Center the view on selected or all objects
In the panel menus choose View gt Frame In the panel menus choose View gt Frame all. In the panel menus choose View gt Look at
Custom Installation Options
You can customize your installation of Maya so that you install 1 Insert the Maya Software CD into your CD-ROM drive. The Maya installer window appears. 2 Click Install Maya to begin the software installation and follow the online instructions. The Maya Installation Wizard appears. 3 Click Next to continue the installation. The Maya Software License Agreement and Documentation Server License Agreements appear. These agreements require your acceptance in order for the Maya software installation...
Mac OS X Feature differences between Mac OS X and Windows
Threaded rendering on multi-processor systems now available on Mac OS X. The following features differ between Mac OS X and Windows versions of Maya. Features for Windows not available for Mac OS X Ability to read in pre-Maya 3.0 files Features for Mac OS X not available for Windows Threaded sound playback in time line during scrubbing AppleScript executes Maya MEL commands with results returned. See also Communicating between Maya and Mac OS X in the Release Notes and Calling MEL from...
Installation troubleshooting FAQ Linux
The following section refers to problems that may occur during installation on Linux. Conflict messages during installation you may need to uninstall a previous version of Maya for Linux before installing the new version. Follow the instructions Installing Maya on file systems other than usr on page 76. Conflict with lesstif and openMotif use the replacefiles option when installing openMotif. This overwrites previous files. If lesstif is not needed, it can be removed and openMotif installed by...
Long hair and dynamic curves for Maya Unlimited
Maya Unlimited 6 introduces Hair, a major new feature set that combines a dynamic curve simulation engine with a variety of rendering options for the creation of hair and other objects, such as ropes, chains, feathers and vines. The simulation engine can also be used to control NURBS curves connected to other objects, such as IK chains, surfaces, emitters, and deformers. gt Soft Modification Tool and Deformer Using Hair, you can easily and quickly create realistic hair on characters directly...
Rendering in the Maya software renderer vs mental ray for Maya
Refer to the following table for the differences between rendering Fur in the Maya software renderer and mental ray for Maya. Fur is refracted through refractive material, but is not refractive itself Support for correct penumbra and drop off Fur can be transparent, but is not visible through transparent material can render in layers and composite Fur is able to be transparent and to show up through transparent material Geometry information is written to a .sbs file that is then used by the Fur...
MFnClip
You can now create pre-cycles when creating clips. MObject createInstancedClip MObject amp sourceClip, const MTime amp start, MDGModifier amp dgMod, MStatus ReturnStatus NULL, bool absolute 1, double postCycle 0.0, double weight 1.0, double scale 1.0, double preCycle 0.0 This method has been modified. The previously used cycle parameter has now been renamed to postCycle and a new preCycle parameter has been added. double getPreCycle MStatus ReturnStatus NULL This method returns the value of...
Easily view fluids cache contents
You can now easily view fluids cache files that do not have a container. In previous versions of Maya, there was no way of knowing the contents of a fluids cache without creating a fluid container to view the cache's contents. In Maya 6, you can view the contents of a fluids cache file by selecting the .mcfi or .mcfp fluids cache file on your disk and then dragging it into Maya's scene view. When you drag a fluids cache file into Maya, Maya automatically creates the appropriate type of...
Deformers limitations
The following limitations and workarounds relate to deformers software. Deformer set's weight field for a subd surface vertex member The weight field in the Component Editor for a subdivision surface vertex member of a deformer set cluster, skinCluster, or jointCluster may sometimes appear blank, and entering new weight values has no effect. Pick the cluster handle or joint and select the cluster members by invoking the Deform gt Edit Membership Tool. The Component Editor will now display and...
How do I map one character to another
For more information on mapping character animation, see Character gt Character Mapper on page 138. To map animation from one character to another 1 Select Character gt Character Mapper. The Character Mapper window appears. 2 Select the root joint of your source character. 3 In the Character Mapper window, click Load Source. The source character's name appears in the From field and all the names of its nodes or attributes appear in the left Unmapped column. 4 Select the root joint of your...
Table of Contents
1 What's New in Maya 21 Introduction to what's new in Maya 6 21 Long hair and dynamic curves for Maya Unlimited 21 Soft Modification Tool and Deformer 22 Enhancements to character animation 23 New deformers on particles 23 Shader organization and filtering in Hypershade 24 Continued mental ray integration 24 Adobe Photoshop integration 24 Enhancements to file referencing scene segmentation . . . . 25 Selective pre-loading for references 25 Load unload related references in scene view 25...
Contextsensitive menus
Now when you right-click anywhere in the track view area, a context-sensitive menu appears depending on where you click. This section contains a selection of the available context-sensitive menu items, since most of the options in the context-sensitive menus can be found in the Trax menu bar. See New Trax Editor menu bar items on page 110. For detailed descriptions of all the options that appear in the Trax context-sensitive menus, see Context-sensitive menu in the Nonlinear chapter of the...
Installing Maya using the rpm utility
This section describes how to install Maya for Linux using the rpm command-line utility. With the rpm command you can use either the -i flag or the -ivh flag to install the programs. The -ivh flag provides you with more information during the installation. Note If you have previously installed a version of Maya 6 for Linux, uninstall that version before installing this newest version. See Uninstalling Maya on page 78. 2 Insert the Maya CD into a CD-ROM drive. 3 Mount the CD-ROM drive. For...
Disk space requirements Vtk
The following are approximate sizes for the various Maya installation. These are default, minimal sizes you'll need more space to install optional selections. Maya Complete 350 MB including 74 MB for Maya online documentation Maya Unlimited additional 22 MB 372 MB total Maya Shader Library additional 110 MB Note To find out the disk space for custom installations, view the information listed by Software Manager when you click Customize Installation.
Deform points outside the lattice
You can now specify the range of influence that lattice deformers have on their target object's points. The new Outside Points Transform options let you transform all an object's points, even when parts of the object are outside of the lattice. Also, these options let you specify a falloff distance in which object points continue to be deformed by the lattice when they are outside of the deformer. Transforming object points outside of the lattice is useful when you want to maintain a normal...
Vertex Normal Edit Tool
The new Edit Polygons gt Normals gt Vertex Normal Edit Tool lets you adjust the user-defined normal of a vertex or several selected vertices using a manipulator, for example, in order to make sharp corners appear smoother or to adjust the lighting on a polygonal object. Previously you had to adjust normals using Edit Polygons gt Normals gt Set Vertex Normal and entering values numerically. gt Vertex Normal Manip Settings A cube with vertex normals modified to simulate lighting.
Activation keys for nodelocked licenses through OPA
The following explains how to use Alias Online Product Activation OPA to license node-locked single computer versions of Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited. New customers who purchase a single computer node-locked version of Maya receive a serial number from either a reseller or Alias. After installing Maya and entering the serial number, new customers can obtain an activation key which licenses your copy of Maya. If you did not receive a serial number, contact your local Alias sales office or...
Skin penetrating cloth
Collision object skin can interpenetrate the cloth. Interpenetration occurs when the triangle size of the cloth mesh is large compared to the collision object mesh size. Using finer resolution on the cloth mesh corrects the problem in most cases. You can also increase the collision object Offset attribute to avoid interpenetration. In cases where intersection occurs when the collision object has a thin cross-section, reduce the collision object Depth attribute.
Painting collision object properties
We've added a new tool, the Paint Collision Properties Tool, that you can use to paint collision properties of cloth objects. Specifically, the collision priority for collision objects is now paintable as well as the collision depth map offset. These two attributes are per-vertex maps and therefore cannot be painted on NURBS surfaces. To paint collision properties of cloth objects 1 Select the collision object to be painted. 2 In the Cloth menu, set select Cloth gt Paint Collision Properties...
Checking for licensing errors with FLEXlm licensing utilities Windows
Licensing sometimes fails because your licensing software is using the wrong hardware ID also known as Host ID or Server Host ID for the hardware lock plugged into your node-locked or license server computer. The Host ID Server Host ID for a hardware lock is printed on a sticker on the lock. For node-locked or floating licenses, you can use the FLEXlm licensing utilities to check that your licensing software is using the correct hardware ID. For floating licenses only, you can additionally use...
Maya Fluid Effects
Fluids cache nodes may be named incorrectly If you create a cache or initial state for a referenced fluid or a fluid in a namespace, the cache nodes will be named incorrectly. For example, if you create a cache for fluffy fluidShape1, the cache node may be named fluidShape1. Rename the cache node to initialState_fluidShape1 or cache_fluidShape1 as appropriate. Referenced file initial state cache may be modifiable from parent file If your referenced file has an initial state cache, you can...
Control the creation of temporary fluids cache files
Fluid caches are disk files with the extension .mcfp that are stored in your project's data directory. By default, when you open a scene file, Maya creates copies of a scene's fluids cache files and places them in your system's temporary file directory. Note You can use the diskCache -tmp MEL command to determine the location of your temporary disk cache files. These temporary files are used to store any changes to your fluids cache that occur between file saves File gt Save Scene and are...
Linux Wacom stylus and tablet
When you paint strokes in Paint Effects on Linux, your Wacom stylus and tablet may have no pressure sensitivity. Select an Artisan tool for example, the Paint Selection Tool and open the Tool Settings editor. Expand the Stylus Pressure section. If the Stylus Pressure options are disabled, Maya cannot find your Wacom tablet. Your tablet may be installed under the generic name tablet. To fix this, go to the Wacom web site www.wacom.com and read the product support information for Linux.
Limitations with using prefixes for name clash resolution
When referencing a file using a renaming prefix that in turn references a file using a namespace, the outer renaming prefix will be turned into a namespace instead. Importing a file into the same scene multiple times using the default renaming prefix will result in ambiguous references to the objects contained within that file. Note that importing a file multiple times into the same scene can happen indirectly if a file being referenced or imported imports that scene. Maya MEL .mel Maya ASCII...
Create a PSD file with layer sets from within Maya
When you create a PSD file from within Maya, you select the channels to be painted in Photoshop. These channels are then represented in Photoshop as layer sets, and you can add, edit, or delete any layer within a layer set see also Use PSD files in Maya on page 220 . Any changes you make in Photoshop are piped back into the appropriate channels in Maya when you update the PSD node see Update PSD textures on page 225 . Channels you select from the first column and add to the second column become...
Vertex level cloth properties
You can now assign cloth properties to sets of vertices on a cloth object. Previously cloth properties affected the entire cloth object. Keep the following things in mind when assigning cloth This works for cloth objects only, therefore you can't add vertex property sets to panels. You can't assign vertices to a property that is already assigned to the entire cloth object. Instead, first remove the property from the cloth object and then reassign it as a set. To create a cloth property for a...
Share Transform Node
Polygons gt Smooth Proxy has a new Share Transform Node option that controls whether the smooth mesh is transformed when you transform the proxy mesh. For example, you may prefer to move the proxy mesh away from the smooth mesh in order to adjust the proxy mesh and clearly see the effect on the smooth mesh. In this case, turn off Share Transform Node. Or you may prefer to keep the proxy mesh and smooth mesh together. In this case, turn on Share Transform Node. On If you transform the proxy...
Depth Map Weight
This value is multiplied by the depth map value for each face, resulting in the depth map actually used by Maya. Generally the depth map weight should be left at its default value of 0.3. Raising this above 0.3 will result in a deeper depth map, but increase the possibility of erratic or unstable simulations. Lowering this value will result in a more shallow depth map that may increase the chance of cloth vertices getting stuck in the cloth object. This attribute is located in the Extra...
optimizeRender flags
Use this command to optimize the specified scene file for rendering, send the result to an output file and then close Maya. maya -optimizeRender options file outfile Specify a minimum file texture resolution that will cause BOT files to be produced. For example, specifying -botRes 256 means that all file textures bigger than 256x256.will be converted to BOT format. Specify the directory in which BOT files reside. The default is in the same directory as the original file. Displays all the flags...
Show an isolated subset of objects or components in a panel
Use the Isolate Select feature Show gt Isolate Select gt View Selected to show only certain objects or components in a view panel. Unlike the Display gt Hide commands, the Isolate Select feature can also isolate components polygon faces, NURBS CVs, or subdivision surface mesh faces , and only affects the display, not rendering. Each panel maintains its own Isolate Select settings. Only show the selected objects components in a panel. In the panel, choose Show gt Isolate Select gt View Selected....
Lasso tool
Lets you select objects and components in view panels by drawing a freeform shape around them. As you draw the lasso, the shape remains open. As you draw the lasso, Maya connects the end and start points to show the enclosed space. Uses an approximation of the lasso shape to select components slightly faster when you release the mouse button. Uses the exact shape of the lasso, but can take slightly longer to select components when you release the mouse button. On modern machines there is very...
Changes to Read Equalizer Maps option
If you select Read Equalizer Maps, and a map has not already been generated through Advanced Fur Rendering, you are prompted with the following dialog box if you want to generate a default map. Otherwise you would choose your own map. No valid equalizer map gt . .- 'ui leading at the specified path. You need to sither generate a new map tc be reed 01 choose a previously generated map. Would you like to generate a default equalizer map now In either case, the path is filled in and can be seen...
Display improvements
The alternative display option added to the UV Texture Editor in Maya 5.0.1 has been improved to provide more control over the resolution of baked textures. Several display problems have also been fixed. Whenever possible, baked textures make use of repeating regions to make best use of texture resolution. Image gt Editor Image gt Display has been renamed to Image gt UV Texture Editor Baking. The Editor Image button has been renamed to Bake editor texture on off. Image gt Editor Image gt Bake...
Rendering Fur in mental ray
You can now render Fur in mental ray. Fur in mental ray is rendered within the main render pass, rather than as a post process, which allows for Fur to show up in reflections and refractions, and through transparent objects. When rendering Fur in mental ray, keep in mind the following Along with regular texture baking workflow, Fur in mental ray can now follow the complex shading connections, for example, 3D textures, for color attributes. Calculate Area Values has no effect when rendering Fur...
Perparticle goalUgoalV attributes for poly goal objects
Previously, goalU goalV values were only respected for NURBS goal objects, and polymesh goal objects could only attract particles to their mesh vertices. In Maya 6, per-particle goalU goalV attributes apply to polymesh goal objects, letting you specify particular points on the goal mesh surface to which particles will be attracted. Animation of goalU goalV values, as well as the goal object and its UV coordinates, is fully supported. The following figure shows the Attribute Editor for polymesh...
Copies vs instances
The Duplicate command lets you create a real duplicate or a lightweight instance of the original. This lets you create armies and forests full of duplicate objects without needing the memory or computing power to handle that much actual geometry. An instance is like an alias or shortcut or symbolic link in a file system. It doesn't have its own shape, it's just a visual pointer back to the original. However each instance has its own transform node so it can have its own position, rotation, and...
Running Maya in batch or prompt mode
Maya can be run in several distinct modes that affect its overall manner of operation, two of which allow you to execute Maya commands without the interface, -prompt and -batch. The -prompt flag issues a MEL prompt for you to type commands as you would in the Script Editor. Some commands that require the graphical user interface are either unavailable or have no effect. Type quit to exit the prompt mode. Use the -batch flag to run commands without user input, such as in shell or batch scripts....
Limited Support for Certain Shading Network Connections
Shading network connections involving dynamic attributes on shading nodes, and connections sourced from shading node input attributes are supported by mental ray for Maya so long as the values passing through those connections are constant for each rendered frame. Thus, these connections properly support constant and animated values, but not textures. Attempting to pass a texture through an input or dynamic attribute on a shading node will result in a warning message similar to the following...
Command line
The command line lets you type single MEL commands without having to open the Script Editor. The result from the command appears in the output jsetKeyframe -hierarchy none -controlPoints 0 -shape 1 Type MEL commands in the command line. The result appears in the colored box to the right of the command line. To enter more complex scripts, click the Script Editor button to the right of the result box. Drag the divider between the input and result boxes to resize them.
Additional Maya startup flags
These are additional flags you can use when starting up Maya from the command line. Displays a list of files required to archive the specified scene and then exits Maya. Runs the specified command on startup. The command should be enclosed in double quotes to protect any special characters, including spaces. Copies all error, warning, and information messages those that normally appear in the Script Editor window to the specified file use complete file name . Processes the specified scene file...
Example Moving a characters ear
This example shows you how to move a character's ear so that the skin surrounding the ear adjusts to accommodate the new position of the ear. 1 Select the vertices of the ear and surrounding skin that you want to move. Make sure you select the ear vertices on both sides of the head so the deformation will be symmetrical. The region surrounding the selection will deform so the vertices you move blend naturally into the surrounding area. 2 Select Deform gt Soft Modification gt , and set the...
Plugin shaders and using float compound attributes
Plug-in shaders that make use of float2 compound attributes may occasionally receive incorrect data from the data block. It is best to extract the data as a compound attribute, and retrieve the contents individually. In other words, the first example is preferred over the second equivalent example. float2 amp uv block.inputValue aUVCoord .asFloat2 float u uv 0 float v uv 1 vs. float amp u block.inputValue aUCoord .asFloat float amp v block.inputValue aVCoord .asFloat Coding it the second way...
Load the default shelves
Maya for Windows and Mac OS X include default shelves with buttons for commonly used features. The shelves are Animation, Cloth, Curves, Custom, Deformation, Dynamics, Fluids, Fur, General, Hair, Paint Effects, Polygons, Rendering, Subdivs, and Surfaces. Maya does not include the shelves in IRIX and Linux because they can slow the startup time on those platforms. However you can use the following instructions to load them. 1 Open the Script Editor Window gt General Editors gt Script Editor . 2...
Unsupported File Texture Formats
The following file texture formats are currently unsupported by mental ray for Maya certain variants of the TIFF format including those generated by the Maya renderer, and those with LZW compression TIFF,CIN,GIF For these unsupported file formats, Maya's imgcvt image conversion tool can be used to convert the files to a supported format such as IFF or RGB. For a complete list of file texture types supported by mental ray, see the Rendering with mental ray Handbook. BOT There is currently no...
Selection mask
The toolbar contains several different controls to change the selection mask. The selection mask determines what type of objects or components you can select. The selection mode menu lets you choose common preset selection masks. The selection mode buttons let you switch between Select by hierarchy and combinations mode, Object mode, and Component mode. The selection mask buttons let you make specific object component types selectable or unselectable. Selection, tools, and actions on page 17...
Selective file loading
In Maya 6 you now have control over which references, at all levels in the hierarchy, you want to load with your file upon opening. We're introducing a new concept selective load settings that refers to the state of reference loading when the top-level file of a series of referenced files is saved. This improves file opening performance in large scenes. By saving out the selective load settings with a given file, or building a set before opening the file, you can cut down on the time it takes...
Use the mouse to control camera azimuth elevation yaw or pitch
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 57 Return to previous views on page 60 View gt Camera Tools gt Azimuth Elevation Tool on page 83 View gt Camera Tools gt Yaw Pitch Tool on page 84 View gt Camera Tools gt Fly Tool on page 85
The Online Product Activation OPA window does not appear
If you were expecting the OPA window or Product Configuration Wizard to appear when you started Maya so that you can enter your serial number or activation number and it does not and Maya does not run, select Start gt Programs gt Alias gt Maya 6.0 gt Maya On-line Product Activation. you may have a damaged or incomplete install. Try reinstalling Maya. you may have one or more environment variables that affect licensing set. Check your environment variables and your Maya.env file for...
Edit Paint Selection Tool 1
The options described below are unique to the Paint Selection Tool. Descriptions of the rest of the options and sections in the Paint Selection Tool settings editor can be found in Common Artisan Brush Tool Settings in the Paint Effects, Artisan, and 3D Paint guide. Select one of the following paint operations. Select Selects painted components. Unselect Unselects selected painted components. Unselects selected components and selects unselected components. Tips To unselect selected components...
Manipulate groups of keyframes
You can now manipulate groups of keys proportionally or in relation to a selected key using the new Move Function options. The Move Keys Tool and the Move Function options can be accessed through the Graph Editor's menu bar by selecting Edit gt Transformation Tools gt Move Keys Tool gt . Direction of mouse movement Selected keys IE II- H iA-_r Xil v ,Mf- gt Direction of mouse movement Selected keys IE II- H iA-_r Xil v ,Mf- gt Moves all keys the same amount in the direction of the mouse...