Rating: 
Summary: This is where you learn how to use Maya!
Review: Ok. Where do I start? People say this is not a good book, it's not well explaned, and a lot of other bad things about the book, but believe me, it's a great book, one of the best maya books for beginners 'in Maya', not in computer graphics.
This book teaches you how to use Maya as a professional, but there is no magic, you need to practice and study hard to become a good artist, not just go through pages and pages without getting the idea of how it all works.
Don't forget you'll have to read other books too, not only software books, so be careful before judging authors and their books for being 'not good explained.
There is bad books, but in my opinion this is not one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your money.
Review: So, I was required to buy this book for my 3D modeling class at RIT, and I hope you learn from my forced misery. This book lures you in with neat tutorials for the first few chapters, but even then, you're given all the information necessary and don't learn WHY you're doing anything. Chapter 5 is downright terrible. The tutorials are actually WRONG, and the narrator of the demo video says something along the lines of "uh, the book is really unclear here, so we'll just hope this is right." It's kind of funny provided you aren't trying to finish a project on time. The best part of this book is some cool art that's been done by MAYA artists, in full color in glossy pages in the middle. Go to a bookstore, pick this up, look through those, then set the book back down and start looking elsewhere for tutorials and help.
Rating:
Summary: Unclear tutorials...
Review: The tutorials appear to be really neat when you first look through them, however after trying to go with them step by step you realize that the author has occaisonally skipped a step or is unclear about excatly what you are doing in that step making it hard or even impossible for you to continue the tutorial. When you watch the videos on the dvd to clear up your misunderstanding with the tutorial, you find that the narrator to the video is having the same problem witht he tutorial as you are and you find yourself having to backtrack your steps with him until you can both (or he can) figure out what went wrong or what the author was being unclear about. I would consider myself somewhere between an amateur and intermediate Maya user, and have only a few maya books...but I would suggest NOT going with this one. It will confuse and frustrate you more than it will teach you and while the first tutorial may prove promising and somewhat helpful, the rest of the book makes its purchase not worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: Alright
Review: This book I thought was alright. Nothing to give high praises over. I think I would have enjoyed the DVD more if the individual speaking was the actual author. I enjoy listening to videos where the instructor is speaking candid, not reading word for word from a sheet of instructions. Very monotone and boring.
Rating:
Summary: 4.75 Stars - Best Edition so Far
Review: This is the only viable low-cost training resource for people new to Maya, as far as I'm concerned. I actually worked through the first edition when I was new to Maya myself, coming from other 3D software. I received a review copy of this edition from the publisher. Features:
DVD with video tutorials illustrating the book content: Maya 5 Fundamentals bridges the giant expanse between the extremely expensive video products that have comparable quality information, and on the other side, a shanty town of lower-cost pedagogical materials that include books of widely varying quality and homemade CDR and DVDR videos that tend toward specificity and sophomorism. Hotkey tear-out card: I happen to think it's better for the student to copy hotkeys into a notebook that is dedicated to Maya, but the fact that it is included shows that the authors know what is important. Brief history of computer graphics: this book is covering the bases quickly to get everyone on the same page by chapter 2. Tips on building a PC to run Maya: they hit this issue on the head. It really doesn't take a cutting-edge machine - just the right amount of power where you need it. CG beginners using this book as an entry point into a new world of creativity will find a friend in this brief section. Extremely well organized overview for each chapter: this includes key terms, hotkeys to memorize, and a simple outline of the chapter. I'd say that the order and pacing of curriculum is better than in the first edition. The student is up and running quickly with modeling and animation, but not too far ahead of the theory and technique that make them work. Workflow tips: how to organize project folders, using auto-save, etc. This is valuable stuff. One of the hardest things on which to find good info is *how a program thinks*. M5F has this in spades. Great introduction to rendering and Paint Effects: Maya isn't widely known as a great renderer for some reason - I guess because of its speed issues and quirks - but it has much more potential for realizing your imagination than any other integrated renderer of which I am aware. This book does a great job of getting you started toward *thinking* in terms of the renderer's nuts and bolts, plus it gets you started with Paint Effects. Price: I am amazed that you can find *any* book on this subject with a DVD, color plates, professional editing and layout, and an index for this price. When you consider that this is by far the best book of its kind, it's a no-brainer. Regrets: I would like to have seen a discussion forum on the book's support site, with the authors active in discussion (i.e. free tech support). The poly modeling section chooses an approach and sticks with it. I guess this is fine, considering that the main purpose of the book is teach *Maya* - not every technique in all of 3D. However, I would personally rather see students learning box modeling, rather than the piece-and-stitch method presented here. I know a lot of people get good results from this method (as does the author in the female model example), but I just don't agree with the philosophy of this modeling method. My advice is to work through this section anyway to get a feel for the tools in Maya, then search for "box modeling" and "spiraloid" on the web to start learning the true art of digital sculpture. First edition had Jim Lammers performing most of the video demonstrations. The new edition features an artist from Lammers' animation & VFX company. The demonstrator in M5F is knowledgable and pleasant enough, but I more enjoyed Lammers' spur-of-the moment insights and exposition. It is apparent, though, that Lammers - or someone similarly talented - was responsible for outlining the book and composing exercises that illustrate a great number of concepts clearly and efficiently. There is absolutely nothing *wrong* with the video tutorials; I simply enjoyed them more in the first edition. Summary: If you are coming to Maya for the first time - either from another piece of 3D software or as a complete beginner - and you have less than a couple grand to spend on training, this is the only option, as far as I'm concerned. It is a noticeable improvement over the first edition, and a head-and-shoulders winner over anything else in this niche. I don't know where the venom in the negative review for this book is coming from. I have plenty of experience with both Maya and publishing, and this is an impressive effort. If you have any doubts, ask around on some online Maya forums.
| 
