Intro notes

Studio Arts

Introduction to Maya for Disney TV

Instructor: John Park jp@understandingmaya.com

Objective:

This class teaches the fundamentals of computer animation using Autodesk Maya 3D animation software. You’ll learn the basics of:

· Working in 3D space,

· Navigating the Maya interface,

· Creating models,

· Animating objects

· Building material shaders,

· Lighting scenes,

· Using cameras, and,

· Rendering finished work for output to print and video.

Methodology:

This is a ten-week course. Each class covers different aspects of the following topics: workspace, modeling, animation, shading, lighting, and rendering.

By covering the same topics each week, you’ll gain familiarity with the general 3D concepts very quickly. This allows the level of detail to increase quickly as well. Each class will include lectures, demonstrations and hands on work. You’ll learn a new concept and then immediately try it out.

Assignments:

The homework assignments will be exercises from the textbook Understanding 3D Animation Using Maya. I’ll also be posting updates to the blog mayaintro.blogspot.com if there are any handouts to supplement the text. You can always email me we questions at jp@understandingmaya.com.

Results:

Through continual refinement of your skills, I think you’ll come away from this class with a clear understanding of how to work in Maya. When you’ve completed the class you should be prepared for more specialized training in Maya, such as character animation, character rigging, modeling, lighting, and set design/previsualization.