The Solar System Resumed

If you still feel a little unsure about nodes and hierarchies, take the time to reread the previous section and try the short exercise again. You’ll practice these concepts as you resume the Solar System exercise. By the time you’ve finished this exercise, you’ll have a strong sense of how hierarchies work in Maya, although you should feel free to repeat the entire exercise if you think that will help you master hierarchies. Understanding nodes and hierarchies is important to animating in Maya.

If you’re new to CG animation, take your time with the following section.

Animating Mercury’s Orbit Around the Sun

Load up your scene from where you last saved it. When you left off, you had created the self-rotation animation ...

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