Maya High Poly Workflow? (hard surface)

Justinnd

So I've been a Max user since day one but need to learn Maya for my current job. I was wondering if anyone could clue me in as to the current high-poly workflow in Maya? (2013)

What I'm looking for is the typical stuff like quickly doing edge rings and loops, then being able to toggle my sub-d off and on, etc...

For example, as far as what I've found, Maya has no way to preview what your edge(s) look like while editing them in the tool, you just guess and hope it's close? Is there a way to see this in real time?

If you have any other tips / tricks it would be much appreciated,

thanks!

oglu

shortcut 1,2,3 will toggle the subD preview...
and the multicut tool (maya 2015) is inserting loops as well... just hold down ctrl...

in maya 2013 you have to sue the insert edgeloop tool... its in the shift+RMB marking menue...

if possible upgrade to maya 2016 EXT... modeling made a big jump from 2013...

CreativeSheep

Maya now has the creme de la creme for modeling tools compare to previous versions of Maya, that we can all give Kudos to Autodesk, first they had to EOL Softimage; I guess sometimes, something has to die for something good to come.

Now we wait for "The future of modeling" and BiFrost to blossom.

Justinnd

Thanks for the info. I tried those few techniques and it helped. Not sure of they will spring for 2016 though. lol

Would be nice to just go back to Max haha.

throttlekitty

Justinnd wrote: »

For example, as far as what I've found, Maya has no way to preview what your edge(s) look like while editing them in the tool, you just guess and hope it's close? Is there a way to see this in real time?

I'm not sure what you mean by that? Loop and Cut tools have had pre-vis for as long as I can remember. Even in sub-d preview (hotkey 3, and I think shift-3 for cage+sub always on), the cage becomes visible one you start one of those tools.

Generic tips: Set up a simple marking menu to put common tasks in, start off with a "DeleteHistory;" entry. And add more things that you use commonly but aren't as easy to get to. For most modeling sessions, the history is (usually) only good for the moment- you can rarely rely on being able to go back and edit a bevel you added ten minutes ago if you've added anything that crosses that bevel.

Instead of the multi-cut, use the split polygon tool and insert edge loop tool. They both have ctrl-shift-rmb menus while you're in them for a couple quick options. I'm on 2016 and still mostly prefer those, but I don't think 2013 had the MTK anyway.

I use snapping and pivot adjustment very often. Hold d to enter adjustment, and also c or v to snap to a vert or edge. Clicking an axis on the widget, then holding c/v lets you click an edge/vert to snap-move your selection to where you clicked. lmb+ w/e/r pops a menu for setting your axis rotation (world, center or *custom). "x" is for grid snapping. This all sounds like a mouthful but makes for easy alignment for architectural or hard surface models. (though I wish we had sketchup's ease for that)

*Select a vert and opt for a custom axis which lets you click another vert to point at. Handy for hard surface stuff that has weird angles but you want to use a certain plane as local for a little while.