In this course the student will learn all the basic functions of Autodesk Maya 3D animation software package. The class is designed as an introduction, rather than an in-depth exploration of any particular function, and is designed for students who are planning to pursue a career in animation in the film and television industries. The class will allow the attendee to get used to all the tools, menus, functions, and overall interface so that we can move into using Maya for animation, while developing a basic understanding of the entire software program.

4 days - $2,100.00

Course taught by an expert Maya Instructor.

Prerequisites:

Basic knowledge of a Mac or PC computer is required. An understanding of graphic effects is also helpful.

Course Outline

What is 3D
Cartesian Coordinate System
Verticies
Lines
Polygons
Polygon Faces
Smoothness and 3D objects
Movement and 3D objects
Animation and 3D objects
Light and 3D objects
Surfaces and 3D objects:  Shaders, Textures, and Maps
Rendering and 3D objects

The Maya Interface
The overall User Interface
Menu Commands:  Icons or Words?
The Viewport Panel:  All that it can do
Camera Views - different types of cameras and how to move them
Tool Views
Multiple Views
Choosing what will display (show menu)
Lighting menu
Choosing how it will display (shading menu)
Manipulating the camera (view menu)
The Timeline Panel
The Playback Panel
The Channel Box
The Display Box
The Mel Script Shelf

Cameras and Modeling in Maya
The Viewport Default cameras:
The Perspective Camera

Moving the Camera View
Side to side
Rotating
Up and Down
Manually Positioning
Undoing a Camera change
Centering the selected object

Creating New Cameras
Naming
Setting the parameters
Locking the camera

Lighting
Basic Lights
Manipulating light color and intensity
Manipulating the Position of Lights

Naming and Organizing Lights in the Outliner
Shadows
Surface Normals
Reflectivity
Understanding the relationship between lights, polygons, surfaces, and render time.

Materials in Maya
The Material Attributes
Colors
Specularity
Shaders
Maps
Reflection

Rigging
Grouping
Parenting
Pivot Points
Null Objects
Constraints
Understanding Hierarchy:  Outliner

Forward Kinematics vs Inverse Kinematics
The Joint tool
Bones
Skinning
Weighting
Lattice Deformers       

Animation
Understanding the Timeline
Setting Shot Lengths
Setting Animation Preferences
Understanding how the Channel Box relates to Keyframes
Keyframing - understanding traditional animation keyframes and maya keyframes

Graph Editor
Moving/Zooming the view
Graph Editor Preferences
Time/Position
Spline Curves
Tangents
Different types
Manipulating Slope
Playblasting

Rendering
Render Settings
Rendering Animation Sequences

Using traditional Animation Principles in Maya
Bouncing Ball with Squash and Stretch
Ball Hop