"...just the musings of a frightened paperboy wondering how he is going to complete his runs now that his bicycle has been turned into snakes."
hahahahahaha! Sebastien, best analogy so far this year. =) On Tue, Jan 26, 2016 at 3:16 PM, Cesar Saez <[email protected]> wrote: > That's the attitude... > > What happened to this list? It used to be so good :( > On 27 Jan 2016 7:09 am, "Sebastien Sterling" <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> "Ctrl/Alt/S will automatically increment and save. It’s a really useful >> feature." >> >> >> Same as Mudbox, yes i know. >> >> >> >> "I also recommend: >> Preferences->Settings->Files/Projects->Autosave" >> >> As great a source of system crashes and file corruptions, as of actual >> legitimate saved situations. i've had to disable it in the past as it would >> crash on every routine backup, as there was some plug-in it didn't like, or >> the sky outside wasn't to it's liking, or 42 ... >> >> "Learned a long time ago that saving files in Maya ASCII had really >> awesome benefits. " >> >> I always save in .ma, these are not benefits they are flaws >> >> 1 "It can be hacked" it should not have to be hacked, EVER. plus my CV >> reads BA HONS in Film and Animation, not ancient Sumerian texts from 1963 >> . >> >> 2 "make a saved version run in an earlier release of the software." Gona >> have to go with, The software industry are Bastards ? inbuilt Obsolescence >> anyone ? Still i guess the fact this is even possible in maya does give us >> the lie from Autodesk. >> >> >> "I used this once to map the conversions necessary to create a Wavefront >> TAV to Maya material converter." >> >> Hi :) i'm an artits, i make pretty pictures , in spite of tools and an >> industry hounding me to an early grave through contempt and indifference. >> >> >> Do you guys do much rigging at Nasa ? (this is actually a legit >> question, just as all this is not intended to antagonise you mr Ponthieux, >> just the musings of a frightened paperboy wondering how he is going to >> complete his runs now that his bicycle has been turned into snakes. ) >> >> >> On 26 January 2016 at 17:25, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II] < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Ctrl/Alt/S will automatically increment and save. It’s a really useful >>> feature. >>> >>> >>> >>> I also recommend: >>> >>> Preferences->Settings->Files/Projects->Autosave >>> >>> >>> >>> On a similar note, I’m fairly old school regarding the file type I save >>> files in if they are critical to production. Learned a long time ago that >>> saving files in Maya ASCII had really awesome benefits. 1. It can be hacked >>> (somewhat a meticulous process) to fix a scene that might have failed or to >>> make a saved version run in an earlier release of the software. I don’t >>> know if that trick works reliably anymore though. 2. It reveals a >>> significant understanding of Maya’s MEL underbelly and the seriously >>> complex graph node connections that can exist. I used this once to map the >>> conversions necessary to create a Wavefront TAV to Maya material converter. >>> >>> >>> >>> The downside to .ma though is that files can get really large. I’d >>> recommend sticking with .mb if space is an issue unless you start to >>> experience issues. Haven’t had a need to hack a .ma file in a really long >>> time. But I’m sure there are still folks out there relying on it. >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> 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:* [email protected] [mailto: >>> [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Sebastien >>> Sterling >>> *Sent:* Tuesday, January 26, 2016 11:43 AM >>> >>> *To:* [email protected] >>> *Subject:* Re: So.. Maya rigging is still a thing... >>> >>> >>> >>> Thank you Stefan, am glad to hear maya has this too. I could expand >>> further on the list of things maya gets wrong in this regard, but my heart >>> isn't in it. >>> >>> Just tried modelling up a base mesh in maya, am starting to like the new >>> tools, thinking this is not so bad... less then 500 polygons in, the fucker >>> dies on me. hadn't had the reflex to save so early, lost all work i hadn't >>> sent to zbrush. >>> >>> am so tiered of this shit .... (head in hands) >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On 26 January 2016 at 13:23, Gerbrand Nel <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Houdini has this.. kinda, you select by weight on the mesh. >>> But it doesn't work with my wacom for some reason :( >>> G >>> >>> >>> On 25/01/2016 10:04, Sebastien Sterling wrote: >>> >>> Yes weight painting is bullshit for precise work, however if you don't >>> have much time and you need it to be quick and can afford it being dirty... >>> >>> It's been a while, so i don't remember, but is Soft the only package >>> with a workflow to select the bone you want to weight to directly in the >>> viewport? instead of scrolling endlessly through lists ? its kinda clunky >>> in soft, (takes a few seconds for the selected deformer to register). but >>> it works! >>> >>> Does nothing else have this functionality? it seems like such a no >>> brainner... >>> >>> Maya is exceptionally guilty of the joint list scrolling, as the window >>> is tiny, can not be resized (to my knowledge) and in spite of this, >>> requires you to lock every bone but the 2 you are weighting, manually ! >>> forcing you to run up and down every time you need to change what you are >>> skinning to. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On 25 January 2016 at 07:03, Martin Yara <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> For v2014 and later I'd recommend Skin Wrangler, a pyQT+python tool that >>> is pretty good for that kind of workflow. And for 2013 and previous >>> versions without pyQT support, Max Skin Weight Tool, a mel script based on >>> Max workflow. >>> >>> >>> >>> In games, at least here and other places I've worked, we rarely use >>> paint weights because it is more common to have mistakes and uneven weights. >>> >>> >>> >>> Maya's Weight Hammer is the equivalent to Softimage's smooth weights, >>> but way inferior and without any option at all. I rarely use it because it >>> tends to mess up my weights smoothing it too much and using influences I >>> don't want to. SI's smooth weights could work very nice selecting all >>> points (ex: the whole snake model), while Maya's Hammer do some decent job >>> only if you select the points where the joints intersect. >>> >>> >>> >>> If someone at Autodesk is reading, is it possible to have Softimage >>> Smooth Weights to be ported to Maya? >>> >>> >>> >>> ngSkinTools smooth was nice, but I didn't get used to it's workflow. I >>> may give it another try when I need to paint weights. >>> >>> >>> >>> I found another tool called as_SmoothNearest that looked good in the >>> video demo, but it ended up being a combination of the Maya's default >>> Weight Hammer command and grow selection. And without using the normalizing >>> option with a potentially risk to have 1+ total weights per point. I fixed >>> that code but, still not quite what I wanted. >>> >>> >>> >>> I ended up writing a custom tool to use smooth paint for selected >>> weights and lock all the other joints so it would only smooth based on the >>> selected points deformers. Now with that, SkinWrangler and Maya's Heat Map, >>> my weighting workflow is a little less painful. >>> >>> >>> >>> Martin >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Sun, Jan 24, 2016 at 11:28 PM, Sebastien Sterling < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> I remember skinning in max, not the best but definitely not the worst, >>> it didn't have any pretences let's say, you HAD to use vertex weight >>> selection assignments or "Weight Tool" (envelops are garbage), and they had >>> a very practical little menu for that, with options for assigning a few >>> default pre-sets, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, as well as the ability to >>> copy/past values. >>> >>> selection assignment is the slowest method, not great for fast turn >>> around, but it is also the most precise method. >>> >>> >>> >>> Softimage kind of had something similar, plus a really good smoothing >>> algorithm, (is it just me or was soft's smooth weight function, the bomb ?!) >>> >>> Is there anything like this for maya currently, like max's weight tool i >>> mean ? and the first words better not be "In Bonus tools ... !" so help me >>> god ! >>> >>> >>> >>> On 24 January 2016 at 13:50, Graham Bell <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Man I feel you guys’ pain. >>> >>> I haven’t rigged in Maya for a while, but the thing is if you’ve been in >>> Maya land for some time, then you kinda get to know how it works and get >>> the best from it. Many guys like it, because they can get quiet deep into >>> it, but like anything it’s not without its eccentricities. If you’re gonna >>> keep on comparing to Soft though, then you’re in for constant >>> disappointment. But holey moly don’t go near Max for rigging, imho. J >>> >>> >>> >>> As Adam says, there’s been a lot of talk on Beta about the rigging and >>> without breeching NDAs there is a desire to start addressing stuff. It >>> seems the work on the parallel performance in 2016 perhaps might be the >>> start of that. Certainly that stuff has gone down well with people. >>> >>> >>> >>> On the modelling front, Maya’s been going through an overhaul in recent >>> versions. Up to 2016 there was a lot of overlap between what was the NEX >>> stuff and the legacy Maya tools, but a lot of that got fixed in 2016 >>> onwards. Imo I like the modelling in 2016, it’s in a very good state. The >>> improvement in the pivot editing alone was worth it. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* [email protected] [mailto: >>> [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Sebastien >>> Sterling >>> *Sent:* 24 January 2016 09:06 >>> *To:* [email protected] >>> *Subject:* Re: So.. Maya rigging is still a thing... >>> >>> >>> >>> Hey Jordi Bear ! what is skinning like in Houdini ? and have you tried >>> Fabric for rigging ? >>> >>> >>> >>> On 24 January 2016 at 08:56, Jordi Bares <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> It may not be the only solution, it is really up to you. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On 23 January 2016 at 18:54, F Sanchez <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Its 2016 already. Is there no other app that will ever take the place of >>> Maya? (Besides a future resurrection of Softimage which is not going to >>> happen. ) Sure I can use XSI when working on my own but if you need to work >>> on site it will now have to be Maya from now on. :( >>> >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Jan 22, 2016 at 8:49 PM, Sebastien Sterling < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> "I'm still holding out that fabric engine will become a solution for >>> rigging" >>> >>> Here, here man ! >>> >>> "I can paint weights and build a rig in Maya using fabric to do all the >>> heavy work. I can paint weights and build a rig in Maya using fabric to do >>> all the heavy work. " >>> >>> so you can build a Rig in fabric, as a generalist ? >>> >>> can you paint weights in it as well ? >>> >>> I too hope Fabric blossoms into the next era of DCC's >>> >>> >>> >>> On 23 January 2016 at 00:48, Michael Amasio <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> I'm still holding out that fabric engine will become a solution for >>> rigging. It's not all that magical for something complex in Maya. Which >>> as I'm sure several of you have discovered is a bit of a Maya problem. >>> I can paint weights and build a rig in Maya using fabric to do all the >>> heavy work. >>> But when it approaches the quality I require, fabric is providing all >>> the computational speed I need , BUT all that speed is lost as it converts >>> data back and forth between data Maya can use and KL. I actually get >>> faster results out of the new Maya GPU accelerated. >>> ...but faster results out of XSI. Good old XSI. >>> I love it when a studio has like one license for XSI. I always snatch >>> it up and never turn my box off. >>> I've made a career off of lurking in the background making stuff like 5 >>> times faster in XSI. >>> >>> I know it's childish to enjoy, but I still enjoy a good rant about the >>> pain of rigging in Maya. >>> >>> On Jan 22, 2016 3:31 PM, "Eugene Flormata" <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Yah, not sure why there's no improvement in the processflow for rigging >>> in that much time, almost in any program i see, so many advancements in >>> modeling. but nothing for rigging. >>> no zbrush of rigging so to speak. >>> >>> I like how there's notes and tips even when you just turn on the >>> quaddraw. feels really thought out. >>> >>> a lot of maya feels like different programs just stapled together in a >>> package >>> vs XSI's whole package made for one user mentality. >>> I just thought quad draw had that feel to it. >>> >>> I've not made any rigs in maya yet, and all my XSI rigs were pretty basic >>> but at least while I was rigging, i wasn't punished for something i >>> wanted to go back and change in XSI whenever you learned something about >>> your mesh you wanted to animate. >>> which the real benefit to the XSI over maya, it reduced the number of >>> iterations in the learning process. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Jan 22, 2016 at 3:18 PM, Eric Turman <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> I'm glad you are liking your new modeling tools, Eugene. However I >>> believe that it is important to make the distinction that it is not about >>> the confusion in Maya rigging--at least not for me; I do not find Maya >>> confusing at all. What the huge issue with Maya is that its limited rigging >>> tool-set combined with archaic workflow make the task of rigging drudgery.* >>> Drudgery* is the key word more than confusion. I have made many >>> character rigs in Maya over the past fifteen-plus years and Maya still >>> sucks at it. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> www.johnrichardsanchez.com >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> -- -=T=-
