Today, I am happy to present you with a quick overview of the Maya Interface. At first glance, Maya has a very intimidating interface. The learning curve required to master Maya is very steep and someone can spend years trying to master just one aspect of Maya.
The learning curve isn't intended to scare anyone away from using Maya as the software is very robust and very fun to use. If you have a passion for 3D and modelling in general, Maya is definitely a great product to use.
As with any product, however, you must start with the basics. To help you get a fast start, I have found a tutorial from Noesis Interactive that quickly and easily goes over the basics of the Maya interface.
What really attracted me to this tutorial was the clarity of the material presented and more importantly, the tutor went over common keyboard shortcuts in Maya that will make workflow more efficient. Maya has many, many tools available and the more you familiarize yourself with the keyboard shortcuts, the quicker you will be able to get your models looking awesome.
This tutorial is little over 9 minutes long, so fire up Maya and follow along as you watch this video.
I hope by watching this tutorial you gained a basic understanding of Maya. While there is so much more to explore in the world of Maya, at least now you can be a little more comfortable poking around.
A quick overview of the Maya Interface
How to Remove a Background in Photoshop
Level: Beginner
Rating: 5 Stars
Today, we are going to look at how to remove a background from a picture using Photoshop. They process is fairly simple and with the right combination of tools used in photoshop, you will be able to use any background you please for your self portraits.
The tutorial we will watch comes from photographybook.net and it is a very straightforward and easy tutorial to follow. Some of the techniques used can be classified as intermediate, but I decided to label the difficulty as beginner because the tutor explains all the steps and in a very clear and consise manner.
So, without further adieu, here it is:
As always, I hope you found this tutorial helpful and got as much enjoyment out of it as I did. Stay tuned for more awesome tutorials just waiting to rediscovered!
How to Create a 3D City in Adobe's After Effects
Level: Intermediate
Rating: 5 Stars
If you have a basic understanding about Adobe's After Effects, but you are looking to enhance your skills with this industry product, Andrew Kramer at Video Copilot is your main source. Andrew specializes in motion graphics and animation using the After Effects package from Adobe.
Today, I looked at his newest (and free) tutorial titled "3D City." Andrew walks us through the process of creating a 3-D city at night by using 2-D photos acquired from Flickr. The tutorial is 36 minutes long and goes at a relatively fast pace, but even so, it is very easy to follow and he mentions basic steps along the way.
I always enjoy Andrew's tutorials because I love his teaching style as he always mixes light humor into his tutorials. The quality of his videos are always great so no worries about squinting to see exactly what is going on...I mean, after all, he is an After Effects expert.
So, without further consideration...here is the link to to this awesome tutorial. I couldn't embed the video this time because they are on his website and I want to be able to drive traffic for him.
3D City in Adobe's After Effects
Please support him and his website and he only releases quality material. Happy learning and see you next tutorial!
Helpful Links:
Adobe After Effects CS4 on Amazon
Adobe Photoshop CS4 on Amazon
