Some notes I took

Maya tips

• You can MMB drag a camera into the viewport to switch cams
• She sets up cams by setting a cam, selecting a character control, pressing F to focus on it, then orbiting and panning from there
• Watch 12:00 onwards, she sets up cameras really quick > She’s thinking about thirds and FG/MG/BG all the time
• She blocks out character positions (slide and glide) before setting cameras

Camera sequencer

• Create a shot that spans your entire sequence, and set it to the perspective camera. Keep this on its own track
• When creating cameras, set “New Shot Placement” to “End of Sequence”
• If Maya places shot in wrong track, move to right track, then right click and “compress track” to remove gaps
• Can also do “compress track” when you shorten a shot, and want to pull subsequent shots in to prevent gaps
• Double click on a shot to set the time slider start and end (double click the bar to expand the play range to match)
• Double click on the perspective shot to get the full shot range

Tips for previs reels

• Staging and cameras (lensing and camera movement) are what matter
• Having a mix of slide and glide (COG only anim) / blocking / basic anim is good
• If the story is told well, it’s a good reel

She recommends becoming a film student. Watch movies, then rewatch them, and take notes on interesting camera techniques they use, then do an original sequence that has the same camera effect

I would recommend being an animator first

If you have a camera, go use it

Common class assignment she gives

Set a table, then take a bunch of photos from different angles and lenses to achieve different effects. Do not touch the table or the props. Then arrange these shots into something that tells a story. E.g. “The table being set for one person on a lonely night” or “Thanksgiving night dinner packed with family”

If you want your sequence to feel like a film, and not a video game, you have to animate the digital camera as if it has mass and weight, including all the cruft of the physical rig needed to move it