Hey I just downloaded Maya Personal Learning Edition. ANyone know where I can find a starter's guide? Also is my Radeon 9700 Pro suitable or should I try to mod or switch into GF Quadro/Fire GL? Thanksss.
Maya
- Thread starter FearoftheNight
- Start date
Does the PLE come with help files? Because I had a chance to use the real thing for a little while, and it had some very good help files, short movies, and tutorials included. If it has those, I would recommend them. Otherwise, please speak to my best friend and see what he has to say. 
google it, there are tons of sites with tuts, and im pretty sure they included some with that software
Oh I know they are around and the site has some. I just wondered what was the best for a total Maya Newbie. I don't even know what I can do with it.
You have a lot to explore...
I taught myself how to use 3ds Max...and I'm still exploring parts of the program I've never used before. I think a good place to start is to make youreself a simple goal, like this:
"I want to make a wooden sphere that orbits a metallic pyramid"
Then, look at tutorials on texturing, object creation, and animation. Small projects with focused goals will help you get where you need to go.
So basically you can make 3d objects? what program can you use to open them? like if i want to send it to my friend to show him.
You can render a still image or an animation and send it to him; then he won't need any extra software.
Actually, 3D animation is a good way to impress girls... One time, I made a girl a heart out of grass and flowers that blossomed up from the ground. Pretty simple to make, but it looks very impressive. Oh yeah, did I mention that you can make a lot of money off of it? (if you have a commercial version)
Whoo teach me plz? (^_^) Uhh the commercial version....I think I can have that arranged
. Just teach and I will learn. kakakka...I only know how to use 3ds Max...I tried Maya out for a little bit, but I didn't find it useful for the type of animation that I did (architectural visualization).
And just because you can 'get' a commercial version doesn't mean you can make money off of it...someone still has to hire you, and they're gonna want accountability for all your software.
And just because you can 'get' a commercial version doesn't mean you can make money off of it...someone still has to hire you, and they're gonna want accountability for all your software.
Lol I'm a pre-med student. I don't need to make money. I just want to make cool stuff. How hard is it to learn to make stuff? Big learning curve?
HUGE learning curve. Like I said before, you have to take baby steps...but there will be a point where you finally see how everything within the software works together. At that point in time, it becomes more that just a "cool" program, it becomes an immensly powerful content creation tool.
I have no real Maya experience, and I think that 3ds Max is more beginner friendly (as if there is such a thing as a "beginner friendly" 3D animation program), but I do know that there are plenty of Maya users out there to help you. Most programs have extensive support and learning networks...one of the best sites I've been to is 3D Cafe. They have a nice collection of tutorials under their 'free stuff' section that really target beginners. I would start there; tutorials are a nice way to navigate your way through an amazingly complex animation package.
After you complete a few tutorials, think about something you could make that would combine the skills you just learned. Then, using the tutorials as a guide, start trying to build your way up to that goal.
I have no real Maya experience, and I think that 3ds Max is more beginner friendly (as if there is such a thing as a "beginner friendly" 3D animation program), but I do know that there are plenty of Maya users out there to help you. Most programs have extensive support and learning networks...one of the best sites I've been to is 3D Cafe. They have a nice collection of tutorials under their 'free stuff' section that really target beginners. I would start there; tutorials are a nice way to navigate your way through an amazingly complex animation package.
After you complete a few tutorials, think about something you could make that would combine the skills you just learned. Then, using the tutorials as a guide, start trying to build your way up to that goal.
Hmm interesting. I dunno do you think I should bother? I mean this isnt' a job for me. I just want to do some "cool" stuff. But I don't want it to be liek a whole class I'm learning.
Unless you really have a passion for wanting to make something cool, I would say not to bother. When I first saw the opportunity to learn 3D animation, I jumped on it, because I really thought it was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen. A lot of time and effort goes into learn 3D animation by yourself.
You can give it a try, but unless you work really hard, I don't think it will be as cool as you think it is. On the other hand, if you put effort into it, 3D animation is freaking awesome...you can create anything your mind can dream up.
You can give it a try, but unless you work really hard, I don't think it will be as cool as you think it is. On the other hand, if you put effort into it, 3D animation is freaking awesome...you can create anything your mind can dream up.
Ok thanks. I know this is gonna be a tough question. What kind of a time commitment are we talking about to start getting things? A few hrs. A few hrs a day for a week? Month? I just want to create cool video clips...either to show people...or for like little presentations....stuff like that....is there a place where I can see samples of other people's work to see what Maya is capable of at a home user level? I also notice you have a GF3 is that sufficient?
Maya works "ok" for simpler models even with my old Radeon SDR PCI. However, you will want a fast processor, as that makes a big difference.
Year
For what you are looking for, I think you are in way over your head with Maya. For your purposes, you would likely be better off picking up some of the older MetaCreations titles(Bryce, Poser, Infini-D) and playing around with those for a bit before commiting too much time and energy. When they become the limiting factors for you, then you could move up to Rhino or trueSpace, then the next step(and its a big one) would be 3DSM or Lightwave, and when those become limiting(if it ever happens) then you could look to something like Maya.My general rule of thumb is if you don't know why you need a particular 3D app, you want to stay far away from anything with a four figure price tag(let alone five)
Not because you wouldn't be capable of it mind you, its simply the effort it takes to create a simple animation in Maya is several orders of magnitude greater then doing so with something like Bryce or Poser for someone new to 3D viz. You could likely get a decent looking animation together inside of your first week using one of the lower end packages(within a few minutes if you were to drop down to the level of something like Simply3D, although you would likely be limited by that within an afternoon ), you may never do it with the higher end offerings if you don't really get in to it(too frustrating/confusing to do simple things etc).Getting into 3d animation/creation takes a long time. Probably 3 to 6 months to get completely familiar with the interface and all the aspects of it and then a year to be able to make some more complex things. This is with rather habitual use and depends how serious you are.
I would suggest starting off small with less intensive programs that offer a lot of help.
When I first got into 3d animation I used a free program called blender (you can get it here). There are a wide array of free tutorials to help you out. It is a very good 3d program, plus the fact that it is free.
Also you may want to get Bryce [5]. It is a very simple program to learn (maybe a day of two to learn the interface). It's easy to use and can be very powerful if you get good at it. Mainly for landscape drawings, but you can make some very cool stuff with it.
The benefit, for me, to using Blender, was that it got me into 3d animation. It was an easy transition, I felt, to then move to 3dsmax. I knew the 3d interface and how to create good 3d images. So I felt almost like a pro.
I've been working on this for 3 years, but I haven't been doing much lately as I have been focusing on webpage design and I mostly use photochop (which is extremely powerful--ask me if you'd like to work with this, a lot a great things you can do very easily..I might add).
Hope this helps! and gl to you
I would suggest starting off small with less intensive programs that offer a lot of help.
When I first got into 3d animation I used a free program called blender (you can get it here). There are a wide array of free tutorials to help you out. It is a very good 3d program, plus the fact that it is free.
Also you may want to get Bryce [5]. It is a very simple program to learn (maybe a day of two to learn the interface). It's easy to use and can be very powerful if you get good at it. Mainly for landscape drawings, but you can make some very cool stuff with it.
The benefit, for me, to using Blender, was that it got me into 3d animation. It was an easy transition, I felt, to then move to 3dsmax. I knew the 3d interface and how to create good 3d images. So I felt almost like a pro.
I've been working on this for 3 years, but I haven't been doing much lately as I have been focusing on webpage design and I mostly use photochop (which is extremely powerful--ask me if you'd like to work with this, a lot a great things you can do very easily..I might add).
Hope this helps! and gl to you
Thanks for the help everyone. You guys are the best. I knew there was a reason I actually joined a forum online. Oh about the Bryce and stuff. Do I need to pay for those? If so how much? Is there a demo version? I mean Bryce is free and I dled Maya PLE because it was free too.
Yea and I think Maya is over my head. I just spent like 1/2 hr just poking at the different buttons. They say its sposed to be easy on the Alias Wavefront website but it just seems hard as hell to me.
-Fear
Oh about the Bryce and stuff. Do I need to pay for those? If so how much? Is there a demo version? I mean Bryce is free and I dled Maya PLE because it was free too. Yea and I think Maya is over my head. I just spent like 1/2 hr just poking at the different buttons. They say its sposed to be easy on the Alias Wavefront website but it just seems hard as hell to me.
-Fear
Don't feel too bad. It took me a week to learn how to create simple objects in Maya, and then at least another week to figure out texturing and rendering. I gave up after that, having not learned any animation or other concepts.Originally posted by: FearoftheNight
Thanks for the help everyone. You guys are the best. I knew there was a reason I actually joined a forum online.
-Fear
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