Students will learn the complex interface of Autodesk’s Maya software, as it is used for the purpose of video game content creation.  The features of Maya that relate to this field, covered in this class,  include polygon modeling, material and texture creation, UV mapping, animation, character animation, character rigging, character skinning, lighting, rendering and pipeline design.  Other features available in Maya such as dynamics (physics simulation), NURBS surfaces, Sub-D surfaces, particle systems, cloth simulation, match moving, hair and fur simulation, shader writing, MEL scripting, and advanced rendering are discussed briefly but are not covered in this class.

The main focus is to develop proficiency with game content creation methodologies, and secondarily developing soft skills related to design and artistic aptitude.

The course was originally design for non-artists on interdisciplinary teams (such as programmers) to get a better understanding of the specific work done by their artist teammates, as such understanding can only help with the highly-collaborative process that is crucial to successful game development.

However the class has proven useful to anyone who is completely new to 3-D graphics and is looking to get a foundation in this type of work.  Lectures are structured to assume students know nothing of 3-D graphics and, as such, class begins at square one with respect to this discipline so as to provide a solid foundation of understanding.