Cover; Title Page; Copright; Contents; 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; The Bottom Line; Chapter 2 Introduction to Animation; Using Joints and Constraints; Joint Basics; Point Constraints; Aim Constraints; Inverse Kinematics; IK Handle Tool. Creating a Master ControlKeyframe Animation; Creating Keyframes; Auto Keyframe; Moving and Scaling 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 LayersGrease Pencil; The Bottom Line; Chapter 3 Hard-Surface Modeling; Understanding Polygon Geometry; Polygon Vertices; Polygon Edges; Polygon Faces; Working with Smooth Polygons; Understanding NURBS; Understanding Curves; Understanding NURBS Surfaces; Surface Seams; NURBS Display Controls; Using Subdivision Surfaces; Employing Image Planes; Modeling NURBS Surfaces; Lofting Surfaces; Attaching Surfaces; Converting NURBS Surfaces to Polygons; Modeling with Polygons; Using Booleans; Cleaning Topology; Creating Your Own Polygons; Multi-Cut Tool; Combining and Merging Geometry. Bridge PolygonMirror Cut; The Bottom Line; Chapter 4 Organic Modeling; Implement Box Modeling; Shaping Using Smooth Mesh Polygon Geometry; Connect Components; Slide Edge Tool; Offset Edge Loops; Employ Build-out Modeling; Extrude Along a Curve; Sculpting Polygons; Soft Select Tool; Sculpting Polygons Using Artisan; Use Retopology Tools; Importing and Exporting; Alembic Cache Files; Slide on Surface; Quad Draw; Reduce; The Bottom Line; Chapter 5 Rigging and Muscle Systems; Understanding Rigging; Creating and Organizing Joint Hierarchies; Orienting Joints; Naming Joints; Mirroring Joints. Rigging the GiraffeIK Legs; FK Blending; Rotate Plane Solver; Creating Custom Attributes; Spline IK; Human Inverse Kinematics; Skeleton Generator; Character Controls; Interoperability; Skinning Geometry; Interactive/Smooth Binding; Weighting the Giraffe; Geodesic Voxel Binding; 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.

Expand your skills with complete Maya mastery Mastering Autodesk Maya is the ultimate guide to the popular 3D animation software. Author Todd Palamar draws on his extensive professional animation experience to help readers take their Maya skills to the next level. Written for those who already know the basics of this enormous program, the book covers advanced topics and professional techniques for modeling, animation, texturing, and visual effects. Fully updated to reflect Maya's latest features, the book takes a hands-on approach to instruction, providing readers with a dive.