Get the book: Understanding 3d Animation Using Maya
Get the book: Understanding 3d Animation Using Maya

I work at Walt Disney Feature Animation as a character TD on the film A Day With Wilbur Robinson. I consider myself lucky because:
a) Disney is a great place to work, and
b) I've traded in my hour commute for a ten-minute bike ride.

I taught Maya and other in-house software at Sony Pictures Imageworks while we were working on Spiderman 2, The Polar Express, Matrix 2&3 and other shows.

Before Imageworks I taught Maya to many traditional animators for The Animation Guild Local 839 and Friedman 3D. I still teach courses at Studio Arts, including Intro to Maya, Character Rigging and Unreal Editor. I have also worked as a 3D artist for video game developer Novalogic , IBM and White Wolf Game Studio.


Understanding 3D Animation Using Maya is a self-study toolkit that will provide you with both the foundation for understanding 3D computer graphics and the specifics for learning the fundamentals of Maya: workspace, modeling, animation, shading, lighting, and rendering.
* Navigating 3D space
* Keyframe animation
* Character skeletons and rigging
* Creating surface shaders
* Sculpting NURBS and polygon models
* Surface deformations
* Rendering techniques
* UV mapping
* Realistic lighting and shadowing
Talk to the man himself.
Email address: jp_at_understandingmaya_dot_com