Gould D.A.D. Complete Maya Programming. An In-depth Guide to 3D Fundamentals, Geometry, and Modeling

Morgan Kaufmann, 2005. — 737 p.Given the depth and breadth of Maya's programming functionality, it became quickly clear that a single book couldn't possibly cover it all. The first volume focused on giving the reader a solid understanding of how Maya works and on its two programming interfaces: MEL and the C÷÷ application programming interface (API). This book extends on that work, while paying particular attention to the areas of geometry and modeling. Clearly, in order to have a deeper understanding of these areas it is important to first understand the fundamentals of computer graphics, and in particular the mathematical foundations on which they are built. This book, therefore, explains the fundamental building blocks of computer graphics so that a complete understanding of geometry and modeling is possible.
Although the mathematics and principles of computer graphics are explained in other books, I felt it necessary to place these in the context of Maya programming. So, rather than explain the theory alone, sample source code and scripts are provided so that the reader can see how the mathematics and principles can be directly applied and implemented. Many of the examples can be used directly in your own implementations.
Because the first book was focused on teaching the fundamentals of MEL and the C+÷ API, these two areas were covered separately. This book takes a more problemsolving approach. The utility of a particular mathematical concept is explained together with both the MEL and C÷÷ source code used to implement the concept. The key is to understand the concept; the syntax then follows. By building up a wider understanding of computer graphics concepts, you will have a larger toolbox of solutions from which to draw when tackling your own problems.
This book contains a great deal of knowledge I have accumulated over the years. Much of it is taken from experience, books, courses, and notes. All of this information isn't of much use if you can't readily access it. As such, another important goal of this book is to provide the reader with a pertinent reference resource. By dividing the book by concept, rather than by programming language, it is easy to refer to particular sections as needed. The subject index has been extensively expanded and is more useful for finding when and where a particular function or command can be used.Points
Vectors
Rotations
Transformations
Transform Nodes
Coordinate Frames
Polygonal Meshes
NURBS
Subdivision Surfaces
Contexts (Tools)