I don' know if you saw my rant about this on a Maya job I did last week but all I can say is HELL YES we use the center a lot. I am not sure why you even have to ask.
On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 5:50 PM, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES] < j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> wrote: > I'm not sure I see how that would easily solve my problem without > introducing other problems, risks, or complex workflow. I don't even see > how it competes with Softimage's method. > > I have geometry that is sometimes generated in CAD or provided from other > sources. The geometry, and its relative components often have to remain in > their relative positions. But I need to define custom articulations. I > often have more freedom to cheat on the articulations than I do on the > topology. > > If in Maya I select the aileron, rotate it till the pivot matches the > rotation angle I want, then select all the points of the aileron and > attempt to back rotate them until the geometry matches its previous > position against the new rotation angle, can I do that? Yes, but with > caveats: > > 1. If I select components and proceed to back rotate the geometry by using > the Channnel editor, why do I lose the numerical channel editor transform > entries. This would have been the intuitive approach because that's how we > do this with object selection. But there is no congruency here. It would be > my first anticipation on how it might be achieved. > > 2. Might it be possible to eyeball the back rotation with just the > manipulator? Yes, but what does that do to the accuracy of my geometry > position? I might possibly be less concerned for the accuracy in the > rotation angle than in the placement of the geometry. Either way one or the > other must sacrificed. In this scenario Maya forces me to sacrifice > geometry position. What if I don't want to sacrifice that? > > 3. What if I am rotating this on more than one axis? Can I use the Channel > Editor's CV list to accomplish this? How do I know what vertex coordinates > to enter here? Can I use it at all? Strike three in anticipating a > potential method. > > 4. polyMoveVertex . So yes there is a way to do this in Maya. Assuming I > have an object under another in a hierarchy I: > > a. select the child object that I want change its pivot angle > > b. rotate the object -30 degrees in Z > > c. select component type > *in the event you were in component type already and selected the object > from the outliner, component type is still active but object is selected, > you then have to select object type and reselect component type just to get > back to component selection or make a new component selection. > > d. select all components on the object > > e. go to polygon module (if you're not there already) > > f. go to Edit mesh -> Transform Component (I now get a > polyMoveVertex operator in my Input stack). > > g. enter a positive 30 degrees in Z, geometry is now back rotated > > h. return to object type > > i. hit Edit -> Delete by Type -> History ( Assuming I have > construction history on. Further why can't I just > right-click delete history on this operator?) > > > Yet how simple are any of these approaches compared to: > > Select the Object, Select Center, enter -30 at the Rotate > transform? > > Yes in Maya I can do this, but is it easy? Is it risky if I tried to do it > using solely a manipulator? Is it intuitive? Why must I use a > polyMoveVertex operator to do this? Why can't I just switch to Component > Type and maintain use of the Channel editor's Transform entries? How much > planning is required? > > Is there another way in Maya to do this? I don't recall, I got used to > making null rigs. > > In Maya its easier, more forgiving, and simpler to just go the null rig > route. I think its potentially appropriate to argue that it might also be > good form. It introduces far less risk or possibility of mis-selecting > vertices, putting the vertices in the wrong place, damage to geometry. But > it's not more intuitive than Center. > > Yes the null rig method can also be done in Softimage as an alternative > method to using Center. Softimage also supports the vertex back-rotation > through a Cluster. > > This is not an issue of whether Maya provides us the ability to do these > things. It does. And very reliably. The question is whether it provides > these abilities in an intuitive and user friendly manner. It's a matter of > human factors. > > But to be fair, Softimage had its own issues with this problem. Just far > fewer than Maya. > > -- > Joey Ponthieux > __________________________________________________ > Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not > represent the opinions of NASA or any other party. > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage- > > boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Luc-Eric Rousseau > > Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2014 11:26 AM > > To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com > > Subject: Re: Center mode (was RE: humanize Maya, SOFT top 5) > > > > On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 8:30 AM, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES] > > <j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> wrote: > > > Maya: I have to create a set of multiple nulls with custom > rotations to > > > set up the angle of rotation properly for the surface. If I want to > > > rotate the surface I have to dig through all these nulls to get to the > > > right one, select and rotate it just to rotate the surface. > > > > Is that always true in your scenarios? Moving center in Softimage is > like > > moving all the points of the geometry. (What brent calls "transforming > the > > geometry") Knowing that it does that, wouldn't the simplest work-around > for > > your specific scenario in Maya be to select all points and move/rotate > them. > > -- www.johnrichardsanchez.com
