beginner looking for advice
 

hello! i am totaly new on both maya, and the forum.

i just got maya, and i know pretty much nothing about it!

i know theres the free tutorials, but they kinda seem like they require a basic understanding of the interface, and so on (which i dont have), so i was wondering if you could give me some beginner tips, or a learning path, or something i can learn from while getting points for those cool video tutorials!

hope you can help me out here!
in advance: Thanks :D

-Craksy

The free one will explain a lot of the tools and interface you will be using most often.. Should help ya get your feet wet...

go to Maya, on top with the menu click help, then click tutorials

if you're still having trouble finding the inbuilt tutorials i think they are the same as these ones here
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...linkID=9242256

also when maya starts up you get the option to watch the opening tutorials that take you around the basics of the interface

one thing you'll ask is 'wheres the f*ing modelling menu set?!' like a lot of people :p
and this probably wont mean much to you now since you said you don't know anything about it, but when someone refers to the modelling menu set they are refering to an old interface. it got split up into polygons and sufraces menu set
you can figure out what menu set you should be using just by the names of the tools and functions that are being used

i'm trying to avoid being overly technical and scientific... is it working? :confused:

i have worked with 3D modeling before so i understand most of the terms used :P
its more the interface, and those function (like nurbs, and those cool effects) that isnt in freeware programs like blender!

i saw some tutorials, and played around a little and i managed to make a (terible ugly looking) bottle :D
though i still dont know how to open the material editor :P

but i think ill get it with some practising!
even though i dont quite understand it yet, it looks pretty simple, so i think ill pick it up fast!

anyway thanks for the replies :D
and sorry for my horrible english -.-

-Craksy

EDIT:

after waching a few tutorials, i got some questions:

1. how do i, when i create meshes from the create menu, make them apear in the center, instead of having to drag them on to the grid?

2. i havent been able to find the "modeling" menu set. has it been renamed, or removed in maya 8 or something?
i also checked the custom menu set thingy, and i wasnt able to find the "edit polygon" menu? is that the same as "edit mesh" menu?

in advance: thanks :D

I don't know about Maya being simple lol but welcome to SimplyMaya and by the way, your English is actually pretty good. If you hide a part of the interface while you're clicking around, to get it back, just go to Display> UI Elements and check off whatever it is that you hid or Restore UI Elements.

i told you you would pop that question :p

and i even told you the solution


like i said, look at the inbuilt tutorials and the video tutorials that appear at you when you start up maya, because then you'll know the interface well....

Hi , welcome to Simply Maya...to get your created geometry to appear at the origin instead of click dragging go to the create menu and at the bottom turn off interactive creation, you will have to do this in both the create polygon primatives menu and create nurbs primitives menu.

oh!
i guess i dint notice before, because it was before i even knew what a menu set was!

but i got most of the interface down, so i think ill just start practising!

and btw, nurbs are so nice to work with! its easy and it keeps it simple while working, instead of having a ton of polygons!
wonder why i have never seen this feature in other modeling programs :O


anyway: thanks for the replies, helped me alot