Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 Game Characters -- What Are Game Characters? -- Types of Game Characters -- Player Characters -- Non-Player Characters -- Enemies -- Designing Characters -- Viewing Characters in a Game -- A Historical Overview of Computer Art and Game Characters -- The Move to Color -- More Power Brings Better Tools -- 3D Makes Its Move -- Looking to the Future -- 2D and 3D Art -- Using Painting and Drawing Programs -- 3D Art in Games -- The Vertex -- The Polygon -- Textures -- Lighting and Reflections -- Animation -- Game AI and Blind Data -- Bringing Everything Together -- Summary -- Chapter 2 Developing Character Ideas -- Characters in Games -- Character Descriptions -- Writing Character Descriptions -- Drawing -- Holding and Using the Pencil Incorrectly -- Too Dark -- Not Blocking in the Drawing -- Too Much Erasing -- Character Thumbnails -- Drawing Characters -- Start with the Head -- Realistic Proportions -- Facial Features -- Drawing the Full Figure -- Proportions of the Body -- Hands -- Putting It Together -- Character Exaggeration -- Summary -- Chapter 3 Character Illustrations and Templates -- Character Illustrations -- What Are Character Illustrations? -- How Are Character Illustrations Used? -- What Makes a Good Character Illustration? -- Simple Character Illustrations -- Detailed Character Illustrations -- Character Model Sheets -- What Are Model Sheets? -- How Are Model Sheets Used? -- Creating Base Model Sheets -- Making Character Model Sheets -- Color in Model Sheets -- Summary -- Chapter 4 Character Modeling -- Installing Maya -- The Maya Screen -- The Workspace -- The Toolbox and Quick Layout Buttons -- The Main Menu -- The Status Line -- The Shelves -- The Sidebar -- Animation Tools -- Command and Message Lines -- Having a Ball -- Menus -- Menu Layout -- Common Main Menu Options.

The Animation Menu Options -- The Polygons Menu Options -- The Surfaces Menu Options -- The Dynamics Menu Options -- The Rendering Menu Options -- The Cloth Menu Options -- Polygon Modeling Tools -- Creating Polygon Primitives -- Modeling Polygon Primitives -- Building a Simple Character Model -- Building the Head -- Attaching the Head -- Building the Arms and Legs -- Creating Hands and Feet -- Summary -- Chapter 5 Character Modeling 2 -- Setting Up the Template -- Modeling the Face -- The Eye -- The Mouth -- The Face -- Modeling the Head -- The Head Wrap -- The Helmet -- Modeling the Breast Plate -- Modeling the Arm -- Modeling the Hand -- Modeling the Leg -- Modeling the Foot -- Finishing the Model -- Mirroring the Model -- Summary -- Chapter 6 Texturing the Character -- Preparing the Model -- Mapping UVs -- Organizing Texture Groups -- Painting the Textures -- Preparing the Normals -- Painting the Face Texture -- Painting the Chainmail Texture -- Creating the Belt Texture -- Creating the Plate Armor Texture -- Creating the Eye Texture -- Summary -- Chapter 7 Character Rigging -- External Movement Versus Internal Movement -- Skeletal Systems -- Building the Skeleton -- Skinning the Model -- Adjusting Skin Weights -- Summary -- Chapter 8 Basic Animation -- 2D Animation -- Creating a Simple 2D Animation -- Character Animation -- Comparing Motions -- Weight and Gravity -- Arcs in Animation -- Internal Animation -- Creating a Simple Character Animation -- 3D Animation -- Maya's Animation Controls -- Moving Objects -- Path Animation -- Simple Character Animation -- Summary -- Chapter 9 Animation Cycles -- Moving the Feet -- Arm and Chest Movements -- Animating the Feet -- 3D Movement -- Making Final Adjustments -- Summary -- Chapter 10 Non-Linear Animation -- Using the Trax Editor -- Creating Clips -- Ready Animation -- Blending Clips.

Exporting Animation -- Summary -- Closing Remarks -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J-K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q-R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W-Z.