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The Maya guide for animators, How to Cheat in Maya 2012 presents everything you need to know about character animation in Maya. Fully updated for the latest revision of Maya, this book provides you with complete, step-by-step walkthroughs of essential animation techniques to increase your efficiency and speed. This is an animator's workflow in book form, written by professional animators-not a software book with a few animation pointers thrown in. In addition to all the gold-mine coverage and interviews with expert animators from the previous edition, How to Cheat in Maya 2012 also features a new in-depth chapter on the principles of animation, updated information on camera settings and animation using Maya's new Camera Sequencer tool, the ins and outs of the brand new Editable Motion Trails tool, new techniques for working with characters in multi-shot animation tests and short films, a new cycles chapter covering actions like flying and walks, time-saving scripts, and advanced tricks with the new Graph Editor. The proven \"How to Cheat\" series gets you up to speed quickly, and in a way that's fun.

The Maya guide for animators, How to Cheat in Maya 2012 presents everything you need to know about character animation in Maya. Fully updated for the latest revision of Maya, this book provides you with complete, step-by-step walkthroughs of essential animation techniques to increase your efficiency and speed. This is an animator's workflow in book form, written by professional animators-not a software book with a few animation pointers thrown in.In addition to all the gold-mine coverage and interviews with expert animators from the previous edition, How to Cheat in Maya 2012 also features a new in-depth chapter on the principles of animation, updated information on camera settings and animation using Maya's new Camera Sequencer tool, the ins and outs of the brand new Editable Motion Trails tool, new techniques for working with characters in multi-shot animation tests and short films, a new cycles chapter covering actions like flying and walks, time-saving scripts, and advanced tricks with the new Graph Editor. The proven \"How to Cheat\" series gets you up to speed quickly, and in a way that's fun.

THE PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION, identified and perfected by the original Disney animators, guide us when we make technique and performance choices in our work. They are not rules, but rather guidelines for creating appealing animation that is engaging and fun to watch. These seemingly simple concepts combine together to inform the most complex animation and performances on screen. Though some translation of these principles must occur for animators to utilize these concepts in Maya, this chapter offers a clear explanation of them and shows you how you can begin applying them in your own work.

AT ITS HEART, animation is about storytelling. And not too long after the camera was invented did master storytellers start using them to craft films. As animators, our primary job is to create performances within a scene. However, as the craft becomes more widespread and animators need to be more well-rounded, knowing how to manipulate cameras in Maya will become required for the job. Animators wishing to create short films or test animations for their demo reels also have to familiarize themselves with camera work to be able to compete for the top positions at major studios. Finally, knowing a little about film directing, editing, and composition will only help you integrate your performance choices better within the scenes you are given. Let's look at new tools in Maya 2012 that give you true filmmaking power in creating animated performances.

EVEN A BRIGHT STAR in the creative universe like animation has its dark nemeses, things that conspire to rob you of your inspiration and turn your artistic endeavour into a hair reduction session. One of the most common technical gremlins an animator has to deal with from time to time is gimbal lock. It's derailed many animations, and it just may have its sights set on yours next... But so what! You've got this book, and in this chapter all the secrets of gimbal lock and how to combat it (and better yet avoid) lie within. Put the following tools in your shed and leave behind a life of keyframing in fear.

SPLINE CURVES, or just \"splines\" (or even just \"curves\"), are the lifeblood of computer animation. They're a surprisingly efficient and comprehensive method of representing motion. Much of your time animating will be spent perusing these little red, blue, and green intertwined curves, so it makes sense to get comfortable with them. This chapter is all about facilitating your comfort. Opening the Graph editor to what looks like a spaghetti dinner gone bad can be intimidating, but we'll make understanding splines a quick study. We'll go through the simple concepts that make reading them easy and so powerful. Then some cheats on editing splines will have you wrangling them under control in no time. Get ready to meet your new best friends in animation!

SINCE THEIR INTRODUCTION, Animation Layers have been one of the most powerful tools yet in computer animation. they exponentially increase the ease of creative tasks like trying different approaches and variations, and they make working with curves much simpler and more compartmentalized. However, they're still a relatively new tool in Maya. i've met many professionals who don't even know they exist, yet their benefits can't be overstated. they allow a flexibility and simplification of animation curves that is completely on another level from how many of us learned Maya. this chapter will show you how to employ this incredibly powerful feature into what will likely evolve into a new and vastly improved workflow for you.

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS that really make an animation sing, and the polishing phase is where they happen. Polishing is the detail work; adding those little nuances that take the animation and push it to a higher level. When we reach this part of the process, we're no longer making big changes to the acting or timing or poses. We're simply going in and making everything as appealing as possible. Polishing is where we go through our animation with a fine-tooth comb, and make sure we're employing the 12 principles everywhere we can. While the polishing needs will vary depending on the animation, there are some techniques that will be called upon in most cases. those are what we'll go through here. get out your animation wax, it's time to make things pretty!