Motivation
Maya is a very powerful 3D modeling, animation, effects, and rendering solution available today. Students may benefit from learning how to effectively exploit Maya's rich and mighty programming interfaces.

Goal
Developing programs written in MEL and C++ to customize and/or extend Maya's functionality.

Content
In this project students develop proficiency in MEL (Maya Embedded Language) and write programs with Maya C/C++ API. This course consists of mandatory labs and 1 creative assignment chosen by the student and approved by the instructor (implemented with MEL or C++).

Requirements
MEL labs can be followed by students with fundamental programming skills. Knowledge of C/C++ and advanced programming skills are required to complete the C++ labs.

Literature
"Complete Maya Programming: An Extensive Guide to MEL and C++ API", by David A. D. Gould, ISBN: 1558608354.

Tools:
Maya (version 8.5 is assumed, older version from 5.0 can be used as well).
Free Maya Personal learning edition: http://usa.autodesk.com
Free Visual C++ 2005 Express: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/.
Alternatively you can use any other native C++ development environment.