Is ‘Maya Python for Games and Film’ written by in 2012 still relevant
and worth my time ?
It’ll teach you a lot of the basics for using Python, but a more recent and relevant book would be Practical Programming in Maya. You’ll learn PyMEL which in most cases is preferable to vanilla Python. I’d also recommend Chris Zurbrigg’s Patreon; the depth and breadth of his training videos is downright staggering and he has clear and concise explanations for every last thing he steps through.
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Hey JohnG,
Chris Zurbriggs is a very good source to learn Python. Chris is amazing and explains what and why. I learnt one of his courses on his Patreon. I highly recommend him. Practical Programming in Maya is a little out of date (2014) and will using some old syntax. Python is a great first language to learn, especially when you can us it outside Maya as you grown more confident. I hope this helps!
It most definitely is.
There’s been a lot of changes to Maya in the past 7 years but actually not that many changes to MEL and the API.
If you don’t know much about python nor Maya it is an excellent starting point, but yeah a little out of date now that Autodesk seems to have finally moved on Python 3.
The python API section Is what I still use it for, I haven’t seen a similar level of coverage in any book.