Maya
 

Can anyone point me to some good resources for Maya information? Forums that are quality?

And if you have knowledge of it can you point to some well done books. I don't want to buy online then get the *crap feeling when I open it to find it was written by a 12 year old.

Thanks!

The Alias website is a pretty good place to start. Unfortunately there isn't really "one" good book for Maya. The PeachPit Press book is alright, it is such a huge program that the books can't really do it justice. The book that Alias put out a few years ago really stunk as far as I'm concerned but I haven't looked at any of the more recent ones. (they also have some DVD's now that are supposed to be good)
You want to know the best way to learn Maya? Give up about (at least) 6 months of your life and spend it in front of the program (at least 20 hours a day) and that will get you started. It's really an impressive tool but it's HUGE! I mean it will really do just about anything you can dream of but learning it would practically kill you if you tried to have a life as well. I got certified in it a few years ago but if you don't do it EVERY day, you lose it fast. I really have the utmost respect for those animators, they may seem like geeks, but they're talented geeks!

You can also try to find a user group locally or maybe classes at a local college.

p.s. The problem I had with most of the books is that it only told you the steps to take and NOT "why" you would want to take those steps. Any moron can follow directions and replicate a tutorial. Learning it means you understand the principals behind the actions and that is where most of the books fell short. Oh, and they were expensive books at the time.

Yeah I see what you mean about understanding the steps. The tutorials are pretty good as far as doing something, but they don't explain the concept behind doing it... As of right now I plan on just working through all the tutorials and playing with it, same way i've learned the other stuff.

Thanks for your help!

hey,
i know a bit about maya, and it is a great program! just takes awhile to learn.. for basics, you could pick up maya fundamentals it has some good information in it, and if you can afford it, the dvds from http://thegnomonworkshop.com are also very good learning tools.
good luck!

A must have resource for Maya training is www.3dbuzz.com. Register for the forums, and you can download FREE video training for Maya (just be sure to look through the forums too). This site has training for a bunch of stuff also.

awesome site! ill be sure to check that out too.. when i'm more awake. i tried registering already, but it wouldnt let me with my gmail account, so i dunno, ill try later..

www.cgtalk.com is another good Maya (and 3d in general)

I agree with Patrick, CGtalk.com has some excellent Maya information as well as information on a host of other 2D/3D apps.

Also check out http://www.highend3d.com for more Maya specific forums.