(Maya) mesh binding gone, 'fosterparent' appeared, how to reference properly?
polycounter lvl 9
I'm relatively new to rigging, but new to referencing in Maya
I spent a few hours last night setting up a skeleton and smooth binding a mesh with multiple separate objects to it
Here are the steps I took and what happened;
1. modeled character in 3ds max 2015, high, low, baked it, all good
2. exported low poly as fbx from 3ds 2015 to 3ds 2013 then to maya 2013 because the normals get scrambled going directly from 3ds 2015 to maya 2013 for some reason
3. imported the fbx from 3ds 2013 into maya 2013, saved scene as 'android_mesh.ma'
4. new scene, referenced android_mesh.ma, built skeleton and smooth bound the mesh objects to their respective bones, saved as 'android_binding.ma'
5. exported the mesh and skeleton into Unity engine, animates and deforms fine with some test animations from another humanoid character. Went to sleep
6. opened android_binding.ma today just to check before I create 'android_rigging.ma' and reference it, and see this + outliner
A 'fosterParent1' mesh has appeared, and my bindings are erased (but the fosterparent mesh is bound to the skeleton)
Apparently a fosterparent appears if a referenced mesh has a mesh parented under it and is then unloaded
I did have a few problems with model scale and viewports cutting off, so I exported from 3ds a few different scales until I got one that worked in maya, I think it was;
3ds 2015 export 0.01 (meters) > 3ds 2013 import 1.0 (centimeters) > grouped and export 0.01 (meters) > maya 2013 import at 1.0 (meters) > export at 1.0 (meters) > Unity model scale set at 0.1 (I probably should have redone the exports until it could be 0.01 and the right size in Unity?)
I can't remember if these values are exactly right but they were roughly that, in terms of units I work at Metric - centimeters, System 1 unit = 1.0 centimeters in 3ds max if that helps
I'd very much appreciate someone more versed in referencing to explain how to reference properly - am I supposed to reference the whole .ma file? I had problems referencing .fbx, it would reference fine but broke when trying to reload
I might have not reloaded or reopened Maya when changing the referenced file, would this cause such an outcome? Then again I did import the fbx into Maya to create the android_mesh file, not reference it
Thanks in advance
Edit: I think I got it sorted, I just need to be more careful and keep reloading/checking my references are updating properly rather than rushing ahead
I've got an .ma file for my mesh, an .ma file for my skeleton, and an .ma file where i'm binding them together
Now namespaces are getting in the way though, I'm not going to touch them for fear of breaking even more stuff
I spent a few hours last night setting up a skeleton and smooth binding a mesh with multiple separate objects to it
Here are the steps I took and what happened;
1. modeled character in 3ds max 2015, high, low, baked it, all good
2. exported low poly as fbx from 3ds 2015 to 3ds 2013 then to maya 2013 because the normals get scrambled going directly from 3ds 2015 to maya 2013 for some reason
3. imported the fbx from 3ds 2013 into maya 2013, saved scene as 'android_mesh.ma'
4. new scene, referenced android_mesh.ma, built skeleton and smooth bound the mesh objects to their respective bones, saved as 'android_binding.ma'
5. exported the mesh and skeleton into Unity engine, animates and deforms fine with some test animations from another humanoid character. Went to sleep
6. opened android_binding.ma today just to check before I create 'android_rigging.ma' and reference it, and see this + outliner
A 'fosterParent1' mesh has appeared, and my bindings are erased (but the fosterparent mesh is bound to the skeleton)
Apparently a fosterparent appears if a referenced mesh has a mesh parented under it and is then unloaded
I did have a few problems with model scale and viewports cutting off, so I exported from 3ds a few different scales until I got one that worked in maya, I think it was;
3ds 2015 export 0.01 (meters) > 3ds 2013 import 1.0 (centimeters) > grouped and export 0.01 (meters) > maya 2013 import at 1.0 (meters) > export at 1.0 (meters) > Unity model scale set at 0.1 (I probably should have redone the exports until it could be 0.01 and the right size in Unity?)
I can't remember if these values are exactly right but they were roughly that, in terms of units I work at Metric - centimeters, System 1 unit = 1.0 centimeters in 3ds max if that helps
I'd very much appreciate someone more versed in referencing to explain how to reference properly - am I supposed to reference the whole .ma file? I had problems referencing .fbx, it would reference fine but broke when trying to reload
I might have not reloaded or reopened Maya when changing the referenced file, would this cause such an outcome? Then again I did import the fbx into Maya to create the android_mesh file, not reference it
Thanks in advance
Edit: I think I got it sorted, I just need to be more careful and keep reloading/checking my references are updating properly rather than rushing ahead
I've got an .ma file for my mesh, an .ma file for my skeleton, and an .ma file where i'm binding them together
Now namespaces are getting in the way though, I'm not going to touch them for fear of breaking even more stuff