Maya 6: Killer Tips

[Tami]

Maya 6: Killer Tips
Authors: Eric Hanson, Kenneth Ibrahim and Alex Nijmeh
Review by: Adaera

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As a complete newbie to anything Maya, I was hoping that Maya 6: Killer Tips would be different from the other Maya how-to books I've ventured to look at in the local bookstore (and promptly placed back on the shelf once my eyes finished glazing over.)

I was not disappointed; in fact I was bordering on elation. Here finally is a well-laid out, very easy to understand Maya 6 manual. While the authors state in the introduction that this book is designed for the advancing intermediate Maya artist, I had no problems whatsoever understanding what they were trying to show. This book is well illustrated, with clear screenshots showing exactly what the tip is saying.

The tips themselves are not highly technical, long-drawn out explanations that only a Maya programmer would understand. They are concise and are sometimes interspersed with humour. Humour can go along way when one is ready to send Maya to the land of "click the red x" never to be seen again.

Reading through Maya 6: Killer Tips actually made me feel some enthusiasm for attempting once again to conquer the Maya beast. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who uses Maya 6, from the newbie like myself to the advanced artist who thinks there is nothing more to learn about using Maya. This book is definitely a five star edition.