• Your health and well-being are also a priority. Please take the time to care for yourself. For guidance on student absences due to illness, please go to this link on the Student Health and Wellness website for a Statement to Academic Instructors and Students about Medical Excuses. In short, “Student Health and Wellness does not provide ‘medical excuse notes’ to students for absences from classes, labs, studios or exams, or for missed deadlines due to short-term illness, injury, or other clinical appointments.”

• For more information on the University’s policy regarding Academic Accommodations for Religious Observance, follow this link for the Provost Policy PROV-008. Or, for guidance on what constitutes a reasonable accommodation, please visit the following link: Frequently Asked Questions - Accommodations for Religious Observance or contact the University’s Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights (EOCR) at uvaeocr@virginia.edu or (434) 924-3200.

	The famous Polish pianist and Prime Minister, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, once said, “If I miss one day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the audience notices it.” Similarly, regular attendance in this hands-on class supports steady progress. Repetition is intentional, helping methods become second nature, much like practicing scales in music. The goal is not technical mastery in every area, but sustained creative engagement. Students are encouraged to explore the tools that resonate most with them, without needing to demonstrate proficiency in all. Exposure to the full range of ideas, however, is key to making informed choices and learning at a comfortable, self-directed pace.

School of Architecture Academic Standards: See School of Architecture Associate Dean of Academics statement on grading, attendance and other academic standards.

Use of Generative AI Tools in This Course: UVA requires that each course provide clear guidance on the use of generative AI tools that creates new images, code, audio, video, or other content. These tools are not required in this course, but you are welcome to experiment with them within certain limits. The instructor has experience with AI and is serving as a 2025–26 UVA Faculty AI Guide to other Faculty. This policy applies to all generative tools, including those released during the semester. Common examples include CoPilot, ChatGPT, and DALL·E. If you would like to use a generative AI tool for an assignment, you should document which tool you used and briefly describe how it contributed to your work. Otherwise, please refrain from using such tools.

AI tools should not replace the core skills taught in this course, modeling, animation, simulation, and visualization. However, they may be used to enhance related tools and support secondary tasks, such as:
• Generating texture maps,
• Interpreting environmental conditions for global illumination (e.g., simulating a cloudy winter sky in Maine),
• Drafting MEL scripts for more technically inclined students, such as those interested in character animation in Maya (e.g., animating a person jumping hurdles in a track event).

Studios such as Pixar use MEL techniques in films like Jerry's Game and Toy Story to enhance character design and animation. If you’re unsure whether a specific use is appropriate, please ask the instructor. Time permitting, we may explore a few AI-assisted techniques during class on a discretionary basis.

Individual Support: This course embraces the diverse experiences students bring to the classroom which has the potential to enrich the education of all. Factors such as personal identities, disabilities (visible or invisible), family circumstances, physical location, mental health, and internet access may all influence your learning experience. To meet these challenges, the course seeks to create an environment that supports each individual's needs and encourages open communication and idea exploration. For example, your projects can reflect any cultural, national, or geographical context. Broader subject choices are encouraged and offer potential benefit everyone, including the instructor and student peers.

The course also recognizes the challenges educators face in responding to the varied personal histories that students bring. These include complex factors such as cultural perspectives, disabilities, family circumstances, and access to mental health resources and the Internet. To better support your learning, you are encouraged to share any unique requirements with the instructor so the course can be more responsive. If personal situation affects your performance, please also don't hesitate reach out privately so we can discuss accommodations. If you prefer to keep your circumstances fully confidential and need accommodate beyond the course requirements, you can speak with the SDAC Center at student health.

• ITS (Technical Support) for live classroom support.
• If you are not in an online class, contact the ITS Help Desk (chat, email, online).
• Zoom Support (for contact outside regular classroom times)
• School of Architecture IT Request form (e.g, virtual workstation, classes server, internal resources).

SCHEDULE

The schedule below is subject to modification.

Note: The required text/tutorial and addtional reading as well as the linda.com tutorials are available on-line through the UVA Virgo System.  

Required Text:

Maya 8 for Windows & Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide) by Morgan Robinson, and Nathaniel Stein, Peachpit Press, 2007 ± § -see on-line version of this textbook

Recommended Readings:

Animation: 

Introducing Autodesk Maya by Dariush Derakhsshani, Autodesk Official Press, 2025 § - see on-line version of this textbook
Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016 by John Palamar, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2016 A° § - see on-line version of this textbook
Maya Visual Effects: The Innovators Guide by Eric Keller, Autodesk Official Press, 2013 +  § - see on-line verion of this textbook
Creating Visual Effects in Maya: Fire, Water, Debris, Destruction by Lee Lanier, Focal Press, 2014 + § - see on-line version of this textbook
MEL Scripting for Maya Animations, Second Edition,  by Mark R. Wilkins and Chris Kazmier, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2005 + § - see on-line version of this textbook
Maya Programming with Python Cookbook by Adrian Herbez, Packt Publishing, 2016 + § - see on-line version of this textbook
Maya Secrets of the Pros 2nd ed. / John Kundert-Gibbs, Dariush Derakhshani et. al. Sybex Inc., 2006. +  § - see on-line version of this textbook
* linked in video tutorials (formerly linda.com) are available in internal to uva either on grounds or the VPN access. See specific links in schedule above. Use is optional.

Moviemaking:

Arnheim, Rudolf, Film as Art. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1957.* - see on-line version of this textbook
C. New York: Dover Publications, 1972.
Greene, Graham, The Third Man and The Fallen Idol, Penguin Books Ltd., 1977.
Murch, Walter, In the Blink of An Eye, A Perspective on Film Editing, Silman-James Press, 1995.

Philosophy and Perception:

Arnheim, Rudolf, Art and Visual Perception. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1974.
Goodman, Nelson, Languages of Art. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company Inc., 1976.
Sacks, Oliver, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1987.
Putnam, Hillary, Representation and Reality. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press, 1988.
Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sarte, Edited by Walter Kaufmann, The World Publishing Company, 1956 (Rainer Maria Rilke, "The Notes of Malte Laurids Brigge", 1910)

Notes:± This is the primary text with paced readings and straightforward tutorials tied to the syllabus and a week to week developmental progression of the class. It is also available online at no cost to members of the University of Virginia community.
§ An online version of these books are available to members of the University of Virginia community only. For earlier textbooks of continuing relevence see also Maya on-line textbook links. 
A° This is a more up-to-date introduction though less compact than the Robinson and Stein text.
+ These texts include greater focus on more on specialized topics. Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016  has over 800 pages, covers significantly more features and special effects than the primary text we will be using in the class.