MAYA Course

The Maya Interface

• The Interface
• Working in View Panels
• The main Maya Windows
• Customizing the Interface

Creating an Animation in Maya

• Maya Project Structure
• Creating and Editing Objects
• Pivots and Placement
• Maya Node Structure
• Assigning Materials Using the Hypershade
• Keyframe Animation
• Basic Lighting
• Rendering Frames

Polygonal Modeling

• What is a Polygon?
• Polygonal Modeling Principles
• Creating Machismo
• Modeling Machismo’s Body

NURBS Modeling

• Understanding NURBS
• Modeling the MacGizmo

Subdivision Surfaces

• Understanding Subdivision Surfaces
• Start with a Template
• Modeling the Head
• Details, Details, and Subdivision Surfaces

Advanced Modelling

• About Blend Shapes
• Assembling machismo
• Off with His Head!
• The Incredible (Edible)Blend Shape Machine
• Blend Shapes: Sneers, Blinks, and Smiles

Lighting for Animation

• Understanding Lighting
• Basic Lighting Work Flow
• Types of Lights
• Light Manipulator
• Using Shadows
• Light Effects

Shading and Texturing for Animation

• Understanding Maya Textures
• The Hypershade
• Building Simple Shading Networks
• Shading the MacGhizmo
• Shading Machismo: The UV Foundation
• Creating Machismo’s Texture
• Rendering Basics
• Rendering an Object
• Creating and Animating Cameras
• Setting the Camera and Resolution
• Adding Depth of Field
• Adding Motion Blur
• Using the Render Settings Window
• Rendering with Maya Software
• Hardware Render and Hardware Render Buffer
• Vector Rendering
• Working in the Render View Window
• Layer Rendering, Compositing, and Editing
• Ultimate Rendering Checklist

Advanced Rendering with mental ray

• Introduction to mental ray
• Understanding Render Settings
• Mental ray Custom Shaders
• Mental ray Lights, Shadows, and Fog
• Mental ray Motion Blur
• Indirect illumination
• Image-Based Lighting and HDRI
• Surface Approximation and Displacement Maps