Critical to learning any software application is some initial understanding of the basic concepts: how that software’s world works and the fundamental skills you need to work in that world. If you have never used a three dimensional (3D) software application before, you may initially find Maya different compared to 2D applications.

If you are wondering “where do I begin?”, this chapter is the best place to start. We recommend that you complete the lessons in this chapter so the essential concepts and skills presented become familiar to you.

This chapter covers some of the fundamental concepts and skills for Maya in four lessons:

• Lesson 1 The Maya user interface: Introduction
• Lesson 2 Creating, manipulating, and viewing objects: Introduction
• Lesson 3 Viewing the Maya 3D scene: Introduction
• Lesson 4 Components and attributes: Introduction