Maya Links

Quality links you should know about, having to do with Maya, and mel:

---

'Official':

• Autodesk's site. (So long Alias...)
• Maya Documentation: Online, for multiple versions.
• Current release notes
• Autodesk Subscription - Need to log in here first
  • Autodesk Maya e-Learning - Can find podcasts buried in here.
  • Ask Autodesk forums.

These sites appear to be down, or lost to the Autodesk takeover.

• Autodesk Support & Service (need to log in here first to access the next two items)
  • The Maya Annex
  • Maya Podcasts (in the Annex)

• Maya's 'Bonus Tools'
• Maya Station blog. (I *think* this can be considered official)
• Autodesk Area Maya Forum
• Autodesk Area Maya Python Forum
• Autodesk Area Maya SDK Forum

---

'Unofficial':

• Creative Crash's Maya forums.
• CG Society's (CGTalk) Maya forums.
• Maya Wiki over at tokeru.com. And they have a pile more links.
• Brian Ewerts mel page (great stuff!). I leared a lot from this page when I was just getting started with mel.
• python_inside_maya Google Group.
• List of Script Editor Replacements.
• ::SOuP : SOuP is a collection of nodes for Maya that are based on the principles of building a flexible, non-destructive procedural pipeline.

---

'Books'

• Scripting\Programming:
  • Maya Python for Games and Film (Amazon), Homepage (with code examples)
    • As of this authoring, the more current book for authoring Python code in Maya. Gives a good overview of Python itself, how it integrates in Maya, Object Oriented Programming, touches on PyMel, authoring UI's with Qt, how data works in Maya, & designing scripted plugins via the API. While it doesn't get as in-depth into the API stuff as 'Complete Maya Programming', this is all written in Python (compared to the former which is all c++), which makes it far more approachable. Definitely the book to get.
  • Complete Maya Programming
    • I've read this, recommended.
  • Complete Maya Programming Volume 2
  • MEL Scripting for Maya Animators
    • I've read this, recommended.
  • Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists
    • I've read this, recommended. It focuses on the Processing programming language (wrapper around Java), but it has direct application to mel, and is a great overview to the world of programming and scripting.
• Rigging
  • Inspired 3D Advanced Rigging and Deformations
  • Inspired 3D Character Setup
    • The 'Inspired' series of books always seem to have some good fundamentals in them. Good place to start for character setup \ rigging.

---

Got any other suggestions? Let me know...