We use Maya from AliasAutodesk. We compiled our own course material since we couldn't find affordable materials that fit industrial designer visualising products
We suggest you start with the essential skill movies and continue with the tutorials in the helpfile: Start with Maya Basics Lesson 1,2,3
After that follow the roller and the webcam tutorials from this site and you are ready to start modelling.
For materials and presentations we have two additional tutorials, the iMac and the barstool
the philips roller
This tutorial shows the very basics of modeling with Nurbs. In the end you will map photos on surfaces to get a nice result. The roller from Philips is dutch design classic.
View this tutorial online.
the philips webcam
This tutorial shows Nurbs modelling in depth. It's again a Philips design classic and contains a lot of the gritty details, which you definitely going to encounter in your own projects.
View this tutorial online
the imac tutorial
This tutorial shows in depth how to create product presentations: creating cameras, lights and digital materials using the Apple imac.
View this tutorial online : part 1: lights and shadows, part 2: materials, part 3: textures, part 4 rendering
compositing tutorial: the barstool
This tutorial shows you how to mix existing images with 3D models.
View online.
Using imageplane backgrounds
This mini tutorial shows how to setup a workspace in Maya with image planes. Using image planes speeds up your modelling work.
View online
Importing Solidworks drawings in Maya
This mini tutorial shows how to import solidworks drawings in Maya. Rhino models could be importated using the basicaly the same method.
View online
Final Gather in Maya 8
This grand new tutorial shows you how to use image based lighting and final gathering in your maya projects. view online
links
learning-maya.com
A link site with nearly all the free and commercial available tutorials.
Architecture helpdesk
The department of Architecture has an excellent helpdesk. Do not hestitate to contact them with your really hard problems. The site contains reference guides for a lot of Maya functionality, shaders, links and more.
the maya section of high-end 3D
The highend 3D site has a section for Maya with tools, tips, tutorials, shaders and more.
Gnomon
The site of the School of Visual Effects for Film, Television and Games (Hollywood). The galleries and the resources are worth a visit.