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Embrace the Art
Art, in many instances, requires transcendence of its medium; it speaks of its own accord.
Learning to look past what you’re working with and seeing what you’re working for is key
to learning CG art. So don’t view this as learning a software package but as learning a way
of working. As you begin learning 3D with Maya, you acquire a new language, a new com-
munication. Keep in mind that the techniques you acquire should remain only a means to
the end of expression. In short, relax and enjoy yourself.
Computer tools begin with logic and explicit numbers; your exploration of Maya, how-
ever, need not be limited to such a logical path. Your exploration is about learning what
you can do and not what the software can do. Don’t make this a lesson in how to make a
software program work; make it about how you work with the software.
CG studios hiring professional 3D artists look primarily for a strong artistic sense,
whether in a traditional portfolio or a CG reel. It is paramount, then, to fortify the artist
in yourself and practice traditional art such as life drawings, photography, painting, sculp-
ture, and so on as you learn CG, beginning with the core principles introduced in this first
chapter. Keep in mind that the computer you’ll be using for 3D work is nothing more
than a tool. You run it; it does not run you.
In the past decade, interest in 3D has surged, partly as a result of the availability of
powerful machines with lower costs. Since 3D can be resource intensive on the entire
computer system, few machines have been powerful enough all around and accessible
enough until relatively recently. Beginning with the late 1990s, production-level equip-
ment has become available to the home market at reasonable prices, helping to spur
interest in 3D.
With that emergence of powerful, cheap computing, a lot of artists are adding the lan-
guage of CG to their skill set. And before embarking on learning a staple tool of CG, it’s
important to already grasp fundamental issues inherent to CG.
Computer Graphics
CG is simply the abbreviation for computer graphics imagery, also known as CGI. CG
refers to any picture or series of pictures that is generated with the aid of a computer. By
convention, CG and CGI generally refer to 3D graphics and not to images created using
2D image or paint programs such as Photoshop or Painter. Most 2D graphics software is
bitmap based, and all 3D software is vector based. Bitmap software creates an image as a
mosaic of pixels, filled in one at a time. Vector software creates an image as a series of
mathematical instructions from one calculated or graphed point to another. This much
more powerful method for creating graphics is behind all the impressive CG images you’ve
seen—and the ones you’ll soon create with Maya. You’ll learn more about vectors and
bitmaps in the section “Computer Graphics Concepts” later in this chapter.
2 chapter 1: Introduction to Computer Graphics and 3D
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