The Definitive Resource for Up-and-Coming 3D Game ArtistsAlias' award-winning Maya 3D animation and effects softwarecontinues to lead the industry in technological innovation and isbeing adopted by more and more console and computer gamedevelopers. The Game Artist's Guide to Maya is an officialintroduction to creating 3D game art and animations with Maya,brought to you by Maya Press, a publishing partnership betweenAlias and Sybex. Written by a production artist at a prominent gamecompany, this detailed book focuses on the skills real game artistsuse daily to create stunning characters and environments.By following the discussions and tutorials, you'll bring aconcept through the entire game art development pipeline, learningeverything from modeling, texturing, rigging, and animation, tospecial effects. You'll also glean insights from industryprofessionals and see how Maya has been used in popular games. Ifyou're a 3D game artist, or looking to become one, this book willhelp you master the skills and techniques you'll need to excel inthe competitive games industry.Inside, you'll learn how to:* Create a game model using a concept image as your guide* Model with predetermined real-time polycount limitations inmind* View martial arts videos on the book's CD to animate yourcharacter more realistically* Prepare a model for texturing with UV mapping and layouttechniques* Create different kinds of textures* Master the rigging process, from setting up a skeleton topreparing blend shapes* Practice techniques for creating animation clips to work within the Trax Editor* Use particle effects, such as sprites and animated geometry, toadd pizzazz to your model