Starting out in Maya
 

Hey

What would be the best starting point for me, a total n00b, wanting to learn modeling and animation in Maya? :) The only thing I have that could be considered experience in the field is making a character model for counter-strike in milkshape following a tutorial. :p
Any books or dvd's you would like to recommend, or maybe a handful of tutorial websites? :)

Thanks for being here for me, allthough I haven't needed you yet, i sure will when i get going. :)
~Lennart

Im also a newb to maya and I like to use video tuts. They show you step by step on what to do. But on books you have to keep re-reading them so then you can make sure you get it all and the pictures in them are hard to see sometimes. The video tutorials are really good here on this web site.

you should try out the free beginner video tutorials that you can find at simply maya, digital-tutors and 3d-palace. if you are just starting with maya, then there is no need to buy books or videos yet, in my opinion.

Thanks a bunch. :)

thanks alot

If your doing this as a hobbiest, I'd suggest either the simply maya DVDs or digital tutors, if you're thinking of doing more with it, I'd point you to 3dbuzz.com, they have a good fundamentals set where you get 82 hours of training (don't be fooled by the name, it does more then just fundamentals), in which you do 3 projects, a bouncing ball type animation, a space ship abducting objects on earth animation and a mech battle animation.