max NOT vs maya (a positive thread to try and make life as a polygamist better)

SHEPEIRO

ok ive been going between the two packages alot recently and there are "simple" things that each package does not do that the other package does...

...i was hoping in starting this thread (we know that autodesk employees do check the boards from time to time) in the hope that some of these small differences can be ironed out, or a repository for third party solutions...

not the biggies, i dont want/expect maya to get a modifier stack really but small things that are different for no reason make a big difference... (why not incorporate the ability to switch between maya/max viewport controls for example)

i appreciate the two packages differences and do not particularly want a middle ground as there are base reasons why each package has areas that it excells in AND limitations...but there would (esp as they are owned by the same company) be plenty of reasons to make it easier for an artist to slide easily from one to the other (come on autodesk it makes financial sense if the obvious competitor is your own package as the artists have the least resistance to using it)

thread haha "rules" discusion" in white -points/questions in yellow green -answers in magenta

i will start it off...:\

-why cant maya remember its component selections... sometimes it takes a while to make a selection you then need to alter something else but you want to come back to that selection, and you have to do it again, 7 out of 10 thats quick the other 3 are a pain in the ass...i would love to not think about this (acchem... autodesk...are you istening) but i would also like to know if there are workarounds...

r_fletch_r

-why isnt max's reaction manager as simple to use as set driven key.

MikeF

i'm not quite sure how max handles things, since i've all but forgotten it since learning maya, but from what i understood reading your post it sounds like you need selection sets?

Select your faces/edges/verts, create -> sets -> set

PolyHertz

FunkyBunnies made a script that deals with remembering and recalling selections automatically, but yea it'd be nice if it was incorporated into the package by default.

For Max it'd be nice if it worked like Maya (or any other 3D package) when it comes to working directly on isoline wires, as right now you have no choice but to work on the cage instead. Oh, and fix Preview Selection so it works like in Maya too (NO ONE uses it as it is right now).

arshlevon

SHEPEIRO wrote: »

-why cant maya remember its component selections... sometimes it takes a while to make a selection you then need to alter something else but you want to come back to that selection, and you have to do it again, 7 out of 10 thats quick the other 3 are a pain in the ass...i would love to not think about this (acchem... autodesk...are you istening) but i would also like to know if there are workarounds...

if you get nex, it will remember selections from one component to the next, its pretty nice.

i also use this tool for dealing with multiple selection sets.
http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/downloads/scripts-plugins/modeling/curve-tools/c/ya_selectionmanager--2

SHEPEIRO

cheers for the suggestions..will look in to those

another

-why cant maya select edge loops along a border edge like max can?

cryrid

.i was hoping in starting this thread (we know that autodesk employees do check the boards from time to time) in the hope that some of these small differences can be ironed out

But these differences might be the only thing stopping Autodesk from ignoring/killing other products. Just look at their Softimage marketing pitch: "The unique, multithreaded Softimage® GigaCore architecture and innovative tools like ICE (Interactive Creative Environment) and the Autodesk® Face Robot® facial animation toolset extend an Autodesk® Maya® software pipeline" and "An ideal companion to Autodesk® Maya® software,..."

MoP

SHEPEIRO wrote: »

-why cant maya select edge loops along a border edge like max can?

If you look at the script that it calls when you use that hotkey/menu item, it actually says "SelectLoopOrBorder". There might be a way to make it only into "select loop" thing, since I think as soon as you have a border edge selected it will always go into "select the whole border!" mode. I might take a look...

My little pet gripes...

- Why doesn't Maya's Shelf have a right-click menu like Max's toolbars?

- Why can't Maya's UV editor show "shared" UVs highlighted in a different colour when you select one, like Max's?

- Why does Max have a different default hotkey set for Editable Poly and Edit Poly? They're the same bloody actions, why would I want different keys for them? That makes no sense...

- Why are both Max and Maya's texture baking tools so incredibly slow? It makes them almost unusable compared to third-party tools like XNormal...

SHEPEIRO

MoP wrote: »

- Why does Max have a different default hotkey set for Editable Poly and Edit Poly? They're the same bloody actions, why would I want different keys for them? That makes no sense...

- Why are both Max and Maya's texture baking tools so incredibly slow? It makes them almost unusable compared to third-party tools like XNormal...

yeah i love the way if you set a hot key for collapse (or whatever) in maya it works on every component etc, max know what component of what kind of object your editing so why do you need a seperate hot key for each...

you would need proprietary rennderer to speed things up...they both use theyre default renders which are way more bulked out than xnormals....wouldnt think it was impossible to provide a sleek optimised version for pure baking

r_fletch_r

SHEPEIRO wrote: »

yeah i love the way if you set a hot key for collapse (or whatever) in maya it works on every component etc, max know what component of what kind of object your editing so why do you need a seperate hot key for each...

this'll appear in a category called modeling shortcuts. you should change that to something meaningful to you. assign it a hot key and your off.
I wonder why this is even needed. the command is context sensitive...

[COLOR="Magenta"]
macroscript context_collapse
category:"modeling shortcuts"
tooltip: "collapse"
(
$.collapse #CurrentLevel
)
[/COLOR]

SHEPEIRO

cheers r_fletch_r, why the fuck are thses not implemented as standard...

malcolm

Why can't maya have the free-form transform manipulator tool like max

Why can't maya mirror cut a mirror cut object and keep it live like max

Why can't maya have a simpler way of cutting and pasting live poly extrusions along splines like max

Why can't maya have extrude edge along spline follow the curvature of the spline

I don't know how to make the text coloured.