Fundamentals of Maya

Creating Effects and Games

Motion Graphics & Animation4.7(59)9h 46m23 lectures3 sections

What you'll learn

  • Install Maya and get to know its interface and viewports
  • Apply transformations
  • Create Polygon and NURBS primitives
  • Use alignment, snapping and duplication tools
  • Use selection tools and modeling commands
  • Sculpt models
  • Draw and edit curves
  • Convert curves into surfaces and edit them
  • Practice by drawing a spiral staircase

About this course

This course teaches the fundamentals of Maya, the three dimensional modeling program used in visual effects, film and game production. It starts with getting and installing the software, overcoming the fear of a new tool, the stages of work and the right computer specifications, then moves on to the interface, the grid and moving inside the viewports. Next you learn transformations, Polygon and NURBS primitives, file handling, alignment and snapping tools, and duplicating commands, with a practical exercise drawing a complete spiral staircase. You then move on to selection tools and modeling commands such as Multi-Cut, Quad Draw, Bevel and Extrude, and to sculpting. You finish with drawing CV Curves and EP Curves and turning them into surfaces with Loft and Revolve, plus editing surfaces, with a practical exercise. The course suits beginners in three dimensional design, architects and anyone interested in games and visual effects, and needs no previous experience. By the end, you will be able to build models, curves and surfaces in Maya with confidence.

Expected outcomes

  • Ability to use the software to create professional 3D designs.
  • Building models using advanced modeling tools.
  • Understanding how to modify surfaces and curves to create complex designs.
  • Applying acquired skills in various 3D projects.
  • Mastering sculpting tools to enhance details and add realism to models.

Learner reviews

These reviews are from learners who bought the content and completed at least 50% of it — there are no reviews from anyone who hasn't gone through the material.
4.7
★★★★★
59 reviews
5★
45
4★
11
3★
3
2★
0
1★
0

    Course content

    1

    Basics

    10 lectures
    1. Getting the program and installing itExplains how to get Maya for free from the Autodesk website with a new student account, then download, install and activate it with the serial number and product key, noting that activation length varies by program.15:13
    2. Breaking the fear and working stages inside the programWalks through the main stages of working in Maya on a nearly complete project: modeling, rigging with a skeleton, animation, and rendering, so learners see the big picture before the details.18:42
    3. Optimal Device Specifications for the ProgramDefines the right computer specs for Maya and 3D software through four key parts: RAM, storage (SSD and HDD), the CPU and the GPU, with advice on choosing each part according to budget.39:39
    4. Introduction to the Program InterfaceIntroduces the Maya interface: setting screen resolution, toolbars such as the Status Line, Command Line and Help Line, showing, hiding and moving them, and creating a custom workspace or restoring the default one.26:09
    5. Network and Navigation within ViewportsExplains Maya's grid and view panels: adjusting grid size and colors, switching between view cameras such as Top, Side and Front, and navigating the scene by orbiting, panning and zooming with the mouse.21:18
    6. Transformation Operations (Part One) Objects TransformationsExplains the three transformations in Maya, Move, Rotate and Scale, including adding objects to the scene, working with axes and manipulator size, and renaming objects.22:36
    7. Transformation Operations (Part Two) Pivot TransformationsCovers Pivot transformations in Maya: moving the pivot point and rotating around it, the Freeze Transformation, Reset and Center Pivot commands, and selecting objects by name from the Status Line.21:57
    8. Polygon/NURBS PrimitivesExplains Polygon and NURBS primitives in Maya and their components (vertices, edges and faces), how they are created, how curve drawing direction matters, and setting smoothness and displaying polygon counts.26:06
    9. View Panels and Vision AdjustmentExplains Maya's View Panels: the scene camera, layouts, saving a view with a Bookmark, showing textures and lighting, smoothing jagged edges with anti-aliasing, and switching background colors.44:49
    10. File Management and Program AdjustmentExplains saving and opening scenes in Maya, the difference between Maya ASCII and Maya Binary formats, exporting and importing files, the Output Window, and restoring the program's default settings.19:54
    2

    Poly Modeling

    9 lectures
    1. Snapping and Alignment ToolsStarts the modeling stage with Maya's snapping tools, showing how to move an object's Pivot to another point using the D and V keys, and how to assemble simple shapes by snapping to points.24:06
    2. Snapping and Alignment ToolsContinues Maya's snapping and alignment tools, including Snap to Grid, aligning points and objects, placing objects along a curve, and the Snap Together Tool for attaching one object to another.28:59
    3. Duplicate objectsExplains Maya's copy and duplicate commands such as Copy, Paste, Duplicate and Duplicate Special, setting copy offsets along the axes, deleting history, and transferring attribute values between two objects.17:37
    4. Practical application of drawing a complete spiral staircaseA first hands-on exercise building a spiral staircase in Maya: setting units to meters, moving the Pivot, repeating a profile along a curve with snapping, and converting the NURBS objects into Polygons.38:26
    5. Selection ToolsExplains Maya's selection tools for vertices, edges and faces, symmetry selection, Soft Selection for a gradual falloff of influence, and inverting a selection, as groundwork for editing models.22:29
    6. Multi-Cut/Extract/Combine/Target Wild/Fill HolesExplains Maya modeling tools such as Multi-Cut for slicing meshes, Bridge for connecting two borders, separating and combining objects, and Fill Hole for closing openings.29:45
    7. Quad DrawExplains Maya's Quad Draw tool for changing a shape's topology or building a new model over an existing one, with mesh color and transparency settings, pulling polygons, Relax options and Thickness.18:24
    8. Bevel/Extrude/Insert edge loopExplains Maya's Bevel, Extrude and Insert Edge Loop commands by editing a stair railing edge, adding subdivisions to a face, and the difference between Bevel and Extrude when shaping a model.17:08
    9. SculptingExplains Sculpting in Maya: preparing a high-polygon model, brush tools and adjusting their size and strength, masking areas by freezing them, symmetric sculpting, and using a Stamp.30:18
    3

    NURBS Modeling

    4 lectures
    1. CV Curves/EP Curves/BezierCovers drawing curves in Maya (CV, EP and Bezier), editing their points and handles, and tools such as Insert Knot, Extend Curve and Offset Curve, in preparation for turning them into NURBS surfaces.24:02
    2. Extrude/Birail/Bevel/Revolve/Loft/PlanarExplains turning curves into surfaces in Maya with Revolve, Planar, Extrude, Birail, Bevel and Loft, including each command's requirements, such as a closed curve lying on a single plane.31:03
    3. Project/Intersect/Trim/Stitch/Isoparm/RebuildExplains Maya's NURBS surface editing tools such as Project, Intersect, Trim, Stitch and Rebuild, including projecting a curve onto a surface, extracting an intersection curve and stitching surfaces together.21:41
    4. Practical application on curves and surfaces drawingA hands-on exercise designing a computer mouse in Maya with curve and surface tools: drawing the body curves, building its surfaces with Birail, then creating the wheel opening and cable by extruding along a path.26:27

    Instructor

    Ahmed Hassan Khamis

    Ahmed Hassan Khamis

    He has developed computer science curricula for various Arab universities and taught at Alexandria University. He has authored over 120 educational books in computer science.
    452K views42 courses

    Related courses