Hence this introduction to the package seemed like a good way to start; to just get an idea of what Maya was like; just to see whether it'd be something I could get my head around and to possibly even enjoy, or to do something useful with.
Our first task was to get somewhat familiar with the interface. So we made a simple ball shape and animated it to make it bounce. This eased us into the software. So far so good. I didn't fall behind, crash the software, or make my ball resemble a sea urchin (like some others in the class). Awesome.
Then, we were asked to open a file with two elements already in place: a human hand (with one digit missing; an odd-looking four-fingered thing) - and a polygon block floating above it. We were informed that the task would be to shape the hand out of the block. So far so good. The beginning all made sense; how to modify the polygon shapes to resemble the hand's structure; how to use the different views available, and so on.
However, by the time the tutor had modelled two perfect fingers, my hand was more like a fairly creepy multi-digit space sausage. At least I hadn't created a zig-zagged 3D chess board like the student next to me.
Still. A space sausage. So, by this time I felt uncomfortable and like I'd just fallen off the wagon; the tutor had moved on to explaining skinning and I still had one of the four digits missing and the remaining ones wiggling at me, all misshapen and sausage-y from the screen.
In the end, we animated the "hand" to wave bye-bye. I'm thinking I could apply for SFX in horror films.
I stayed behind to chat with the tutor, who, incidentally, had started from a similar background to mine - from drawing and illustration to software and so on. She'd gone down the animation route fairly early on and I have a feeling that this is the crucial difference; I seem to be happier with and more intrigued by the still image and by the 2D (or 2-and-a-half-D, as described by our Shake tutor) world.
I expressed my doubts to the Maya tutor and she told me not to be so discouraged. She stressed that Maya is also a powerful texturing/skinning tool and that those skills are extremely useful in the industry. She had a quick glance at my portfolio of illustration, collage and photo manipulation and seemed genuinely impressed. She was encouraging about my existing work without trying too hard sell the courses. I found that to be a positive thing. At all times, the tutors were very open about the obstacles one must face if attempting to do visual effects for a living.
Article comments
1 - James
I've just finished the the foundation course at Escape it was amazing! Really good fun but a lot of hard work! I want to do the 2d compositing course next.
2 - Nukapai
Well done! The studios certainly seemed to be made up of people who knew their stuff and have a very active hand in the industry, so you're in good hands and have good prospects. (I only wish I could split myself into many copies and go off to explore all the things I'd like to learn about. But realistically, I know my adventures in 3D will most probably never get off the ground).