Learning Python in Maya can be a challenging and often tedious process. For many it's hard to even know where to begin. So I love it when people come up with creative and interesting ways to demonstrate its usefulness. My friend David Lightbown has done just that in his latest Master Class titled "Transforming Through Textures".

I’ve known David now for many years. He’s been working in the games industry, at Behaviour Interactive (formerly A2M aka Artificial Mind and Movement) for as long as I’ve known him. I’m often inspired by people I know in the industry like David who are able to think outside of the typical Maya box and look beyond its normal uses and applications.

From a technical standpoint his Master Class covers two main topics: ICE in Softimage and Python in Maya. That's oversimplifying it a bit of course. The actual subject is more like… using Softimage and Maya to emulate a variety of techniques seen in modern art installations, ranging from motion tracking LEDs to animated wooden pegs that capture and display and moving image. After watching this you can begin to imagine how installation artists could use Maya and Softimage as pre-visualization tools for their artwork, allowing them to experiment and iterate on their ideas without needing to spend time physically building prototypes.

Here are some examples of the kinds of artwork he'll be discussing...

 "Wooden Mirror" by Daniel Rozin

"La Vitrine Culturelle" by Moment Factory

In the first half of the class he mainly focuses on ICE in Softimage, however he does discuss how to get the ICE animation from Soft to Maya at the end of the first half. If you’re only interested in the Maya/Python part you can skip to the second half at roughly the 33 minute mark.

"Tranforming Through Textures" by David Lightbown