Rating: 
Summary: If your an intermediate or advanced user, no need for this
Review: It's not a bad book, but I own several books on Maya, and this one pretty much covers all the same stuff. Really good for the novice users that want to start off. I'd suggest looking at other books if you want to sharpen your maya skills rather then rehashing the basics.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a great book for beginner for MAYA
Review: Its a great book for beginner.The movie avi tutorial really make up for it.It show you in dept of every aspect uses of maya.Very clear and planned throughout.You can just foolow the avi the book mainly is just a add on for reference.I follow the tutorial it really speed up my learning on Maya compare to other books for Maya full of text but not really well cover for beginner.Foe expert to lern more skip this............
Rating:
Summary: Best book for starting Maya
Review: Looking for the one best book to start learning Maya? You've found it, this is it! The instructions are clear, straight forward and specific. You won't get lost and there are no vague instructions like in other books.
For people that already use Maya, the tutorials are a good way to refresh your basic skills. And, you may learn something simple that you didn't even know, like me!
Rating:
Summary: Yet another great book from New Riders Publishing!
Review: Maya 4 Fundamentals is an excellent resource for those wanting a hands-on introduction to Alias|Wavefront's high-end graphics software package. The book takes you through the basics of their modeling, materials, lighting and animation tools by presenting an overview and guiding you through a project whereby those tools are put to use. As an adjunct to the text a CD is provided which includes not only the individual project files but movies of actual on-screen demonstrations of the book's lessons so that you may follow the author's examples while concurrently running Maya. This is a fine book for those wanting to learn Maya's basics. References are provided for those wishing to explore more about the tremendous capabilities of this software. Readers with previous 3D graphics experience will find it easy to follow along; Lightwave and Max users will find useful appendices listing the specific similarities in the various aspects of the applications. For the novice Maya can certainly seem overwhelming in its scope - especially when confronting all the reference manuals for the first time. This book is a great starting point. Readers with previous Maya experience can certainly use this as a resource as well as a refresher course.
Rating:
Summary: Beginners to Maya... Look no further!!!
Review: Maya 4 Fundamentals---So you want to learn MAYA... well this is a GREAT place to start... This book and CD does not only cover the basics in writing... but they take it one step further and go step by step on CD... Jim Lammers is extremely understandable and makes learning MAYA fun... They walk you through designing a haunted house...and much more... I did have a hard time understanding Lee Gooding... but he only covers 2 or 3 of the 14 chapters. I found that reading those chapters thoroughly and then watching the movie helped... I would recommend this book for any beginner to MAYA. This book is not intended for the Intermediate to Advance MAYA user...
Rating: 
Summary: Professional Use Book
Review: MAYA 4 FUNDAMENTALS
Jim Lammers with Lee Gooding
PUBLISHER: New Riders
REVIEWED BY: Barbara Rhoades BOOK REVIEW: Maya 4 Fundamentals is a book on 3D animation for the professional designer wanting to learn Maya from the bottom up. It contains a tear-out card of hotkeys on the very first page thus preventing a reader from having to hunt through the book for what a key does. Beginning with Chapter 2, the book walks you through how to use Maya and interact with the CD. When the information is provided on the included CD, there is a sidebar called ON THE CD and it tells you exactly which file to use. There are tips and traps sidebars as well. Know what NURBS are? If not, check out page 115 for a definition. Cameras, rendering, lighting, polygons, materials and artistry are subjects contained in the rest of the chapters. The wording in the book gives enough detail to make understanding what is being described easy enough and allows the reader to follow along using the CD. ...
Rating:
Summary: OK for beginners
Review: Maya Fundamentals is just that...the basic fundamentals. The cover is a little misleading, showing a very technical piece and the book goes nowhere near the detail shown. The tutorials are very basic and the color examples very limited(3 of 8 pages show the book's projects). I didn't open the cd because I decided to return the book but just from what I saw in the book, I really find it hard to be too impressed. Overall, if you're a beginner and want to get a feel for the basics without too much technical details, this is a decent book. If you're an experience user with some of the earlier Maya book, save your money.
Rating:
Summary: CD is worth more than the book
Review: Page 44, Section 12, it should be Time Slider instead of Range Slider, I was moving it frantically but to no avail. Was extremely frustrated then gave the cd a shot and was delighted. So that was the first mistake of the spot that I discovered in the book on the very 1st tutorial. The next tutorial is already on Animation and Texture? I'd say this is an Intermedial Level book - FAR from the "fundamentals" as one is led to believe. I repeat, this is an INTERMEDIATE book. Beginners beware!
Rating:
Summary: Maya 4 Fundamentals
Review: Pros:
The book takes a very hands on approach to learning Maya by walking you through a modelling a house from start to finish. It also comes with a set of mel scripts to speed up workflow. To top it off all the tutorials are viewable on cd, which must have added to the workload of the authors, and enhances the value of the book. It's coverage of the modelling tools and the hypershade is excellent. Cons:
It lacks depth when it comes to animation. There's no tutorial on creating a skeleton for a character. Also lighting, which lots of people say is a key factor in making a good scene, is not covered in sufficient detail. However this is a fundamentals book and if you want more detail the manual is a good resource. It won't teach you how to make a pretty face like that on the front cover of the book, but thats too be expected from a fundamentals book.
Rating:
Summary: The very best
Review: Since 1994 I have been reading computer-based books, and this is the first time I have written a review. Maya 4 Fundamentals is the best-organized book for beginners I have ever had the pleasure to read. On their CD they have a follow along video clip of each project in the book! How easier can it get!!?? So if you want to learn Maya, but have never used 3d animation before... This is your book.... 5 STARS!
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