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Go from ´beginner´ to ´expert´ with this professional, tutorial-based guide to Maya 2016
Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016 is your professional hands-on coverage to getting the most out of Maya. If you already know the basics of Maya, this book is your ticket to full coverage of all Maya 2016´s latest features, and showcases the tools and methods used in real-world 3D animation and visual effects. From modeling, texturing, animation, and effects to high-level techniques for film, television, games, and more, this book expands your skill set, and helps you prepare for the Autodesk Maya certification exam. Filled with challenging tutorials and real-world scenarios this book provides valuable insight into the entire CG production timeline.

Take your Maya skills to the next level with step-by-step instruction and insight from the industry professionals.

Learn professional techniques used in real-world visual effects
Master Dynamics, Maya Muscle, Stereo Cameras, mental ray, and more
Expand your skills with advanced techniques for cloth, fur, and fluids
Understand everything you need to know for the Maya certification exam



Table of Contents

Introduction xix
Chapter 1  Working in Autodesk Maya 1

Color Management 1

Creating and Editing Nodes 3

Using the Hypergraph 3

Connecting Nodes with the Node Editor 8

Creating Node Hierarchies in the Outliner 13

Displaying Options in the Outliner 17

The Channel Box 20

The Attribute Editor 24

Working with Shader Nodes in the Hypershade 27

Creating Maya Projects 35

Creating a New Project 36

Editing and Changing Projects 37

The Bottom Line 38

Chapter 2  Introduction to Animation 39

Using Joints and Constraints 39

Joint Basics 39

Point Constraints 41

Aim Constraints 41

Inverse Kinematics 44

IK Handle Tool 45

Creating a Master Control 48

Keyframe Animation 51

Creating Keyframes 52

Auto Keyframe 54

Moving and Scaling Keyframes on the Timeline 55

Copy, Paste, and Cut Keyframes 57

The Graph Editor 59

Animation Curves 60

Editing Animation Curves 65

Weighted Tangents 69

Additional Editing Tools 70

Breakdowns and In-Betweens 74

Pre- and Post-Infinity 76

Playblast and FCheck 79

Driven Keys 81

Creating a Driven Key 81

Looping Driven Keys 84

Copying and Pasting Driven Keys 85

Motion-Path Animation 88

Motion Trails 90

Animating Constraints 93

Animation Layers 97

Creating an Animation Layer 97

Layer Mode 99

Other Options in the Layer Editor 102

Layer Hierarchy 103

Merging Layers 106

Grease Pencil 107

The Bottom Line 109

Chapter 3  Hard-Surface Modeling 111

Understanding Polygon Geometry 111

Polygon Vertices 111

Polygon Edges 112

Polygon Faces 113

Working with Smooth Polygons 114

Understanding NURBS 115

Understanding Curves 116

Understanding NURBS Surfaces 118

Surface Seams 121

NURBS Display Controls 121

Using Subdivision Surfaces 122

Employing Image Planes 122

Modeling NURBS Surfaces 126

Lofting Surfaces 134

Attaching Surfaces 136

Converting NURBS Surfaces to Polygons 139

Modeling with Polygons 140

Using Booleans 141

Cleaning Topology 146

Creating Your Own Polygons 148

Multi-Cut Tool 151

Combining and Merging Geometry 153

Bridge Polygon 155

Mirror Cut 159

The Bottom Line 160

Chapter 4  Organic Modeling 163

Implement Box Modeling 163

Shaping Using Smooth Mesh Polygon Geometry 164

Multi-Cut with Edge Flow 175

Slide Edge Tool 177

Offset Edge Loops 178

Employ Build-Out Modeling 179

Extrude along a Curve 181

Sculpt Polygons 185

Soft Select Tool 185

Sculpting Tools 187

Use Retopology Tools 189

Importing and Exporting 189

Alembic Cache Files 190

Slide on Surface 190

Quad Draw 193

Reduce 198

The Bottom Line 199

Chapter 5  Rigging and Muscle Systems 201

Understanding Rigging 201

Creating and Organizing Joint Hierarchies 203

Orienting Joints 211

Naming Joints 212

Mirroring Joints 215

Rigging the Giraffe 216

IK Legs 216

FK Blending 219

Rotate-Plane Solver 221

Creating Custom Attributes 225

Spline IK 230

Human Inverse Kinematics 237

Skeleton Generator 237

Character Controls 239

Interoperability 241

Skinning Geometry 242

Interactive/Smooth Binding 243

Weighting the Giraffe 243

Geodesic Voxel Binding 250

Painting Skin Weights 253

Editing Skin Weights in the Component Editor 258

Copying Skin Weights 259

Mirroring Skin Weights 260

The Maya Muscle System 260

Understanding the Maya Muscle System 260

Using Capsules 261

Creating a Muscle Using the Muscle Builder 262

Editing Muscle Parameters 268

Converting the Smooth Skin to a Muscle System 270

Sliding Weights 272

The Bottom Line 273

Chapter 6  Animation Techniques 275

Working with Deformers 275

ShrinkWrapping Geometry 275

Using Textures to Deform Objects 278

Delta Mush 281

Animating Facial Expressions Using Blend Shapes 283

Creating Blend Shape Targets 286

Creating Blend Shapes 292

Painting Blend Shape Weights 294

Adding Targets 297

Animating a Scene Using Nonlinear Deformers 298

Creating a Wave Deformer 299

Squashing and Stretching Objects 300

Twisting Objects 302

Creating a Jiggle Effect 304

Applying Jiggle Deformers 304

Painting Jiggle Weights 305

Optimizing Animations with the Geometry Cache 307

Creating a Geometry Cache 307

Editing the Cache Playback 308

Applying Motion Capture 309

The Bottom Line 311

Chapter 7  Lighting with mental ray 313

Shadow-Casting Lights 313

Shadow Preview 314

Depth Map Shadows 316

mental ray Shadow Map Overrides 320

Raytrace Shadows 322

Indirect Lighting: Global Illumination 323

Color Bleeding 326

Indirect Illumination: Final Gathering 326

Light-Emitting Objects 327

Using Lights with Final Gathering 331

Image-Based Lighting 332

Enabling IBL 332

IBL and Final Gathering 333

Physical Sun and Sky 335

Enabling Physical Sun and Sky 335

Editing the Sky Settings 337

mental ray Area Lights 338

Light Shaders 341

Physical Light Shader 341

Tone Mapping 343

Photometric Lights and Profiles 344

The Bottom Line 345

Chapter 8  mental ray Shading Techniques 347

Shading Concepts 347

Diffusion 350

Reflection 351

Refraction 351

The Fresnel Effect 353

Anisotropy 353

Layering Shaders 354

Creating Reflections and Refractions 355

Creating Metals and Plastics 362

Adding Shaders to Individual Polygons 364

Building a Layered Car Paint Shader 365

Base Parameters 367

Flake Parameters 369

Specular Reflection Layer 370

Glossy Reflection Parameters 370

The Bottom Line 371

Chapter 9  Texture Mapping 373

UV Texture Layout 373

What Are UV Texture Coordinates? 374

Mapping the Giraffe Leg 376

Unfolding UVs 381

Mapping the Giraffe Head 38