As you’ve seen, there are some 3D modelling programs that you can use for free, including Sketchup, Tinkercad, and another common one that we won’t explore too much right now, Blender. All provide a lot of options and functions that will allow you to explore the world of 3D modelling and basic animation, and you’re encouraged to keep working with those.

For now, we’ll move on to one of the more professional applications, Maya. It’s a program that is used widely in professional settings, so it provides a lot more options than the free programs. Luckily, the makers of Maya provide free copies of their software for teachers and students, so we’re able to use it at school and you could download and install at home if you wish. (There are lots of other great programs which work on PC but not on our Macs.)

Maya is installed on your computer (and only that computer.) Unfortunately our computers are on the low end of the requirements for the program, and it takes a lot of computer memory to run, so you should CLOSE EVERYTHING ELSE if you can. You should also make sure to SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!

When you first open Maya, you’ll get a prompt offering you “Essential Skills Movies.” Those are a good overview, but they move quickly and don’t go into much detail. You’re encouraged to check those out, but don’t get frustrated if you don’t get much out of them. At least they show you what you can do as you learn more.

There is a good online book style training manual which you can check out.

They also have a series of videos that will guide you through different aspects of the program, as well as a YouTube Channel.

There are also videos being added to the Robson213Files folder. The first ones just go over what the program can do, but we will soon get into more things that you will do. For now, watch the introductory videos and get used to the program. There are as usual Exercise Files which allow you to work alongside the videos, and those are very handy.

Play around and get used to what the program can do, because we’ll be moving into doing assignments with the program soon, and the more practice you have the easier those will seem.