Maya is a complex
software, and getting the right information can be vital. There are
plenty of books that cover the different aspects, such as modeling,
rendering and scripting. However, Maya Plugin Power focuses
on something completely different: Maya plugins. One thing you should keep in mind, though, is that the book
isn’t meant to turn you into a Maya Plugin Master. You will
learn how the different tools dedicated to that specific plugin
work, and also the overall workflow, but you won’t learn
everything down to the last trick. At the end of the book there are some links to some plugins not covered in the book (for example: TSplines, Glu3D, DNT, and MuscleTK, among others) as well as third party applications (such as Mudbox). There’s also a reference table that shows what platforms the plugins run on. While some plugins, such as Syflex or Shave and Haircut, are multiplatform, some others aren’t, like Craft Director Tools. Although it is fine that they are at least mentioned, I believe that some tools should have been covered in the book, like TSplines which even won a technical achievement in 2006 at SIGGRAPH, not to mention that it’s one of the most versatile modeling systems out there. The book also includes an accompanying DVD with supporting files meant to be used when following the tutorials. However, the DVD doesn’t include demo versions of the plugins, because, according to the author, they would have taken too much space. Maya Plugin Power offers a nice source of information about what plugins are currently available. The downside is the fact that some very good plugins were left out, as well as some nice stand-alone applications. I don’t consider that it would have been too vital to save a few pages if we could have a little more information about other tools, since some books like Mel Scripting for Maya Animators are almost twice as thick. If you want to have a quick reference guide with information about the different Maya plugins, this book is for you. However, if you expect it to be an all-in-one in-depth learning experience, you can skip this one altogether. Available from: Amazon Barnes & Noble Animation Alley is a regular featured column with Renderosity Staff Columnist Sergio Rosa [nemirc]. Sergio discusses on computer graphics software, animation techniques, and technology. He also hosts interviews with professionals in the animation and cinematography fields. |
June 30, 2008
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