film Speed of the Camera

Setting the Size and Resolution of the Image

Setting the Film Speed

Creating and Animating Cameras

Creating a Camera

Setting Camera Attributes

Limiting the Range of Renderable Objects with Clipping Planes

Composing the Shot Using the Film-Back Settings

Creating a Camera Shake Effect

Using an Expression to Control Alpha Offset

Creating Custom Camera Rigs

Swivel Camera Rig

Swivel Camera Rig Asset

Applying Depth of Field and Motion Blur

Rendering Using Depth of Field

Creating a Rack Focus Rig

Adding Motion Blur to an Animation

Using Orthographic and Stereo Cameras

Orthographic Cameras

Stereo Cameras

Using the Camera Sequencer

The Bottom Line

Chapter 3: Modeling I

Understanding Polygon Geometry

Polygon Vertices

Polygon Edges

Polygon Faces

Working with Smooth Polygons

Using Subdivision Surfaces

Understanding NURBS

Understanding Curves

Understanding NURBS Surfaces

Surface Seams

NURBS Display Controls

Employing Image Planes

Modeling NURBS Surfaces

Lofting Surfaces

Intersecting Surfaces

Trim Surfaces

Working with Trim Edges

Fillet Surfaces

Creating Rail Surfaces

Lofting Across Multiple Curves

Live Surfaces

NURBS Tessellation

Modeling with Polygons

Shaping Using Smooth Mesh Polygon Geometry

Insert Edge Loops

Extruding Polygons

Edge Creasing

Mirror Cut

The Bottom Line

Chapter 4: Modeling II

Modeling with Deformers

Using a Lattice

Soft Modification Tool

Combining Meshes

Using Bevel Plus and Bevel Edges

Creating the Curves

Projecting the Curve

Bevel Edges

Using Curves

Create an Extrusion Curve

Extrude Along a Curve

Drawing Curves on a Live Surface

Converting NURBS Surfaces to Polygons

Employing Revolved Surfaces

NURBS Extrusions

Boolean Operations

Using Booleans

Cutting Polygons

Sculpting Polygons Using Artisan

Advanced Polygon-Editing Tools

Append a Polygon

Interactive Split Tool

Spin a Polygon Edge

Bridge Polygons

Working with SubDs

Modeling with SubDs

SubD Levels

The Bottom Line

Chapter 5: Animation Techniques

Using Joints and Constraints

Joint Basics

Point Constraints

Aim Constraints

Inverse Kinematics

IK Handle Tool

Create a Master Control

Keyframe Animation

Creating Keyframes

Auto Keyframe

Move and Scale Keyframes on the Timeline

Copy, Paste, and Cut Keyframes

The Graph Editor

Animation Curves

Editing Animation Curves

Weighted Tangents

Additional Editing Tools

Breakdowns and In-Betweens

Pre- and Post-Infinity

Playblast and FCheck

Driven Keys

Creating a Driven Key

Looping Driven Keys

Copying and Pasting Driven Keys

Motion Path Animation

Motion Trails

Animating Constraints

Animation Layers

Creating an Animation Layer

Layer Mode

Other Options in the Layer Editor

Layer Hierarchy

Merging Layers

The Bottom Line

Chapter 6: Animating with Deformers

Animating Facial Expressions Using Blend Shapes

Creating Blend Shape Targets

Creating Blend Shapes

Painting Blend Shape Weights

Adding Targets

Creating a Custom Mouth Control Slider

Connecting the Slider to the Blend Shape

Animating Blend Shapes Sequentially

Creating the Base Mesh

Creating the Blend Shape Targets

Creating the Blend Shape Sequence

Animating with Lattices

Creating a Lattice

Using the Lattice Membership Tool

Adding an Object to an Existing Lattice

Animating Lattices

Animating Object Components with Clusters

Adding Cluster Objects

Painting Cluster Weights

Applying Cluster Components

Constraining Clusters

Animating a Scene Using Nonlinear Deformers

Creating a Wave Deformer

Squashing and Stretching Objects

Twisting Objects

Creating a Jiggle Effect

Applying Jiggle Deformers

Painting Jiggle Weights

Optimizing Animations with the Geometry Cache

Creating a Geometry Cache

Editing the Cache Playback

The Bottom Line

Chapter 7: Rigging and Muscle Systems

Understanding Rigging

Creating and Organizing Joint Hierarchies

Orienting Joints

Naming Joints

Mirroring Joints

Rigging the Giraffe

IK Legs

FK Blending

Rotate Plane Solvers

Creating Custom Attributes

Spline IK

Human Inverse Kinematics

Skeleton Generator

Character Controls

Interoperability

Skinning Geometry

Interactive/Smooth Binding

Weighting the Giraffe

Painting Skin Weights

Editing Skin Weights in the Component Editor

Copying Skin Weights

Mirroring Skin Weights

The Maya Muscle System

Understanding the Maya Muscle System

Using Capsules

Creating a Muscle Using the Muscle Builder

Editing Muscle Parameters

Converting the Smooth Skin to a Muscle System

Sliding Weights

The Bottom Line

Chapter 8: Paint Effects

Using the Paint Effects Canvas

The Paint Effects Window

Painting in Scene Mode

Painting on 3D Objects

Understanding Strokes

The Anatomy of a Paint Effects Stroke

Brush Sharing

Understanding Brush Curve Nodes

Designing Brushes

Starting from Scratch

Tubes

Growing Flowers

Adding Leaves

Create Complexity by Adding Strokes to a Curve

Shaping Strokes with Behavior Controls

Applying Forces

Displacement, Spiral, and Bend

Animating Strokes

Animating Attribute Values

Adding Turbulence

Animating Growth

Modifiers

Rendering Paint Effects

Illumination

Shadow Effects

Shading Strokes and Tubes

Texturing Strokes

Converting Strokes to Geometry

The Bottom Line

Chapter 9: Lighting with mental ray

Shadow-Casting Lights

Shadow Preview

Depth Map Shadows

mental ray Shadow Map Overrides

Raytrace Shadows

Indirect Lighting: Global Illumination

Global Illumination

Tuning Global Illumination

Working with Photon Maps

Color Bleeding

Importons

Caustics

Caustic Light Setup

Indirect Illumination: Final Gathering

Light-Emitting Objects

Final Gathering Maps

Using Lights with Final Gathering

Image-Based Lighting

Enabling IBL

IBL and Final Gathering

Physical Sun and Sky

Enabling Physical Sun and Sky

Editing the Sky Settings

mental ray Area Lights

Light Shaders

Physical Light Shader

Tone Mapping

Photometric Lights and Profiles

The Bottom Line

Chapter 10: mental ray Shading Techniques

Shading Concepts

Diffusion

Reflection

Refraction

The Fresnel Effect

Anisotropy

Creating Blurred Reflections and Refractions Using Standard Maya Shaders

Reflection Blur

Refraction Blur

Basic mental ray Shaders

DGS Shaders

Dielectric Material

mental ray Base Shaders

Car Paint Materials

Diffuse Parameters

Specular Parameters

Flake Parameters

Reflection Parameters

The mia Material

Using the mia Material Presets

Add Bump to the Rubber Shader

Create Beveled Edges Using mia_roundcorners

Creating Thick and Thin Glass and Plastic

Other mia Material Attributes

Controlling Exposure with Tone Mapping

Rendering Contours

The Bottom Line

Chapter 11: Texture Mapping

UV Texture Layout

What Are UV Texture Coordinates?

Mapping the Giraffe Leg

Unfolding UVs

Mapping the Giraffe Head

Mirroring UVs

More UV Tools

Arranging UV Shells

Additional UV Mapping Considerations

Transferring UVs

Multiple UV Sets

Optimizing Textures

Bump and Normal Mapping

Bump Maps

Normal Maps

Creating Normal Maps

Applying Normal Maps

Displacement Mapping

Subsurface Scattering

Fast, Simple Skin Shader Setup

Subsurface Scattering Layers

Subsurface Specularity

The Bottom Line

Chapter 12: Rendering for Compositing

Render Layers

Creating Render Layers

Render Layer Overrides

Creating Overrides for Rendering Cameras

Using Different Shaders on Render Layers

Material Overrides

Render Layer Blend Modes

Render Passes

Upgrade Materials for Rendering Passes

Render Multiple Passes from a Single Render Layer

Creating an Ambient Occlusion Pass

Render Pass Contribution Maps

Lights and Contribution Maps

Render Pass Sets

Setting Up a Render with mental ray

File Tokens

Specifying Frame Range

Renderable Cameras

File Formats and the Frame Buffer

Starting a Batch Render

Command-Line Rendering

Creating a Batch Script

mental ray Quality Settings

Tessellation and Approximation Nodes

Antialiasing and Sampling

Filtering

Rasterizer

Raytrace Acceleration

Diagnose BSP

The Bottom Line

Chapter 13: Introducing nParticles

Creating nParticles

Drawing nParticles Using the nParticle Tool

Spawning nParticles from an Emitter

Emitting nParticles from a Surface

Filling an Object with nParticles

Making nParticles Collide with nRigids

Passive Collision Objects

Collide Strength and Collision Ramps

Using nParticles to Simulate Liquids

Creating Liquid Behavior

Converting nParticles to Polygons

Shading the nParticle Mesh

Emit nParticles Using a Texture

Surface Emission

Using Wind

Shading nParticles and Using Hardware Rendering to Create Flame Effects

Shading nParticles to Simulate Flames

Creating an nCache

Using the Hardware Render Buffer

nParticles and Fields

Using Multiple Emitters

Volume Axis Curve

Working with Force Fields

Painting Field Maps

Using Dynamic Fields

Rendering Particles with mental ray

The Bottom Line

Chapter 14: Dynamic Effects

Creating nCloth Objects

Making a Polygon Mesh Dynamic

Applying nCloth Presets

Making Surfaces Sticky

Creating nConstraints

Making nCloth Objects Expand Using Pressure

Additional Techniques

Creating an nCache

Creating nCloth and nParticle Interactions

Creating an nParticle Goal

Controlling Collision Events

Ripping an Object Open Using Tearable nConstraints

Rigid Body Dynamics

Creating an Exploding Tower

Tuning the Rigid Body Simulation

Baking the Simulation

Crumbling Tower

Soft Body Dynamics

Creating Flying Debris Using nParticle Instancing

Adding nParticles to the Scene

Sending the Debris Flying Using a Field

Creating a More Convincing Explosion by Adjusting nParticle Mass

Instancing Geometry

Animating Instances Using nParticle Expressions

Randomizing Instance Index

Connecting Instance Size to nParticle Mass

Controlling the Rotation of nParticles

The Bottom Line

Chapter 15: Fur, Hair, and Clothing

Adding Fur to Characters

Preparing Polygons for Maya Fur

Creating a Fur Description

Editing the Fur Description: Baldness

Editing the Fur Description: Direction

Editing the Fur Description: Length

Test Render Fur

Applying a Color Map

Applying Map Offsets and Multipliers

Enhancing the Realism of Fur

Rendering Fur Using mental ray

Animating Using Dynamic Curves

Using Dynamic Curves with IK Splines

Creating an IK Spline Handle from the Dynamic Curve

Using Forces

Adding Hair to a Character

Applying Hair to a Surface

Determining Hair Shape

Styling Hair

Start and Rest Positions

Painting Follicle Attributes

Modifying Curves

Curling, Noise, Sub Clumping, and Braids

Rendering Hair

Creating Clothing for Characters

Modeling Clothes for nCloth

Adding a Transform Constraint

Using Component Constraints

Connecting Buttons to the Shirt

Applying Forces

Painting nCloth Properties

The Bottom Line

Chapter 16: Maya Fluids

Using Fluid Containers

Using 2D Containers

Adding an Emitter

Using Fields with Fluids

Using 3D Containers

Creating a Reaction

Emitting Fluids from a Surface

Making Flames

Igniting the Fuel

Rendering Fluid Containers

Create Fluids and nParticle Interactions

Emitting Fluids from nParticles

Creating Flaming Trails

Creating Water Effects

Filling a Container

Adding Surface Detail

Rendering Liquids

Creating an Ocean

The Bottom Line

Appendix A: The Bottom Line

Chapter 1: Working in Autodesk Maya

Chapter 2: Virtual Filmmaking

Chapter 3: Modeling I

Chapter 4: Modeling II

Chapter 5: Animation Techniques

Chapter 6: Animating with Deformers

Chapter 7: Rigging and Muscle Systems

Chapter 8: Paint Effects

Chapter 9: Lighting with mental ray

Chapter 10: mental ray Shading Techniques

Chapter 11: Texture Mapping

Chapter 12: Rendering for Compositing

Chapter 13: Introducing nParticles

Chapter 14: Dynamic Effects

Chapter 15: Fur, Hair, and Clothing

Chapter 16: Maya Fluids

Appendix B: Autodesk Maya 2013 Certification

Index

Acquisitions Editor: Mariann Barsolo

Development Editor: Gary Schwartz

Technical Editor: Chip Weatherman

Production Editor: Rebecca Anderson

Copy Editor: Elizabeth Welch

Editorial Manager: Pete Gaughan

Production Manager: Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley

Vice President and Publisher: Neil Edde

Book Designers: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama; Judy Fung

Compositor: Craig W. Johnson, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Proofreader: Sarah Kaikini, Word One New York

Indexer: Ted Laux

Project Coordinator, Cover: Katherine Crocker

Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed

Cover Image: Todd Palamar

Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-118-13058-2

ISBN: 978-1-118-22502-8 (ebk.)

ISBN: 978-1-118-23845-5 (ebk.)

ISBN: 978-1-118-26313-6 (ebk.)

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing Mastering Autodesk® Maya® 2013. This book is part of a family of premium-quality Sybex books, all of which are written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching.

Sybex was founded in 1976. More than 30 years later, we’re still committed to producing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles, we’re working hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the paper we print on, to the authors we work with, our goal is to bring you the best books available.

I hope you see all that reflected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your comments and get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an email at nedde@wiley.com. If you think you’ve found a technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com. Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex.

Best regards,

Neil Edde

Vice President and Publisher

Sybex, an Imprint of Wiley

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Lee Lanier. Lee wrote Chapter 9, “Lighting with mental ray,” Chapter 10, “mental ray Shading Techniques,” and Chapter 12, “Rendering for Compositing.” We were very fortunate to have Lee’s expertise on this book. I also want to thank Chip Weatherman, our technical editor. Chip’s fresh perspective was much appreciated.

Anthony Honn built the vehicle models used in many of the example scenes, Travis Keller designed the kitchen and pergola models used in the lighting chapters, and Chris Sanchez provided the fantastic spacesuit design used in the modeling chapters. Thanks, also, to Eric Keller, whose work on previous editions has built a foundation for this edition as well.

I would also like to thank all the people from Wiley and a special thanks to Mariann Barsolo and Gary Schwartz for always having such great attitudes. Their management and editing skills are superior.

About the Author

Todd Palamar is a 21-year veteran in the computer animation industry. After transitioning early in his career from traditional special effects to computer-generated imagery, Todd did effects work for several direct-to-video movies. He later went on to work on numerous video games, including Sega of Japan’s coin-operated title Behind Enemy Lines, as well as Dukes of Hazzard and Trophy Buck 2 for the Sony PlayStation console. For six years, Todd taught at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. During this time, he received numerous accolades as an outstanding educator. Additionally, Todd was a trainer at the Digital Animation & Visual Effects (DAVE) School at Universal Studios Florida, bringing postgraduate students up to speed in Maya. Todd has written several books, among them Maya Cloth for Characters (Surrealistic Producing Effects, 2008), Maya Studio Projects: Dynamics (Sybex, 2009), and Maya Studio Projects: Photorealistic Characters (Sybex, 2011). The breadth of his experience has allowed him to work on location-based entertainment, military simulations, television commercials, and corporate spots. Todd is currently Technical Art Director at Vcom3D, creating real-time characters capable of lip-syncing in multiple languages and sign language. You can see more of Todd’s work on his company’s website, www.speffects.com.

About the Contributing Authors

Lee Lanier is a visual effects/animation veteran of over 20 years. Formerly a senior animator at PDI/DreamWorks for Antz and Shrek, his credits include a dozen features and numerous short films. In addition, he has taught at several institutions, including the Academy of Art University and the Gnomon School of Visual Effects. He has also written several books for Sybex, including Maya Studio Projects: Texturing and Lighting (2011). You can view his work at BeezleBugBit.com.

Anthony Honn created the vehicle models used in the example scenes throughout this book. Anthony originally trained in industrial design and architecture, but a series of fateful events resulted in a career in the film and design industries. His clients have included several recording artists such as Janet Jackson, as well as lifestyle brands such as Nike. Arguably, the industrial designer still lurks beneath, with his continued passion for robotics, automobiles, and furniture.

Eric Keller is a freelance visual effects artist working in Hollywood. He divides his time between the entertainment industry and scientific visualization. He teaches the Introducing Digital Sculpting class at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood and has authored numerous animation and visualization tutorials for the Harvard Medical School course “Maya for Molecular Biologists,” taught by Gael McGill.

Eric has worked at some of the best design studios in Los Angeles, including Prologue Films, Imaginary Forces, Yu and Company, BLT and Associates, and The Syndicate. Books by Eric Keller include Maya Visual Effects: The Innovator’s Guide, Introducing ZBrush (three editions), Mastering Maya 2009, and Mastering Maya 2011, all published by Sybex. He was a contributing author to Mastering Maya 7 and Mastering Maya 2012. Many of his tutorials are available online at www.bloopatone.com and www.molecularmovies.org.

Introduction

The Autodesk® Maya® program is big. It is really, really huge. The book you hold in your hands and all the exercises within it represent a mere sliver of what can be created in Maya. Mastering Maya takes years of study and practice. I have been using Maya almost every day since 1999, and I’m still constantly faced with new challenges and making new discoveries.

This book is meant to be a guide to help you not only understand Maya but also understand how to learn about Maya. The title Mastering Autodesk Maya 2013 implies an active engagement with the software. This book is packed with hands-on tutorials. If you’re looking for a quick-reference guide that simply describes each and every button, control, and tool in the Maya interface, use the Maya documentation that comes with the software instead. This book is not a description of Maya; it is an explanation illustrated with practical examples.

The skills you acquire through the examples in this book should prepare you for using Maya in a professional environment. To that end, some features, such as lighting and rendering with mental ray, nDynamics, Fluids, and Maya Muscle, have received more emphasis and attention. Features that have not changed significantly over the past few versions of the software, such as Maya Software rendering, standard Maya shaders, and older rigging techniques, receive less attention since they have been thoroughly covered elsewhere.

When you read this book and work through the exercises, do not hesitate to use the Maya help files. The authors of this book will not be insulted! The Maya documentation has a very useful search function that allows you to find complete descriptions of each control in the software. To use the help files, click the Help menu in the Maya menu interface. The documentation consists of a large library of Maya resources, which will appear in your default web browser when you access the help files. Experienced Maya artists never hesitate to use the help files to find out more information about the software; there is no shame in asking questions!

Who Should Buy This Book

This book is written for intermediate Maya users and users who are advanced in some aspects of Maya and want to learn more about other facets of the program. The book is intended to be used by artists who are familiar with Maya and the Maya interface or who have significant experience using similar 3D packages. If you have used older versions of Maya, this book will help you catch up on the newer features in Maya 2013.

If you have never used Maya or any other 3D software on a computer before, this book will be too challenging, and you will quickly become frustrated. You are encouraged to read Introducing Autodesk Maya 2012 by Dariush Derakhshani (Sybex, 2011) or to read through the tutorials in the Maya documentation before attempting the conventions in this book.

You should be familiar with these principles before reading this book:

The Maya interface.

Computer image basics such as color channels, masking, resolution, and image compression.

Computer animation basics such as keyframes, squash and stretch, and 3D coordinate systems.

Standard Maya shaders, such as the Blinn, Phong, Lambert, Layered, and Anisotropic materials, as well as standard textures, such as Fractal, Ramp, Noise, and Checker.

Lighting and rendering with standard Maya lights and the Maya Software rendering engine.

The basics of working with NURBS curves, polygon surfaces, and NURBS surfaces.

Your operating system. You need to be familiar with opening and saving files and the like. Basic computer networking skills are helpful as well.

What’s Inside

Here is a description of the chapters in this book.

There is also a companion website, which is home to all the project files and samples referenced in the book, as well as bonus chapters on MEL scripting and toon shading. Go to www.sybex.com/go/masteringmaya2013 and click on the Downloads tab to access the files.

Chapter 1: Working in Autodesk Maya This chapter discusses how to work with the various nodes and the node structure that make up a scene. Using the Hypergraph, Outliner, Hypershade, Attribute Editor, and Connection Editor to build relationships between nodes is demonstrated through a series of exercises. References and the Asset Editor are also introduced. These features have been created to aid with large Maya projects that are divided between teams of artists.

Chapter 2: Virtual Filmmaking This chapter provides an in-depth discussion of the Maya virtual camera and its attributes. A number of exercises provide examples of standard and custom camera rigs. Stereo 3D cameras are also introduced.

Chapter 3: Modeling I This chapter introduces the various types of surfaces with which you can model. It walks you through numerous approaches for modeling parts of a helmet for a spacesuit based on a concept drawing created by a professional artist.

Chapter 4: Modeling II This chapter continues to build on the model started in Chapter 3, using polygon and subdivision surface techniques. Smooth mesh polygons, creasing, and soft selection are demonstrated on various parts of the model.

Chapter 5: Animation Techniques This chapter demonstrates basic rigging with inverse kinematics as well as animating with keyframes, expressions, and constraints. Animation layers are explained.

Chapter 6: Animating with Deformers This chapter takes you through the numerous deformation tools available in Maya. Creating a facial animation rig using blend shapes is demonstrated, along with using lattices, nonlinear deformers, and the geometry cache.

Chapter 7: Rigging and Muscle Systems This chapter explains joints, inverse kinematics, smooth binding, and proper rigging techniques. Maya Muscle is introduced and demonstrated on a character’s arm.

Chapter 8: Paint Effects This chapter provides a step-by-step demonstration of how to create a custom Paint Effects brush as well as how to animate and render with Paint Effects.

Chapter 9: Lighting with mental ray This chapter demonstrates a variety of lighting tools and techniques that can be used when rendering scenes with mental ray. Indirect lighting using global illumination, Final Gathering, and the Physical Sun and Sky shader are all demonstrated. Lee Lanier wrote this chapter.

Chapter 10: mental ray Shading Techniques This chapter describes commonly used mental ray shaders and how they can be used to add material qualities to the space helmet created in Chapter 3. Tips on how to use the shaders together as well as how to light and render them using mental ray are discussed. Lee Lanier also wrote this chapter.

Chapter 11: Texture Mapping This chapter demonstrates how to create UV texture coordinates for a giraffe. Applying textures painted in other software packages, such as Adobe Photoshop, is discussed as well as displacement and normal maps and subsurface scattering shaders.

Chapter 12: Rendering for Compositing This chapter introduces render layers and render passes, which can be used to split the various elements of a render into separate files that are then recombined in compositing software. Lee Lanier wrote this chapter.

Chapter 13: Introducing nParticles This chapter provides numerous examples of how to use nParticles. In this chapter, you’ll use fluid behavior, particle meshes, internal force fields, and other techniques to create amazing effects.

Chapter 14: Dynamic Effects This chapter demonstrates a variety of techniques that can be used with nCloth to create effects. Traditional rigid body dynamics are compared with nCloth, and combining nCloth and nParticles is illustrated.

Chapter 15: Fur, Hair, and Clothing This chapter discusses how to augment your Maya creatures and characters using Maya Fur, Maya nHair, and nCloth. Using dynamic curves to create a rig for a dragon’s tail is also demonstrated.

Chapter 16: Maya Fluids This chapter explains how 2D and 3D fluids can be used to create smoke, cloud, and flame effects, and a demonstration of how to render using the Ocean shader is given. Using nParticles as a Fluid emitter is introduced as well as using Fluids for liquid simulation.

Appendix A: The Bottom Line This appendix contains all of the solutions from the Master It suggestions at the end of each chapter.

Appendix B: Autodesk Maya 2013 Certification This appendix contains the objectives to the Autodesk Maya 2013 Certified Professional exams for Models to Motion, and Visual Effects and Simulation. Objectives tables for both exams list the topic, exam objective, and chapter where the information can be found.

Certification

Go to www.autodesk.com/certification to find information about the Maya 2013 Certified Professional exams covered in this book, as well as other Maya certification exams.

How to Contact the Author

You can contact author Todd Palamar with questions, comments, or concerns through his website at www.speffects.com, where you can see other books and productions on which he has worked.

Sybex strives to keep you supplied with the latest tools and information you need for your work. Please check this book’s website at www.sybex.com/go/masteringmaya2013, where we’ll post additional content and updates that supplement this book should the need arise.

Chapter 1

Working in Autodesk Maya

The Autodesk Maya working environment has evolved to accommodate both the individual artist as well as a team of artists working in a production pipeline. The interface presents tools, controls, and data in an organized fashion to allow you to bring your fantastic creations to life easily.

Understanding the way Maya organizes data about the objects, animations, textures, lights, dynamics, and all the other elements contained within the 3D environment of a scene is essential to understanding how the interface is organized. Maya uses what’s known as the Dependency Graph to keep track of the various packets of data, known as nodes, and how they affect each other. Any single element of a Maya scene consists of multiple nodes connected in a web, and each one of these nodes is dependent on another. The Maya interface consists of editing windows that allow you to connect these nodes in an intuitive way and edit the information contained within each node.

There is usually more than one way to accomplish a task in Maya. As you grow comfortable with the interface, you’ll discover which editing windows best suit your working style.

This chapter is a brief overview of what professionals need to understand when working in Maya. You’ll learn what types of nodes you’ll be working with and how they can be created and edited in Maya. You’ll also learn how to work with projects and scene data as well as the various windows, panels, and controls that make up the interface. This will help you, whether you are working alone or as part of a team of artists.

If you’ve never used Maya before, we strongly encourage you to read the Maya documentation as well as by Dariush Derakhshani (Sybex, 2011). This chapter is about working with nodes, but it is not meant to be a comprehensive guide to each and every control in Maya. You will find that information in the Maya documentation.

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!