Best Poly workflow/UI in Maya? Inputs please...

[meloncully]

here's mine:

the cps script, mj poly tools and the bonus game package from aw.

i also would make my hotkeys to my poly tools to replace the nurbs ones. and lots of custom marking menus.

[Mikkel Jans]

ALT + Q, W, E, R: Persp View, Side View, Front View, Top View.

ALT + A, S, D, F, G: Object Mode, Vertex Mode, Edge Mode, Face Mode, UV Mode.

ALT + <, Z, X, C, V: Dependes on my selection..:

Alt + <
Polygon : Sculpt Polygon Tool
Vertex : Chamfer Vertex
Edge : Select Loop
Face : Reverse Normal
UV : Select Shell
Joint : Mirror


Alt + z
Polygon : Split Polygon Tool
Vertex : Merge Vertices
Edge : Multi Loop Split
Face : SubDivide Face
UV : Merge UVs
Joint : Insert Joints


Alt + x
Polygon : Toggle Proxy Mode
Vertex : Delete Vertex
Edge : Delete Edge
Face : Extrude Face
UV : Delete UVs
Curve+Face : Extrude Along Face
Edge+Face : Wedge Face
Joint : Remove Joints


Alt + c
Polygon : DrawSplit
Vertex : Connect Vertices
Edge : Connect Edges
Face : Connect Faces
UV : Relax UVs Option Box
Joint : Connect Joints


Alt + v
Polygon : Combine
Vertex : Split Vertex
Edge : Move & Sew UV Edges
Face : Layout UVs Option Box
UV : Split UVs
Joint : Disconnect Joint

[Lunatique]

In their own shelves:
MJ poly tools
Bonus game menu
power poly tools

I have another shelf just for UI related plugins, which includes
Ultra image planes
Cycle background colors

and some additions to my regular default poly tools shelf:
planerize
clay dough

viewport setup:

3 panels, split left. top and side on left, and perspective on right.

wireframe on flat shaded, and x-ray when necessary.

[Dimitrius]

The commands I use most often:


Draw Split Tool
MJ Poly Tools : Connect VEFs, Connect VEFs Slider
Extrude Face
Extrude Edge
Merge Verts
Delete Edges

[dr_bob]

Excuse my ignorance, but what are MJ poly tools, and where can I find them?

[swag]

is there any bridge tool for maya? what workaround u use ...

[swag]

@dr_bob
MJ poly tools are very nice toolset from Mikkel Jans look at his homepage www.maya3d.dk

[robioto]

Thanks to all of you that are replying. I think this is great information to share and very helpfull for anyone interested in becoming a more efficient poly modeler in Maya. Hopefully more people will add to this list.

[iC4]

if there is a bridge tool, PLZ tell me where I can find it ;)

workaround....deleting some faces, creating some faces and a lot of merging ;)

[Mikkel Jans]

For Bridge workaround i normal just extrude the face and move it down to the other face.. Take the Vertices and Point Knap 'em together, Merge and Delete the Faces.
But a script would be alot easier.

[GrafOrlok]

Melloncully!

Thnx for the tip with the bonusGame script from AW. Can't think of why they disguise it as a game developers kit. It contains a lot of things you can't live without when modeling/texturing poly's and also for animation! Check it out whatever your field of work is!
Otherwise I usually stick to CPS and occationally MJtools

[playmesumch00ns]

could people expand on CPS, and also what a "bridge" is?

[swag]

cps Info here ...
http://www.lightstorm3d.com/tools/freetools/html/connectPolyShape.html

here is a sample of a bridge
http://swag02.bei.t-online.de/bridge.gif

i use the AppendToPolygonTool

[robioto]

Do any of you use the Xumi tools mel scripts? I'm curious about how usefull it really is. <I've read in the latest post about Xumi that it includes a poly script <with bridge I think> which was mentioned to be helpfull but none of you guys mentioned it>

Does it make you any faster? <I mean individually not as a general rule>

Do you find that going back to regular marking menus gives you icon withdrawal?


On another ui note:

For those of you with the book Maya Fundamentals, have you changed your hotkeys and marking menus to those that the book suggests? Are the reccomendations logical? Are you faster?

eh sorry this reads like a collage of thoughts

Thanks to everybody for participating...

[proximity]

@robioto.

I have been using the Xumi tools mel scripts for about 10 months now, and love them. Yea, I can say that it has speed me up a wee bit, as they are context sensitive and just about every action you'll need is under 8 keys. But for selection masking the menus can get a bit deep and thus slow you down.

Also you have to be in the correct 'mode' all the time which can be annoying sometimes, but otherwise they're great!

I still use Jim Lamers Marking menus from Maya Fundamentals for modelling tho as I am quite used to them.

Just my 1.34 cents worth.

[bentllama]

Originally posted by swag
is there any bridge tool for maya? what workaround u use ...

there is a bridge tool on highend3d.com

[yinako]

yes I would also recommend xumi 2.0
after working with lots of marking menus its hard to remember it all. I found xumi has great usability going for maya.

I found hotbox is not good for selecting menu items, because the position changes depending where you hit space. Hence I recommend the windows menu bar.

[wgreenlee1]

found hotbox is not good for selecting menu items, because the position changes depending where you hit space. Hence I recommend the windows menu bar.



no,you mean where you hold ur mouse it changes right?ive even learnt to call the marking menu up high if there is something high on a menu i need or call it low on the work area to make the marking menu throw the sub-menu up to get to the bottom of that menu(like the polygon editing menu is really tall),you know it depends where you put ur mouse when you call the marking menus,i may just misunderstanding you tho...

what do you mean by the windows bar?


thx

[rebo]

I found hotbox is not good for selecting menu items, because the position changes depending where you hit space. Hence I recommend the windows menu bar.


The position is always the same in relation to the mouse pointer.

[BarbaPappa]

Originally posted by yinako
yes I would also recommend xumi 2.0
after working with lots of marking menus its hard to remember it all. I found xumi has great usability going for maya.

I found hotbox is not good for selecting menu items, because the position changes depending where you hit space. Hence I recommend the windows menu bar.

Where can these Xumi tools 2.0 be found? Is it compatible with Maya 5.0.1?

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