Maya Character Animation

Rating:
Summary: Great, in-depth book
Review: This book is a great book to have. It's wonderfully illustrated with glossy pages and color pictures and has tons of information for anyone wanting master Maya. The amount of detail in this book is daunting and it covers everything from different modeling techniques to character binding to materials and lighting and rendering. This is a definite must for anyone wanting to get into character animation. This is a must have.

Rating:
Summary: Not for Beginners
Review: This book is a very detailed, extremely advanced Maya reference. I wasn't especially pleased with the organization of the material, and the book can be very difficult to read at times. However, I truly did find it useful while getting the hang of character animation. It's worth the effort to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing book
Review: THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!!!

When I got this book, I spent the next two weeks almost all the time in front of my computer, creasing my Maya skills some big levels higher.
You learn about everything important about Subdivision Surface modeling and texturing and get to know how to create some awesome character setup for high quality animations.
The little Frog-Project part givesyou a good look at how to plan a short animation piece and how to get it completed in your computer.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book
Review: This book is definately the best book that i've got from Jaejin Choi. He shows you how to model 3 different character in 3 different ways nurbs, sub-D, and poly. He goes beyond the step by step tutorials and shows you from the ground up, how to use other programs to texture your models. He shows you how to rig and animate your character successfully. Paint weights on your character, and techniques that makes it easier for you to animate and make your character to do whatever you want.This book offers the best to the beginner and also the advanced user because it explains it in a most easiest way for you to understand. If you are an advanced user you will go through it in no time because it will be even more easier for you. Get this book and you will not be disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: This book is definetely the best maya book i have seen for people who already know the interface.
You could not be wrong in calling it the maya bible
Definetely worth purchasing and always having it near you
Hope they keep doing books like this one
it covers everything from modeling to shading networks to inside the networks -utility nodes :) -to fluid dynamics, very cool details
and also beautiful color pages :)

Rating:
Summary: Great book but not for beginners
Review: This book is great for intermediate users of Maya, but if you're a beginner I suggest picking up Maya Fundamentals. This book does not cover learning the interface, but focuses on polygon, sub-division, nurbs modeling, character rigging, and animation. It is filled with full color images to help you along with the tutorials and explanations of the author. It even has a section on learning whats new with version 4.5 and takes you through the basics of creating your own animation. While it does have nice color pictures, I found some of them to be too small to clearly see what was going on. For example, in an earlier chapter focusing on sub-d modeling with edge extrusions, I found it hard to see what edges were supposed to be selected because of the small picture. Aside from that its a great book and well worth purchasing.

Rating:
Summary: Good information horribly presented
Review: This book is in dire need of an editor, preferably one with Maya experience. While it is obvious that Mr. Choi posesses a vast knowledge of Maya, his skills at communicating this knowledge are severly lacking. Grammatical errors abound, and his prose is often repetitive and confusing, if not downright incomprehensible. Many of the images are utterly superfluous, and sometimes they even contradict the text. Also, on a number of occasions, the information given is just plain wrong. Going through the 800+ pages of this book was an utterly frustrating exercise, and as such, I have already advised several friends to stay away from this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not for beginners, but a good book nonetheless.
Review: This is an excellent book in terms of content, but it is definitely not for beginners. It is not a step-by-step, click-this-button guide book. You really have to work your mind to follow the directions of the tutorials. However, it is still a good buy. It has great character modeling concepts, provided you know the basics of how to use Maya. I highly recommend this to intermediate users of Maya who wants to do character animation.

Rating:
Summary: A Must have book
Review: This is definitely the best Maya character animation book I have ever read. Even though its a bit advanced, you can manage your way through and learn from your mistakes. the way every thing is illustrated makes the workflow a lot easier and faster. Another amazing feature in the book is the way the author arranged the subjects, it just makes you understand a lot better and you don't feel lost .I believe that any intermediate Maya user who is interested in character animation must get this book. Its worth it. because you learn many different techniques and achieve what beyond your imaginations.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Maya Character Book
Review: This is just a fantastic book. It starts from the basics of modeling all the way to putting together a full production animation short. The book is everything the title says, which basically means you will learn how to build and animate a character from start to finish. I do see some people complaining about the size of the picture and not being able to mimic exactly what the picture shows. I disagree, there is so much information in this book that you can't fill it with oversized pictures that take away from the content. The pictures are good enough for you to get the point. In fact more than good enough in this full color book. I love the book, enough said.