PLEASE HELP..super important! Subdiv/poly question

[jedijrmax]

Posts: 13
my two cents
Just a little update:

I believe that I can't "unparent" anything, because what I'm trying to unparent are shape nodes and you can't do that. I think the problem is is that when you do the conversion, both the subdiv and level 0 poly share the same transform node.

"My hierarchy"

SubdivCube1
-subdivCube1Shape (subdiv)
-subdTessShape1 (poly)


and so I think that's why if in the outliner I select 'subdtesshape1' and try to move it away from the subdiv model, that's why it happens.... but how? why? how can you fix it? When they do it on the dvd, he just selects it, and moves it.... please help? :(

[Gilgamesh]

I haven't seen the DVD, but I think I'm using the same technique, but I just duplicated my mesh, and converted one of them to polys. Are you sure that's not what's happening?

[jedijrmax]

.....omg.........duplicate..........please tell me I'm actually not that stupid............. i'm going to go back into maya and see if I can get things to work out. ya know......with all of the technical worries I have about being able to do things in maya, it's hardly a surprise if the problem i'm having is becuase......i just didn't simply duplicate it.....

[mark_wilkins]

ok
so the reason that it's working differently than in the video is that you have different options picked in the Modify > Convert > Polygons to Subdiv option box.

Open the option box by choosing the square icon next to the convert choice.

If you have the checkbox "Keep Original" turned off, then the polygon object disappears and you keep only the subdiv when you do the conversion.

If "Keep Original" is on and "Standard (no history) is chosen, you'll keep your poly object and get a separate subdiv object with its own transform, so it can be moved independently.

If "Keep Original" is on and "Proxy Object" is chosen, you'll keep the poly shape and the subdiv shape, but they'll share the same transform.

Sounds like you have "Keep Original" and "Proxy Object" selected and the narrator of the video had "Keep Original" and "Standard (no history)" selected.

Remember, option box settings are persistent and can be a big problem when trying to do a tutorial if you've previously changed them away from the defaults.

-- Mark

[jedijrmax]

.....omg.........duplicate..........please tell me I'm actually not that stupid............. i'm going to go back into maya and see if I can get things to work out. ya know......with all of the technical worries I have about being able to do things in maya, it's hardly a surprise if the problem i'm having is becuase......i just didn't simply duplicate it.....

[mark_wilkins]

did you mean to post something different the second time?

-- mark

[wrend]

you can change shape parenting, just look at the parent command docs.

[jedijrmax]

Hey!

Mark's POST:
so the reason that it's working differently than in the video is that you have different options picked in the Modify > Convert > Polygons to Subdiv option box.

Open the option box by choosing the square icon next to the convert choice.

If you have the checkbox "Keep Original" turned off, then the polygon object disappears and you keep only the subdiv when you do the conversion.

If "Keep Original" is on and "Standard (no history) is chosen, you'll keep your poly object and get a separate subdiv object with its own transform, so it can be moved independently.

If "Keep Original" is on and "Proxy Object" is chosen, you'll keep the poly shape and the subdiv shape, but they'll share the same transform.

Sounds like you have "Keep Original" and "Proxy Object" selected and the narrator of the video had "Keep Original" and "Standard (no history)" selected.

Remember, option box settings are persistent and can be a big problem when trying to do a tutorial if you've previously changed them away from the defaults.

-- Mark
****************

I thank you for all that you wrote, but maybe I wasn't clear enough when I wrote my post.

I'm trying to create a wrap deformer. I had a subdiv model, and I'm creating to create a poly mesh by coverting the SUBDIV model, to POLYGONS, at level 0. Not the other way around.

On the DVD, it seems as if he just selects the subdiv model, goes to convert to poly with all of his settings, does it, and then just moves the new poly object away from the subdiv.

[jedijrmax]

I tried what Gilgamesh does, and it seems as though it works.....you duplicate the subdiv model and then convert the duplicate to polygons............but at the same time........it's....still not what alex alvarez does in the dvd.

[jedijrmax]

I'm still truly stumped. I just watched the dvd and this is EXACTLY what he does:

Has a subdiv character, selects the surface. Goes to modify, convert, convert subdiv to polygons option box.

He puts it to vertices, level 0, and for original object - "show" ("because we don't want it to erase the original subdiv model") and then he clicks convert.

Now the new conversation ( the poly object ) is automatically selected, and with the move tool he moves the poly body away from the subdiv body and then that's it.

Only when I do it, the poly geometry and the subdiv geometry share the same transform node, so I can never separate the two bodies away.

unless........i do what gilgamesh said which was to duplicate the original, and THEN convert.......but at the same time......it's NOT what alex did, and I'd like to understand how he can do it and I can't.

[mark_wilkins]

how curious.... I'm sorry I didn't understand before, but now I do and I'm having the same problem. Is it possible that this behavior changed between Maya versions?

-- Mark

[wrend]

yep, id say its changed.
again, parent command handles shape parenting ....
create a null, selct yoru shaoe and it, and : parent -r -s.

[anakinskywalker]

It works as you say it is described in the DVD in 4.5. Is it a Maya 5 problem?

[mark_wilkins]

Interesting. I tried it in 4.5 PLE on the Mac and got the poster's behavior, not the DVD behavior.

Any other data points?

-- Mark

[jedijrmax]

Yeah.........I'm not quite sure what you are talking about........because I am using maya 5.0, but I've also tried it on 4.5 and had the same result.....and although it's hard to tell......i believe 4.5 was the version that alex was using.


As for the talk about a null group and parenting......i'm not quite sure what you are saying.......i did however try to create an "empty" group and then in the hypergraph, take the geometry parented under the 'one' transform node and mode it to the group.........without success........it's like it's stuck to it........is that what you are talking about?

[mark_wilkins]

My bet is that there's some setting or preference or something that we're missing...

-- Mark

[jedijrmax]

......There must be........but I've searched for hours and found nothing......man......it'd be really nice to have Alex A. see this thread and help me out lol.

But......I just don't know what to do......the only thing that even comes close to working is the duplicating of the geometry.

....

[mark_wilkins]

Have you tried e-mailing Alex Alvarez?

-- Mark

[jedijrmax]

..no......lol no i didn't not. ...... didn't quite think that I even COULD email me,... nevermind him asking some lame "ant's" little question lol......... do you have his email address or know where I can find it? do you think he'd take the time out to reply?

[mark_wilkins]

His user id on here is A.Alvarez, and if you look him up in the Members list you can click on a link to send a private CGTalk message or e-mail.

I assume it's Alex presenting on the DVD? If not, you might want to contact them instead.

-- Mark

[misterdi]

There is one flag control this behaviour, but it is not in the documentation.

Default command when you called subdToPoly will be:
subdToPoly -ch 1 -aut on -format 3 -depth 0 -sampleCount 1 -maxPolys 1 -extractPointPosition 1 -shareUVs 1 -subdNormals 0 |polyToSubd1|polyToSubdShape1;

Try use this command:
subdToPoly -ch 0 -aut off -format 3 -depth 0 -sampleCount 1 -maxPolys 1 -extractPointPosition 1 -shareUVs 1 -subdNormals 0 |polyToSubd1|polyToSubdShape1;

This -aut is not described in the online docs (4.5), maybe it should mean auto parent.

Best regards,

[jedijrmax]

whoa!!!!!! thank you!!!!!!! for everyone been following this.....just to let you know .......that works.......what he just said.


......although ......i know alex a. didn't go in and use any other command like that.......so I'm still stumped how he did it, but .....it definitely works.


Thanks a lot everyone!!!!!!!!!!

But......if anybody can find any setting or something in maya, or figure out how alex did it as I described in other posts.......I'd still love to know.

[mark_wilkins]

it's possible the default's changed from version to version.

-- Mark

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