Benefits of Maya (Modeling)
polycounter lvl 5
Disclaimer: I started out and feel very confident in 3ds max, I want to switch to Maya since a lot of job openings list Maya. Also if there’s a thread similar you can just link that as well.
So, Starting to learn maya; is there any projects you would recommend I work on that will incorporate a lot of Maya’s toolset to model (I’m environment and props mainly) to get familiar with the software.
Secondly and more importantly; Is there any features of Maya that are really useful that get overlooked by beginners. I’m still learning unqiue tools and ways to model in 3ds max so I’m sure Maya has its secrets that can be overlooked.
So, Starting to learn maya; is there any projects you would recommend I work on that will incorporate a lot of Maya’s toolset to model (I’m environment and props mainly) to get familiar with the software.
Secondly and more importantly; Is there any features of Maya that are really useful that get overlooked by beginners. I’m still learning unqiue tools and ways to model in 3ds max so I’m sure Maya has its secrets that can be overlooked.
Replies
I've done some other courses by that guy and he's a great teacher ^
that might be good place to start.
Only specific thing i can recommend since I don't know max is to learn the marking menus and just play around with them. Make sure you understand how you can "flick" to access submenus quickly. For instance, hold ctrl + flick diagonal up right to "grow" command.
Little things like this make it so you can work as fast as you can think.
I do also recommend rebinding some hotkeys. Put convert to vertice, face, edge on your one two and three keys. And object/component toggle on ~ key. This allows me to effortless make selections of anything in fast intuitive way.
And the bonus tools are essential part of my workflow. You got "convert n-sided face to quad", "select every n-th edge", "convert edge to curve", and all sorts of quick pivot snap tools you'd want to put on a shelf. If you are sending lots of game assets for export those pivot tools are a big time saver.
I want to apply for a position at a game company and all of my modeling is 3ds max and Zbrush. I know Houdini but, not the biggest fan of the modeling portion of it. Love the non destructive workflow but it takes me so much longer. Mainly use that for visual effects.
Its so much harder to learn maya than it was 3ds max I think because learning Max I didn’t know anything about modeling. Now converting, it’s frustrating when I know the steps and how to model something in max but, in maya It feels impossible.
Also, I have seen things from tutorials and speed models about maya that I think maya can be incredible but, it’s just that learning curve that gets me
2) Use the hotbox ( quick menu ) by holding down spacebar, you'll have all the top menus directly in the viewport
3) Use context menu for every tool to quickly change settings ex. press d key+right mouse button and move the mouse down = reset pivot another example hold down W+right mouse and you can set the simmetry, camera based selection and other things
4) Download DcBoolManager ( free mel script ), Duplicate Along Path ( free mel script ), Bonus tools and maybe buy the Ninja Dojo plugin ( mel so it works with Maya LT ) that is a time saver for retopo as well as curve modeling ( ex. create tube from curve etc. ) and all the future updates are free.
5) Set the hotkeys for delete all by type history ( delete the history of all meshes in the scene ) and freeze transformations. I set them to ALT+T and ALT+G respectively
6) For the main tools use hotkeys. ex. extrude with CTRL+E
7) Set the number of undos to a value of 200. Dont' set them to infinite unless you like memory leaks.
8) If modeling became suddenly slower while performing an operation it's because of the history. Delete it.
9) Before diving into UVs, delete the history of the mesh.
10) Wanna make a circle ? Use the circularize tool on one or multiple faces.
11) Don't delete the history every 2 sec like 90 % of the people. Delete it only when it gives problems, you must apply a deformer or you must uv map the mesh. History is useful, it's not powerful as the stack deformer of Max but you can still tweak the values of every action you did like the width of a bevel for example.
12) Want a fast retopo with all quads ? Type polyRetopo in the cmd. Better used after a polyRemesh if you don't have enough geo. Save these two scripts to the shelf for later use.
For projects you can work on hard surface objects similar to this:
It's not too difficult and you will use a lot of tools. Work from Vitaly Bulgarov.
PLUS BONUS POINTS FOR USING VITALY BULGAROV AS AN EXAMPLE. lol I love his work and in fact he is the reason I started focusing on hard surface modeling.
Only tip I can give you is to double the move tool, In those options make sure to turn on smart duplicate and smart extrude. It's shif drag from Max, but better.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuHLxYrggu6gB4cLKAGo71w