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3D Text Animation in Autodesk Maya

Name: 3D Text Animation in Autodesk Maya
Rating: 4.6 (18 reviews)

Demystify animating type for Motion Graphics artists in Autodesk Maya

Created byLucas Ridley

Last updated 5/2021

English

What you'll learn

You will become comfortable using Autodesk Maya to create and animate text in simple and advanced methods
Learn the motion graphics toolset inside MAYA called MASH as it pertains to text animation
Light and Render your scene all the way to a movie file

Course content

6 sections • 24 lectures • 3h 53m total length

Maya Interface Refresh5:31
Create Text8:43
Modify Text9:20
Animate Text (Simple)10:14

MASH Setup15:23
MASH Animation Starter8:29
MASH Offset Translation11:17
Animate 3D text in Maya with Mash offset translation to punch letters toward the camera, add rotation, overshoot, and a spring-based settle using fall off objects and dampening.
MASH Offset Stacking9:23
Learn to stack MASH offsets in Maya to animate 3D text by independently driving scale, translate, and rotation with springs, falloff objects, and multiple offsets for dynamic, staggered effects.
MASH Duplicate Network22:08
MASH Tweaking Animation20:12
Create Alembic Cache7:01

Lighting16:05
Rendering12:58
Configure Maya render by selecting the appropriate camera, framing, focal length, and output format; adjust samples and lighting to reduce noise and ensure alpha channel for After Effects.
After Effects Exporting15:37
Export Maya 3D text as an image sequence into After Effects, build a composition with a background and shadow, then apply color correction and render with optional motion blur.

Create the Blob3:08
Build a looping blob in Autodesk Maya by applying a 3D volume noise texture to a sphere's normals, animating via a motion path, and refining keyframes for seamless looping.
Add Materials & Lights2:50
Rotate the nerve circle with keyframes at 120. Add Arnold standard surface with blood preset, Skydome light with high heaven image, and Cat Clark subdivision for silhouette and subsurface scattering.
Enhance the SSS2:47
Create Camera Animation6:09
Create a render cam and attach it to a motion path using a locator, keyframing a looping, handheld-style animation along a curve in Maya.
Create Text7:09
Learn to create text in Maya, duplicate and separate each letter into its own mesh, and apply a texture deformer driven by a path to achieve per-letter animation.
Final Rendering & Compositing10:28

Requirements

You should have Autodesk Maya to follow along with the course
Autodesk provides a free 3-year educational version of Maya from their website
3-button mouse
Some basic knowledge of Maya but I do a quick refresher at the beginning too

Description

Welcome to one of the most fundamental tools for a motion graphics artist: animating type.

No experience is needed to take this course and by the end of it you will be able to create, manipulate, and animate rendered type.

We start with the basics of creating text in Autodesk Maya and use the built-in animation tools for type that is great for beginners.

If you're a more advanced user or a beginner that feels comfortable after the initial animation lesson, we dive deeper in to the most advanced method of animating type in Maya with a relatively new toolset called MASH, which is Maya's motion graphics toolset.

The only trouble is there's one big obstacle you have to overcome to use MASH with type and I will show you how to overcome it.

I also give you a Python script I wrote that I show you how to run it in Maya with the push of a button to overcome this otherwise frustrating obstacle to using MASH with type.

We will finish the course by lighting and rendering our images out of Maya and do the final color correction and compiling into a movie file in Adobe After Effects.

I'm really excited to share these techniques with, see you in the course!

What will you learn?

Create and control text in 3D
Animate a simple text animation
Animate an advanced text animation
Understand the obstacles facing text animation in Maya and overcome them
Light and render your scene

Learn by doing real world projects!

Throughout this entire course, you'll be working on text animation with a phrase of your choosing, or follow along with my phrase "Keep Creating!"

What do you get when you enroll?

3+ hours of easy-to-follow tutorials
Downloadable project files for every step of the course
Python script that will save you hours of work
Premium support to help you as you take the course

Why learn from me?

Lucas Ridley is a professional 3D animator who has worked on Hollywood films such as Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One. His students love him, and we're sure you're going to enjoy this class.

Lucas breaks down the most complicated steps of animating in Autodesk Maya, so that you can easily start animating on your own!

My 30-day 100% money-back guarantee!

We want you to be happy. If there's any reason you aren't enjoying the course, and getting what you expected, we'll refund your money.

I can't wait to see you in the course!

Cheers,

Lucas

Who this course is for:

Motion Graphics artists who want to learn 3D
Designers who want to start creating animations with text
3D students who aren't familiar with type and MASH tools yet

3D Text Animation in Autodesk Maya

What you'll learn

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Course content

Animate Text Essentials4 lectures • 34min

Advanced Animation Preparation2 lectures • 27min

Advanced Animation Execution7 lectures • 1hr 34min

Rendering3 lectures • 45min

Quick Tip Updates2 lectures • 2min

Bonus Course: Blob Effect6 lectures • 33min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: