What You Will Need

For starters, of course, you'll need a license for Maya or the Maya PLE (the free Personal Learning Edition) for Windows or Macintosh installed on your computer. For advanced features like Fluids, you will need Maya Unlimited. See Maya's documentation for instructions on installing the program.

In terms of hardware, Maya's incredible power comes at a price. Maya is the most resource-intensive software I know of, so I recommend beefing up your machine with as much RAM and processor power as you can manageyou'll definitely notice the difference.

Another very important aspect is what kind of display card you use with Maya. You can visit the Alias Web site (www.alias.com) and go to the support section for Maya to find the most current list of qualified display cards. For Windows, Nvidia Quadro 4 XGL and Quadro FX cards are highly recommended. ATI FireGL cards are also supported, as well as a few 3Dlabs cards. See the Alias Web site for specific models and driver versions. For Mac, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Special Edition is recommended. Always check the card manufacturer's Web site for driver updates, since out-of-date drivers are often shipped with cards.

Also, be aware that Maya requires a three-button mouse, since the middle mouse button is used as a Virtual Slider feature for many functions. Where possible, we've offered alternatives for anyone who only has a two-button mouse, but any serious Maya user will want to purchase a three-button mouse.

Check out the Maya documentation for minimum system requirements or visit the Alias Web site.