Any essential tool updates from Maya 8.5 to 2011

KICKER

We just got switched over from Maya 8.5 to 2011 at work and I'm wondering if any of you guys can recommend any of the new tools/features in 11 for game development.

Is there anything you've used in any of the versions since 8.5 that has made your life easier?

Please let me know.

KICKER

Thanks for that insightful observation! Anyone else have anything to share that's on topic?

thatanimator

ah.. 8.5.. maybe the best maya version
using 2009 myself, love it.. tried newer versions such as 2010 and 2011.. my god

as an answer to your question, no.. theres nothing I've used in any of the versions since 8.5 (2009, same shit? hehe) that made my life easier! more of a pain the bee-hind, definitely!

KICKER

So one of the most important things for me when I went from 8.5 to 2008 was the 1 2 3 hot keys for previewing the subdivided mesh. That whole tool set became a life saver when working with hi res hard surface models.

I find it hard to believe there is nothing worth mentioning, but it's totally possible the we just paid to have a slightly more gray interface.

Mark Dygert

I don't use Maya that much and when I do its mostly for animation, but one of the big improvements for me was in the new enhanced skinning tools.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJfUie-bBko[/ame]

But mostly I stick to max, its what we use at work and it's come leaps and bounds over the last few releases especially in the modeling and animation tools.

KICKER

So I've been using it for the last couple of hours and I'm not impressed. The selection tools for picking verts/edges/faces is jacked up and the move widget is acting strangely. Great.