Help Within Maya

Since Maya 4, the voluminous reference manuals are available online only. The set of documents supplied with Maya are just get-started material, such as "Instant Maya," how to install, what's new, and release notes. The online documentation, however, is thorough and detailed. Press F1 in Maya to bring up Maya Documentation. As a new user, you might want to have the documentation open all the time in the background; when you start work in an area where you're not confident about the exact meaning of each variable label or pull-down option, do a little reading. The search utility built into the documentation is fast and reliable. There's no need for confusion or uncertainty about the many (often strangely named) variables. Just look them up as you go to get a complete grasp of every part of Maya.