need some maya modeling tips :)

[lostpencil]

1. Display->Heads Up Display->Poly Count
2. Select the object, in the Attribute editor set 'Backface Culling' to full under the shape node tab, under the Mesh Component Display section.
3. Here are some thing you can try: hide everything you are not working on (put it on layers) and disable node evaluation for everything (Modify->Evaluate Nodes->Ignore all)... also try only displaying a section of the mesh using Show->Isolate Select. There are also some settings you can play with under the Performance Settings that may help speed things up. If you are working on subd's there are also some other things you can do... like delete blind data nodes.

Hope it helps a bit.

[MasonDoran]

additional tips:

go to highend3d.com to get some nice toggle scripts to speed up some of the redundant interface issues...or search the forums for creating your own multiple hotkeys and marking menus

what i do: toggle isolate select mapped to alt i
toggle poly display menu (border edges...culling...normals..etc)
so i can have culling on the selected objects and what not...

for subds....2 pane vertical split...one with poly object...2nd with subd....use 2 layers....and isolate select...to do this. Edit poly object...while subd updates in realtime without the mess of seeing 2 overlayed objects...


things get more fun when u map context sensitive keys(easy mel scripting) ....like alt-x will extrude a face...edge...or vert depending on wich component is selected....or alt w to move selected components along their normal.

or b for bevel face....or l for select loop and alt l for selecting ring or k for both scrub animation or cut poly or insert isoparm depending on what is selected...and many others just to give u inspiration. The beauty is you can customize it very easily to match some interface advantages that other appz have.

[lw2maya]

2byts - thanks but I am only just getting my feet wet so it'll be awhile until I can start with advanced interface customizing

lostpencil - that really helped a lot :thumbsup:

PolyCountDisplay works well except it doesnt seem to count subD faces at all,it only counts if control cage polygons are selected,right?
but I guess I cant expect every application to behave exactly like lightwave,can I? :)

also,how come there's no mention of symmetry modeling mode anywhere in the docs,is it missing in maya?

[lostpencil]

Yer welcome! Symmetry modeling doesn't really exist, but there is a way to get it working. I use this method in my elephant training CD: essentially create a mirrored instance duplicate and then what you do to one side will occur on the other side. Works quite well.

[MasonDoran]

Mayas Heirarchal Subds are not polys actually....so they dont really compare to LW......the proxy mesh is more relavant in this case.....but its all technical really....cuz everything can be converted later anyway..

[lw2maya]

Mayas Heirarchal Subds are not polys actually....

yeah that's true,they're not real polygons,not even in lw...on the other hand you select
them as Face components yet Face counter doesnt react to that.No biggie anyways :)

I must agree hierarchical subDs are a great idea,and it'd be even greater if those models
were portable to other applications like max or xsi,I know lw couldnt reproduce this effect

while I'm at it,I've looked at Ramps in maya's texturing module...that's some real good
and powerful stuff there

however,these ramp gradients seem to be only of positional type - is there any way they
can be setup to depend more expression-like on camera,light incidence or slope angles
(yeah I know like in lw,sorry guys)

thanks in advance

[MasonDoran]

yeah its all their.... they would be called utilities(in the hypershade)....the ramp shader is all set up and ready to go for the lazy ones....but you can create your own with point sampler info with some ramps

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