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learning maya for max users

polycounter lvl 17
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kypo polycounter lvl 17
Hello,

I recently pick up a new position which requires me to learn maya. Is there any good guides for max users on learning maya?

Thanks guys.

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  • nome_sane
  • PolyHertz
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    PolyHertz polycount lvl 666
    I know theirs a few, I'll see if I can dig them up later. till then here's some of my notes from when I was learning it, some of it may be off but I've tried to update it to some degree (incoming wall of text):
    MAYA Notes
    Basics
    Menu names:
    1st down (menu type) = Status line
    2nd down (Tabs) = Shelf
    Left = Toolbox
    Spacebar held = Hotbox


    Viewport display:
    Viewport maximize = Tap Space (do not hold)
    Focus (Zoom) = F (will focus on object if one selected, or center of grid if not)
    Expert mode = Ctrl+space
    Polygon counter = Display - heads up display - poly count


    Tool properties:
    Exit tool = Q
    Manipulator size = +/-
    Manipulator locking (for mmb movement) =
    1 axis: lmb on desired handle lock for mmb drag. Enabled handle will be yellow.
    2 axis: ctrl+lmb on axis to be dissabled. Middle square will lay on active axis. Only works on universal for scale.
    Disable lock = ctrl+lmb on middle of manipulator


    Object display:
    Cage = 1
    Cage+sub-d = 2 (will still export as cage)
    Sub-d only = 3 (will still export as cage)
    Wireframe = 4
    Shaded = 5
    Textured = 6
    Real time lighting toggle = 7
    Texture filtering = Viewport menu, shading - hardware texturing.
    Silhoette = Viewport menu, lighting - Use No Lights


    Selection:
    Object = F8
    Vertex = F9
    Edge = F10
    Face = F11
    Convert selection = Hold ctrl while pressing corresponding key
    Grow/shrink = Shift + >/<
    Add = Ctrl+Shift
    Remove = Ctrl
    toggle = Shift (inverts selection)
    Paint select = Toolbox / ctrl+shift+rmb - select - drag select. Hold 'B' and drag lmb/mmb to change brush size.
    Select ring = (Maya 2k9) select edge then press up/down to ring, and left/right to pick walk.
    Select loop = (Maya 2k9)
    Edge = Double click edge
    Face = Partial: Select face and then shift+double click end face to loop to.
    Full: After selecting two faces press right arrow to select complete loop, and then left/right to pick walk.


    Pivot and snapping:
    Grid snap = Hold X
    Vertex snap = Hold V
    Curve snap = Select vertex, hold C then hover over the edge you want to snap it to and press MMB to slide.
    Angle snap = In rotation options, listed as discrete rotate, with angle being 'step size'.
    Freeze (XForm) = Modify-freeze transformations
    Pivot reposition = insert key (press again when done)
    Pivot recenter = modify-center pivot


    Sculpt:
    Tweak = Hold ` when in soft selection to move. most effective when in multi-selection mode.
    Smooth = Select area to be smoothed, mesh - sculpt geometry tool (options) - sculpt parameters - operation: relax
    Do not use with multi-component mode, will not work correctly.
    Soft selection =
    On/Off = B (toggle)
    Increase/Decrease falloff = Hold lmb+B and drag.


    Paint:
    Tool location = Render (menu) - texture - 3D Paint tool
    Workflow:
    Assign new texture in paint tool menu
    fill object with base color and save (this is


    Splines:
    CV Curve =
    Will be lathed around x/y/z zero point on grid, so start/end points should be snapped to them.
    Surfaces (menu type) - surfaces - revolve (options) - output geometry: polygons, tesselation method: control points
    Object will continue to obey curve shape till history is deleted.


    Unwraping UV's:
    Planar map = Select faces, CreateUVs - Planar (options) - projection manipulator: best plane / keep image width/height ratio
    Pelt = Select pelt seams, use cutUV, select UVs and 'smooth UV tool', then lmb-drag from the unfold icon under the UVs.
    Select shell (Element) = Select part of desired UV and hold ctrl+rmb, click shell.
    Soft selection = Select uv, hold ctrl+shift+rmb - select - soft selection.
    Merge/cut edges = Select edges, shift+rmb - sew UVs/cut UVs.
    UV color = window - setings/preferences - color preferences - active - objects: polygon surfaces
    NOTE = Only UV points (rmb – UV) can be manipulated in the editor, not faces or edges.


    Other:
    Repeate last = G (does not work for cloning)
    Clone = Ctrl+d (ctrl+c ctrl+v leaves manipulator and messess with auto-nameing)
    Slider preview = After applying an action (ex: Bevel), under the input node in the channel box select the desired attribute, mmb drag in the viewport to preview change (hold ctrl/shift = slower/faster changes).


    Program components
    Shelf:
    Shelf editor = located in black arrow on left side
    Reorder icons = mmb drag
    Copy/Paste icon = ctrl+mmb drag
    Delete icon = mmb drag to trash can on right side
    Place current tool in open shelf = ctrl+shift+lmb on desired tool from menu


    Hotbox:
    Open = Hold space bar
    Change viewport to editor = below hotbox lmb drag
    Change editor to viewport = above hotbox lmb drag
    Selection masks = left of hotbox lmb drag
    Show Menus = right of hotbox lmb drag
    Customize hotbox = right side ('hotbox controls') lmb drag the parts of hotbox to show/hide
    Front/Top/Side view = hold lmb over 'maya' icon in center of hotbox
    Hypergraph:
    Group = ctrl+G
    Parent = MMB drag child node to parent. break off by MMB dragging child back into blank area

    Rendering
    Hypershade:
    Texture application =
    1. pick type of shader (blinn)
    2. pick type of texture
    3. mmb drag texture to shader and choose type (color)
    4. mmb drag combined shader onto object in viewport, or rmb on object - assign existing material - blinn
    Texture sets = Select all faces in desired UVset and apply the texture, it'll only be applied to the selected faces.
    Normal maps = ZBrush source must be flipped vertically. apply to shader as bump map, bump node as tangent/object space.
    General settings = 'Red pipes over checker' node, for things such as offset/tiling/etc.
    Settings:
    Display current subdivision in render = Requires mental ray to be enabled.
    IPR = 'Interactive photorealistic renderer', refreshes selected region in render vew when changes are made to the material.
    Replace shader sphere pic = view - 'grab swatch to hypershade vizor', select desired region, mmb drag to material.
    Safe frame = in viewport go to view - camera settings - resolution gate
    Render info = render - run render diagnostics
    Render globals = all basic render settings


    Lighting:
    Ambient = like a sun, sends light in all directions but deminishes highlights
    Directional = like a sun, sends light in one direction for an infinite distance
    Point light = essentialy a lightbulb, or omni light.
    Cone angle = size of light
    Penumbra angle = intensity falloff amount
    Depth map shadows = makes it so light acts realisticly and doesn't pass through solid surfaces


    Specifics


    Symmetry:
    1. Delete via faces unneeded half of mesh
    2. Grid snap pivot to where you want the center of symmetry.
    3. Edit – Duplicate Special (options)
    4. Instance, scale = -1
    5. Align verts along center.
    6. Turn on 'reflection' in any manipulators settings, will lock symmetry line components.
    7. If seam is still breaking, under reflection settings turn off 'Preserve seam', and increase 'Tolerance'.


    Map Baking:
    1. Status line = rendering
    2. Lighting/Shading - transfer maps
    3. Select low res mesh, target mesh: Add selected
    4. Select high res mesh, Source Meshes: Add selected (all non target meshes considered source meshes if nothing selected)
    5. Output maps: Normal/Ambient/etc., select output directory+name+format+normal map type
    6. Maya common Output: select quality settings
    7. Bake / bake and Close


    Troubleshooting:
    Problem = Bridge will twist every time used, despite twist settings.
    Fix = After bridge is made go to attribute editor and change bridge offset to a higher number (1-4 normaly work).


    Problem = Viewport flickering is happening under Windows XP 64bit Edition.
    Fix = Turn off 'threaded optimization' in nvidia control panel.
    or, in maya.env file (in myDocuments), include the string: MAYA_GEFORCE_SKIP_OVERLAY=1

    Problem = Manipulator handles are off screen, and +/- are not fixing it.
    Fix = Window-settings/preferences-preferences-display-manipulators and shrink global scale.

    Problem = Transform/Smart Manipulator is broken or doesn't appear when using tools that are supposed to activate it.
    Fix = There is no currently known gauranteed fix. Fixes include reinstalling maya, and using different graphics card drivers.

    Problem = None of the hotkeys are working.
    Fix = Make sure caps lock is not enabled, it will mess with all hotkeys.

    Problem = My shelf tabs are glitching out after reordering them.
    Fix = Restart program. Recommended they never be moved, can cause serious issues that require reinstall.

    Problem = I cannot export my mesh as an obj, the most common 3d format.
    Fix = In maya this capability is not on by default. Go to and enable: window>setting/prefs>plugin manager>objExport.mll

    Problem = OBJ files will not export with their UV's.
    Fix = uvSet1 must be the currently visible set in the editor.
  • Mark Dygert
    It kind of depends on what you'll be doing? I'll assume modeling & materials?
    I am by no stretch a Maya expert but I did start off with Maya years ago, switched to Max and then later went back and brushed up on Maya.

    I recommend checking out NEX http://draster.com/nex-1.5/. It does a decent job of upgrading Maya's modeling tools and providing actual previews of what the tools will do.

    Save and save often, its going to crash and there are no autoback files. Most of the autoback scripts are trash. There is some promising work going on in this thread tho... http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=61286

    The history stack looks like the modifier stack, but is actually kind of closer to the history list in photoshop. If you let this get cluttered up it can slow things down. If you've been a collaspalolic in 3dsmax you're probably going to be fine.

    You'll probably like how the UV tools work, its not modifier dependent. Its a mode you can enter at just about any time you want. Most of if not all of 3dsmax's UV tools are in Maya, a few of them work better.

    This list is helpful when you're trying to figure out what the Maya name for things are.
    http://www.paulneale.com/tutorials/MaxMaya/maxMaya.htm


    EDIT: Woa polyhurtz...
  • Jeremy Lindstrom
  • kypo
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    kypo polycounter lvl 17
    Wow thanks nome_sane, Polyhertz,Vig and Dekard for all the advice.

    @Dekard - that book looked pretty much what i had been looking for so just ordered my self one, thanks for pointing me in its direction.

    @Vig - The Nex tools look cool. I'm working in maya 8 so hopefully those tools will give me some that i'm used to from the newer 3ds versions. The Paul Neale list is awsome as well. Gives me a quick answer to some of the things i want to do in maya. Haven't tried the UV tools yet, starting to get to grips with no stack.

    @Polyhertz - Thanks for listing ur notes. been reading through them and now i know how to grow my selection : ) thanks.

    @nome_same - the training videos looks good but i'll see if i get learn off the bits i found and Dekards book before giving the vids a go. thanks.
  • PolyHertz
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    PolyHertz polycount lvl 666
    Just to add to that, here's some more notes I made in a separate text file that aren't sorted, and probably isn't as helpful, but maybe you'll still find them useful:

    elements = shells

    For move/rotate/scale hold W/E/R and lmb to bring up the manipulators marking menu
    if part of a mesh is deleted via edges the resulting geo will be capped, but if done by faces it wont.

    ignore backface = In toolbox click 'select', in menu that appears on right check 'camera based selection'

    backface culling = viewport menu, shading panel.

    Deleting verts/edges in maya wont delete faces, and verts with more then 2 edges attached can't be deleted directly.

    select tri/ngons = select-'select using constraints'

    Parenting = Select child, then shift+click parent in Outliner and press P to parent (shifp+p to unparent)

    Parent vs group = Parent creats parent child relations between objects in scene, group makes all objects children, with an unrenderable node as their pivot.

    boolean = mesh - booleans -
    difference (white kept, green deleted)
    Union (welded together, intersection deleted)
    Intersection (only intersecting geo kept, welded together)

    FFD: In animation - create deformers - lattice (ffd). delete history to get rid of.

    To turn off visibility of an object select it (regular or in outliner), and in channel box turn visibility to 0 (off), turn back on by setting to 1 (on)

    MMB can be used repeatedly without touching manipulator to perform same operation till mode exited

    to break off a piece of a mesh into a seperate object go to mesh - extract. mesh - seperate is for breaking off elements (aka shells) only.

    Attach/Combine = mesh - combine.

    Group = ctrl+g (view hypergraph to see affect).
    To select all in group, select object from group and press up arrow key

    If selecting multiple objects, the last one selected will be green and the rest white. If grouped the green will become the parent.
  • onionhead_o
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    onionhead_o polycounter lvl 16
    this is very useful. Im learning maya too atm.
  • onionhead_o
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    onionhead_o polycounter lvl 16
    is there a isolate selection ?
  • rebb
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    rebb polycounter lvl 17
    In the Menu-Bar of a Panel : Show -> Isolate Select -> View Selected .
  • onionhead_o
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    onionhead_o polycounter lvl 16
    how do u align an object to another object base on pivot point?
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