John Kundert-Gibbs & Mick Larkins 
Mastering Maya 8.5 [PDF ebook] 

Introduction.Chapter 1: The Maya Interface.Chapter 2: Quick Start: Creating an Animation in Maya8.5.Chapter 3: Polygonal Modeling.Chapter 4: NURBS Modeling.Chapter 5: Subdivision Surfaces.Chapter 6: Blend Shapes: Advanced Modeling.Chapter 7: Basic Animation.Chapter 8: Character Setup and Rigging.Chapter 9: Character Animation.Chapter 10: Nonlinear Animation.Chapter 11: Lighting for Animation.Chapter 12: Shading and Texturing for Animation.Chapter 13: Rendering Basics.Chapter 14: Advanced Rendering with mental ray.Chapter 15: Toon Shading.Chapter 16: Maya Embedded Language (MEL).Chapter 17: Paint Effects.Chapter 18: Rigid Body Animation.Chapter 19: Using Particles.Chapter 20: Fluid Effects.Chapter 21: Maya Hair.Chapter 22: Maya Fur.Chapter 23: Cloth Simulation with n Cloth.Index.

John Kundert-Gibbs is Associate Professor of Animation inthe Theatre & Film Studies Department at the University of Georgia and an accomplished author.Mick Larkins is the Technical Art Lead at Hi-Rez Studiosin Atlanta, Georgia.Dariush Derakhshani is an award-winning Maya animator, author, and educator who has worked on everything from movies tothe South Park TV series to commercials and music videos.Eric Kunzendorf is a Digital Fine Arts faculty member atthe New Hampshire Institute of Art.Eric Keller is a high-end animator for film, television, and scientific visualization.Boaz Livny owns Vision Animations Inc. studio and teachesadvanced Maya and mental ray courses at the NY Film Academy.Mark E. A. de Sousa is a Computer Graphics Supervisor for Cloth and Hair at Sony Pictures Imageworks.Ed Siomacco is a Cloth/Hair Technical Director at Sony Pictures Imageworks.