Written by renowned author and 3D artist Kelly L. Murdock, Autodesk Maya 2023 Basics Guide is designed to give new users a solid understanding of the fundamental skills needed to create beautiful 3D models and stunning animations with Autodesk Maya. Using clear and easy to follow instructions this book will guide you through learning all the major features of Maya. The text is complemented by video instruction. Each chapter has a corresponding video tutorial that introduces you to the topics and allows you to watch and learn how functions are performed in a way that a text alone cannot do.

Autodesk Maya 2023 Basics Guide makes no assumptions about your previous experience with Autodesk Maya. It begins by helping you get comfortable with the user interface and navigating scenes before moving into modeling, texturing, lighting, animating, rendering and more. Additionally, more advanced features such as character rigging, skinning, animating with dynamics and MEL scripting are also introduced.

Each chapter begins by examining the concept behind each task, the goal and the necessary features that are involved. Then you go in-depth with the objective of your task as you study examples and learn the steps necessary to complete it. Working your way through the comprehensive, step-by-step lessons, you'll develop the confidence you need to create incredible renderings and animations using Autodesk Maya.

Who this book is for

This text was created specifically for users with no prior 3D modeling or animation experience. If you want to work in a creative field or are just curious about how 3D animated movies are made this book is the perfect way to get started. Users who are migrating from another 3D application or upgrading from a previous version of Maya will also benefit greatly from this text.

What you'll learn

How to create models using primitives, curves, NURBS, Polygons and more

How to assign materials and textures to make realistic-looking models

How to use Paint Effects to paint on and quickly create complex 3D Models

How to use lights, cameras, and depth of field to render captivating scenes

How to use keyframes, motion paths and the Graph Editor to create animations

How to use character rigging, skinning, and inverse kinematics to animate realistic movements

How to use various deformers to manipulate objects, animations and special effects

How to add influence objects, skin weights and hair to a character for a more realistic look

How to use dynamics to create fire, smoke, lightning, explosions, cloth and ocean effects

How to enable raytracing, motion blur, and fog effects for increased realism

How to render stills and animations using Maya Vector and Mental Ray for different looks

How to use the Command Line and MEL Scripting to work faster

About Autodesk Maya

Maya is a program, created by Autodesk, used to model, animate, and render 3D scenes. 3D scenes created with Maya have appeared in movies, television, advertisements, games, product visualizations, and on the Web. With Maya, you can create and animate your own 3D scenes and render them as still images or as animation sequences.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Learning the Maya Interface

2. Controlling the View Panel

3. Starting with Primitive Objects

4. Working with Objects

5. Creating and Editing Polygon Objects

6. Working with NURBS Surfaces

7. Drawing and Editing Curves

8. Using Deformers

9. Assigning Materials and Textures

10. Adding Paint Effects

11. Using Cameras and Lights

12. Animating with Keyframes

13. Working with Characters

14. Animating with Dynamics

15. Rendering a Scene

16. Using MEL Scripting

Glossary

Index

How will artificial intelligence change our world within twenty years?

AI will be the defining development of the twenty-first century. Within two decades, aspects of daily human life will be unrecognizable. AI will generate unprecedented wealth, revolutionize medicine and education through human-machine symbiosis, and create brand new forms of communication and entertainment. However, AI will also challenge the organizing principles of our economic and social order and bring new risks in the form of autonomous weapons and smart technology that inherits human bias. AI is at a tipping point, and people need to wake up-both to AI's radiant pathways and its existential perils for life as we know it.

In this provocative, utterly original work of "scientific fiction," Kai-Fu Lee, the former president of Google China and bestselling author of AI Superpowers, joins forces with celebrated novelist Chen Qiufan to imagine our AI world in 2041 in ten gripping short stories.

Gazing toward a not-so-distant horizon, AI 2041 offers urgent insights into our collective future and reminds us that we are the authors of our own destiny.

Despite the high profile of ICT in education, finding practical and meaningful ways to integrate ICT into lessons can be a difficult and overwhelming task. This book explores the current use and potential of ICT in the secondary history curriculum, and offers sound theory and practical advice to help secondary history teachers use ICT effectively.
Key areas covered are:
*getting started in ICT and history
*short, medium and long-term planning
*using ICT to develop historical understanding and skills
*data handling in the history classroom
*ICT and maps
*integrating virtual resources with the real world of teaching and learning
With contributions from leading academics and practitioners in history education, this book will be important reading for all secondary history teachers and trainee teachersand will also be of interest to upper primary school teachers.

These poems attempt to apply the logic of an illiterate person writing the statement “I can’t read� to poetry. They all failed. Enjoy.

This book highlights the applications of blockchain technologies to foster sustainable development in different fields. The concept of Sustainability has grown widespread in today's context and there are many requirements to achieve Sustainability in any industrial sector including mapping, tracing the supply chain to ensure sustainable supply chain management. Reliable and transparent, efficient data is one of the key requirements for Sustainability in today's advanced industrial context. Achievement of Sustainability objectives in this advanced era demands various technological advancements such as Blockchain technologies. The core competencies of blockchain technology namely transparency, data auditability, privacy, value transfer, and process efficiency and automation are very much essential for achieving the multifold objectives under sustainability.

How the autonomous digital forces jolting our lives - as uncontrollable as the weather and plate tectonics - are transforming life, society, culture, and politics. David Auerbach's exploration of the phenomenon he has identified as the meganet begins with a simple, startling revelation: There is no hand on the tiller of some of the largest global digital forces that influence our daily lives: from corporate sites such as Facebook, Amazon, Google, YouTube, Instagram, and Reddit to the burgeoning metaverse encompassing cryptocurrencies and online gaming to government systems such as China's Social Credit System and India's Aadhaar. As we increasingly integrate our society, culture and politics within a hyper-networked fabric, Auerbach explains how the interactions of billions of people with unfathomably large online networks have produced a new sort of beast: ever-changing systems that operate beyond the control of the individuals, companies, and governments that created them. Meganets, Auerbach explains, have a life of their own, actively resisting attempts to control them as they accumulate data and produce spontaneous, unexpected social groups and uprisings that could not have even existed twenty years ago. And they constantly modify themselves in response to user behavior, resulting in collectively authored algorithms none of us intend or control. These enormous invisible organisms exerting great force on our lives are the new minds of the world, increasingly commandeering our daily lives and inner realities. Auerbach's analysis of these gargantuan opaque digital forces yield important insights such as: - The conventional wisdom that the Googles and Facebook of this world are tightly run algorithmic entities is a myth. No one is really in control. - The efforts at reform - to get lies and misinformation off meganets - run into a brick wall because the companies and executives who run them are trapped by the persistent, evolving, and opaque systems they have created. - Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are uncontrollable and their embrace by elite financial institutions threatens the entire economy - We are asking the wrong questions in assuming that if only the Facebooks of this world could be better regulated or broken up that they would be better, more ethical citizens - Why questions such as making algorithms fair and bias-free and whether AI can be a tool for good or evil are wrong and misinformed Auerbach then comes full circle, showing that while we cannot ultimately control meganets we can tame them through the counterintuitive measures he describes in detail.

Python is today's fastest growing programming language. This engaging and refreshingly different guide breaks down the skills into clear step-by-step chunks and explains the theory using brief easy-to-understand language. Rather than bamboozling readers with pages of mind-numbing technical jargon, this book includes 150 practical challenges, putting the power in the reader's hands. Through creating programs to solve these challenges the reader will quickly progress from mastering the basics to confidently using subroutines, a graphical user interface, and linking to external text, csv and SQL files. This book is perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to program with Python. In particular, students starting out in computer science and teachers who want to improve their confidence in Python will find here a set of ready-made challenges for classroom use.

You're one step away from creating crystal-clear computer-aided drafts in AutoCAD Ever started an AutoCAD project, only to give up when you couldn't quite get the hang of it? Or do you have a project coming up that would really benefit from a few meticulously created drawings? Then you need the latest edition of AutoCAD For Dummies, the world's bestselling retail book about the wildly popular program. With coverage of all the important updates to AutoCAD released since 2019, this book walks you through the very basics of pixels, vectors, lines, text, and more, before moving on to more advanced step-by-step tutorials on three-dimensional drawings and models. Already know the fundamentals? Then skip right to the part you need! From blocks to parametrics, it's all right here at your fingertips. You'll also find: In-depth explanations of how to create and store your drawings on the web Stepwise instructions on creating your very first AutoCAD drawing, from product installation and project creation to the final touches An exploration of system variables you can tweak to get the best performance from AutoCAD Perfect for the AutoCAD newbie just trying to find their way around the interface for the first time, AutoCAD For Dummies is also a must-read reference for the experienced user looking to get acquainted with the program's latest features and essential drawing tips. Grab a copy today!

Informed by theories of international relations, this book assesses global political conflicts over cyberspace. It also analyzes the unique governance challenges that the Internet presents, both in terms of technical problems and control over content. The Internet is a resource of unparalleled importance to all countries and societies, but the current decentralized system of Internet governance is being challenged by some governments that seek to assert sovereign control over the technology. The political battles over governing the Internet—ones that are coming and conflicts that have already started—have far-reaching implications. This book analyzes the shifting nature of Internet governance as it affects timely and significant issues including Internet freedom, privacy, and security, as well as individual and corporate rights. Controlling Cyberspace: The Politics of Internet Governance and Regulation covers a broad range of issues related to Internet governance, presenting a technical description of how the Internet works, an overview of the Internet governance ecosystem from its earliest days to the present, an examination of the roles of the United Nations and other international and regional organizations in Internet governance, and a discussion of Internet governance in relation to specific national and international policies and debates. Readers will consider if access to the Internet is a human right and if the right to freedom of expression applies equally to the exchange of information online. The book also addresses how the digital divide between those in developed countries and the approximately 5 billion people who do not have access to the Internet access affects the issue of Internet governance, and it identifies the challenges involved in protecting online privacy in light of government and corporate control of information.

The proliferation of e-journals and their impact on library collections is tremendous. E-Journals Access and Management takes a comprehensive look at how e-journals have changed the library landscape and offers librarians strategies to better manage them. This useful resource provides a broad overview of the practical and theoretical issues associated with the management of electronic journals, and contains practical and illuminating case studies of problems faced and solutions found in individual libraries. Containing chapters by respected authorities on this dynamic topic of debate, E-Journals Access and Management presents vital information on a full range of issues dealing with electronic resource access and management, including bibliographic and web access, acquisitions, and licensing.

The original edition of this accessible and interdisciplinary textbook was the first to consider the ethical issues of digital media from a global, cross-cultural perspective.   This third edition has been thoroughly updated to incorporate the latest research and developments, including the rise of Big Data, AI, and the Internet of Things. The book’s case studies and pedagogical material have also been extensively revised and updated to include such watershed events as the Snowden revelations, #Gamergate, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, privacy policy developments, and the emerging Chinese Social Credit System. New sections include “Death Online,� “Slow/Fair Technology�, and material on sexbots. The “ethical toolkit� that introduces prevailing ethical theories and their applications to the central issues of privacy, copyright, pornography and violence, and the ethics of cross-cultural communication online, has likewise been revised and expanded. Each topic and theory are interwoven throughout the volume with detailed sets of questions, additional resources, and suggestions for further research and writing. Together, these enable readers to foster careful reflection upon, writing about, and discussion of these issues and their possible resolutions. Retaining its student- and classroom-friendly approach, Digital Media Ethics will continue to be the go-to textbook for anyone getting to grips with this important topic.

This book provides new and seasoned users with step-by-step procedures on creating and modifying 3D models, working with cameras and lights, assigning materials to objects,rendering, and printing. Unlike many AutoCAD competitors, it uses both metric and imperial units to illustrate the myriad tools for this popular application. Use the companion disc to set up drawing exercises and projects and see all of the book's figures in color.AutoCAD2020 3D Modeling includes 50 "mini-workshops," that complete small projects from concept through actual plotting. Solving all of the workshops will simulate the creation of full projects (architectural and mechanical) from beginning to end, without overlooking any of the basic commands and functions in AutoCAD 2020. Features: Covers 3D solid modeling, 3D surface modeling, working with cameras/lighting, rendering and imaging, dimensioning and drafting, and model interchange Includes 50 "mini-workshops," that complete small projects from concept through actual plotting. Solving all of the workshops will simulate the creation of full projects (architectural and mechanical) Provides new and seasoned users with step-by-step procedures on creating and modifying 3D modelsin both metric and imperial units Companion disc can be used to set up in-text drawing exercises and projects and to see the book's figures in color (files are also available for downloading from the publisher Written by anAutoDesk (R) Approved Instructor and Certified AutoDesk AutoCAD Master.

Cybersecurity attacks grow more complex every day. The first edition of Wilson's COMPTIA PENTEST+ GUIDE TO PENETRATION TESTING helps you gain the knowledge and skills necessary to analyze systems in the same way hackers do. It provides the information you need to successfully pass the CompTIA PenTest+ PTO-002 certification exam and contains detailed examples, projects, and hands-on activities (including virtual machine labs and interactive online features) where you can practice using the actual tools and methodologies needed to be a successful penetration tester. The author begins by exploring the concept of penetration testing, and then walks you through the process of building your own penetration testing lab of virtual machines (hosted on your own computer, which is used to practice the use of pen testing tools and methods). A final project guides you in the creation of a penetration testing report that includes all the areas covered in earlier modules.

Neben einem kurzen Abriss über die Entstehungsgeschichte des Internets lernen Sie in diesem Buch u. a. was Protokolle, Domains sowie Server sind und welche Rolle Sie beim Aufbau einer Internetverbindung spielen. Im darauffolgenden Kapitel wird das Leben mit dem Internet genauer beleuchtet. Hier erfahren Sie beispielsweise, wie Sie das Internet für Ihre persönlichen Zwecke optimal nutzen. Der letzte große Schwerpunkt dieses Werks führt Sie an Twitter, Facebook und Co. heran. Mit verständlichen Abbildungen und Grafiken zeigen Ihnen die Verfasser, wie sich Social-Media-Plattformen als Marketinginstrumente einsetzen lassen. Aufgrund der ausgewogenen Mischung aus Theorie und Praxis ist dieses Internet-Buch ein solides Nachschlagewerk für: Studenten und Auszubildende Laien und Neulinge Praktiker aus der Mediengestaltung

This guide shows youth librarians how to use the appeal of Minecraft—a game that many young learners are intensely passionate about—to create engaging library programs that encourage creativity and build STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) learning through library programs. Minecraft is more than "just a video game"; it's a powerful tool that librarians and other educators can use to engage students and spark legitimate learning experiences. This book shows you how to use Minecraft as a vehicle to promote learning and creativity, supplying specific, easy-to-replicate programs, ideas, and instructions for hands-on activities. By connecting the game to the maker movement and building off the game's popularity, you'll be able to use Minecraft to promote STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) learning. The book ties Minecraft to maker activities, learning in the library, three-dimensional printing, literary activities, crafting, and more. The activities in this book will also enable you to help children ages 8–14 to expand their key 21st-century skills, such as collaboration, trial and error, and discovery.

If you want to be the best, you have to have the right skillset. From people skills and effective networking to building assertiveness and mastering memory techniques, THE ULTIMATE PERSONAL SUCCESS BOOK is a dynamic collection of tools, techniques, and strategies for success. Discover the main themes and key ideas, and bring it all together with practical exercises. This is your complete course in personal success. ABOUT THE SERIES ULTIMATE books are for managers, leaders, and business executives who want to succeed at work. From marketing and sales to management and finance, each title gives comprehensive coverage of the essential business skills you need to get ahead in your career. Written in straightforward English, each book is designed to help you quickly master the subject, with fun quizzes embedded so that you can check how you're doing.

The rise of artificial intelligence and its countless branches have caused many professional industries to rethink their traditional methods of practice and develop new techniques to keep pace with technological advancement. The continued use of intelligent technologies in the professional world has propelled researchers to contemplate future opportunities and challenges that artificial intelligence may withhold. Significant research is a necessity for understanding future trends of artificial intelligence and the preparation of prospective issues. Analyzing Future Applications of AI, Sensors, and Robotics in Society provides emerging research exploring the potential uses and future challenges of intelligent technological advancements and their impact in education, finance, politics, business, healthcare, and engineering. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as neuronal networks, cognitive computing, and e-health, this book is ideally designed for practitioners, researchers, scientists, executives, strategists, policymakers, academicians, government officials, developers, and students seeking current research on future societal uses of intelligent technology.

Get practical walkthroughs for the most useful Excel features Looking for easy-to-understand, practical guidance on how to go from Excel newbie to number crunching pro? Excel Workbook For Dummies is the hands-on tutorial you've been waiting for. This step-by-step guide is packed with exercises that walk you through the basic and advanced functions and formulas included in Excel. At your own speed, you'll learn how to enter data, format your spreadsheet, and apply the mathematical and statistical capabilities of the program. Work through the book from start to finish or, if you'd prefer, jump right to the section that's giving you trouble, whether that's data visualization, macros, analysis, or anything else. You can also: Brush up on and practice time-saving keyboard shortcuts for popular commands and actions Get a handle on multi-functional and practical pivot tables with intuitive practice exercises Learn to secure your data with spreadsheet password protections Perfect for new users of Excel, Excel Workbook For Dummies is also the ideal resource for those who know their way around a spreadsheet but need a refresher on some of the more advanced features of this powerful program.

In the last decade, data science has generated new fields of study and transformed existing disciplines. As data science reshapes academia, how can libraries and librarians engage with this rapidly evolving, dynamic form of research? Can libraries leverage their existing strengths in information management, instruction, and research support to advance data science? Data Science in the Library: Tools and Strategies for Supporting Data-Driven Research and Instruction brings together an international group of librarians and faculty to consider the opportunities afforded by data science for research libraries. Using practical examples, each chapter focuses on data science instruction, reproducible research, establishing data science services and key data science partnerships. This book will be invaluable to library and information professionals interested in building or expanding data science services. It is a practical, useful tool for researchers, students, and instructors interested in implementing models for data science service that build community and advance the discipline.

With Revel® for Starting Out with Java: Control Structures Through Objects, CS1 author and instructor Tony Gaddis uses a step-by-step approach to introduce students to programming in Java. Procedural programming, control structures and methods, is covered before object-oriented programming to ensure that students understand fundamental programming and problem-solving concepts. Every chapter includes clear and easy-to-read code listings, concise and practical real-world examples, focused explanations, and an abundance of exercises. The 8th Edition introduces students to JShell, including JShell experiment sections that offer students opportunities to explore Java coding and prototyping. Updated topics include new coverage of JavaFX, several new String methods, variable declarations using var to simplify complex variable declarations, expanded inheritance coverage, and more. Revel empowers you to actively participate in learning. More than a digital textbook, Revel delivers an engaging blend of author content, media, and assessment. With Revel, you can read and practice essential coding skills in one continuous experience—anytime, anywhere, on any device.

This book describes new theories and applications of artificial neural networks, with a special focus on neural computation, cognitive science and machine learning. It discusses cutting-edge research at the intersection between different fields, from topics such as cognition and behavior, motivation and emotions, to neurocomputing, deep learning, classification and clustering. Further topics include signal processing methods, robotics and neurobionics, and computer vision alike. The book includes selected papers from the XIX International Conference on Neuroinformatics, held on October 2-6, 2017, in Moscow, Russia.

Don't accept the compromise between fast and beautiful: you can have it all. Phoenix creator Chris McCord, Elixir creator Jose Valim, and award-winning author Bruce Tate walk you through building an application that's fast and reliable. At every step, you'll learn from the Phoenix creators not just what to do, but why. Packed with insider insights and completely updated for Phoenix 1.4, this definitive guide will be your constant companion in your journey from Phoenix novice to expert, as you build the next generation of web applications. Phoenix is the long-awaited web framework based on Elixir, the highly concurrent language that combines a beautiful syntax with rich metaprogramming. The best way to learn Phoenix is to code, and you'll get to attack some interesting problems. Start working with controllers, views, and templates within the first few pages. Build an in-memory context, and then back it with an Ecto database layer, complete with changesets and constraints that keep readers informed and your database integrity intact. Craft your own interactive application based on the channels API for the real-time applications that this ecosystem made famous. Write your own authentication plugs, and use the OTP layer for supervised services. Organize code with modular umbrella projects. This edition is fully updated for Phoenix 1.4, with a new chapter on using Channel Presence to find out who's connected, even on a distributed application. Use the new generators and the new ExUnit features to organize tests and make Ecto tests concurrent. This is a book by developers and for developers, and we know how to help you ramp up quickly. Any book can tell you what to do. When you've finished this one, you'll also know why to do it. What You Need: To work through this book, you will need a computer capable of running Erlang 18 or higher, Elixir 1.5 or higher, and Phoenix 1.4 or higher. A rudimentary knowledge of Elixir is also highly recommended.

Evolving out of a research project on information technology and society, the book explores the digitization of the American city. Laguerre examines the impact of changes to various sectors of society, brought about by the advent of information technology and the Internet upon daily life in the contemporary American metropolis. The book focuses on actual information technology practices in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco metropolitan area, explaining how those practices are remoulding social relations, global interaction and the workplace environment.

Languages may come and go, but the relational database endures. Learn how to use Ecto, the premier database library for Elixir, to connect your Elixir and Phoenix apps to databases of the SQL and NoSQL variety. Get a firm handle on Ecto fundamentals with a module-by-module tour of the critical parts of Ecto. Then move on to more advanced topics and advice on best practices with a series of recipes that provide clear, step-by-step instructions on scenarios commonly encountered by app developers. Co-authored by the creator of Ecto, this title provides all the essentials you need to use Ecto effectively. Elixir and Phoenix are taking the application development world by storm, and Ecto, the database library that ships with Phoenix, is going right along with them. There are plenty of examples that show you the basics, but to use Ecto to its full potential, you need to learn the library from the ground up. This definitive guide starts with a tour of the core features of Ecto - repos, queries, schemas, changesets, transactions - gradually building your knowledge with tasks of ever-increasing complexity. Along the way, you'll be learning by doing - a sample application handles all the boilerplate so you can focus on getting Ecto into your fingers. Build on that core knowledge with a series of recipes featuring more advanced topics. Change your pooling strategy to maximize your database's efficiency. Use nested associations to handle complex table relationships. Add streams to handle large result sets with ease. Based on questions from Ecto users, these recipes cover the most common situations developers run into. Whether you're new to Ecto, or already have an app in production, this title will give you a deeper understanding of how Ecto works, and help make your database code cleaner and more efficient. What You Need: To follow along with the book, you should have Erlang/OTP 19+ and Elixir 1.4+ installed. The book will guide you through setting up a sample application that integrates Ecto.