maya different ways to model in symmetry?
yeah so i was wondering if there is a more effective aporoach to modelling a sub div model symmetrically in maya. maybe theres a mel script or something?.
here's the current methods that i know of:
duplicate special instance. it works well if youre just doing polygonal modeling and you can still work with it with some sub div models too. but if you see your model in sub div, you get a nasty center line that you cant see smoothed over.
sub div proxy. the centerline issue is no more wiyh this method. however i find it harder to work in this mode.
modelling toolkit symmetry. works fine as long as you stay in modelingtoolkit mode. but sometimes i prefer the old manipulator which seems more solid in certain things, like curve and point snapping.then when switching back and forth between the old and new manipulator, i would have to redefine the center line sometimes which can be a annoyance. also it is sometimes tricky to define the centerline. your shape has to have a certain amount of curve in it in order for this to work properly.
also there is another issue im having. when using sculpt geometry tool or soft select, sometimes the center verts get off centered and is a pain to put them back to center. however ive found a temporary workaround where i would keyframe frame 2 all of the center verts on 1 axis. then whenever they get offset, i would simply just slide the timebar back and forth and they go back to center. but i would have to reasign it after i do a modification on my model such as extrude. is there like a legit workaround for this issue?
which method do you guys prefer or is there another method thatvim not aware of yet?
here's the current methods that i know of:
duplicate special instance. it works well if youre just doing polygonal modeling and you can still work with it with some sub div models too. but if you see your model in sub div, you get a nasty center line that you cant see smoothed over.
sub div proxy. the centerline issue is no more wiyh this method. however i find it harder to work in this mode.
modelling toolkit symmetry. works fine as long as you stay in modelingtoolkit mode. but sometimes i prefer the old manipulator which seems more solid in certain things, like curve and point snapping.then when switching back and forth between the old and new manipulator, i would have to redefine the center line sometimes which can be a annoyance. also it is sometimes tricky to define the centerline. your shape has to have a certain amount of curve in it in order for this to work properly.
also there is another issue im having. when using sculpt geometry tool or soft select, sometimes the center verts get off centered and is a pain to put them back to center. however ive found a temporary workaround where i would keyframe frame 2 all of the center verts on 1 axis. then whenever they get offset, i would simply just slide the timebar back and forth and they go back to center. but i would have to reasign it after i do a modification on my model such as extrude. is there like a legit workaround for this issue?
which method do you guys prefer or is there another method thatvim not aware of yet?
Replies
http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/script/deo-s-mirror
i would pay some decent bucks for a true mechanical symmetry like max, that shit is heavenly.love to see what others have for solutions as well though as im still somewhat new in the maya world.
I have it saved to my shelf and use it all the time. Life without it sucked.
still wish there was some sort of "live" symmetry that shows what the center would looked like merged but is actually not merged. youd think maya would have resolved this issue by now or someone had developed a script for it, but noooo ;(
enough for symmetrical modeling i do.
But i wouldn't mind to have symmetry like 3DS max... for example something like "Mirror Cut" tool but with symmetry for not only auto welding on the middle but to be able to edit that mash while still retaining that auto weld function based on xy plane you set.
Other then that i like, when using Duplicate Special, to group the object (yes, even only one object into group) and then Duplicate special(-x) that group, not the object! That way you can have object based move, rotate and scale and the instance one fallows it.
If you add new primitives and you want to have it's mirror, you can, in outliner, just drag and drop that object you just created on to the object(!!) that is in the previous group you made to create instance out of it. As soon as you drop it on the object, the other one is created on the other side automatically.
Cool and fast way to blocking stuff!