Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker

[Byron Nash]

I'm trying to get some objects zero-ed out in Maya but keep running into
what I assume is a paradigm difference between how Maya and Soft handle
center points and transforms. In Soft, I can move the center/pivot and it
will change the transform values. So, I can reset the center to be in the
middle of the geometry and then zero the position to get the object to snap
back to the world center or parent center. In Maya, moving the pivot does
not seem to change the transform of the object when you move the pivot. So
I can't then zero the values and get the objects to return to zero.
Sometimes, the object and it's center are clearly NOT at zero but that's
what the values say. There are some Local Space/World space values in the
attribute editor, but I can't figure out how to get things reset properly.

Any help from a Softimage perspective is appreciated.

Re: Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker

[Mirko Jankovic]

Actually SI got it right.. maya messed up ton of things but pushed them as
a norm ;)

On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 4:28 PM, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES] <
j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> wrote:

> Byron,
>
>
>
> You’re interpreting this correctly. I’m guessing that you’ve moved the
> pivot for a particular rotation behavior now you want that pivot to zero to
> another object. But when you zero object translation its not moving the
> pivot (and object) to align the pivot to its parent. This is normal. Maya
> pivots do not have a 1:1 relationship to the way Softimage works.
>
>
>
> Pivots in Maya are typically used for scale and rotation adjustment.
> Unlike Soft which also includes position. However, it’s just easier to
> “ignore” the pivot altogether and create a hierarchy from nulls. Use this
> hierarchy to manage your articulations and respective locations. For
> example:
>
>
>
> Make a new null for every position/pivot offset you need. Leave the actual
> pivots alone. Rely on them to insure zero relativity.
>
>  Null_Position
>
> Null_position_offset
>
> Null_Rotate
>
> Null_whatever
>
>
> Null_geometry
>
>
>
>
>
> Reposition the relevant nulls to accomplish the articulations that you
> require. Place the geometry at the end of the cascade. If you need to make
> adjustment in the middle, remove everything after the node you want to
> adjust, change its translation, and then put the rest of the hierarchy back
> under that node. Unparent becomes your friend. Working from a null
> hierarchy like this gives you more control, but is more time consuming and
> structure intensive. It is also more reliable upon export. But you will
> find it easier to work with.
>
>
>
> Softimage spoiled us.
>
>
>
> --
>
> Joey Ponthieux
>
> LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES II)
>
> Science Systems and Applications Inc. (SSAI)
>
> NASA Langley Research Center
>
> __
>
> Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not
>
> represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>
>
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Byron Nash
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 04, 2015 9:34 AM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker
>
>
>
> I'm trying to get some objects zero-ed out in Maya but keep running into
> what I assume is a paradigm difference between how Maya and Soft handle
> center points and transforms. In Soft, I can move the center/pivot and it
> will change the transform values. So, I can reset the center to be in the
> middle of the geometry and then zero the position to get the object to snap
> back to the world center or parent center. In Maya, moving the pivot does
> not seem to change the transform of the object when you move the pivot. So
> I can't then zero the values and get the objects to return to zero.
> Sometimes, the object and it's center are clearly NOT at zero but that's
> what the values say. There are some Local Space/World space values in the
> attribute editor, but I can't figure out how to get things reset properly.
>
>
>
> Any help from a Softimage perspective is appreciated.
>

Re: Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker

[Francois Lord]

Does this help?
https://youtu.be/Z8zVjLoHWjk?list=PLP5KnnScX57byOldVy9rQlBRARrX6gy4b

On 2015-11-04 09:34, Byron Nash wrote:
I'm trying to get some objects zero-ed out in Maya but keep running 
into what I assume is a paradigm difference between how Maya and Soft 
handle center points and transforms. In Soft, I can move the 
center/pivot and it will change the transform values. So, I can reset 
the center to be in the middle of the geometry and then zero the 
position to get the object to snap back to the world center or parent 
center. In Maya, moving the pivot does not seem to change the 
transform of the object when you move the pivot. So I can't then zero 
the values and get the objects to return to zero. Sometimes, the 
object and it's center are clearly NOT at zero but that's what the 
values say. There are some Local Space/World space values in the 
attribute editor, but I can't figure out how to get things reset 
properly.


Any help from a Softimage perspective is appreciated.

Student *free trial* for 3 years on Entertainment Creation Suit

[Pierre Schiller]

http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/entertainment-creation-suite-ultimate

Under the choices, is there "softimage" available? At least that´s what
anyone reads on the promo page so you´ll know what core features you´ll get
on the Entertainment creation suite for edu purposes.

So if I understand correctly any educational institution can still download
softimage and have a FREE 3 year licence for educational purposes? What
will happen now that we only got softimage 2015, and there will be no more
extension of "free 3 years use"?

Anyone´s got more insight about this?
Thanks.

David R.

-- 
Portfolio 2013 
Cinema & TV production
Video Reel 

Re: Can I use FindChildren() to return hair primitives?

[Stephen Blair]

FindChildren( "", "hair" ) doesn't work?

On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 10:59 AM, Tim Crowson  wrote:

> I'm needing to return all items of certain types belonging to a model
> null. FindChildren() lets me do this for all of the item types so far, with
> the exception of hair primitives. I can't find any string constant for hair
> that I can pass to FindChildren()
>
> Anybody know anything about this?
> --
>
>
>
>
> *Tim Crowson **Lead CG Artist*
>
>
> *Magnetic Dreams, Inc. *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville,
> TN 37214
> *Ph*  615.885.6801 | *Fax*  615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com
> tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com
>

RE: Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker

[Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES]]

Byron,

You’re interpreting this correctly. I’m guessing that you’ve moved the pivot 
for a particular rotation behavior now you want that pivot to zero to another 
object. But when you zero object translation its not moving the pivot (and 
object) to align the pivot to its parent. This is normal. Maya pivots do not 
have a 1:1 relationship to the way Softimage works.

Pivots in Maya are typically used for scale and rotation adjustment. Unlike 
Soft which also includes position. However, it’s just easier to “ignore” the 
pivot altogether and create a hierarchy from nulls. Use this hierarchy to 
manage your articulations and respective locations. For example:

Make a new null for every position/pivot offset you need. Leave the actual 
pivots alone. Rely on them to insure zero relativity.
 Null_Position
Null_position_offset
Null_Rotate
Null_whatever
Null_geometry


Reposition the relevant nulls to accomplish the articulations that you require. 
Place the geometry at the end of the cascade. If you need to make adjustment in 
the middle, remove everything after the node you want to adjust, change its 
translation, and then put the rest of the hierarchy back under that node. 
Unparent becomes your friend. Working from a null hierarchy like this gives you 
more control, but is more time consuming and structure intensive. It is also 
more reliable upon export. But you will find it easier to work with.

Softimage spoiled us.

--
Joey Ponthieux
LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES II)
Science Systems and Applications Inc. (SSAI)
NASA Langley Research Center
__
Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not
represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Byron Nash
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 9:34 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker

I'm trying to get some objects zero-ed out in Maya but keep running into what I 
assume is a paradigm difference between how Maya and Soft handle center points 
and transforms. In Soft, I can move the center/pivot and it will change the 
transform values. So, I can reset the center to be in the middle of the 
geometry and then zero the position to get the object to snap back to the world 
center or parent center. In Maya, moving the pivot does not seem to change the 
transform of the object when you move the pivot. So I can't then zero the 
values and get the objects to return to zero. Sometimes, the object and it's 
center are clearly NOT at zero but that's what the values say. There are some 
Local Space/World space values in the attribute editor, but I can't figure out 
how to get things reset properly.

Any help from a Softimage perspective is appreciated.

RE: Student *free trial* for 3 years on Entertainment Creation Suit

[Maurice Patel]

Hi David,
Yes Softimage 2015 is part of the ultimate suite until Feb 1st 2016.
Availability and license term are different things. If a three year license is 
issued the software will work for three years. However the ability to download 
the software or to authorize a new license may not be available after that date.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Pierre Schiller
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 11:16 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Student *free trial* for 3 years on Entertainment Creation Suit

http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/entertainment-creation-suite-ultimate
Under the choices, is there "softimage" available? At least that´s what anyone 
reads on the promo page so you´ll know what core features you´ll get on the 
Entertainment creation suite for edu purposes.
So if I understand correctly any educational institution can still download 
softimage and have a FREE 3 year licence for educational purposes? What will 
happen now that we only got softimage 2015, and there will be no more extension 
of "free 3 years use"?
Anyone´s got more insight about this?
Thanks.
David R.

--
Portfolio 2013
Cinema & TV production
Video Reel
<>

Re: Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker

[Gerbrand Nel]

Agreed...
Rather watch this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmtzQCSh6xk
It makes more sense.
G
On 04/11/2015 18:13, Sebastien Sterling wrote:
This is actually quite sickening to watch, but cheers Francois, at 
least we know what we are dealing with.


On 4 November 2015 at 15:46, Francois Lord > wrote:


Does this help?
https://youtu.be/Z8zVjLoHWjk?list=PLP5KnnScX57byOldVy9rQlBRARrX6gy4b


On 2015-11-04 09:34, Byron Nash wrote:

I'm trying to get some objects zero-ed out in Maya but keep
running into what I assume is a paradigm difference between
how Maya and Soft handle center points and transforms. In
Soft, I can move the center/pivot and it will change the
transform values. So, I can reset the center to be in the
middle of the geometry and then zero the position to get the
object to snap back to the world center or parent center. In
Maya, moving the pivot does not seem to change the transform
of the object when you move the pivot. So I can't then zero
the values and get the objects to return to zero. Sometimes,
the object and it's center are clearly NOT at zero but that's
what the values say. There are some Local Space/World space
values in the attribute editor, but I can't figure out how to
get things reset properly.

Any help from a Softimage perspective is appreciated.

Re: Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker

[Sebastien Sterling]

This is actually quite sickening to watch, but cheers Francois, at least we
know what we are dealing with.

On 4 November 2015 at 15:46, Francois Lord  wrote:

> Does this help?
> https://youtu.be/Z8zVjLoHWjk?list=PLP5KnnScX57byOldVy9rQlBRARrX6gy4b
>
>
> On 2015-11-04 09:34, Byron Nash wrote:
>
>> I'm trying to get some objects zero-ed out in Maya but keep running into
>> what I assume is a paradigm difference between how Maya and Soft handle
>> center points and transforms. In Soft, I can move the center/pivot and it
>> will change the transform values. So, I can reset the center to be in the
>> middle of the geometry and then zero the position to get the object to snap
>> back to the world center or parent center. In Maya, moving the pivot does
>> not seem to change the transform of the object when you move the pivot. So
>> I can't then zero the values and get the objects to return to zero.
>> Sometimes, the object and it's center are clearly NOT at zero but that's
>> what the values say. There are some Local Space/World space values in the
>> attribute editor, but I can't figure out how to get things reset properly.
>>
>> Any help from a Softimage perspective is appreciated.
>>
>
>

Can I use FindChildren() to return hair primitives?

[Tim Crowson]

I'm needing to return all items of certain types belonging to a model 
null. FindChildren() lets me do this for all of the item types so far, 
with the exception of hair primitives. I can't find any string constant 
for hair that I can pass to FindChildren()


Anybody know anything about this?
--
Signature

*Tim Crowson
*/Lead CG Artist/

*Magnetic Dreams, Inc.
*2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214
*Ph*  615.885.6801 | *Fax*  615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com
tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com

Re: Can I use FindChildren() to return hair primitives?

[Tim Crowson]

Ah, yes that works. Thanks. I didn't know I could do it that succinctly 
or without passing something like constants.siPolyMeshType. I was just 
going by the docs here 
.


On 11/4/2015 10:34 AM, Stephen Blair wrote:

FindChildren( "", "hair" ) doesn't work?

On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 10:59 AM, Tim Crowson 
> wrote:


I'm needing to return all items of certain types belonging to a
model null. FindChildren() lets me do this for all of the item
types so far, with the exception of hair primitives. I can't find
any string constant for hair that I can pass to FindChildren()

Anybody know anything about this?
-- 


*Tim Crowson
*/Lead CG Artist/

*Magnetic Dreams, Inc.
*2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214
*Ph* 615.885.6801  | *Fax* 615.889.4768
 | www.magneticdreams.com

tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com 




--
Signature

RE: Student *free trial* for 3 years on Entertainment Creation Suit

[Angus Davidson]

It’s a very moot point as Softimage in education died from the moment of that 
the EOL was announced. Unfortunately one of the many , many things that 
Autodesk didn’t think through about that announcement was the fact that  for 
edu institutions in  many countries are not legally allowed to offer a year of 
course that teaches EOL software. So unlike Softimage Commercial that was 
allowed to continue for a while we were taken out back and double tapped in the 
head. All they had to do was say End of Development and it would have been a 
totally different case.

The sheer amount of frustration of working with students in Maya compared to 
softimage is staggering. So much time wasted trying to do the simplest things. 
We have also had 3 weeks of students protests that have thrown our whole 
schedule out of whack.  We could have got it back on Softimage. No f’ing way on 
Maya. Apologies to Maurice as this isn’t directed at you specifically.

Guess I am stil bitter.



From: Maurice Patel [mailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com]
Sent: 04 November 2015 06:32 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: Student *free trial* for 3 years on Entertainment Creation Suit

Hi David,
Yes Softimage 2015 is part of the ultimate suite until Feb 1st 2016.
Availability and license term are different things. If a three year license is 
issued the software will work for three years. However the ability to download 
the software or to authorize a new license may not be available after that date.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Pierre Schiller
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 11:16 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Student *free trial* for 3 years on Entertainment Creation Suit

http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/entertainment-creation-suite-ultimate
Under the choices, is there "softimage" available? At least that´s what anyone 
reads on the promo page so you´ll know what core features you´ll get on the 
Entertainment creation suite for edu purposes.
So if I understand correctly any educational institution can still download 
softimage and have a FREE 3 year licence for educational purposes? What will 
happen now that we only got softimage 2015, and there will be no more extension 
of "free 3 years use"?
Anyone´s got more insight about this?
Thanks.
David R.

--
Portfolio 2013
Cinema & TV production
Video Reel

 

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writing to the contrary. 

Re: Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker

[Pierre Schiller]

passed on as "standard" modo errs and so does blender. So either just
copycat instead of rationalize it like softimage.
"move CENTER to vertices" <- does it gets much clearer than that?
Also, the setup idea based on dummies hierarchies, was the solution since
3dsmax DOS was out. So why implement
it as "standard".  Modo and blender works in the same way for everything.
Yeah...I want to see what good does a "pivot" does
on an IK chain...

mumbling...


On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 11:43 AM, Gerbrand Nel  wrote:

> Agreed...
> Rather watch this.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmtzQCSh6xk
> It makes more sense.
> G
>
> On 04/11/2015 18:13, Sebastien Sterling wrote:
>
> This is actually quite sickening to watch, but cheers Francois, at least
> we know what we are dealing with.
>
> On 4 November 2015 at 15:46, Francois Lord  wrote:
>
>> Does this help?
>> https://youtu.be/Z8zVjLoHWjk?list=PLP5KnnScX57byOldVy9rQlBRARrX6gy4b
>>
>>
>> On 2015-11-04 09:34, Byron Nash wrote:
>>
>>> I'm trying to get some objects zero-ed out in Maya but keep running into
>>> what I assume is a paradigm difference between how Maya and Soft handle
>>> center points and transforms. In Soft, I can move the center/pivot and it
>>> will change the transform values. So, I can reset the center to be in the
>>> middle of the geometry and then zero the position to get the object to snap
>>> back to the world center or parent center. In Maya, moving the pivot does
>>> not seem to change the transform of the object when you move the pivot. So
>>> I can't then zero the values and get the objects to return to zero.
>>> Sometimes, the object and it's center are clearly NOT at zero but that's
>>> what the values say. There are some Local Space/World space values in the
>>> attribute editor, but I can't figure out how to get things reset properly.
>>>
>>> Any help from a Softimage perspective is appreciated.
>>>
>>
>>
>
>


-- 
Portfolio 2013 
Cinema & TV production
Video Reel 

Re: Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker

[Olivier Jeannel]

LOL !

On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 5:43 PM, Gerbrand Nel  wrote:

> Agreed...
> Rather watch this.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmtzQCSh6xk
> It makes more sense.
> G
>
> On 04/11/2015 18:13, Sebastien Sterling wrote:
>
> This is actually quite sickening to watch, but cheers Francois, at least
> we know what we are dealing with.
>
> On 4 November 2015 at 15:46, Francois Lord  wrote:
>
>> Does this help?
>> https://youtu.be/Z8zVjLoHWjk?list=PLP5KnnScX57byOldVy9rQlBRARrX6gy4b
>>
>>
>> On 2015-11-04 09:34, Byron Nash wrote:
>>
>>> I'm trying to get some objects zero-ed out in Maya but keep running into
>>> what I assume is a paradigm difference between how Maya and Soft handle
>>> center points and transforms. In Soft, I can move the center/pivot and it
>>> will change the transform values. So, I can reset the center to be in the
>>> middle of the geometry and then zero the position to get the object to snap
>>> back to the world center or parent center. In Maya, moving the pivot does
>>> not seem to change the transform of the object when you move the pivot. So
>>> I can't then zero the values and get the objects to return to zero.
>>> Sometimes, the object and it's center are clearly NOT at zero but that's
>>> what the values say. There are some Local Space/World space values in the
>>> attribute editor, but I can't figure out how to get things reset properly.
>>>
>>> Any help from a Softimage perspective is appreciated.
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Re: Please explain Maya pivot points to a Softimage thinker

[Byron Nash]

Thanks for clearing that up. At least I know I'm not doing it wrong. That
youtube clip has "the workaround" demonstrated. It's clear that this is
just ingrained in the Maya users workflow. I asked a few around me how to
do what I needed to do and everyone just looked confused.

Needs to have a "make it work like Softimage" mode.

One new things I saw in that tutorial was the Snap Together Tool. That's
pretty cool. Will definitely be using that.

On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 12:02 PM, Olivier Jeannel 
wrote:

> LOL !
>
> On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 5:43 PM, Gerbrand Nel  wrote:
>
>> Agreed...
>> Rather watch this.
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmtzQCSh6xk
>> It makes more sense.
>> G
>>
>> On 04/11/2015 18:13, Sebastien Sterling wrote:
>>
>> This is actually quite sickening to watch, but cheers Francois, at least
>> we know what we are dealing with.
>>
>> On 4 November 2015 at 15:46, Francois Lord  wrote:
>>
>>> Does this help?
>>> https://youtu.be/Z8zVjLoHWjk?list=PLP5KnnScX57byOldVy9rQlBRARrX6gy4b
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2015-11-04 09:34, Byron Nash wrote:
>>>
 I'm trying to get some objects zero-ed out in Maya but keep running
 into what I assume is a paradigm difference between how Maya and Soft
 handle center points and transforms. In Soft, I can move the center/pivot
 and it will change the transform values. So, I can reset the center to be
 in the middle of the geometry and then zero the position to get the object
 to snap back to the world center or parent center. In Maya, moving the
 pivot does not seem to change the transform of the object when you move the
 pivot. So I can't then zero the values and get the objects to return to
 zero. Sometimes, the object and it's center are clearly NOT at zero but
 that's what the values say. There are some Local Space/World space values
 in the attribute editor, but I can't figure out how to get things reset
 properly.

 Any help from a Softimage perspective is appreciated.

>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>