2009

Table Of Contents
Preparing for the lessons
Do these steps to ensure the lessons in this chapter work as described:
1 Select File > New Scene to create a new scene before you start each lesson.
2 If you have not already done so, copy the GettingStarted folder from
its installation location to your projects directory. Then, set the
GettingStarted directory as your Maya project. For more information,
see
Copying and setting the Maya project on page 25.
3 Select Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences. Click Timeline under
Categories and make sure the Playback Speed is set to Play every frame.
Dynamic animation plays more accurately with this setting.
4 Select the Dynamics menu set. Unless otherwise noted, the directions in
this chapter for making menu selections assume youve already selected
the Dynamics menu set.
NOTE Before you perform the lessons in this book, ensure that the Interactive
Creation option for primitives is turned off by selecting Create > NURBS
Primitives > Interactive Creation. That is, ensure a check mark does not appear
beside the menu item.
Lesson 1: Particles, emitters, and fields
Introduction
Particles are points that display as dots, streaks, spheres, or other shapes.
Particles can have attributes applied to them so they animate and render to
simulate natural phenomena.
You can create particles by clicking positions in the scene view, or you can
create them with an emitter that shoots particles into view.
To animate particles, you typically apply fields such as gravity or wind. By
combining emitters, particles, and fields, you can create natural phenomena
such as smoke, fireworks, or rain.
476 | Chapter 10 Dynamics