Max-to-Maya migration tips?
polycounter lvl 18
I could use a few tips in learning Maya. Mind you that I do most of my stuff on a Mac now for the most part (stuff like compiling textures for Unreal are still on Windows though) and I'm looking into learning more Maya techniques since there's no Max on Mac.
I know how to use Max for basic character modelling but I could use a few migration tips so I could also do the same things in Maya with the ease I had in Max.
Can someone throw me a bone here? Thanks!
I know how to use Max for basic character modelling but I could use a few migration tips so I could also do the same things in Maya with the ease I had in Max.
Can someone throw me a bone here? Thanks!
Replies
The only thing I sometimes trip over nowadays is the selection method, CTRL removes from a selection, CTRL-SHIFT adds to a selection, and SHIFT is like a weird boolean selection, anything you have selected becomes deselected, and anything deselected becomes selected, when you click and drag... I prefer Max's method, but bleh, it's not too bad.
F9-F12 are the hotkeys for vert,edge,poly,UV selecting. I re-mapped them to 1-4 to make it more similar to Max.
Hypershade is waaay different to Max's material editor, you'll be wanting to read the help or some tutorials on that.
As with Hypershade, yes it sure is different ... way way WAAAAAY different. I did get some basics on it down though.
Also getting familiar with how history works in Maya and the advantages to knowing when and when not to delete it.
when you want to creat a new shader, MMB drag it into the lower window, MMB drag a File node in too. Then MMB click on the File Node, and drag to the shader, connect to 'color.' quick, simple, easy. I generally only use the surface and 2d things, but the 3d textures are kinda cool for making procedural things... but not to useful for what i want.
- holding MMB will drag the object around as if you clicked it in the center.
- if you select an attribute in the channel box (on right; Translate X, Y, etc) and MMB drag in the viewport, it will incrementally change the values based on the dragging.
- if you accidentally hide a bunch of UI stuff accientally - its in Display > UI Elements
- Holding RMB will bring up a component marking menu (with geo selected, in component mode you have to hold RMB on the wireframe or shaded mesh), so you can quickly switch between face, edge, vert, object if you dont like pressing fkeys.
- holding CTRL RMB brings up a selection conversion marking menu (i use this in the UV Texture Editor ALLLLLLLLLLLL the time)
- x = snap to grid, v = vert, c = curve
- w and W are two different things in maya. If hot keys arent working, check the capslock
- the 'reuse tool' and 'use tool' keys are good to know. 't' will use and drop the tool, while 'y' will use, and keep using the tool. Im pretty sure those are default key binds.
- build your own custom shelves out of tools you the most often. By choosing something from the menus and holding SHIFT CTRL you will add an item to the shelf. MMB dragging it to the trash can on the far right will get rid of it. If you build multiple shelves, it may help to turn on shelf tabs for easier movment through them.
ill try to answer any other questions if you've got em, as im sure others here will be able to too
A good place to get a jump start would be the video tutorials on www.3DBuzz.com which goes into detail on how the UI works and how to use the tool set. Then all you really need to do is identify the comparable tools and workflow used in Max
As to which is better. The question is moot as both programs are very good at what they do and the core is no more than a UI sitting on top of a graphics engine so it really comes down to the individuals tastes as to how they like their UI to be set up.
Based on price Maya has the advantage with the better price point and, even though I use Max, I have no problems recommending Maya to anyone that is looking to get into 3D.
One question though, which is better, Max or Maya?
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Max for modelling, Maya for animating...(I'm talking straight out of the box, no pluggins or scripts added)...
...otherwise if you go and download the right scripts and pluggins they are pretty similar...
Snowfly, yes ... opacity maps are bitch in the viewport ... I learned that the hard way.
[/ QUOTE ]It really is about time they fixed this problem. The excuse that the standard issue Nvidia and ATI cards aren't compatible with Maya really isn't cutting it any more.
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One question though, which is better, Max or Maya?
[/ QUOTE ]You might want to be careful with a question like that, particularly around here. You might as well ask a room full of Muslims and Christians who has the best religion.
Oh yeah for my tip, Turn of the snap settings in the split poly tool and it will act just like the cut tool in max, except for one thing, you must finish your cut on a separate edge than the one you started on. But other than that you can cut whatever the hell you want.
For example, Im MAYA Try cloning keys and retaining curve data, for example, or offsetting an animated character without having to bake them or add a node to the heirarchy. Try instancing hundreds of pillars, make them crumble and then break the instances and offset the animation. These are just some examples of stuff that you just cant do in maya without writing lots of scripts. Max is great just out of the box for 90% of the stuff I do, Maya falls down on basics such as easy sub-object selection tools and being able to change character heirarchie without having to skin from scratch.
I hate these arguements... I just want people to stop generalising about which is better and start taking a look at the software and what specifically they actually do.
The IK in max was written by the same guy who did the maya IK and he wrote it afterwards.
Basically when choosing a package get people to give you SPECIFICS as to why its better.
Whay do you care so much about what people use? Some of us are stuck with what we use. Just let people use what they're comfortable with. There doesn't have to *be* any arguments If people didn't ram down other peoples throats that they're using the 'wrong' software.
At the end of the day, most 3D apps are pretty much on a par ( except XSI which blows everything else away ;-) ) . It's the output that matters here. Software wars really piss me off for that reason.
it's like comparing shake to after effects for compositing - except for that shake isn't ugly
there seems to be a leftover materal editor from the old poweranimator days included in maya that's a little less complex. it's called multilister and is hidden somewhere in the windows menue.
mop: by dragging scenes into the viewport in max it seems that the scene scale warning dialog does not appear, instead the scene is automatically scaled according to your specified scaling units and thus may break on import.
not sure if it's still in the most recent releases but becaue of that i tend to use the file-open dialog instead.
yes, Daz, i totaly agree, people should use what they're comfortable with, and quite frankly, it's none of my buisness what they use, but i'll bet good money that if you put 2 equaly skilled modelers in the same room, using 2 different apps, i'll bet that one will finish drasticaly faster than the other every time.. the only problem with other people using shaite software is that the new stuff doesn't come into the market as quickly as it should and i'm stuck using garbage when i work, instead of a cheaper, better alternative.
if we can admit that max is a much better modeler than milkshape, why does it become unreasonable to claim that xsi or maya is a better modeler than max, or visi versa?
It's not unreasonable at all John. Sure XSI is a better app. than anything out there. I'm not disputing that. I just think that people responding to a problem posted on these boards with a particular app. with stuff like 'well in Max7 you can do this blah blah. You should be using Max. Maya is shit etc." is not constructive. Im stuck with the app. I use at work. I have to make the best of it. The bottom line is, telling me that a different app. out there is better aint gonna help my immediate problem. There is not always a choice. Get Eletronic Arts to switch hundreds of Maya artists seats to XSI ones and that'd be fine with me
Furthermore, whilst it has to be true that one app. is actually king, any discussion on 'which is better?' is not going anywhere constructive. People will always disagree with you on that. So it's just a pointless discussion. It's akin to saying 'who is hotter? Jessica Alba or Angelina Jolie?'. I mean Angelina has the tits and the pouting lips. But Jessica has the pouting lips and the youth and the body to die for. Taste and perspective enter into it too.
One nice thing about converting is that because the interface will be completely alien you'll wind up spending ages customising things to what feels best for you. In doing this I found that I wound up knowing and understanding the interface and ultimately being able to work far more efficiently than I ever could in Max. I'm not sure whether this will be the same for everyone or whether its just because I never bothered to learn Max as well as I should have.
As with application preferences, I personally think no program is better than another. Sure each app has a different way of making something work but in the end, it'll probably turn out with the same product as if it was built with another program, provided that the two apps have comparable features. It's just a matter of figuring how different it is to do the step in X program vs Y program. One may take more steps but after a while, you start to adapt to the different setup and work at the same speed like you did in the previous app.
Thanks.
[edit]Oh, and I don't recall seeing this mentioned, probably because it's so basic, but make sure to set up your right click menu's how you like them too. I got very used to the quad menu's in max, so it's nice to be able to have something similar set up for myself.
I've gotta ask though... what is it that makes XSI so much better than other packages. I've never looked into it much. It seems like Max and Maya are used more commonly than it though, so if it's so much better like everyone says how is it that it never caught on as much?
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Simple answer: It's NOT better than Max or Maya. Anyone can argue what makes their 3d software package of choice superior to "brand X." It all just comes down to a matter of preference; Most likely, what ever package you choose to focus most of your energy into learning will become what is "best" to you.