Maya for Absolute Beginners: Complete Course (Udemy.com)
Unleash your fear of Maya and start creating awesome 3d content.
Created by: Nexttut Education Pvt.Ltd.
Last updated June 2023
Our take
Based on the ratings of 528 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in June 2023. No course pays to be reviewed.
This is a survey of Maya's whole pipeline for people starting from zero. Eight sections and 71 lectures add up to about 16 hours: modeling, UVs and textures, animation, rigging, dynamics, MASH, and a final project. Abraham Leal teaches it under the Nexttut banner, and the syllabus shows each area gets roughly one to three hours, so this is breadth, not depth. It is built on Maya 2020 and expects Maya and Substance Painter to be installed. The last update was June 2023, so newer menus may look different.
Most of the 528 reviews are glowing, and 399 of them give five stars. Students call Leal a clear, thorough teacher and describe the course as a handy starting point that touches every area of Maya. Some who already knew a little still picked up shortcuts and more complex modeling. The complaints are specific. A few reviewers say he moves too fast, shows steps without the reason behind them, and sometimes uses tools he has not introduced. Others mention slow Q&A replies, a missing footage file in one module, and subtitles that garble the word Maya.
For a beginner, that is a fair trade. Only 5 reviewers gave one star and 4 gave two, so the sour reactions are a small slice. Experienced 3D artists coming from Max or Blender may find the pace and the casual fixes irritating. The listing shows no quizzes, so practice comes from the final project and following along. Pick it to get a map of Maya, then pair it with a focused course on whichever area appeals most.
Pros
- Covers modeling, UVs, rigging, animation, dynamics and MASH in 71 lectures
- Teacher praised as thorough and easy to follow, even by people with some Maya time
- Ends with a seven-lecture final project after the dynamics and MASH sections
- Strong ratings: 399 of 528 reviews are five stars
Cons
- Low-star reviews say the pace is fast and some steps go unexplained
- Built on Maya 2020 and last updated in mid 2023, so newer versions may differ
- Q&A replies described as slow, and the subtitles garble some words
Tells a little bit about evey aspect of maya. Very useful as a starting point for anyone.
Fits true newcomers to Maya, though it assumes Maya and Substance Painter are already installed and ready.
What you will learn
- Poly Modelling
- UV Unwrapping
- Rendering in Arnold
- Bifrost and MASH
Course content
8 sections · 71 lectures · 16 hours of video
- 1Introduction 1 free preview8 lectures · 1.7 hours
- 2Module2 - Modelling 2 free previews13 lectures · 2.9 hours
- 3UVs and Textures13 lectures · 3.2 hours
- 4Animation10 lectures · 2 hours
- 5Rigging9 lectures · 1.8 hours
- 6Dynamics7 lectures · 1.6 hours
- 7MASH4 lectures · 1.1 hours
- 8Final Project7 lectures · 1.8 hours
Who it is for
The instructor says it suits
- absolute beginner students who might think Maya is a complex software and who want to learn the complete pipeline that we use inside of it for a wide variety of projects.
What you need before you start
- You need Maya and Substance Painter
How it compares
Against the other 545 rated Udemy courses in 3D Modeling on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.8 out of 5higher than 90% of them
- Reviews528#147 of 546 by number of reviews
- Length15.9 hourslonger than 82% of them
- Last updatedJune 2023more recently than 56% of them
Course Description
Are you looking for a Maya course which is completely made for absolute beginners. May be you are currently using other 3d software like max or blender and want to try on your hand on Maya. If that is the case then i welcome you to Nexttut Education´s Maya for Absolute Beginners : Complete Course.
My name is Abraham Leal, I am 3D Artist and producer and I have 9 years of experience in the industry. Currently I lead my own studio Critical Hit were we design and produce projects for the entertainment Industry.
BENIFITS:
At the end of this course, your will be able to model, texture, rig, animate and use dynamics on simple beginner level projects.
IN THIS COURSE, WE WILL BE COVERING:
Poly Modelling
UV Unwrapping
Basic Texturing
Animation
Principles of rigging
Rendering in Arnold
Bifrost and MASH
I will start the course by teaching you the basics of Maya by covering several exercises and tools. We will then jump into learning about all the different pipelines that Maya has to offer. We will learn several ways to model objects and how to add uvs to our models. We will learn about lights, materials, animation, dynamics and more!WHO SHOULD ENROL:
I have designed this course for absolute beginner students who might think Maya is a complex software and who want to learn the complete pipeline that we use inside of it for a wide variety of projects. In this course I will be using Maya 2020 so make sure to have the latest update installed.Enrol now and start using Maya like never before.
Instructor Details
- 4.8 Rating
528 Reviews
Nexttut Education Pvt.Ltd.
Welcome to Nexttut Education, Myself Nalini Kanta Jena, I am the founder and director of Nexttut Education. I have been teaching and working in the game industry since 2008.
I have been teaching here on Udemy since 2017 and have created few bestseller courses. student seems to love my work and I love them as well. Everything was fine but except one problem and that is student's growing demand to create various courses for them. I realize that I can never fulfill such massive number of request to create different courses so that is when Nexttut Education took it's shape.
We only create courses with highly talented professionals who has at least 5+ years off experience working in the film and game industry.
The single goal of Nexttut Education is to help students to become a production ready artist and get jobs wherever they want. We are committed to create high quality professional courses for 3d students. If you are a student learning from any local institution or a 3d artist who has just started working in the industry or an artist who has some years of experience, you have come to the right place.
We love you and your feedback. Please give us feedback on how we can make better courses for you and how we can help you in any ways.
thank you for reading :)
Regards,
Director
Nalini kanta jena
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Reviews
By Janani J on 4/10/2026
The quality is very good except the subtitles. The subtitles gives some other word for some words the instructor says. For example, when he says "Maya", the subtitles shows words like "Miah" or "My". Please fix the issue so that the students can see the exact words the instructor says.
By Roxie White on 1/27/2026
I really enjoy this course and value all the knowledge that came out of it. I already knew a lot of the basics before starting this but I loved learning about the more complicated stuff in Maya and how to make more complicated shapes. There's a few shortcuts I enjoyed learning too.
By Maximilian Bieber on 3/22/2023
Dieser Kurs ist ein toller Einstieg in Autodesk Maya. Ich hatte bereits 3 Monate Erfahrung mit Maya, allerdings nur für Animation. Durch diesen Kurs habe ich mein Wissen in Maya vertiefen können. Alle großen Bereiche einmal kennenlernen können und gerade in Modelling gute Skills aufbauen können. Man kann dem Kurs gut folgen und ich kann ihn nur für Einsteiger wärmstens empfehlen!
By Paul Storm on 8/29/2022
This course is fantastic! I have taken many courses on how to use Maya, but this guy makes it extremely fun and interesting, as well as giving you brilliant tips on each stage throughout. I have only just finished the modelling a sword section atm, but am already excited to carry on and learn everything else he has to offer. I also have other courses from this guy, which I haven't even got around to yet, but now I know his teaching methods, I am very eager to start those too. Totally recommend for anybody wishing to learn Maya - even any professionals, as you're bound to pick up some great tips and tricks that you might not know(?).
By 유미솔 on 3/23/2022
I think this course is perfect for beginner like me, I was so grateful about this course exist and ofc the instructor. One thing that I was sad about was he keep forgetting about starting to open the key thing lol. So sometimes I should have guessed what he pressed, but otherwise, good course!
By Niko Altera on 3/2/2022
wish the course covered the features in detail more but it has valuable knowledge
By Pedro Costa on 3/1/2022
It was a very interesting course in which I learned a lot of tools to start this journey in 3D World, I highly recommend the course for people who are starting from 0 or who are at the similar level, you will have a lot of fun and do fun exercises with lots of details to learn. First of all I would like to thank the instructor who was amazing and super captivating the way he gave the lessons.
By Ananth on 2/10/2022
Quick, Short, Detailed, priority to important points only, productive (not too much chit chat), easy to listen, breaks down complex parts,........this is my second course as Maya beginner, this was way better than my first. in fact, one of the best, since it keeps me awake while listening, really good one. If you are here after too much analysis for your first course, I can suggest go for this, based on my experience....Some other courses are only good at the beginning, I've checked out almost all chapters, all seems to be same quality and good content. Much thanks to the instructor.
By Florian LOUFFAR on 2/6/2022
Hi Abraham. Very useful course for those who want to begin in Maya. I bought this course even I know the basics of Maya but I was curious to see what was inside. I didn't want to miss some tips. I've been following the Nexttut Youtube channel for 10 months now and thank you for being there almost every day, so I buy the Nexttut courses one after the other to improve my skills and I'm not disappointed. I'm waiting for the new hard-surface course in Maya. See you soon.
By Soda Ruan on 1/29/2022
THE BEST MAYA CLASS FOR BEGINNERS EVER!!! I barely knew anything about 3D stuff before taking this class. And I am sooo surprised at how easy it is to learn and how much I have learned from the instructor. If you are new to the 3D world just like me, then this is one of the best classes you should definitely take! No hesitation!! Everything in the class is very organized and clear. He shows you every single step in the course, which I think is really important, because if not, for a beginner like me, I would have to google all the skipped parts in order to follow and that's a nightmare. I am half way in finishing the course and I feel quite comfortable in modeling and texturing in Maya. I can't wait to finish the next half and am looking forward to seeing how much I would be able to accomplish at the end of the course. I would like to recommend this course to anyone who are interested in learning Maya. SIX STARS!!!
Quality Score
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Overall Score : 96 / 100












