Hot Maya How-Tos


How To: Model a human body in Maya
This tutorial series shows you how to model anatomy of the human body in Maya and gives specific tips on how to eventually be able to do it from memory. Part one starts with the head, part two the torso, part 3 the legs, part four the foot, part 5 the arm, part 6 attaching the parts and part 7 modeling hands.

How To: Create a Helix-Shaped NURBS Curve in Maya
There are several ways you can go about creating your NURBS helix curve in Maya; I will demonstrate the two easiest ones.

How To: Insert joints in a joint chain in Maya
If you are working on characters or rigs, you are definitely working with joints. This video shows you how to insert a join in a joint chain if you need more or happened to miss one.

How To: Animate a bouncing ball in Maya
The bouncing ball animation is a classic beginning point for animating in every 3D software package. This tutorial shows you how to do it in Maya. Part two will concentrate on keyframes. Part three will turn the bouncing ball into a character set. Part four will cover using the Trax editor when animating.

How To: Morph characters like Mystique in Maya
The sampler deformer tool is a great way to blend or "morph" characters or objects. In this tutorial you'll see how to use this tool with an example from X-Men and the character Mystique. Morph characters like Mystique in Maya.

How To: Test Photoshop-made textures in Maya 7
This Maya 7 video tutorial teaches you how to test Photoshop-made textures in Maya 7 from Autodesk. This video is from the "Tiling Textures" course.

How To: Set up image planes in Maya
If you plan to do a lot of modeling in Maya, you will find it is easier if you set up reference images on image planes. This tutorial shows you how to create and set up image planes in Maya.

How To: Model a mech robot in Maya
Jason Welsh shows you how to model a mech robot in Maya.

How To: Produce a 3D house/building model using Maya
Autodesk Maya, affectionately known as just Maya to its users, is a 3D computer graphics software that makes it easy to create impressive, realistic models of real-life - or imagined - objects. Super useful for graphic designers, film makers and web designers, the program is one that you should study if you're looking to go into one of the fields above.

How To: Smooth shade (Gouraud) objects in Maya
Smooth shading and make all the difference in the quality of your graphics - this is especially true with the increasingly popular HD video and computer formats. If you would like to know how to use Maya to smooth and shade your objects, follow along with this video. You will get a step by step walkthrough.

How To: Create a Simple Procedural Brick Texture in Maya
This is a guide to making a very simple procedural texture for Maya. As with all procedural textures, the basic texture can be refined and added to.

How To: Turn a 3D Model in Maya into a 3D Print
When turning your 3D model into a 3D print, Maya requires some extra editing before you end up with a printable piece: the wall thickness needs to be checked, the model needs to be watertight, and your final printing size needs to be defined. To make your life easier, Autodesk Maya expert Russ Ogi has put together a step-by-step tutorial about how to make your Maya 3D model printable. See more at: 3D Printing with Maya: Step-by-Step Tutorial on How to Turn Your 3D Model into a 3D Print.

How To: Model an object using the CV Curve tool in Maya
3D modeling tool Mayafrom Autodesk is a monster of a program, able to do SO many things. One of the things you'll need to learn is how to use the CV Curve tool. This will allow you to create objects with curves of any shape or dimension you desire. Let's be honest, most of your models will require curves, so check out this tutorial and find out how to do it. Maya is used in everything from small animation to feature films like Spiderman. If you want to be in the biz, expand your skill set wit...

How To: Create realistic smoke and dust particles in Maya
The key to being able to animate realistic smoke or dust is being able to master the particle texture rate technique in Maya. Once you have gotten this down, you can create any sort of particle effect, such as sand or bubbles in addition to smoke and dust. This three part tutorial series goes in depth into the subtleties of Maya, showing you how to get the most out of working with particles to lend an extra layer of realism to your project.

How To: Set up a Doom 3 to Maya workflow
This video is to get you started with the initial setup of the Doom 3 to Maya workflow. Topics covered (in order) are set up, export your first character ingame, texturing, animations on character cycles, load game models into Maya. Part 4 is a WMP video.

How To: 3D model a tire tread using Maya
Tire treads may not seem like a terribly important thing to model properly, but they are intricate and learning how to do it is a valuable experience. This video will walk you through creating a 3D model of a tire tread using Maya, specifically brutalizing a bend deformer.

How To: Model interiors using Maya
Maya is one of the most powerful 3D asset creation programs in the world. It is also fantastically difficult to use. This seven-part video will teach you how to model an interior environment using Maya. All this video covers is modeling, nothing on lighting or any of the other features in Maya, but it is very detailed and should have you modeling like a pro!

How To: Use the Soft Select feature in Autodesk Maya 2011
Want to know how to do proportional modeling when working in Maya 2011? This clip will you how to do just that using the program's Soft Select tool. Whether you're new to Autodesk's popular modeling software or a seasoned 3D artist just looking to better acquaint yourself with the Maya 2011 workflow, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For specifics, watch this free video guide.

How To: Create a water shader in Maya
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a pretty decent looking water shader in Maya without many nodes. Water materials are a great and fast way to get around creating real 3D water effects so watch this Maya tutorial and create your own water shader.

How To: Model a realistic house using Maya
Whether you're a Maya (AKA Autodesk Maya) beginner or seasoned veteran, modeling a realistic house using the 3D graphic design software is a great course on how to use your vectors and a variety of Maya tools. Whether you are an interior designer, architect or are just trying to get ahead in the game, this Maya tutorial will show you the way.

How To: Apply normal maps when creating textures and shaders in Maya 2011
In this tutorial, we learn how to work with normal maps within Maya 2011. Whether you're new to Autodesk's popular modeling software or a seasoned 3D artist just looking to better acquaint yourself with the Maya 2011 workflow, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this video guide.

How To: Use the mia_material material shader in Maya 2011
In this tutorial, we learn how to work with the mia_material shader tool in Maya 2011. Whether you're new to Autodesk's popular modeling software or a seasoned 3D artist just looking to better acquaint yourself with the Maya 2011 workflow, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this video guide.

How To: Rotate & revolve cameras in Maya
In this tutorial, we learn how to rotate and revolve cameras in Maya. First, go to create primitives on the menu at the top. Next, create a camera and pull it out onto the circle. Now, click the camera and then the circle, then hit the 'p' key on the keyboard. Now, you can rotate your circle around and it will rotate on the y axis. To set this, click on 50, then type in 360 on the 'y axis' space. After this, hit 's' an you will have a key frame. You can change the settings as you prefer, then...

How To: Easily create a normal map in Maya
Creating beautiful 3D images in Maya is easier than doing so by hand, but not by much! This video will teach you how to use Maya to create a normal map form a high poly geometry easily using the render pass feature that came out in Maya 2009.

How To: Master Maya modeling by making a 3D airplane
Maya is arcane, complex, but incredibly powerful software. It is the industry standard for 3D modeling in games and film. This video for Maya beginners will teach you how to create a model of an airplane as a means of teaching you a lot of the basics of Maya. It is meant to be watched after the previous two tutorial series by the creator: modeling a chair and modeling a toy. It builds on the lessons therein, and watching the whole series will ensure that you learn more than you would have wat...

How To: Model a biped creature in Maya
This tutorial shows you many of the different tools available in Maya for modeling a biped creature.

How To: Curve snap in Maya
This tutorial shows you how to use curve snapping in Maya. It allows you to snap to snap to nurbs curves, isoparms or polygonal edges or anything that's a curve!

How To: Create a Motion Trail in Maya 2011
Motion trails in Autodesk Maya can be very handy at times when animating your scene. Keying a bone/joint or other object every so many frames can take up quite a bit of time and can sometimes be a big hassle, too. I have found many times when I could have really used one. I also don't like to search the Internet with a question and not find an answer (at least, without paying for it). So in this how-to article, I will demonstrate going about creating a simple (or complex) motion trail to make...

How To: Preview lighting and shadows in Maya 2011
Learn how to preview lighting and shadows when working in Maya 2011. Whether you're new to Autodesk's popular modeling software or a seasoned 3D artist just looking to better acquaint yourself with the Maya 2011 workflow, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, and to get started previewing lighting and shadows in your own Maya projects, watch this free video guide.

How To: Create and use influence objects in Maya 7 or later
Learn how to use influence objects in a smooth bind to help ease your blendshape woes...or if you like blendshapes, use them to help get that extra little tweak you always wished you could have. And this guide will show you how. Whether you're new to Autodesk's popular modeling software or a seasoned 3D artist just looking to better acquaint yourself with application and its workflow, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed instructions, ...

How To: Create a duplicate of an object in Autodesk Maya 2011
Want to create a perfect duplicate of a modeled object in Maya 2011? Let this clip show you how it's done. Whether you're new to Autodesk's popular modeling software or a seasoned 3D artist just looking to better acquaint yourself with the Maya 2011 workflow, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For specifics, watch this free video guide.

How To: Use the Spin Edge modeling tool in Autodesk Maya 2011
Learn how to take an edge and spin it around a model using Maya 2011's Spin Edge tool. Whether you're new to Autodesk's popular modeling software or a seasoned 3D artist just looking to better acquaint yourself with the Maya 2011 workflow, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, and to get started using the Spin Edge tool in your own Maya 2011 projects, watch this free video guide.

How To: Construct a metal shader in Maya 7
This Maya 7 video tutorial teaches you how to construct a metal shader in Maya 7 from Autodesk. This video is from the "Game Lighting and Color" course.

How To: Create rigid bodies in Maya dynamics
In this tutorial your learn how to

How To: UV map a motherboard box in Maya
In this tutorial you will learn how to UV map a motherboard box in Maya. This Maya software tutorial covers basic UV mapping procedures and using UV's to place textures on an object like a motherboard box.

How To: Model a basic candle in Maya
This software tutorial teaches you how to model a basic candle out of polygons in Maya. Polygonal modeling is the easiest to learn so follow along and watch how to model a used candle in Maya.

How To: Use the hypershade in Maya to create materials
First off, a bit of explanation. The hypershade in Maya is a quick way to create and connect rendering nodes, which include textures, materials, lights, and special effects. Hypershade is one of the most important features in Maya to learn and master.

How To: Use hinge constraint dynamics in Maya
This two part tutorial covers creating and using hinge constraints in the dynamics part of Maya. Learn how to set active and passive rigid bodies and create a playground see saw animation.

How To: Texture an object in Maya and export to Unreal Engine
This tutorial explains how to use the Maya uv editor to set up an object to be imported into the Unreal Engine so you can shoot at the object.

How To: Use nurbs curves in Maya
This three part tutorial shows you how to work with curves in Maya. Start by learning the basics, then learn to use the curve system with polygons, then learn how to use advanced curves.