Who This Book Is Not For

Maya is a robust 3D program that includes many different tools for every aspect of the 3D production process. The focus of this book is on how to model and set up 3D characters for animation. Although this book shows you how to create the controls essential for animating a 3D character, it is not a how-to-animate book. If you want to learn how to animate your character, consider buying George Maestri's Digital Character Animation books. This book also does not cover in detail the lighting, texturing, and rendering aspects of the 3D production process. Two books that cover these skills in detail are Digital Lighting and Rendering by Jeremy Birn, and Digital Texturing and Painting by Owen Demers.