PLE
 

Just read in "about ban..." topic what PLE can help to learn maya.
I am working in maya unlimited (but i am not a prof still) and for interest download ple5 and what do i am find: ple help is similar with maya unlimited help. What this?

My personal opinion:
PLE do not help to learn anything about maya. I am even thinking: similar help in ple and full maya. WHAT FOR I AM PAY MY MONEY!!! i think alias for huge price must to make A BEST HELP in the world. do you hear me Alias? (joke)

But actually help in maya is TERRIBLE!

and I think, you guys (who was write a "good words" about ple) even do not see ple. just talking.

the reason PLE is a good help is because you can USE it. I honestly could care less about the quality of the help documents. EVERY software's help docs suck. That's where communities like US come in.

As for the huge cost of Maya, sure it's not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but compared to all the other high-end 3D apps, it's one of the cheaper ones to obtain at $2000 US. For Complete, in any case, which has more then enough to sustain anyone. That's what I use.

why do you think i can't use maya unlimited help?

and i am talking about why maya unlimited and ple help is absolutely similar? i mean you can get ple free and you pay money for maya - but help is SIMILAR. S-I-M-I-L-A-R!!!

0$ and 7000$ THERE IS MUST BE DIFFERENCE in help!
AGHH.

PLE is great for getting your feet wet if you want to start getting into 3D. I used it for a while when I was in school and before I saved up the money for my MAYA. There a been a lot of members on this forum that use PLE and have done some really nice work.

The thing you have to remeber is that learning maya is a big envestment of time and patience, and is not just about reading help files to get good at it. Programs like MAYA take time and a lot of messing around experamenting with different options to start to even understand what this progam is capable of doing.

Im still learning new things everyday about this program and a lot of things I have no clue how to do (dynamics), when I do get stuck I reseach on the net, books, and forums like SM.

Kurt

Yes, you are right Kurt.

But I am not talking about ple good or bad.
I am talking about similar help in ple and maya!

Just out of curiosity, what do think is bad about the help files?

Do you ever working with MAX?

With MAX help for example you can learn this soft, without books or tutors, everything included

Just I think Alias try to make more money creating a “bad” help and if you want you can buy DVD, books and so on and so on.

But descreet making money by different way: you must purchase plug-in for MAX to normally work in this soft.

And Maya is really most powerful 3d soft ever.

You still haven't answered the question. What specifically is wrong with Maya's help files? I, personally, have found them to be very helpful when looking up information.

I agree with Danny on this one.

Personally, I think the help files for Maya, Max, etc all suck, although I'm able to use them with little headaches. The only help file I've liked so far is Photoshop.

I don't know,
Maya included “help” for me, is not a very useful help

You know, I like study everything by myself.
And help useful for me: first do this; second do this; third do this…
Example from Maya help:
Q: Why PainFX do not work properly with dynamics (or fluid) fog?
A: Use the rendering passes. (I don’t remember exactly answer, but something like this)
But HOW? And where?

(My brother ask my to create nature scene with fog for his desktop)
I try converting PaintFX to poly… a lot of grass and trees… I think you understand what’s happened with my computer.

You are right Mike, but MAX help is little better.
I hope you will agree with me.

Help files are not there to do the work for you....where's the creativity in that?...help files merely explain certain aspects of a whole picture.

What your describing is Tutorials...ie Step1,Step2 etc.

Yeah, that's what it sounds like. If you're looking for tutorials, help files aren't necessarily the right place.

OK, OK. You are right!

What do I mean about 1,2,3
MAX help:
for creating the earth material with "lights" in a dark side

1. Go to Material Editor
2. Create Blinn
3. Ambient color...
4. diffuse color...
5. specular color...
6 Self-illumination: Falloff: shadow/light

etc