Also try:

Learning Maya

and

Digital Tutors Maya Tutorials

but I started on the Cartoon Dog one first from here.

Big tip is dint be put off by Maya it is a complex beast but worth the uphill struggle that is learning it. Remember there is no 100% correct way to do anything in Maya, its all preference and no one person knows everything about this "game". Everyone is always learning. Pay attention to the Senior members here, they do know there stuff.


Any Image manipulation software will work, Photoshop is mentioned a lot as its the standard app used in the majority of the 3D Industry and its integration is has with Maya 7.