Maya Hyper-Realistic Creature Creation

Hyper-Realistic Creature Creation, Second Edition
Autodesk Maya Techniques / Hyper-Realistic Creature Creation is your solution for creating convincing characters in Autodesk Maya. Get hands-on experience with innovative tools and powerful industry-recognized techniques as you learn to model like a professional; set-up your skeleton in a fast and easy way; and create realistic facial controls. This book will help you achieve hyper-real characters quickly and effectively.
Get the inside scoop on high-end production techniques from industry pros Erick Miller, Paul Thuriot, and Jeff Unay! Through project-based lessons, follow Jeff Unay's process for modeling the beast, Paul Thuriot's workflow for rigging the beast's body, and Erick Miller's tips and techniques on complex facial rigging for maximum flexibility. The book carefully delineates the entire production process for the beast's creation, so that you can both understand the individual techniques and how they relate to each other in a pipeline. You will also be able to take advantage of helpful video demonstrations so you can watch the experts at work.
By examining the entire process, you will learn strategies for creating characters with an emphasis on anatomy and realism. Lessons are designed to cover effective workflows for devising models that can be easily manipulated and animated. The methods discussed in this book can be applied to any setup needs that you may have because you will learn the rigging process from the concept stage through to pipeline integration.
With this book, you will:

* Be introduced to modeling theories
* Learn how to use powerful tools like the Soft Modification Tool and the Insert Edge Loop Tool
* Learn how to create custom hotkeys and marking menus
* Import image planes and block out a character
* Create an Adobe Photoshop network
* Use automation scripts
* Understand how to use a multiple rig workflow
* Lock, paint, mirror skin weights and connect a bound rig to a control rig
* Create corrective blend shapes, and set-up cluster controls
* Learn how to create a jaw, eye and lip setups
* Discover concepts of a realistic skin shader
Included on DVD:

* Video demonstration of workflows & animation skills.
* Artist interviews
* MEL scripts
* Reference Guides
* Support Files
What you need to use this book:

* Autodesk Maya Complete 2008 software
* DVD-ROM drive