The version cross compatibility was always a pro in Maya. Don't know how it can be a con. We had a number of occassions in the studio we had were version locked because we were halfway through production and needed something out of a later version of XSI because riggers/tech guys were already playing around with it.
And .ma files give you a great option. You don't have to take it, but using that and Lightwave's scene files was always a winner to me, simply for being able to bring a corrupt file back from the dead. I hope your day improves, Seb :) On 26 January 2016 at 21:38, Sebastien Sterling < [email protected]> wrote: > Sorry Cesar, am having an off day, will be better soon. > > As for what happened to the list, i think it's name sake died (or was > smothered with a pillow). > > on the bright side, we learned, that maya has a method for picking joint > influences... > > some tips on rigging from Adam ... > > that mGear is a very good solution for rigging... > > that you can hack .ma files to fix your scenes remotely... > > that Seb should stick to his Valium prescription ... > > So yea lot of rants, but also some good info :) > > On 26 January 2016 at 21:16, 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 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >
