Dude, Nicolas. Thank you so much! Fabian. Honestly, I have no idea I would just be guessing. Feel free to send me a scene in .fbx and I will try it and see if I can come to any opinion on the performance.
On Tue, May 5, 2015 at 9:57 PM, Nicolas Esposito <3dv...@gmail.com> wrote: > I can answer some of the Maya LT related questions: > Trax absence is a minus, but overall I'm used to the graph editor, so no > big deal. > - Some of the deformers are missing, one of them is the cage deformer who > I use extensively in Soft and in Maya LT I really miss it...also the delta > mush is missing, which is quite a nice addition, but I also notice that in > "standard" Maya its kinda broken, not sure if its only a problem that I > have or the model I'm currently working is broken, but it works whenever it > feels...strange... > I'm currently using Apex Cloth plugin, and it works pretty well...I've > used it for both cloth simulation ( takes 5 minutes to setup ) and for hair > simulation with good results. > > Gator is why I currently switch back and forth to Softimage in order to > get things done quickly, and the transfering attributes in Maya is a bit > annoying, but its there ( not as good as Gator however ). > > Big problem which currently Maya LT have is the lack of python scripting, > which kills the UE4 plugin called ART ( autorigger ) which I use a lot > currently and its pretty good. > You can of course build or use other rigs, but overall with UE4 I found > very easy and quick the rigging process. > > Cheers > > 2015-05-05 16:37 GMT+02:00 skuby <sku...@gmail.com>: > >> Hey yall, long time no see. Thought I would give you guys an over-view >> of my Softimage transition to Blender, 1 year in. (Been with Softimage for >> almost 9 years trained at VFS, > Before that I was all Maya 6+ dedicated >> years, then off and on use, before that I was 3DSMax/just starting out). >> >> If there is any interest, I can suggest some options/settings/tips/tricks >> for Blender to help anyone trying to get into it from a Softimage >> background, just ask, I'm happy to oblige. >> -------------------- >> I also I have some questions about Maya LT 2016 owners at the very end. >> -------------------- >> TLDR: I'm seriously pursuing an independent project in UE4 in my >> free-time > Blender has been pretty awesome, it has shortcomings, has >> promise, has some stuff that is better than anything out there, it's a >> mixed bag overall. >> >> -Probably going to have to get a Maya LT 2016 subscription very soon >> (because of the sad state of Blender FBX and reading a litany of eerily >> similar FBX issues in Houdini which would have been my first choice before >> Maya), > literally going to use Maya as a glorified exporter, otherwise >> mostly quite happy in Blender!. >> --------------------- >> >> Blender FBX/Normals (grade D-) : Current biggest problems with Blender >> for game dev, is it's pretty horrible custom FBX solution and it's >> lackluster support (and only recently) for direct control over normals, >> tangents, bi-normals, etc.. It does have solid SMD export for Valve >> workshop stuff, but if your focus is on Unity/UE4, expect difficulties >> frustrations that I suspect will last until late into the year if not much >> longer. >> >> Poly-modeling (B+): A few settings you need to know about, and >> whalakazam, you get something that is nearly as good as Softimage poly >> modeling. It even does a few things far better than Softimage ever did, I >> find it to be far superior to Maya in this category. It has become, and >> will remain my full-time go to modeling application. (I have fully >> abandoned Softimage for better or worse) >> >> UI/Customizability (A-): It's fully open to customize or extend, and the >> Blender hot-key system once you learn it, is quite good > the default >> hotkeys aren't even half-bad but they aren't perfect either. There are a >> plethora of very well done free and paid add-ons. UI seems quirky at >> first, but once you learn it, you realize it's hiding a lot of power under >> the hood. UI and Customize-ability is one of Blender's best features *but >> it's not immediately apparent, and takes reasonable dedication to fully >> appreciate. It's better than Softimage and Maya on this front (for >> indie/small studio), however nothing to this day matches Softimages >> perfected defaults and standard hot-key set and it's near perfect >> consistency through-out different sections of the system, out of the box, >> -but surprisingly, Blender is by far, the closest of all to Softimage's >> elegance even though that is a tall order to fill. >> >> Documentation/Tutorials (A+): Mostly Free and a few good paid tutorials, >> out the wazzzooo. The only software out there that I have used with equal >> tutorial/community support is Unreal Engine 4. >> >> UV's: (C-): Do-able, and the automatic stuff just works a lot better than >> Maya 2015's when I last tried it. Some fine tune editing works quite well, >> while a few things related to fine tuning after automatic results, are >> frustratingly/maddening and time consuming, and that's what drops the >> entire grade (it would be very difficult to explain in text). I found >> Softimage to have B+/A- UV features once you mastered it. >> >> Sculpting (B+/A-): For raw poly power, it's no ZBrush/Mudbox (Mudbox >> being my favorite of the two, aka. I hate the ZBrush UI) However, if you >> follow some specific workflow guidelines, Blender has quite an amazing >> sculpting tool-set and so far it is my favorite sculpting package overall >> because of the ability to go back and forth between low-res base mesh >> poly-modeling and right back to sculpting detail and or proto-typing. Two >> types of sculpting, traditional for normal map/displacement/finished work >> and another type for rapid proto-typing, that allows you to create/collapse >> geometry on the fly, so you can proto-sculpt infinitely without caring 1 >> bit about the underlying mesh as it will create or delete geo as needed. >> Has all your standard base brush needs, can make most any brush, some >> limitations but minor and I only have 1 single sculpting add-on for Boolean >> cuts which works nicely, I've seen many, quite nice looking sculpting >> add-ons that I haven't yet explored, it's deep and it's being actively >> developed. >> >> Texture Painting (B+/A- to use > but quirky to learn): First time setup >> is a bit to learn, but once you figure it out, you get VERY nice easy to >> work with multi-layered texture painting, full pressure sensitive painting >> support / basic but reasonable default brush library and good brush >> settings available for each, can paint into any map slot you like with >> multiple layers. >> >> Animation/Rigging/Blend Shapes(D-/A- great in it's own right but needs >> FBX/etc. to play nice with others that is why large grade gap): I haven't >> gone too deep here, but the basics all work nicely without issue for me. >> If FBX was fixed, it's an easy passable to high grade. >> >> Materials/Render (D-/B+): Has 2 systems. Old stack based and new node >> based. Neither are perfect but both can and do work well, they are also >> barely compatible with each other. I don't render much, my focus is >> Games/Realtime. That said, I do a lot of material/texture work. I'd say >> Blender is quirky in this department at best (I suspect no one here will >> appreciate it), but when you get it all worked out at it's best, it's at >> least passable. -No where near as good as Softimage (Soft material nodes >> were the best, EVER, anywhere.), also not as powerful as Maya overall but >> the node interface is as good/slightly better than Maya last time I checked >> - (I thought Maya's new node system was very clunky/awkward to use in >> practice (too many exposed pins, etc, >Blender's node system is way, way >> more friendly/workable. I think most Softimage users will find Blenders >> older stack system completely foreign, although I've grown to like it for >> some odd reason). The new cycles rendering, for the very little I played >> with it, is quite powerful and more up to date than age-ing mental ray but >> one will probably need to delve into the paid tutorial realm and some >> months of study for professional results. >> >> Baking (D-/C-): It's a quirky system. Can work well enough at times. >> When it does work well it's never 100% perfect, usually needs slight >> touch-ups in paint. When it starts giving you cyclical dependency errors, >> you'll be pulling your hair out, there's no good reason for it but it's a >> persistent bug that is sometimes fixed and sometimes re-appears, the work >> arounds are awful. Softimage in it's prime makes Blender's baking >> interface look and feel like utter crap. I use it for transferring maps >> after I re-do UV's or for baking Normals/etc. but at first sign of it going >> into bug mode, I switch to XNormal, which is of coarse, a hassle and time >> waster. >> >> Extra Features: Blender has pretty decent and quite use-able nodal based >> composting system and a dedicated video editing system built in. I've also >> been pretty happy with the regular updates of new features and improvements >> and the software's recent focus on making itself more accessible/UI >> friendly. The large crowd of independent and young 3D artists out there >> using Blender today, are quite rapidly producing impressive results, it's >> quite promising. There are a wealth of add-ons, both paid and free for >> Blender, I haven't gone too deep into them yet, but I have found a few >> great ones. >> >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Maya LT 2016 questions: I'm about ready to pull the trigger on this >> purchase. Going to start a demo soon, to test a few things but I'm >> confident it will suit my needs where Blender fails hard. General >> question: how have Maya LT > UE4 users been finding the 2016 LT experience, >> any complaints, or is it all good? Has anyone used Maya LT with NVidia's >> Apex physics add-ons? I currently use Apex stand-alone and it's a pain in >> the ass, I figured the Maya add-on would be a lot better, is it working? >> >> If anyone has any Maya modeling tutorials / system settings / plug-ins / >> free downloads that bring it into line with what Softimage was capable of, >> I'm at the very least curious. You know what I mean, hotkeys, speed/ease >> of use/comfort/power at the ready. I am happy in blender, but curious what >> you guys might have discovered over the last year. >> >> My main question/concerns regards custom normals, bi-normals, tangents. >> I will be able to see what LT has to offer when I demo it soon, but from >> the comparison list, there is a chart between LT and full Maya that lists >> missing features in these categories (namely: normal constraints / tangent >> constraints). Any info related to normals, tangents and bi-normal / >> editing in Maya LT appreciated. (not as important, there were a few other >> features between full Maya and LT, that I found weird that they left them >> out, like transfer maps?, any idea why? that would have been nice since >> Softimage's transfer maps always worked quite well) Viewport 2.0 missing, >> seems odd? The list I have is here >, is this accurate/up to date? >> >> >> http://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/compare/compare-products >> >> Thanks. >> > >
