Mastering Autodesk Maya 2014 (Paperback)

Introduction xxiii Chapter 1 Working in Autodesk Maya 1 Creating and Editing Nodes 2 Using the Hypergraph 3 Connecting Nodes with the Node Editor 7 Creating Node Hierarchies in the Outliner 12 Displaying Options in the Outliner 16 The Channel Box 19 The Attribute Editor 23 Working with Shader Nodes in the Hypershade 25 Creating Maya Projects 35 Creating a New Project 35 Editing and Changing Projects 37 File Path Editor 38 Organizing Complex Node Structures with Assets 38 Creating an Asset 38 Publishing Asset Attributes 43 Using the Asset Editor 44 Viewing Assets in the Node Editor 46 File References 46 Referencing a File 47 Bounding Box Representations 50 The Bottom Line 51 Chapter 2 Virtual Filmmaking 53 Determining the Image Size and Film Speed of the Camera 53 Setting the Size and Resolution of the Image 54 Setting the Film Speed 56 Creating and Animating Cameras 57 Creating a Camera 57 Setting Camera Attributes 63 Limiting the Range of Renderable Objects with Clipping Planes 67 Composing the Shot Using the Film-Back Settings 69 Creating a Camera-Shake Effect 71 Using an Expression to Control Alpha Offset 75 Creating Custom Camera Rigs 77 Swivel Camera Rig 78 Swivel Camera Rig Asset 80 Applying Depth of Field and Motion Blur 83 Rendering Using Depth of Field 84 Creating a Rack Focus Rig 87 Adding Motion Blur to an Animation 91 Using Orthographic and Stereo Cameras 98 Orthographic Cameras 98 Stereo Cameras 99Using the Camera Sequencer 101 The Bottom Line 105 Chapter 3 Modeling I 107 Understanding Polygon Geometry 107 Polygon Vertices 108 Polygon Edges 108 Polygon Faces 110 Working with Smooth Polygons 110 Using Subdivision Surfaces 112 Understanding NURBS 113 Understanding Curves 113 Understanding NURBS Surfaces 117 Surface Seams 119 NURBS Display Controls 120 Employing Image Planes 120 Modeling NURBS Surfaces 126 Lofting Surfaces 131 Intersecting Surfaces 136 Trim Surfaces 137 Working with Trim Edges 139 Fillet Surfaces 142 Creating Rail Surfaces 147 Lofting Across Multiple Curves 154 Live Surfaces 156 NURBS Tessellation 160 Modeling with Polygons 161 Shaping Using Smooth Mesh Polygon Geometry 161 Insert Edge Loops 166 Extruding Polygons 169 Edge Creasing 172 Mirror Cut 177 The Bottom Line 182 Chapter 4 Modeling II 183 Modeling with Deformers 183 Using a Lattice 183 Soft Modification Tool 188 Combining Meshes 189 Using Bevel Plus 193 Creating the Curves 193 Projecting the Curve 196 Bevel Edges 200 Using Curves 205 Create an Extrusion Curve 205 Extrude Along a Curve 207 Drawing Curves on a Live Surface 209 Converting NURBS Surfaces to Polygons 211 Employing Revolved Surfaces 211 NURBS Extrusions 215 Boolean Operations 217 Using Booleans 218 Cutting Polygons 223 Sculpting Polygons Using Artisan 224 Advanced Polygon-Editing Tools 229 Append a Polygon 229 Interactive Split Tool 230 Spin a Polygon Edge 232 Bridge Polygons 232 Reduce 234 The Bottom Line 235 Chapter 5 Animation Techniques 237 Using Joints and Constraints 237 Joint Basics 237 Point Constraints 239 Aim Constraints 239 Inverse Kinematics 242 IK Handle Tool 243 Creating a Master Control 246 Keyframe Animation 249 Creating Keyframes 249 Auto Keyframe 251 Moving and Scaling Keyframes on the Timeline 253 Copy, Paste, and Cut Keyframes 254 The Graph Editor 256 Animation Curves 257 Editing Animation Curves 262 Weighted Tangents 267 Additional Editing Tools 268 Breakdowns and In-Betweens 271 Pre- and Post-Infinity 273 Playblast and FCheck 276 Driven Keys 278 Creating a Driven Key 279 Looping Driven Keys 281 Copying and Pasting Driven Keys 282 Motion-Path Animation 284 Motion Trails 287 Animating Constraints 289 Animation Layers 293 Creating an Animation Layer 293 Layer Mode 294 Other Options in the Layer Editor 297 Layer Hierarchy 298 Merging Layers 301 Grease Pencil 302 The Bottom Line 304 Chapter 6 Animating with Deformers 307 Animatin