1st Edition
How to Cheat in Maya 2012 Tools and Techniques for Character Animation
How to Cheat in Maya 2012 -
Chapter 1 - Animation Principles in Maya
Anticipation
Overlap and Follow Through
Squash and Stretch
Staging (Cameras)
Arcs
Timing
Ease In/Ease Out
Chapter 2 - Splines
All cheats revised for new interface
Chapter 3 - Graph Editor
All cheats revised for new interface
Chapter 4 - Techniques
smear frames
bendy arms
Possible material for tools added in Maya 20XX
Chapter 5 - Constraints
All cheats revised for new interface
Chapter 6 - Gimbal Lock
All cheats revised for new interface
Chapter 7 - Cameras and Layout
In-depth cheats on cameras and staging, applicable to multi-shot dialog tests and short films
cheats for new Camera Sequence tool
Chapter 8 - Blocking
New project for the chapter, so all cheats will be revised
Chapter 9 - Cycles
Shorter examples of walk and run cycles with new character
Older walk cycle material will be put on the website
Tips for personality walks
Chapter 10 - Polishing
New chapter project, all cheats revised
Chapter 11 - Facial Animation
New chapter project, all cheats revised
Mouth shapes
Eye shapes
Chapter 12 - Animation Layers
New chapter project, all cheats revised
Chapter 12 from the first book is retired to the website
Biography
Eric Luhta is a professional animator whose recent credits include Bioshock 2, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, Horton Hears A Who!, and numerous television commercials. Eric has extensive experience with Autodesk's Maya, including teaching it, as an instructor for the Maya Training Program at AnimationMentor.com. He currently lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and 3 computers.
