Maya Skin Weight Extract Like 3Ds Max

MDuncan3D

Hey ya'll,

I've been in 3Ds Max for the last year and one of my favorite features from it is the extract skin weights tool. 

Extract skin weights will create a copy of the mesh that holds onto the skin weight data but is no longer affected by the bones. This mesh is useful because I can unbind the original mesh, make adjustments, and then rebind all while keeping my skin data in place. What is the Maya alternative? 

I've seen the export weight tools that saves the weights off into a file, but this is still not as dynamic as the extract skin weights tool. With extract I can cut up the skin mesh into parts, so that i'm only saving pieces of the weights while manipulating others. To my knowledge export skin weights does not have these capabilities. 

Thoughts?

Mark Dygert

You're a brave person making edits like that and relying on an ancient tool that will probably stop working in a release or two.

Storing the skin data in channels is a dicey operation, especially if you plan to heavily edit the mesh. I wouldn't be surprised if it explodes on you at some point in the future. 

Usually you use that tool if you plan to skin the mesh as one big piece and then cut it up. You might be able to make some minor edits without it blowing up in your face but that's like making edits to a mesh and not rebaking the normal maps. It might work... but why be lazy and leave yourself open to issues?

The usual workflow that delivers consistent predictable results, is roughly the same in both apps and it leaves you without any doubt about the stability of your mesh.

• Copy your mesh
• Make your edits
• Clear transforms and history
• Skin the mesh to the bones (3dsmax: skinwrap modifier)
• Copy weights from the old mesh (3dsmax: convert to skin)
• Delete the old mesh

It's a few more steps but doing it this way you know your mesh is still bullet proof.

After using 3dsmax for skinning and character animation for 9 years. I personally prefer Maya when it comes to transferring weights it has a few more options than 3dsmax.

Maya
Deform > Export Weights: (saves out the skin data to a table, vert ordering matters)
Skin > Copy Skin Weights: (Closest point, Ray Cast, Closest component, UV space, joint labels, joint name)
Skin > Export Weight Maps: (heatmaps per joint, is reliant on UV space but the topo can be different)

Max
Export Weights: (saves out a skin data table, vert ordering matters)
SkinWrap: (new mesh follows the old mesh, can convert to skin)

3dsmax REALLY needs a tool like Maya's Copy Skin Weights and it needs more options to save out weights than just a vert index table. As is, it barely limps along on the skin wrap modifier.

oglu

We use the free mGear rigging tools to do that. It does have a script to save skinweights.

And take a look at ngskintools 2.0

https://www.ngskintools.com/v2/launch-status/