Description

Book Synopsis
Go from ''beginner'' to ''expert'' with this professional, tutorial-based guide to Maya 2016

Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016is your professional hands-on coverage to getting the most out of Maya. If you already know the basics of Maya, this book is your ticket to full coverage of all Maya 2016''s latest features, and showcases the tools and methods used in real-world 3D animation and visual effects. From modeling, texturing, animation, and effects to high-level techniques for film, television, games, and more, this book expands your skill set, and helps you prepare for the Autodesk Maya certification exam. Filled with challenging tutorials and real-world scenarios this book provides valuable insight into the entire CG production timeline.

Take your Maya skills to the next level with step-by-step instruction and insight from the industry professionals.

  • Learn professional techniques used in real-world visual effects
  • Master Dynamics, Maya Muscle,

    Table of Contents
    Introduction xix

    Chapter 1 Working in Autodesk Maya 1

    Color Management 1

    Creating and Editing Nodes 3

    Using the Hypergraph 3

    Connecting Nodes with the Node Editor 8

    Creating Node Hierarchies in the Outliner 13

    Displaying Options in the Outliner 17

    The Channel Box 20

    The Attribute Editor 24

    Working with Shader Nodes in the Hypershade 27

    Creating Maya Projects 35

    Creating a New Project 36

    Editing and Changing Projects 37

    The Bottom Line 38

    Chapter 2 Introduction to Animation 39

    Using Joints and Constraints 39

    Joint Basics 39

    Point Constraints 41

    Aim Constraints 41

    Inverse Kinematics 44

    IK Handle Tool 45

    Creating a Master Control 48

    Keyframe Animation 51

    Creating Keyframes 52

    Auto Keyframe 54

    Moving and Scaling Keyframes on the Timeline 55

    Copy, Paste, and Cut Keyframes 57

    The Graph Editor 59

    Animation Curves 60

    Editing Animation Curves 65

    Weighted Tangents 69

    Additional Editing Tools 70

    Breakdowns and In-Betweens 74

    Pre- and Post-Infinity 76

    Playblast and FCheck 79

    Driven Keys 81

    Creating a Driven Key 81

    Looping Driven Keys 84

    Copying and Pasting Driven Keys 85

    Motion-Path Animation 88

    Motion Trails 90

    Animating Constraints 93

    Animation Layers 97

    Creating an Animation Layer 97

    Layer Mode 99

    Other Options in the Layer Editor 102

    Layer Hierarchy 103

    Merging Layers 106

    Grease Pencil 107

    The Bottom Line 109

    Chapter 3 Hard-Surface Modeling 111

    Understanding Polygon Geometry 111

    Polygon Vertices 111

    Polygon Edges 112

    Polygon Faces 113

    Working with Smooth Polygons 114

    Understanding NURBS 115

    Understanding Curves 116

    Understanding NURBS Surfaces 118

    Surface Seams 121

    NURBS Display Controls 121

    Using Subdivision Surfaces 122

    Employing Image Planes 122

    Modeling NURBS Surfaces 126

    Lofting Surfaces 134

    Attaching Surfaces 136

    Converting NURBS Surfaces to Polygons 139

    Modeling with Polygons 140

    Using Booleans 141

    Cleaning Topology 146

    Creating Your Own Polygons 148

    Multi-Cut Tool 151

    Combining and Merging Geometry 153

    Bridge Polygon 155

    Mirror Cut 159

    The Bottom Line 160

    Chapter 4 Organic Modeling 163

    Implement Box Modeling 163

    Shaping Using Smooth Mesh Polygon Geometry 164

    Multi-Cut with Edge Flow 175

    Slide Edge Tool 177

    Offset Edge Loops 178

    Employ Build-Out Modeling 179

    Extrude along a Curve 181

    Sculpt Polygons 185

    Soft Select Tool 185

    Sculpting Tools 187

    Use Retopology Tools 189

    Importing and Exporting 189

    Alembic Cache Files 190

    Slide on Surface 190

    Quad Draw 193

    Reduce 198

    The Bottom Line 199

    Chapter 5 Rigging and Muscle Systems 201

    Understanding Rigging 201

    Creating and Organizing Joint Hierarchies 203

    Orienting Joints 211

    Naming Joints 212

    Mirroring Joints 215

    Rigging the Giraffe 216

    IK Legs 216

    FK Blending 219

    Rotate-Plane Solver 221

    Creating Custom Attributes 225

    Spline IK 230

    Human Inverse Kinematics 237

    Skeleton Generator 237

    Character Controls 239

    Interoperability 241

    Skinning Geometry 242

    Interactive/Smooth Binding 243

    Weighting the Giraffe 243

    Geodesic Voxel Binding 250

    Painting Skin Weights 253

    Editing Skin Weights in the Component Editor 258

    Copying Skin Weights 259

    Mirroring Skin Weights 260

    The Maya Muscle System 260

    Understanding the Maya Muscle System 260

    Using Capsules 261

    Creating a Muscle Using the Muscle Builder 262

    Editing Muscle Parameters 268

    Converting the Smooth Skin to a Muscle System 270

    Sliding Weights 272

    The Bottom Line 273

    Chapter 6 Animation Techniques 275

    Working with Deformers 275

    ShrinkWrapping Geometry 275

    Using Textures to Deform Objects 278

    Delta Mush 281

    Animating Facial Expressions Using Blend Shapes 283

    Creating Blend Shape Targets 286

    Creating Blend Shapes 292

    Painting Blend Shape Weights 294

    Adding Targets 297

    Animating a Scene Using Nonlinear Deformers 298

    Creating a Wave Deformer 299

    Squashing and Stretching Objects 300

    Twisting Objects 302

    Creating a Jiggle Effect 304

    Applying Jiggle Deformers 304

    Painting Jiggle Weights 305

    Optimizing Animations with the Geometry Cache 307

    Creating a Geometry Cache 307

    Editing the Cache Playback 308

    Applying Motion Capture 309

    The Bottom Line 311

    Chapter 7 Lighting with mental ray 313

    Shadow-Casting Lights 313

    Shadow Preview 314

    Depth Map Shadows 316

    mental ray Shadow Map Overrides 320

    Raytrace Shadows 322

    Indirect Lighting: Global Illumination 323

    Color Bleeding 326

    Indirect Illumination: Final Gathering 326

    Light-Emitting Objects 327

    Using Lights with Final Gathering 331

    Image-Based Lighting 332

    Enabling IBL 332

    IBL and Final Gathering 333

    Physical Sun and Sky 335

    Enabling Physical Sun and Sky 335

    Editing the Sky Settings 337

    mental ray Area Lights 338

    Light Shaders 341

    Physical Light Shader 341

    Tone Mapping 343

    Photometric Lights and Profiles 344

    The Bottom Line 345

    Chapter 8 mental ray Shading Techniques 347

    Shading Concepts 347

    Diffusion 350

    Reflection 351

    Refraction 351

    The Fresnel Effect 353

    Anisotropy 353

    Layering Shaders 354

    Creating Reflections and Refractions 355

    Creating Metals and Plastics 362

    Adding Shaders to Individual Polygons 364

    Building a Layered Car Paint Shader 365

    Base Parameters 367

    Flake Parameters 369

    Specular Reflection Layer 370

    Glossy Reflection Parameters 370

    The Bottom Line 371

    Chapter 9 Texture Mapping 373

    UV Texture Layout 373

    What Are UV Texture Coordinates? 374

    Mapping the Giraffe Leg 376

    Unfolding UVs 381

    Mapping the Giraffe Head 381

    Mirroring UVs 384

    More UV Tools 387

    Arranging UV Shells 388

    Additional UV Mapping Considerations 391

    Transferring UVs 392

    Multiple UV Sets 392

    Optimizing Textures 392

    Bump and Normal Mapping 393

    Bump Maps 393

    Normal Maps 394

    Creating Normal Maps 396

    Applying Normal Maps 400

    Displacement Mapping 402

    Subsurface Scattering 407

    Fast, Simple Skin-Shader Setup 407

    Subsurface Specularity 411

    ShaderFX 415

    The Bottom Line 417

    Chapter 10 Paint Effects 419

    Using the Paint Effects Canvas 419

    The Paint Effects Window 420

    Painting in Scene Mode 424

    Painting on 3D Objects 425

    Understanding Strokes 427

    The Anatomy of a Paint Effects Stroke 427

    Brush Sharing 430

    Understanding Brush Curve Nodes 431

    Designing Brushes 433

    Starting from Scratch 433

    Tubes 436

    Growing Flowers 438

    Adding Leaves 444

    Create Complexity by Adding Strokes to a Curve 447

    Shaping Strokes with Behavior Controls 450

    Applying Forces 450

    Displacement, Spiral, and Bend 451

    Animating Strokes 453

    Animating Attribute Values 455

    Adding Turbulence 456

    Animating Growth 457

    Modifiers 458

    Surface Collisions 459

    Rendering Paint Effects 460

    Illumination 461

    Shadow Effects 461

    Shading Strokes and Tubes 463

    Texturing Strokes 466

    Converting Strokes to Geometry 469

    The Bottom Line 471

    Chapter 11 Rendering for Compositing 473

    Render Layers 473

    Creating Render Layers 474

    Render Layer Overrides 477

    Creating Overrides for Rendering Cameras 479

    Material Overrides 481

    Render Layer Blend Modes 481

    Render Passes 486

    Rendering Multiple Passes from a Single Render Layer 488

    Creating an Ambient Occlusion Render Pass 492

    Setting Up a Render with mental ray 494

    File Tokens 494

    Specifying Frame Range 497

    Starting a Batch Render 498

    Command-Line Rendering 499

    mental ray Quality Settings 502

    Tessellation and Approximation Nodes 502

    Sampling 504

    Filtering 504

    The Bottom Line 504

    Chapter 12 Introducing nParticles 507

    Creating nParticles 507

    Drawing nParticles Using the nParticle Tool 508

    Spawning nParticles from an Emitter 512

    Emitting nParticles from a Surface 515

    Filling an Object with nParticles 518

    Making nParticles Collide with nRigids 523

    Passive Collision Objects 523

    Collide Strength and Collision Ramps 528

    Using nParticles to Simulate Liquids 531

    Creating Liquid Behavior 531

    Converting nParticles to Polygons 536

    Shading the nParticle Mesh 537

    Emitting nParticles Using a Texture 539

    Surface Emission 539

    Using Wind 545

    Shading nParticles and Using Hardware Rendering to Create Flame Effects 549

    Shading nParticles to Simulate Flames 549

    Creating an nCache 551

    Using the Hardware Render Buffer 553

    Controlling nParticles with Fields 556

    Using Multiple Emitters 556

    Volume Axis Curve 560

    Working with Force Fields 566

    Painting Field Maps 569

    Using Dynamic Fields 572

    Rendering Particles with mental ray 576

    The Bottom Line 579

    Chapter 13 Dynamic Effects 581

    Creating nCloth Objects 581

    Making a Polygon Mesh Dynamic 582

    Applying nCloth Presets 585

    Making Surfaces Sticky 587

    Creating nConstraints 589

    Making nCloth Objects Expand Using Pressure 593

    Additional Techniques 595

    Creating an nCache 595

    Creating nCloth and nParticle Interactions 597

    Creating an nParticle Goal 598

    Controlling Collision Events 601

    Bursting an Object Open Using Tearable nConstraints 603

    Crumbling Tower 604

    Soft Body Dynamics 606

    Creating Flying Debris Using nParticle Instancing 607

    Adding nParticles to the Scene 607

    Sending the Debris Flying Using a Field 610

    Creating a More Convincing Explosion by Adjusting nParticle Mass 612

    Instancing Geometry 613

    Animating Instances Using nParticle Expressions 615

    Randomizing Instance Index 615

    Connecting Instance Size to nParticle Mass 620

    Controlling the Rotation of nParticles 624

    Bullet Physics 626

    The Bottom Line 629

    Chapter 14 Hair and Clothing 631

    Understanding XGen 631

    Creating an XGen Description 632

    XGen Library 637

    Rendering an XGen Description 638

    Animating Using Dynamic Curves 642

    Using Dynamic Curves with IK Splines 642

    Creating an IK Spline Handle from the Dynamic Curve 647

    Using Forces 648

    Adding Hair to a Character 649

    Applying Hair to a Surface 649

    Determining Hair Shape 653

    Styling Hair 656

    Start and Rest Positions 656

    Painting Follicle Attributes 658

    Modifying Curves 660

    Curling, Noise, Sub Clumping, and Braids 660

    Rendering Hair 661

    Creating Clothing for Characters 662

    Modeling Clothes for nCloth 662

    Using Constraints 664

    Connecting Buttons to the Shirt 670

    Applying Forces 671

    Painting nCloth Properties 671

    The Bottom Line 675

    Chapter 15 Maya Fluids 677

    Using Fluid Containers 677

    Using 2D Containers 678

    Adding an Emitter 679

    Using Fields with Fluids 683

    Using 3D Containers 686

    Fluid Interactions 687

    Emitting Fluids from a Surface 687

    Making Flames 690

    Igniting the Fuel 693

    Filling Objects 694

    Rendering Fluid Containers 700

    Creating Fluids and nParticle Interactions 702

    Emitting Fluids from nParticles 702

    Creating Flaming Trails 706

    Creating Water Effects 708

    Bifrost Liquid Simulation 708

    Shading Bifrost Liquids 714

    Guiding Liquid 717

    Creating an Ocean 720

    The Bottom Line 722

    Chapter 16 Scene Management and Virtual Filmmaking 725

    Organizing Complex Node Structures with Assets 725

    Creating an Asset 726

    Publishing Asset Attributes 730

    Using the Asset Editor 731

    Viewing Assets in the Node Editor 733

    File References 733

    Referencing a File 734

    Bounding-Box Representations 736

    Determining the Image Size and Film Speed of the Camera 737

    Setting the Size and Resolution of the Image 738

    Setting the Film Speed 740

    Creating and Animating Cameras 740

    Creating a Camera 741

    Setting Camera Attributes 744

    Limiting the Range of Renderable Objects with Clipping Planes 747

    Composing the Shot Using the Film-Back Settings 750

    Creating a Camera-Shake Effect 752

    Using an Expression to Control Alpha Offset 755

    Creating Custom Camera Rigs 758

    Swivel Camera Rig 758

    Swivel Camera Rig Asset 760

    Applying Depth of Field and Motion Blur 764

    Rendering Using Depth of Field 764

    Creating a Rack Focus Rig 767

    Adding Motion Blur to an Animation 771

    Using Orthographic and Stereo Cameras 774

    Orthographic Cameras 774

    Stereo Cameras 775

    Using the Camera Sequencer 778

    The Bottom Line 782

    Appendixes

    Appendix A The Bottom Line 783

    Chapter 1: Working in Autodesk Maya 783

    Chapter 2: Introduction to Animation 784

    Chapter 3: Hard-Surface Modeling 785

    Chapter 4: Organic Modeling 786

    Chapter 5: Rigging and Muscle Systems 787

    Chapter 6: Animation Techniques 788

    Chapter 7: Lighting with mental ray 789

    Chapter 8: mental ray Shading Techniques 790

    Chapter 9: Texture Mapping 791

    Chapter 10: Paint Effects 792

    Chapter 11: Rendering for Compositing 794

    Chapter 12: Introducing nParticles 795

    Chapter 13: Dynamic Effects 796

    Chapter 14: Hair and Clothing 797

    Chapter 15: Maya Fluids 798

    Chapter 16: Scene Management and Virtual Filmmaking 799

    Appendix B Autodesk Maya 2016 Certification 803

    Index 807

Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016

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A Paperback / softback by Todd Palamar

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    View other formats and editions of Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016 by Todd Palamar

    Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
    Publication Date: 22/09/2015
    ISBN13: 9781119059820, 978-1119059820
    ISBN10: 1119059828

    Description

    Book Synopsis
    Go from ''beginner'' to ''expert'' with this professional, tutorial-based guide to Maya 2016

    Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016is your professional hands-on coverage to getting the most out of Maya. If you already know the basics of Maya, this book is your ticket to full coverage of all Maya 2016''s latest features, and showcases the tools and methods used in real-world 3D animation and visual effects. From modeling, texturing, animation, and effects to high-level techniques for film, television, games, and more, this book expands your skill set, and helps you prepare for the Autodesk Maya certification exam. Filled with challenging tutorials and real-world scenarios this book provides valuable insight into the entire CG production timeline.

    Take your Maya skills to the next level with step-by-step instruction and insight from the industry professionals.

    • Learn professional techniques used in real-world visual effects
    • Master Dynamics, Maya Muscle,

      Table of Contents
      Introduction xix

      Chapter 1 Working in Autodesk Maya 1

      Color Management 1

      Creating and Editing Nodes 3

      Using the Hypergraph 3

      Connecting Nodes with the Node Editor 8

      Creating Node Hierarchies in the Outliner 13

      Displaying Options in the Outliner 17

      The Channel Box 20

      The Attribute Editor 24

      Working with Shader Nodes in the Hypershade 27

      Creating Maya Projects 35

      Creating a New Project 36

      Editing and Changing Projects 37

      The Bottom Line 38

      Chapter 2 Introduction to Animation 39

      Using Joints and Constraints 39

      Joint Basics 39

      Point Constraints 41

      Aim Constraints 41

      Inverse Kinematics 44

      IK Handle Tool 45

      Creating a Master Control 48

      Keyframe Animation 51

      Creating Keyframes 52

      Auto Keyframe 54

      Moving and Scaling Keyframes on the Timeline 55

      Copy, Paste, and Cut Keyframes 57

      The Graph Editor 59

      Animation Curves 60

      Editing Animation Curves 65

      Weighted Tangents 69

      Additional Editing Tools 70

      Breakdowns and In-Betweens 74

      Pre- and Post-Infinity 76

      Playblast and FCheck 79

      Driven Keys 81

      Creating a Driven Key 81

      Looping Driven Keys 84

      Copying and Pasting Driven Keys 85

      Motion-Path Animation 88

      Motion Trails 90

      Animating Constraints 93

      Animation Layers 97

      Creating an Animation Layer 97

      Layer Mode 99

      Other Options in the Layer Editor 102

      Layer Hierarchy 103

      Merging Layers 106

      Grease Pencil 107

      The Bottom Line 109

      Chapter 3 Hard-Surface Modeling 111

      Understanding Polygon Geometry 111

      Polygon Vertices 111

      Polygon Edges 112

      Polygon Faces 113

      Working with Smooth Polygons 114

      Understanding NURBS 115

      Understanding Curves 116

      Understanding NURBS Surfaces 118

      Surface Seams 121

      NURBS Display Controls 121

      Using Subdivision Surfaces 122

      Employing Image Planes 122

      Modeling NURBS Surfaces 126

      Lofting Surfaces 134

      Attaching Surfaces 136

      Converting NURBS Surfaces to Polygons 139

      Modeling with Polygons 140

      Using Booleans 141

      Cleaning Topology 146

      Creating Your Own Polygons 148

      Multi-Cut Tool 151

      Combining and Merging Geometry 153

      Bridge Polygon 155

      Mirror Cut 159

      The Bottom Line 160

      Chapter 4 Organic Modeling 163

      Implement Box Modeling 163

      Shaping Using Smooth Mesh Polygon Geometry 164

      Multi-Cut with Edge Flow 175

      Slide Edge Tool 177

      Offset Edge Loops 178

      Employ Build-Out Modeling 179

      Extrude along a Curve 181

      Sculpt Polygons 185

      Soft Select Tool 185

      Sculpting Tools 187

      Use Retopology Tools 189

      Importing and Exporting 189

      Alembic Cache Files 190

      Slide on Surface 190

      Quad Draw 193

      Reduce 198

      The Bottom Line 199

      Chapter 5 Rigging and Muscle Systems 201

      Understanding Rigging 201

      Creating and Organizing Joint Hierarchies 203

      Orienting Joints 211

      Naming Joints 212

      Mirroring Joints 215

      Rigging the Giraffe 216

      IK Legs 216

      FK Blending 219

      Rotate-Plane Solver 221

      Creating Custom Attributes 225

      Spline IK 230

      Human Inverse Kinematics 237

      Skeleton Generator 237

      Character Controls 239

      Interoperability 241

      Skinning Geometry 242

      Interactive/Smooth Binding 243

      Weighting the Giraffe 243

      Geodesic Voxel Binding 250

      Painting Skin Weights 253

      Editing Skin Weights in the Component Editor 258

      Copying Skin Weights 259

      Mirroring Skin Weights 260

      The Maya Muscle System 260

      Understanding the Maya Muscle System 260

      Using Capsules 261

      Creating a Muscle Using the Muscle Builder 262

      Editing Muscle Parameters 268

      Converting the Smooth Skin to a Muscle System 270

      Sliding Weights 272

      The Bottom Line 273

      Chapter 6 Animation Techniques 275

      Working with Deformers 275

      ShrinkWrapping Geometry 275

      Using Textures to Deform Objects 278

      Delta Mush 281

      Animating Facial Expressions Using Blend Shapes 283

      Creating Blend Shape Targets 286

      Creating Blend Shapes 292

      Painting Blend Shape Weights 294

      Adding Targets 297

      Animating a Scene Using Nonlinear Deformers 298

      Creating a Wave Deformer 299

      Squashing and Stretching Objects 300

      Twisting Objects 302

      Creating a Jiggle Effect 304

      Applying Jiggle Deformers 304

      Painting Jiggle Weights 305

      Optimizing Animations with the Geometry Cache 307

      Creating a Geometry Cache 307

      Editing the Cache Playback 308

      Applying Motion Capture 309

      The Bottom Line 311

      Chapter 7 Lighting with mental ray 313

      Shadow-Casting Lights 313

      Shadow Preview 314

      Depth Map Shadows 316

      mental ray Shadow Map Overrides 320

      Raytrace Shadows 322

      Indirect Lighting: Global Illumination 323

      Color Bleeding 326

      Indirect Illumination: Final Gathering 326

      Light-Emitting Objects 327

      Using Lights with Final Gathering 331

      Image-Based Lighting 332

      Enabling IBL 332

      IBL and Final Gathering 333

      Physical Sun and Sky 335

      Enabling Physical Sun and Sky 335

      Editing the Sky Settings 337

      mental ray Area Lights 338

      Light Shaders 341

      Physical Light Shader 341

      Tone Mapping 343

      Photometric Lights and Profiles 344

      The Bottom Line 345

      Chapter 8 mental ray Shading Techniques 347

      Shading Concepts 347

      Diffusion 350

      Reflection 351

      Refraction 351

      The Fresnel Effect 353

      Anisotropy 353

      Layering Shaders 354

      Creating Reflections and Refractions 355

      Creating Metals and Plastics 362

      Adding Shaders to Individual Polygons 364

      Building a Layered Car Paint Shader 365

      Base Parameters 367

      Flake Parameters 369

      Specular Reflection Layer 370

      Glossy Reflection Parameters 370

      The Bottom Line 371

      Chapter 9 Texture Mapping 373

      UV Texture Layout 373

      What Are UV Texture Coordinates? 374

      Mapping the Giraffe Leg 376

      Unfolding UVs 381

      Mapping the Giraffe Head 381

      Mirroring UVs 384

      More UV Tools 387

      Arranging UV Shells 388

      Additional UV Mapping Considerations 391

      Transferring UVs 392

      Multiple UV Sets 392

      Optimizing Textures 392

      Bump and Normal Mapping 393

      Bump Maps 393

      Normal Maps 394

      Creating Normal Maps 396

      Applying Normal Maps 400

      Displacement Mapping 402

      Subsurface Scattering 407

      Fast, Simple Skin-Shader Setup 407

      Subsurface Specularity 411

      ShaderFX 415

      The Bottom Line 417

      Chapter 10 Paint Effects 419

      Using the Paint Effects Canvas 419

      The Paint Effects Window 420

      Painting in Scene Mode 424

      Painting on 3D Objects 425

      Understanding Strokes 427

      The Anatomy of a Paint Effects Stroke 427

      Brush Sharing 430

      Understanding Brush Curve Nodes 431

      Designing Brushes 433

      Starting from Scratch 433

      Tubes 436

      Growing Flowers 438

      Adding Leaves 444

      Create Complexity by Adding Strokes to a Curve 447

      Shaping Strokes with Behavior Controls 450

      Applying Forces 450

      Displacement, Spiral, and Bend 451

      Animating Strokes 453

      Animating Attribute Values 455

      Adding Turbulence 456

      Animating Growth 457

      Modifiers 458

      Surface Collisions 459

      Rendering Paint Effects 460

      Illumination 461

      Shadow Effects 461

      Shading Strokes and Tubes 463

      Texturing Strokes 466

      Converting Strokes to Geometry 469

      The Bottom Line 471

      Chapter 11 Rendering for Compositing 473

      Render Layers 473

      Creating Render Layers 474

      Render Layer Overrides 477

      Creating Overrides for Rendering Cameras 479

      Material Overrides 481

      Render Layer Blend Modes 481

      Render Passes 486

      Rendering Multiple Passes from a Single Render Layer 488

      Creating an Ambient Occlusion Render Pass 492

      Setting Up a Render with mental ray 494

      File Tokens 494

      Specifying Frame Range 497

      Starting a Batch Render 498

      Command-Line Rendering 499

      mental ray Quality Settings 502

      Tessellation and Approximation Nodes 502

      Sampling 504

      Filtering 504

      The Bottom Line 504

      Chapter 12 Introducing nParticles 507

      Creating nParticles 507

      Drawing nParticles Using the nParticle Tool 508

      Spawning nParticles from an Emitter 512

      Emitting nParticles from a Surface 515

      Filling an Object with nParticles 518

      Making nParticles Collide with nRigids 523

      Passive Collision Objects 523

      Collide Strength and Collision Ramps 528

      Using nParticles to Simulate Liquids 531

      Creating Liquid Behavior 531

      Converting nParticles to Polygons 536

      Shading the nParticle Mesh 537

      Emitting nParticles Using a Texture 539

      Surface Emission 539

      Using Wind 545

      Shading nParticles and Using Hardware Rendering to Create Flame Effects 549

      Shading nParticles to Simulate Flames 549

      Creating an nCache 551

      Using the Hardware Render Buffer 553

      Controlling nParticles with Fields 556

      Using Multiple Emitters 556

      Volume Axis Curve 560

      Working with Force Fields 566

      Painting Field Maps 569

      Using Dynamic Fields 572

      Rendering Particles with mental ray 576

      The Bottom Line 579

      Chapter 13 Dynamic Effects 581

      Creating nCloth Objects 581

      Making a Polygon Mesh Dynamic 582

      Applying nCloth Presets 585

      Making Surfaces Sticky 587

      Creating nConstraints 589

      Making nCloth Objects Expand Using Pressure 593

      Additional Techniques 595

      Creating an nCache 595

      Creating nCloth and nParticle Interactions 597

      Creating an nParticle Goal 598

      Controlling Collision Events 601

      Bursting an Object Open Using Tearable nConstraints 603

      Crumbling Tower 604

      Soft Body Dynamics 606

      Creating Flying Debris Using nParticle Instancing 607

      Adding nParticles to the Scene 607

      Sending the Debris Flying Using a Field 610

      Creating a More Convincing Explosion by Adjusting nParticle Mass 612

      Instancing Geometry 613

      Animating Instances Using nParticle Expressions 615

      Randomizing Instance Index 615

      Connecting Instance Size to nParticle Mass 620

      Controlling the Rotation of nParticles 624

      Bullet Physics 626

      The Bottom Line 629

      Chapter 14 Hair and Clothing 631

      Understanding XGen 631

      Creating an XGen Description 632

      XGen Library 637

      Rendering an XGen Description 638

      Animating Using Dynamic Curves 642

      Using Dynamic Curves with IK Splines 642

      Creating an IK Spline Handle from the Dynamic Curve 647

      Using Forces 648

      Adding Hair to a Character 649

      Applying Hair to a Surface 649

      Determining Hair Shape 653

      Styling Hair 656

      Start and Rest Positions 656

      Painting Follicle Attributes 658

      Modifying Curves 660

      Curling, Noise, Sub Clumping, and Braids 660

      Rendering Hair 661

      Creating Clothing for Characters 662

      Modeling Clothes for nCloth 662

      Using Constraints 664

      Connecting Buttons to the Shirt 670

      Applying Forces 671

      Painting nCloth Properties 671

      The Bottom Line 675

      Chapter 15 Maya Fluids 677

      Using Fluid Containers 677

      Using 2D Containers 678

      Adding an Emitter 679

      Using Fields with Fluids 683

      Using 3D Containers 686

      Fluid Interactions 687

      Emitting Fluids from a Surface 687

      Making Flames 690

      Igniting the Fuel 693

      Filling Objects 694

      Rendering Fluid Containers 700

      Creating Fluids and nParticle Interactions 702

      Emitting Fluids from nParticles 702

      Creating Flaming Trails 706

      Creating Water Effects 708

      Bifrost Liquid Simulation 708

      Shading Bifrost Liquids 714

      Guiding Liquid 717

      Creating an Ocean 720

      The Bottom Line 722

      Chapter 16 Scene Management and Virtual Filmmaking 725

      Organizing Complex Node Structures with Assets 725

      Creating an Asset 726

      Publishing Asset Attributes 730

      Using the Asset Editor 731

      Viewing Assets in the Node Editor 733

      File References 733

      Referencing a File 734

      Bounding-Box Representations 736

      Determining the Image Size and Film Speed of the Camera 737

      Setting the Size and Resolution of the Image 738

      Setting the Film Speed 740

      Creating and Animating Cameras 740

      Creating a Camera 741

      Setting Camera Attributes 744

      Limiting the Range of Renderable Objects with Clipping Planes 747

      Composing the Shot Using the Film-Back Settings 750

      Creating a Camera-Shake Effect 752

      Using an Expression to Control Alpha Offset 755

      Creating Custom Camera Rigs 758

      Swivel Camera Rig 758

      Swivel Camera Rig Asset 760

      Applying Depth of Field and Motion Blur 764

      Rendering Using Depth of Field 764

      Creating a Rack Focus Rig 767

      Adding Motion Blur to an Animation 771

      Using Orthographic and Stereo Cameras 774

      Orthographic Cameras 774

      Stereo Cameras 775

      Using the Camera Sequencer 778

      The Bottom Line 782

      Appendixes

      Appendix A The Bottom Line 783

      Chapter 1: Working in Autodesk Maya 783

      Chapter 2: Introduction to Animation 784

      Chapter 3: Hard-Surface Modeling 785

      Chapter 4: Organic Modeling 786

      Chapter 5: Rigging and Muscle Systems 787

      Chapter 6: Animation Techniques 788

      Chapter 7: Lighting with mental ray 789

      Chapter 8: mental ray Shading Techniques 790

      Chapter 9: Texture Mapping 791

      Chapter 10: Paint Effects 792

      Chapter 11: Rendering for Compositing 794

      Chapter 12: Introducing nParticles 795

      Chapter 13: Dynamic Effects 796

      Chapter 14: Hair and Clothing 797

      Chapter 15: Maya Fluids 798

      Chapter 16: Scene Management and Virtual Filmmaking 799

      Appendix B Autodesk Maya 2016 Certification 803

      Index 807

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