The Game Animator's Guide to Maya

The Ultimate Resource for Professional Game AnimatorsGame animation is a demanding art. Not only do you have to deliverrealistic, beautiful animations, but you have to do so under strictreal-time, video-game constraints. The Game Animator's Guide toMaya is your focused resource for using Maya to createprofessional-level game animations for console and PC games.Written by a game industry veteran and featuring interviews withprofessional animators and artists from around the country, thisfocused book features specific, detailed, real-world game animationtechniques. It's the perfect reference and tutorial for thoselooking to develop or refine their game animation skills.The enclosed CD features more than $3000 worth of exclusivecontent, including models, high-resolution textures, animations,concept art, and animation reference videos. It also includes theMaya Personal Learning Edition and project files so you cancomplete the hands-on tutorials.The Game Animator's Guide to Maya gives you an insider's view ofthe animation business and teaches the skills necessary to animateeverything from characters to vehicles to lip-synching audio.First, you'll get an introduction to the industry and typical gamedevelopment pipelines, then learn rigging and animation basicsbefore moving on to advanced techniques and the detailed tutorials.Inside, you'll find:* Game Career Guide: Industry information, demo reel advice, jobdescriptions, game asset pipeline overview* Animation Techniques: detailed explanation of animation terms,techniques, tools, concepts, and editors* Rigging and Animation Setup: IK and FK, joint hierarchies,skeleton controls, constraints, selection handles, and more* True Game Animation: real-world assignments that mimic theday-to-day jobs of professional game animators--walk cycles, runcycles, idle cycles, action sequences, lip-synching to audio, andmore