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Key Features

--The most gorgeous models and lighting will fall flat if the animation is lifeless. Take your animations to the next level with How to Cheat in Maya. Packed with classic animation techniques and insider secrets of a professional animator, this book helps you get things done in the most efficient way possible.

--Covers the 12 principles of animation and how they translate into Maya.

--Lets readers see ´´under the hood´´ of a professional animator´s work. Maya explained from a character animator´s perspective, a unique and overlooked focus. Luhta is both a teacher and an established professional animator. He has worked on high profile films, commercials, and AAA games.

--Companion web site including all exercise/example scene files and extras such as video tutorials, animation files.


--Gold-mine coverage, including character animation techniques, working with constraints, foolproof lighting tricks to show off your work, pose to pose blocking, layered animation, constraints, facial animation, fixing gimbal lock, and more.

--What´s NEW in this edition: Coverage of latest rev of Maya, camera settings and animation, expanded spline reference material with more examples, new techniques for working with characters and props, time-saving scripts, more personality walks, new tricks for lighting and rendering, and additional rigging techniques like bendy arms and more squash and stretch.


Related Links and Downloads

How to Cheat in Maya


Description

The Maya guide for animators, How to Cheat in Maya 2012 presents everything you need to know about character animation in Maya. Fully updated for the latest revision of Maya, this book provides you with complete, step-by-step walkthroughs of essential animation techniques to increase your efficiency and speed. This is an animator's workflow in book form, written by professional animators-not a software book with a few animation pointers thrown in.

In addition to all the gold-mine coverage and interviews with expert animators from the previous edition, How to Cheat in Maya 2012 also features a new in-depth chapter on the principles of animation, updated information on camera settings and animation using Maya's new Camera Sequencer tool, the ins and outs of the brand new Editable Motion Trails tool, new techniques for working with characters in multi-shot animation tests and short films, a new cycles chapter covering actions like flying and walks, time-saving scripts, and advanced tricks with the new Graph Editor. The proven ´;How to Cheat´; series gets you up to speed quickly, and in a way that's fun.



Readership
Beginner-Intermediate level computer graphic (CG) artists including students, animators, 3D artists, game designers, web artists.

Contents

How to Cheat in Maya 2012 -



Chapter 1 - Animation Principles in Maya

Anticipation

Overlap and Follow Through

Squash and Stretch

Staging (Cameras)

Arcs

Timing

Ease In/Ease Out


Chapter 2 - Splines
All cheats revised for new interface




Chapter 3 - Graph Editor

All cheats revised for new interface


Chapter 4 - Techniques

smear frames

bendy arms

Possible material for tools added in Maya 20XX


Chapter 5 - Constraints

All cheats revised for new interface


Chapter 6 - Gimbal Lock

All cheats revised for new interface


Chapter 7 - Cameras and Layout

In-depth cheats on cameras and staging, applicable to multi-shot dialog tests and short films

cheats for new Camera Sequence tool


Chapter 8 - Blocking

New project for the chapter, so all cheats will be revised


Chapter 9 - Cycles

Shorter examples of walk and run cycles with new character

Older walk cycle material will be put on the website

Tips for personality walks



Chapter 10 - Polishing

New chapter project, all cheats revised


Chapter 11 - Facial Animation

New chapter project, all cheats revised

Mouth shapes

Eye shapes


Chapter 12 - Animation Layers

New chapter project, all cheats revised



Chapter 12 from the first book is retired to the website


Author Information
By Eric Luhta, Eric Luhta is a professional animator whose recent credits include Bioshock 2, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Horton Hears a Who! and numerous television commercials. Eric has extensive experience with Maya, including teaching it as an instructor for the Maya Training Program at AnimationMentor.com. He currently lives in Los Angeles, CA, with his wife and 3 computers. and Kenny Roy, Kenny Roy has animated TV shows, pilots, commercials, games, web, ride films, and feature films since 1998. His most notable credits are "Scooby Doo 2,ö "Garfield,ö and "King Kong.ö Kenny is also the founder of Arconyx Animation Studios, which has worked for clients ranging from Mattel to MTV, Nike to Nickelodeon, Saban to Sci-Fi Channel. Kenny mentors full-time at AnimationMentor.com.