Ian Mankowski
June 05, 2005
An initial glance at Maya at a Glance doesn't inspire confidence. The cow gracing the cover does nothing to motivate you to pick up the title. Not too many up and coming 3D users have big dreams of making cows sing and dance in 3D. The book is however, marketed primarily at the uninitiated Maya user, and with that in mind we can pick up Maya at a Glance and see that it is actually a very unique learning and reference resource that quite fully deserves your attention.
Maya at a Glance is 171 pages of full color reference to Maya with a few basic tutorials strewn through the pages. The full color pictures help to explain topics that may have frustrated users who seek to learn Maya through other titles.
The idea of Maya at a Glance is that a picture is worth a thousand words, and the concept follows through very well. At a mere 171 pages, Maya at a Glance is one of the lighter titles you'll find in your 3D learning library, but it is easy to argue it to being one of the more valuable titles. Menus, key commands, interface elements, rendering settings, all are broken down in minute detail with arrows and diagramatic boxes explaining concepts with precision.
The end result is an extremely well put together resource that allows you to get quick explanation and comprehension of any part of Maya and its interface, allowing you to move forward with your own production faster. Although Maya at a Glance is marketed primarily at the novice user, the intermediate and even advanced user would also be well served to keep this title on their shelf as a quick reference for obscure parts of Maya they rarely touch.
Though Maya at a Glance does little in actually teaching you production workflows, or showing you how to solve complex 3D problems, Maya at a Glance should be a well thumbed through partner resource for terminology and conceptual comprehension. I find Maya at a Glance to be a particularly rewarding resource for experienced 3D artists who are just making the leap to Maya, and find myself referring other 3D artists to this title over any other on the market today.
As to be expected from a top notch reference resource, the index is well organized and put together, allowing you to find terms and concepts efficiently. The accompanying CD has the supporting tutorial files and a copy of Maya PLE on it.
Author George Maestri has married pictures with efficient explanations remarkably well in this title, it will be interesting to see how, and where he can apply this concept to more advanced topics or other software in the future. Hopefully with slightly more inspiring characters gracing their covers.
List Price: US $24.99 | Can $34.95 | UK 17.99
171 pgs.
Sybex Publishing: www.sybex.com
Copyright © 2005, Ian Mankowski, All Rights Reserved