Getting Maya
If you already have Maya installed on your computer, head over to the next section entitled "Introduction to Maya".
While the computer gaming lab (CS2 170) includes some computers with Maya installed, we highly recommend having your own copy on your computer so that you can work from home on your own schedule.
Downloading Maya
You should also be able to go directly here http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya
You will need to register with Autodesk in order to gain access to Maya.
You will want to register with a valid uci.edu email address.
Once registration is complete, login with your newly created account.
From the drop-down menu, select which version you want to download (Windows or OSX). There are not big differences between versions of Maya but for consistency, we will use Maya 2015 for the course.
Once you select your version, you will be taken to the download page. The download should start automatically, but if not, there is a link at the bottom of the page that will manually start the download. Make sure to write down your serial number and product, as you will need them during installation. Maya is a pretty big piece of software (1.2 GB) so make sure you have enough time to download the entire file. I suggest catching up on some reading while you wait.
Installing Maya
Once your download is complete, simply run the installer and follow the on screen instructions. The installer will ask for the serial number from the previous section. After you enter your serial number and product key, Maya will install. You are now the proud owner of Maya 2015.
Maya's activation process can take quite a while. If you encounter any errors, simply try again with the same data. It should eventually work.
Configuring Maya
If you are already using a 3-button mouse, please feel free to skip this section.
Setup the Mouse
The Maya interface makes heavy use of three-buttons. If possible, we recommend acquiring one. If you are using a computer without a three-button mouse, you will likely need to experiment with settings to emulate this behaviour. For example, on a Mac, open up System Preferences. Select Mouse and Keyboard. Select Mouse in the top menu. Set the right-click button to Secondary. Also change the middle mouse button from "Off" to "Button 3". You may need to change this setting twice for it to stick.
Enable Infinite Undo
When learning Maya, you're going to make mistakes (no matter how good you are). Pressing Z will undo your last move in Maya. By default, Maya only lets you undo a certain number of moves. To enable infinite undo, Select Windows → Settings/Preferences → Preferences. Select the Undo menu from the side bar and change the Queue to Infinite.
Introduction to Maya
Complete the 7 general excercises listed here on the following:
Maya's User Interface (UI)
Camera Controls
Basic Selection
Basic Manipulation
Hierarchy
Polygon Selection
Polygon Editing
These exercises will not be graded, but will be very useful for completing the assigned homeworks, specifically HW1.