learning maya - aka wtf
Over the past few years I’ve been playing around with 3d apps. Playing is the key word. The first 3d program I started experimenting with was Bryce 3d…that will date me. If that’s not enough of a throw back, then telling you I learned web animation using a program called Director, and using “Lingo” instead of actionscript should give you an idea of how long I’ve had my eyes glued to my monitor night after night.I’ll get to the point after the jump.Multiple times I’ve tried to teach myself 3d programs and there was never any real motivation other than just playing around. Take it from me, there’s no better way to learn a new software package other than telling yourself that you will use it for a real project you’re working on. In the words of the boss from “Reservoir Dogs” - ‘Just shit your pants, dive in and swim.’ You’ll learn quicker than you think.For my one of my Senior projects at the University of Oklahoma, I decided that there was no way to create my customizable baby interface unless I learned some 3d package. C4d was originally going to be the software of choice, but after I had problems with the vray render engine I had no other choice but to teach myself the most complicated piece of software I had ever set my eyes on, Maya.I’ve never seen so many buttons in my whole life. Everything is customizable so it’s really hard to figure things out and get a workflow that works for someone who is new. Luckily I found several tutorials on Lynda.com to give me the basics of using Maya. I also found some more advanced tutorials about Sub Surface Scattering, which gives the effect of light bouncing into skin etc. You have to create an account to see the videos but it’s worth it. If the videos aren’t there anymore, email me and I’ll see if I can find an archived version of the file on my HD. Pop on over to the baby interface project itself to see some of the renders. *Here’s a shrine of wonderfulness that were my experiments in bryce 3d 
