What is the best MAYA book?

[haroonkhalid]

im a total newbie

[gmask]

The tutorials that come wiht the software are good. If not you can buy the Learning Maya books from www.aliaswavefront.com website. You can look at the various books for sale at www.amazon.com . There are many thick books to read all of them are pretty good for beginners.

[aadster]

Maya 4 Fundamentals by Jim Lammers and Lee Gooding.
I was also new to Maya, 3 weeks ago, this book is simply excellent..specially the tutorials video on CD-ROM! it is like a full tutorials of the book on it..as if you were on a course with a tutor, they show you step by step, and lots of good tips and tricks..you'll learn a lot.

[palodich]

Maya 4 Fundamentals seems too basic. Mastering Maya 3 is very thorough. I didn't notice any major problems with it being a Maya 3 book, though Mastering Maya 4/4.5 can't be far away.

[jsmorgun]

There isnt going to be a mastering maya 4 book (maybe a 4.5 though)

[wixmonster]

I have to agree that the Mastering Maya 3 is a better book. It will give you a great start, and ease you into some more advanced features. But if you can, get whatever books you find. I've found that even the most simple books can teach you things that the others overlook. And of course, Maya offers many different ways to do the same thing, so many different viewpoints are really helpful.