Calling for the old beards
 

I'll post a little email conversation between me and the author of the Digital Effects Animation book here:

>>Hi there,
>>
>>I ran in to the Digital Effects Animation book at amazon. I've
>>read the reviews and the sample chapter and it really seems
>>like a book I'd want. My only concern is that it is written with
>>Maya 1.0 and 2.0 (?) I do not have any knowledge about these
>>version since my first experiment's with Maya has been with
>>version 4.0. Does this present any problems reading and
>>understanding the book as well as following the tutorials?

>thank you for the interest in the book.
>if u use the book as a step by step guide to learn maya, then it
>is outdated since the instructions are based on maya 1.0.
>if u use the book as a general guide and seek to understand
>the ideas used to create effects, then the book is still very
>relevant becasue the fundamental ideas of maya remains the same.
>Eg. The book shows how to use Ramp texture to create some
>effects. So, if u could understand the idea of how to use ramp to
>control and create nice effects, then it is useful. But if u are the
>sort who would really like spoon-fed instructions, u'll feel
>frustrated with the book.

Are there any gurus out here who have seen the birth and growth of Maya from the day 1 or someone who knows how much Maya has changed over the years? Any comments are welcome. The book is still £34.65 (+ shipping and handling) @ amazon. I'd just want to know if I'm wasting my money here.

Another two titles I'm interested in are Maya Masters The Secret of the Pros and Maya 4.5 Savvy (not yet published). Any comments on these are welcome too.

I know all of these titles are way above beginner level but I believe I'm ready to take the next step. Life without challenges is boring ;)

well, i used 2.5 when i first started, and even from there, it was a lot differeont from maya 4, the interface is different, some of the menus and tools are different, paint fx was missing, a lot of the modelling tools have improved over time, the first maya wasnt all that gr8, well, 2.5 isnt all that gr8, but if you're used to 4, you should be able to get by ok, ud just have a bit of a problem finding some of the tools