Maya Options Missing

EbonyStallion

So usually I start my lowpoly models with a 4 sided cylinder in Maya (2012).
However recently, after creating a cylinder primitive, when I go into the attribute editor and click on Polycylinder01, no options come up.
Usually it branches into several options, one of them being subdivisions axis.
It's just gone. Can anyone help?

54Strat

Have you got construction history turned off?

sub_roland

well i don't know why that isn't popping up for you, may need to delete you preferences folder, not the funnest thing to do but often solves similar problems. You should also be able to access the subdivs axis buy click edit>attribute editor in the channel box menus.

EbonyStallion

I don't know what construction history is.
And I don't see the option under the attribute editor

sub_roland

you have to switch the tabs at the top of it over to the polyCylinder#. And construction history would be the list that forms in the INPUTS (bevel, extrude, ect) as you do work to it

EbonyStallion

Which sub-tab is the subdivisons axis under after clicking on the pCylinder# tab? If it means anything, the "Extra Attributes" tab has nothing under it when I click on it.

sub_roland

here ya go.


though that isn't fun to have to do every time, if no one else suggest anything i would say go to your documents folder and delete your maya prefs folder, on program launch it will recreate all with defaults, probably should pull out your scripts folder though, then put it back after relaunching

EbonyStallion

What in the world? that tab is gone.

54Strat

Maya uses construction history to (try) to keep some sort of editable options open on previous commands and actions done on meshes (or nodes). It works by inserting a history node into the scene graph, in the case of a polygon cylinder this node will be called something like 'polyCylinder' and has the attributes you're looking for.

If that node is not present, then either you've deleted the history (there are a few ways apart from the command 'delete history' to delete history, for example duplicating a mesh may not carry it's history over) or construction history has been turned off.

Maya has a master 'Construction History' toggle, you'll find it on the status bar near to the render icons. If there's a red 'x' on the icon it's turned off so no history nodes will be created, hence why you may not be seeing these options. Toggle it back on, create a cylinder and the history should be there.

Bartalon

Check this button:



I accidentally clicked this one time and spent a full day pissed off at Maya. With this button toggled ON, the input nodes should appear as normal.

passerby

it's because your construction history is turned off. run this in a mel console

constructionHistory -toggle true;

EbonyStallion

That worked, thanks very much to all of you.