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Dive into the nuances of visual effects (VFX) design, from planning to execution, using Autodesk Maya. This book introduces the methods and techniques required for your first foray into 3D FX generation from scratch.  
You will start with the fundamentals of visual effects, including a history of VFX, tools and techniques for creating believable visual effects, and popular tools used in the industry. Next, you are introduced to Autodesk Maya and its various components that make it a favorite among professionals. You will learn how to create rigid body collisions and simulate realistic particles such as dust, fire, water, and more.
This book also presents strategies for creating a vortex, rain, hair, fluids, and other soft body simulations and also demonstrates nature element simulations for computer-generated production. 
At the end of the book, there is a capstone project to make your own visual effects scene in a practical way. After going through this book, you will be able to start building computer-generated visual effects from your imagination through to production.

What You Will Learn

• Understand the basic physics behind effect creation
  
• Create 3D visual effects scenes from scratch
• Know the details of dynamic simulation in the computer generation space using various functionalities available in Autodesk Maya

Who This Book Is For
Beginning-level users; students from the field of visual effects design, 3D modeling, and simulation; game designers; those creating computer graphics; FX artists and aspirants looking for a career in the field of 3D

Beginning VFX with Autodesk Maya: Create Industry-Standard Visual Effects from Scratch

Chapter 1: Introduction to Visual Effects -  Scope of this book-  Topics to be covered-  The importance of Visual Effects-  The need for the creation of the visual magic
Chapter 2: History of VFX -  The Evolution of Science in visual design-  The State of Art technology in the Digital Era
Chapter 3: Industrial application for VFX-  How to approach the planning of a VFX shot-  Industry practices-  Software, tools, and techniques used in the rendition of the visual splendor on Screen
Chapter 4: Introduction to FX in Maya-  Maya Nucleus-  nParticle System-  Fluids-  ncloth -  nHair
Chapter 5: Working with nParticle FX -  Fun with Emitter-  nParticle tool -  Identical object creation with Instancer
Chapter 6: Creating effects with Particle Emission, Fields/Solvers-  Real-life simulation with Gravity-  Creation of galaxy -  Tinker bell magical dust particle generation
Chapter 7: Maya Rigid and Soft Body Systems-  Introduction to Rigid Body and Constraints-  Rigid & Soft Body example
Chapter 8: Working with Maya Fluids-  Introduction to fluid -working with container-  Working with 2D container -  Working with 3D container 
Chapter 9: Maya Effects-  Get Effect Asset Library-  Collision with effects-  Creating fire, fireworks, lightening, shatter, and smoke effects
Chapter 10: Playing with MAYA nucleus Cloth & nConstraint-  Creating nCloth-  Working with passive collider-  Play with nCloth Attributes-  Power of nConstraints for effective and efficient simulation.
Chapter 11: Working with Hair and Fur Styling -  Foundation concept of hair and fur creation-  Long hair creation and simulation-  Maya Hair library
Chapter 12: Technical Fluid Simulation with Bifrost-  Importance of Bifrost Fluids-  Working with Bifrost library-  Learn to compute and execute water simulation shot Efficiently 
Chapter 13: FX Capstone Project-  Creating a 3D Scene-  Integrating the 2D and the 3D worlds-  Render FX scene -  Conclusion