Maya became too expensive to continue paying for features I wasn't using. I realized that I was only using Maya for modeling and UVing workflow and ignoring all other features such as animation, rigging, dynamics, rendering, lighting, composite etc. Unreal Tournament 3 fan map I created using some custom assets modeled in Maya and where a lot of my re-learning began:Įventually I began to optimize and streamline the game environment art process. There was a period of adjustment and relearning I had to go through from computer animation to game environment design. Many of the techniques, methods and principles I knew were not transferable to game environment modeling. So after graduation in 2009 I switched to use Maya only for modeling and UVing game environment ready assets/props.īut during the switch I encountered a lot of problems.

My passion and love was for creating game environments.

Going through computer animation program made me realize something very important. So my foundation and knowledge of Maya was built on how well I can model, UV, texture, rig, light, render and animate to create 30-120 second short films.Īnimation lip sync college project - rig controls During these four years, I used Maya primarily for storytelling and character animation. In 2005-2009 I attended college to study computer animation. I myself have been using Maya since 2005. Of course they are not the only 3d packages out there, others include Blender, Modo or Cinema 4D. These two programs are the most widely used in game studios around the world. Now I no longer have that and moving forward, Maya Indie it is.Īs you may know Autodesk Maya®/Maya LT™ and Autodesk 3dsMax® are two game industry standard for 3d software. There were times where I found myself wanting to use few deformers to model with or found a script to use but couldn't due to Maya LT limitations. I actually like using Maya because you get full access to everything Maya has to offer.

You can read more about and get Maya Indie here. Main limit is you have to make under $100,000 per year with Maya to qualify to use Maya Indie. Maya Indie offers a full version of Maya with few limits. I have now switched to using Maya Indie as my version for 3d modeling and UVing. You can read more about this from Autodesk here. Maya LT will no longer be updated by Autodesk and Maya Indie will be taking its place.

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