Maya backwards compatible question

breakneck

I'm doing a simple model scene in Maya 2008 and I need to send it to someone that has Maya 7. Is there a better way to make sure it is backwards compatible other than to edit the text of the .mb file?

new question: is non square textures going to be a problem? i don't know if that is a new thing.

animatr

save it as a .ma and make sure they open it with the open options and check ignore version.
should work for just a model.
I've used it on complex rigs, and it worked ok.

glib

I didn't know about the check ignore option, but I've successfully moved between different versions of maya by saving as .ma, opening in notepad and changing the 'requires' field at the top (I think thats the name of it... just change '8.5' to '7').

breakneck

ahh .ma not .mb - I'll give it a shot. thanks!

funshark

Just to specify that the "ignore version" is not present in maya 7.0 so you still have to edit the header:

//Maya ASCII 2009 scene
//Name: M_Torso_Jacket_AA.ma
//Last modified: Mon, Mar 30, 2009 10:58:27 AM
//Codeset: 1252
requires maya "2009";
currentUnit -l centimeter -a degree -t pal;
fileInfo "application" "maya";
fileInfo "product" "Maya Unlimited 2009";
fileInfo "version" "2009";
fileInfo "cutIdentifier" "200809110030-734661";
fileInfo "osv" "Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 (Build 2600)\n";

Just delete all the "fileInfo" lines and replace the two 2009 ( or whatever ) instances at the beginning

breakneck

so like this?:

//Maya ASCII 7 scene
//Name: superAwesomeArt.ma
//Last modified: Mon, Mar 30, 2009 10:58:27 AM
//Codeset: 1252
requires maya "7";
currentUnit -l centimeter -a degree -t pal;

MoP

the one at the top is a comment (since the line starts with // ) which means that part of the file will be ignored when reading.

the other one he meant was where it says:
fileInfo "version" "2009"

funshark

breakneck > that's it. But the exact version number is "7.0" for Maya 7

breakneck

another question: are non square textures compatible with 7.0?

PixelMasher

yea non square textures are fine.

funshark

If by non square, you mean 256*512, 64*512, ... it's ok
If you mean random height & width like 473*856, it is not

breakneck

yea, i speak of example: 512*256.
I thought i heard it was only square textures a while back. Thanks for the help!

Andreas

Can I import a rig made in Maya 2008 into Maya 7 if its saved out as a .mb file?

Vailias

Blenderhead: Probably. The only hitch would be if your rigging used some maya 2008 new feature. Most of the commands in maya have stayed pretty consistent over the versions, so it ought to work.

funshark

Blenderhead > you mean in .ma ? Yes you can if you don't use maya XXX specific functions like Vailias said.
That's working for everything.