Deformation-ready character model
Deliverable: A character modelled with edge loops at every joint, demonstrated bending at shoulder, elbow and knee without pinching.
Course
Autodesk Maya
The studio standard for character work, taught with the rigging and animation depth those jobs test — plus the naming and file discipline a shared pipeline actually requires.
- Duration: 4 months
- Classroom
- Level: intermediate
What you will be able to do
- Model with topology built for deformation
- Unwrap UVs efficiently for a texture pipeline
- Build a character rig with clean, usable controls
- Animate to the twelve principles using the graph editor properly
- Light and render with Arnold
- Work to a naming and file convention another artist can pick up
Who this course is for
- Anyone with basic 3D experience in any package
- Artists and animators targeting studio work
- Blender or 3ds Max users moving to a studio pipeline
- Some drawing or animation sense is helpful
Syllabus
6 modules · 4 months
Module 1. Maya and the pipeline
- Interface, project structure and workspaces
- Outliner discipline and naming conventions
- Referencing files rather than importing
- Why a studio cares about your scene organisation
Module 2. Modelling
- Polygon modelling and edge flow
- Topology for deformation at joints
- Retopology of a sculpt
- Modelling to a reference and to scale
Module 3. UVs and texturing
- UV unwrapping and layout efficiency
- UDIMs and texture resolution planning
- Shading networks in Hypershade
- Arnold materials and their parameters
Module 4. Rigging
- Joint placement and orientation
- Skinning and weight painting
- IK, FK and switching between them
- Control curves, groups and a rig an animator will thank you for
Module 5. Character animation
- The twelve principles in practice
- Blocking, splining and polish
- The graph editor, tangents and reading a curve
- Walk cycles, weight shifts and acting beats
Module 6. Lighting and rendering
- Arnold lights and sampling
- Render layers and AOVs
- Motion blur and depth of field
- Render farm considerations and time management
Tools and technologies you will use
- Autodesk Maya
- Arnold renderer
- Graph editor and animation tools
- Reference and file referencing workflow
Projects you will build
Production rig
Deliverable: A rig with IK and FK switching and named, grouped controls, graded by another student animating a pose set without any explanation from you.
Animated acting shot
Deliverable: A twelve-second character shot with a clear intent, blocked then splined then polished, presented with graph editor curves alongside the playblast.
Rendered sequence
Deliverable: A lit and rendered sequence using Arnold with render layers and AOVs, composited and delivered as a graded clip.
Where this course can take you
- 3D Animator
- Character Rigger
- 3D Modeller
- Lighting Artist
- Layout Artist
Duration, modes and fees
- Duration
- 4 months
- Delivery modes
- Classroom
- Fees
- Share your details for the current fee
- Fees vary by batch. Classroom mode only — render hardware and lab licences are part of the course.
Placement assistance
Every student gets placement assistance — that is what 100% placement assistance means. It is support for all, not a job for all. We do not promise a specific salary, a specific number of interviews, or placement at any named company, and you should be wary of anyone who does.
What is included
- A place in the monthly placement drive, held every third Saturday
- The readiness programme every second Saturday — mock interviews and preparation
- CV review against the specific roles you are targeting
- Portfolio review, so your project work is presented the way a reviewer will read it
- Access to the vacancy pool employers send directly to the Samyak network
- Guidance on which roles realistically fit your background and which do not
- A place in the next drive, with coaching, if you are not selected in this one
What is not included
- Any guarantee of a job, an interview, or a particular salary
- Placement at a named or partner company
- Applying to jobs on your behalf
- Support before you have completed the course and its project work
- Visa, relocation or overseas placement assistance
Built for a pipeline, not for one artist
The technical difference between Maya and its alternatives is smaller than students expect. The organisational difference is not.
In a studio, your scene is opened by a rigger, then an animator, then a lighting artist, none of whom will ask you what anything is called. A file full of pCube42 and Group17 costs each of them an hour. Referencing, naming and outliner discipline are graded in this course because they are a real reason junior artists are kept on or let go.
Rigs are judged by other people
The rigging project is graded by another student animating your character without a word of explanation from you.
Controls that make sense only to their author are the most common failure in small studios, and no amount of explaining fixes it. Watching someone struggle to find the hand control you thought was obvious is worth more than a lecture on naming.
Blocking, splining, polish — in that order
Animators who go straight to smooth curves produce floaty work and cannot fix it afterwards.
Blocking in stepped keys forces you to decide the poses and the timing before any interpolation hides the decisions. The acting shot is required in all three stages, presented in sequence, because the discipline is the skill.
An honest word on the industry
There is genuine animation and VFX work in India — Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune — across studios, advertising and increasingly games.
It is competitive, portfolio-driven, and entry salaries are modest before they climb. Anyone describing it as an easy, lucrative field is selling something. It is a real career for people who are prepared to build a reel that stands up.
Questions
Autodesk Maya — frequently asked questions
Do I need Blender or another 3D package first?
Some 3D experience is expected — this course goes deep rather than starting from what a viewport is. Blender, 3ds Max or Maya basics all qualify. If 3D is entirely new, take the 3D Animation programme or Blender first, both of which build the foundations this assumes.
Why do studios use Maya rather than Blender?
Pipeline. Maya has decades of studio tooling, scripting and integration built around it, and a large existing base of rigs, scripts and trained artists. Blender is technically capable and increasingly used in smaller shops. If your target is a large Indian animation or VFX house, their advertisements will say Maya.
What does the course mean by naming discipline?
In a studio your file is opened by a rigger, an animator and a lighting artist who have never spoken to you. Objects called pCube42 and a scene with everything at the root cost each of them time. Naming, grouping and referencing are graded here because they are a genuine reason juniors are or are not kept.
Is animation a realistic career in India?
There is real work — animation studios, VFX houses, advertising and increasingly gaming, concentrated in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune. It is competitive and portfolio-driven, and entry salaries are modest before they climb. We will be straight with you about that rather than describing an industry that does not exist.
Enquire about Autodesk Maya
Three details is all we need. A course advisor will call you back.
Related courses
- 3D Animation and Multimedia
The complete 3D pipeline taught in order — model, texture, rig, animate, light, render — ending in a showreel, because a showreel is what an animation studio actually hires from.
- Blender 3D
The whole 3D pipeline in one free package — model, sculpt, shade, animate, render — so you can keep practising at home the day the course ends.
- ZBrush Digital Sculpting
Digital sculpting taught form first — silhouette and anatomy before pores and wrinkles — and finished properly, with retopology and baked maps a pipeline can use.
- VFX and Motion Graphics with After Effects
Motion graphics and visual effects built on compositing fundamentals, so a keyed subject sits inside the shot rather than on top of it, and an animation moves like it has weight.
Next step
Talk to a course advisor
Tell us what you want to learn and we will help you pick the right course, batch and mode.