So I went to an Autodesk seminar today and learned a few things. Maya with the latest expansion has "local pivots" that align to the average normal, edge or vert. They are also releasing this week (on thearea.com) level tools, which looks pretty handy for laying out instances of objects. It builds a small icon library of…
"Does have anything remotely close to Biped/Character Studio? If not are there rigging tools available like PuppetShop, CAT or CrypticAR?" Something like The Setup Machine blows away Biped or Cryptic. There are a number of excellent and proven low-cost or free rigs for Maya that blow away almost anything Max has to offer…