Online training for Maya and VFX artists. Join us to learn Maya, watch tutorials, and make things in 3D.
CREATE AN ACCOUNTBlow up a bank or texture a dinosaur. Build 3D lego or render a frosty pint. Projects that make learning interesting.
In this course, we look at the processes used in the film and tv industry to create reusable character models. If you have ever wanted to know how digital doubles are created in the movie industry, then this course will give you an insight into how it's done. This particular tutorial is specifically aimed at the more experienced Maya...
This tutorial at its core is an introduction to modelling real-world objects. Having issues with your modelling? Get halfway through a model and find it's an unworkable mess? Can't add edge loops where you need them? Can't subdivide a mesh properly? If any of this sounds familiar, then our course will take you through the fundamental techniques...
In this course we're going to look at something a little different, creating technically accurate 3D printed parts. Modelling techniques used for this kind of work differ from those we'd use for the entertainment industry. During this course we'll look at some of those techniques, and some of the pitfalls you will come across when...
In this tutorial we conclude our robot series, by integrating our 3D model along with a photograph to create a complete scene within Maya. To achieve this we look at making a very fast character posing rig with HumanIK. This rigging method is intended for posing any humanoid character. We continue with looking at how to export...
In this start to finish texturing project within Substance Painter we cover all the techniques you need to texture the robot character.
Over the last couple of years UV layout in Maya has changed for the better. In this course we're going to be taking a look at some of those changes as we UV map an entire character. We'll cover the basics of UVing, UV organisation, and UV Layout. In the end we will have multi tile UV that gives us lots of texture space and is also easy to paint...
This tutorial contains a little bit of everything with modeling, UVing, texturing and dynamics in Maya, as well as compositing multilayered EXR's in Photoshop. We start by modeling the glass and UVing it, we then look at image based lighting and using Maya's sculpting tools to create the beer head. We look at displacement in Arnold and combining...
This course will look at the fundamentals of rendering in Arnold. We'll go through the different light types available, cameras, shaders, Arnold's render settings and finally how to split an image into render passes (AOV's), before we then reassemble it in Photoshop.
This course will look in the fundamentals of modeling in Maya with an emphasis on creating good topology. It's aimed at people that have some modeling experience in Maya but are having trouble with complex objects. You don't need to watch volume one if your comfortable jumping in at the deep end. You'll learn how to smooth objects, how to...
Some free Maya courses to help you get started.
Continuing the modelling which can be found here We look at some techniques to quickly UV an object in Maya. Scene file can be found
A tutorial on basic poly modelling in Maya 2020. This is a continuation of our getting started with Maya series and contains the information you need to make your first model in Maya. The reference image I used can be found
Continuing our getting started with Maya series we're going to walk you through the principles of UV mapping. If you've never done any UV mapping before this would be a good place to start.
Continuing our getting started with Maya 2020 series we create a custom shelf in Maya to speed up our workflow. We'll also show you a couple of scripts we use here at SimplyMaya all the time, along with how to add them to your own custom...
The first course in a series of tutorials designed to get you up and running with Maya. Aimed squarely at people with no 3D experience. Maya 2017 and up.
Learn how to create a turn table, render it out in Maya, and turn it into a movie sequence. We used Virtual Dub to put the frames together, you can download it here: http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/.
Industry news
Polygonflow has released a public beta version of GraphN, a visual programming system for creating custom tools for use inside other CG applications. The initial public release comes with a library of a hundred ready-made...
Learn more about the VFX that went into creating Miss Minutes, the digital mascot in Marvel Studios' Loki. In an interesting chat, VFX supervisor Brad Parker explains how the CG character was integrated with live-action...
Sony Pictures Animation's new animated musical adventure premieres worldwide on Netflix on August 6th. Honey bear Vivo and tween Gabi have a chance to get to Miami from Cuba to deliver a song in this story about gathering...
A new trailer is out for Ghostbusters: Afterlife with some very nice-looking VFX shots. The movie comes to theaters in November and tells the story of a broke single mum who moves her two kids to a small town with a...
YouTuber Shamook got millions of views on his deepfake video of Luke Skywalker's cameo during the second season finale of The Mandalorian. Many considered it better than the original and it landed Shamook with a job at...
Autodesk has shared a feature list for the next update to Maya with version 2022.1. Many of the new features concentrate on reducing the learning curve for new users, with two new starter tutorials, a new start screen, and a...
Stop-motion animation pioneer Phil Tippet has a trailer out for his upcoming film Mad God. The sci-fi horror film is a nightmare 30 years in the making. Tippet, who worked on the original Star Wars trilogy and...
Get ready for a prequel of Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead. It's a heist story centered around small-town bank teller Dieter, who gets drawn into the adventure of a lifetime when a mysterious woman recruits him to...
A series of three new Goofy shorts will hit Disney+ next month. The animation is inspired by the Goofy "How to" shorts from the 1940s with Disney legend Eric Goldberg in charge of the project. With the titles How to wear a...
Bond is back. The new movie, No Time To Die, comes to cinemas worldwide in October. It has a typical Bond plot, where the agent is recruited to find a kidnapped scientist and finds himself on the trail of a...
Rodeo FX has shared a legacy reel with VFX work from Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, Tales of the Loop, and many others. The studio, which started up with a team of four in Montreal in 2006, today employs more than 600...
There's a second trailer out for Dune, directed by Denis Villeneuve and set for release in October 2021. The film, based on Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, is the story of young Paul Atreides who leads the nomadic tribes in a...
Talk to our 250 000+ members about Maya. Ask questions on the forum, collaborate on projects, download textures and watch tutorials.
Model cartoon characters, design explosions, and light product shots. Build your imagination. Monthly, quarterly and annual subscription plans available.