Maya studio projects photorealistic characters ; [your project guide to creating photorealistic characters with Maya

Create realistic characters with Maya tools and this project-based book Maya character generation tools are extremely sophisticated, and there's no better way to learn all their capabilities than by working through the projects in this hands-on book. This official guide focuses on understanding and implementing Maya's powerful tools for creating realistic characters for film, games, and TV. Use a variety of tools to create characters from skeleton to clothing, including hairstyles and facial hair, and learn how to use Performance Capture. A DVD includes supplementary videos, project support files, textures, tools, professional shaders, and more. This project-based book focuses on Maya's powerful tools for creating realistic characters for TV, film, and games Covers key techniques necessary to make a character work in a professional setting: texturing, sub-surface scattering, hair, fur, homemade motion-capture, muscle systems, and clothing Includes a DVD featuring supplementary videos, project support files, textures, tools, professional shaders, and more An Autodesk Official Training Guide Maya Studio Projects: Photorealistic Characters is an excellent training aid for both Maya newcomers and seasoned pros.

Create realistic characters with Maya tools and this project-based book

Maya character generation tools are extremely sophisticated, and there's no better way to learn all their capabilities than by working through the projects in this hands-on book. This official guide focuses on understanding and implementing Maya's powerful tools for creating realistic characters for film, games, and TV. Use a variety of tools to create characters from skeleton to clothing, including hairstyles and facial hair, and learn how to use Performance Capture. A DVD includes supplementary videos, project support files, textures, tools, professional shaders, and more.

• This project-based book focuses on Maya's powerful tools for creating realistic characters for TV, film, and games
• Covers key techniques necessary to make a character work in a professional setting: texturing, sub-surface scattering, hair, fur, homemade motion-capture, muscle systems, and clothing
• Includes a DVD featuring supplementary videos, project support files, textures, tools, professional shaders, and more
• An Autodesk Official Training Guide

Maya Studio Projects: Photorealistic Characters is an excellent training aid for both Maya newcomers and seasoned pros.

"The bar keeps getting higher for Maya artists to create human characters that look more, well, human. Autodesk Maya 2012 has the sophisticated tools to make realistic characters, but human artists still need to know how to harness them to get results that audiences believe. Maya Studio Projects: Photorealistic Characters is an all-projects book that shows you how to use Maya 2012's tools to make realistic characters that are ready for professional-level films, videos, and games. Start with a skeleton to create a character; build a facial rig; create different hair styles; use Maya's Fur to create swarthy facial hair such as a beard; experiment with textures and nParticles; fashion your character's shirt and bomber jacket using Maya's nCloth; and understand the process of Performance Capture. Projects serve as a guide for readers to complete their own version. Each project comes with starter, intermediate, and final Maya scene files to validate results, as well as real-world videos for reference. The projects are ideal for professionals already in the field who want to enhance their skill set and also for advanced students who are getting ready to break into the field"-- Provided by publisher Maya Studio Projects Photorealistic Characters 1 Acknowledgments 9 About the Author 11 Contents 13 Introduction 15 Who Should Read This Book 15 How to Use This Book 16 Contacting the Author 17 Chapter 1: Character Skeletons 21 Character Pipeline 22 Weighting 28 Motion Capture 36 Summary 54 Chapter 2: Face Rigging 55 Facial Anatomy 56 Modeling Muscles 66 Muscle Motion 72 Summary 97 Chapter 3: Hair 99 Hair 101 100 Digital Hair Basics 102 Digital Hair Styling 105 Summary 137 Chapter 4: Fur 139 Fur Basics 140 Facial Hair 143 Summary 178 Chapter 5: Blood and Sweat 179 Sweat 180 Blood 192 Summary 201 Chapter 6: Clothing 203 nCloth Geometry 204 Jack’s Outfit 205 Summary 230 Chapter 7: Performance Capture 231 Motion Capture 232 Capturing Motion 239 Exporting to Maya 257 Summary 266 Chapter 8: Composition 267 Connecting Data 268 Skin 280 Shading and Lighting 288 Summary 297 Appendix: About the Companion DVD 299 What You’ll Find on the DVD 300 System Requirements 300 Using the DVD 301 Troubleshooting 301 Customer Care 302 Index 303 Gallery: Maya Color Gallery 323 Machine generated contents note: 1 Body Skeletons.2 Face Rigging.3 Hair.4 Fur.5 Blood and Sweat.6 Clothing.7 Performance Capture.8 Composition.