H O P P E R P E D I A ©
-Brian Hammons
MayaAutodesk Maya is a modeling, animation, rendering, and visual effects software offering film, game, television and design visualization artists an end-to-end creative workflow. Whether an artist uses Windows®, Mac®, or Linux® operating systems, Maya runs on these platforms. Maya also contains 64-bit executables for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
How to Videos for Maya | List of Maya Plug-ins
Capability Definitions:
1. 3D animation: Computer animation (or CGI animation) is the art of creating moving images with the use of computers. It is a subfield of computer graphics and animation. Increasingly it is created by means of 3D computer graphics, though 2D computer graphics are still widely used for stylistic, low bandwidth, and faster real-time rendering needs. Sometimes the target of the animation is the computer itself, but sometimes the target is another medium, such as film. It is also referred to as CGI (computer-generated imagery or computer-generated imaging), especially when used in films. To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the computer screen and repeatedly replaced by a new image that is similar to the previous image, but advanced slightly in the time domain (usually at a rate of 24 or 30 frames/second). This technique is identical to how the illusion of movement is achieved with television and motion pictures. Computer animation is essentially a digital successor to the art of stop motion animation of 3D models and frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations.
2. 3D modeling: In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling (also known as meshing) is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of object (either inanimate or living) via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model. It can be displayed as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering or used in a computer simulation of physical phenomena. The model can also be physically created using 3D Printing devices. Models may be created automatically or manually. The manual modeling process of preparing geometric data for 3D computer graphics is similar to plastic arts such as sculpting.
3. Visual effects: Visual effects (commonly shortened to Visual F/X or VFX) are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects often involve the integration of live-action footage and computer generated imagery (CGI) in order to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or simply impossible to capture on film. They have become increasingly common in big-budget films, and have also recently become accessible to the amateur filmmaker with the introduction of affordable animation and compositing software.
4. Rendering: 3D rendering is the 3D computer graphics process of automatically converting 3D wire frame models into 2D images with 3D photorealistic effects on a computer.
5. Matchmoving: In cinematography, match moving is a visual-effects technique that allows the insertion of computer graphics into live-action footage with correct position, scale, orientation, and motion relative to the photographed objects in the shot. The term is used loosely to refer to several different ways of extracting motion information from a motion picture, particularly camera movement. Match moving is related to rotoscoping and photogrammetry. It is sometimes referred to as motion tracking.
6. Compositing: Compositing is the combining of visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously called “blue screen,” “green screen,” “chroma key,” and other names. Today, most, though not all compositing, is achieved through digital image manipulation.
Programming Language behind Autodesk Maya
• Extensibility
Built from the ground-up with its own embedded scripting language, Maya Embedded Language (MEL), Maya also offers Python™ scripting, and an extensive, well-documented C++ application programming interface.
Maya Embedded Language (MEL) is a scripting language used to simplify tasks in Autodesk's 3D Graphics Software Maya. Most tasks that can be achieved through Maya's GUI can be achieved with MEL, as well as certain tasks that are not available from the GUI. MEL offers a method of speeding up complicated or repetitive tasks, as well as allowing users to redistribute a specific set of commands with others that may find it useful.
MEL is syntactically similar to tcl and Perl. It provides some memory management and dynamic array-allocation, and offers direct access to functions specific to Maya. The majority of standard Maya commands are default MEL scripts, saved in the Maya Program Files directory.
Applications of MEL
The tools designed using MEL Scripts generally come under the following categories.
• Data I/O
• Motion capture data import
• Proprietary game data export
• Scene meta-data for production tracking
• Geometry creation/modification
• Custom primitives
• Third-party renderer specific data type
• Modeling tools not offered in the base package
• Animation tools
• Muscle simulators
• Rigging/setup controls
• Crowd AI behavior
• Lighting /rendering tools
• Automatic creation of common complex Shader setups
• Pre- and post-render effects
• Making calls to third-party renderers
• Dynamics
• Custom particle behavior
• Simulated object emergent flocking and swarming
• Genetic algorithms
• Cloth simulation
• File and Folder Scene Setup and Maintenance
• User interface customization
• Custom character controls
• Removal of invalid Maya commands
• Custom UIs
Price for Maya 2011 standalone software: US $3,495.00 SRP
• Free 30-day trial download of Maya software from www.autodesk.com/maya-trial.
The 30-day trial is a fully functional version of Maya 3D character animation software that provides free access to Mayafor non-commercial use. Note: The Maya 2011 30-day trial software is only available for the Windows 32 and 64-bit and Mac OS X 32 and 64-bitoperating systems.
TechnologyOperating systems that Maya 2011 supports:
The 32-bit version of Maya 2011 software is supported on the following operating systems:
• Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional operating system
• Microsoft® Windows Vista® Business operating system (SP2 or higher)
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional operating system (SP3 or higher)
• Apple® Mac OS® X 10.6.2 operating system
The 64-bit version of Maya 2011 software is supported on any of the following operating systems:
• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional operating system
• Microsoft Windows Vista Business (SP2 or higher)
• Microsoft Windows XP x64 Edition (SP3 or higher)
• Apple Mac OS X 10.6.2 operating system
• Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® 5.4 WS
Online License Transfer System
Online License Transfer provides a flexible and convenient web-based mechanism for customers with Standalone licenses to transfer their licenses to different machines without using a dongle. This basic functionality is available without additional charge and there is no limit on the number of transfers.
Previous Version Compatibility:
Maya 2011 can access .ma and .mb data from Maya 3 through Maya 2010.
