But also Maya have MORE of bugs and limitations as well so need more ways around it too ;)
On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 11:03 AM, Martin Yara <furik...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks for your comments about my rig question. And no we don't use motion > capture and I assume my client is using HIK for normal rigs. > > Back to topic, I agree with Joseph about exporting selection to .ma file. > Maya data gets dirty pretty easily and sometimes it is impossible to clean > it. Here is where exporting selection to .ma comes in handy. We have a > little script to do this and I force everyone to use it before delivering > data. > > Although not always straight forward, being able to open a simple scene in > an old version is something I always wanted in Softimage. Every year I want > to try those new fancy features that could make my life easier, but I'm > stuck with a 3 years old version because the game pipeline is from 2 years > ago. > > Being said that, I haven't being able to open Maya 2016 scenes in older > versions, haven't tried that hard though. I guess I'll have to do some > ASCII edition of the scene. > > Maya has a lot of workarounds for it's bugs and limitations, but to be > fair, so did Softimage. > Well, Softimage had less of that but it wasn't perfect either. > > Martin > > > On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 6:38 AM, Sebastien Sterling < > sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com> 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 <cesa...@gmail.com> 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" < >>> sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com> 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] >>>> <j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> 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:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto: >>>>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Sebastien >>>>> Sterling >>>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, January 26, 2016 11:43 AM >>>>> >>>>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com >>>>> *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 <nagv...@gmail.com> 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 <furik...@gmail.com> 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 < >>>>> sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com> 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 <bell...@gmail.com> 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:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto: >>>>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Sebastien >>>>> Sterling >>>>> *Sent:* 24 January 2016 09:06 >>>>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com >>>>> *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 <jordiba...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> It may not be the only solution, it is really up to you. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On 23 January 2016 at 18:54, F Sanchez <youngupstar...@gmail.com> >>>>> 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 < >>>>> sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com> 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 <michael.ama...@gmail.com> >>>>> 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" <eug...@flormata.com> >>>>> 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 <i.anima...@gmail.com> >>>>> 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 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >> >
