The Perfect Primer on Maya 2014 Autodesk Maya is a top choice for 3D professionals who create the stunning characters and visual effects you see in today's films, games, commercials, and other animation. If you want to begin developing professional-level Maya and 3D skills, the new edition of this top-selling book is the best place to start. Building from the ground up, this book combines straightforward text with practical examples, making it easy to absorb the basics and start designing and animating your own digital models and scenes. The fun and challenging step-by-step lessons, along with the downloadable project files, enable you to learn by doing and gain confidence. This book also includes a beautiful full-color insert with striking examples from talented new Maya users to inspire you. Learn CG and 3D core concepts and production workflows Get a fast, thorough lesson on Maya 2014's user interface, menus, and plug-ins Build a simple animation of the planets in the solar system, right away Explore the basics of NURBS, polygons, modeling, and new NEX tools Create a decorative box, a steam locomotive, a starfish, a child's table lamp, and more Rig for animation and use nCloth to create cloth motion, such as a flag blowing in the wind Master HDRI lighting, mental ray rendering, dynamics, simulations, and effects Use the new Modeling Toolkit to create models quickly and efficiently Using lights and an HDRI, you'll light the scene that you've built.