well it looks like the OP is more after studios using procedural asset creation methods. i take it unreal can function as a host in conjunction with houdini?
dirigible- Saving as a TGA. I tried with a cage in the transfer maps. Same result. By a cage you just mean setting the envelope function in Maya I'm assuming.
made a quick flashlight in substance painter, made a material function for the light, made it toggle on and off with blueprint and added a little effect at the end of the body as well :D
Here are the maps and an Unreal 3 render. You will have to forgive the primitiveness of the screenshot as ive had to spend the morning trying to figure out UDK's basic functionality.
http://www.pixolator.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=57154 makes dealing with import/export easier, avoids the onsave bug, has a mirror function. The first monster is cool :)
I don't really use Maya,- but is the UV functionality or workflow that bad in Maya? ( I mean 3dsmax isn't perfect either but at least it has all the basics)
Well the classOf the base object is EditablePoly, but I don't get how to translate that into forcing the function to recognize the object correctly...Sorry, I'm sort of a maxscript noob.