For OSX users a tip on playing tutorials
 

Hello all you mac maya users,

Since a lot of the tutorials are in wmv or divX encoded this will give you a lot of trouble on the mac. The wmv is supported through windows media player but the used soundcodec in some of the tuts. is not. Since there is no really workaround here it's a pain in the ass. The only thing is to try play the movie under OS 9.2.2 but it will still leave you with sound/ video not streaming.
•• However the workaround is: Let someone with a PC convert the movie through moviemaker into a .mov or .mpeg

On the divX the following. Downloading the divX plug for quicktime does not garantee a smooth playback. However there is a freeware player called 'Mplayer' that does the trick. With this player you don't need any codec to play .avi with divX encoded.

You can download the Mplayer through http://www.versiontracker.com
search for 'Mplayer'

Hopes this helps you out and I hope that the makers of the tutorials will keep in mind that there are some of us that work on a mac and also use MAYA. So please if you make a video in .wmv, please use standard compression tools and don't use the ACELP.NET audio codec. It's already a pain that most of the mel script and plugins don't work under OSX.

Greetings Sebastian

Hi

Thanks for the tips. If you read the countless number of posts in this forum you will see the reasons for the codec choices.

But thanks for the tips for the mac guys

Re: For OSX users a tip on playing tutorials
 

[QUOTE]Hello all you mac maya users,

Greetings Sebastian! Thanks for joining SM!

Before I begin, let me say that NONE of the following comments are DIRECTED at you personally, so if any seem to sound offensive or argumentative, please don't hate me:) hehe...

Not true, and this issue has been covered at length on this site:)

I have no problems with them on my macs here. (?)
(OSX jag release, dual proc, gig o' ram, cheap ati vid card, basic mac)

Actually, there are plenty of workarounds, and many have been discussed on this site at length.

Windows Moviemaker v2 only outputs to the wmv or DV-avi NTSC formats, not mpeg.
And sadly, the DV-avi NTSC output changes the aspect ratio to 720x480 and, more importantly for our movie tutorials, the frame rate will be changed to 30 fps which is 3 times the frame rate of our movies, so there could be potential problems with the final movie such as:
-the movie playing back at 3 times the speed.
-the movie not playing at all.
-the audio not syncing with the video.
-improper frame/audio interpolation/interleaving.
-the movie might end up larger in file size.

Regardless, from what i understand, the rules of the site state that duplication/distribution of the SM video tutorials in whole or part without written consent of SM is a violation of membership and copyright I believe.
Kevin, am I wrong about that?
If so, feel free to boot me about the head, and deny me my next pint:) hehe...

Is your hardware up to the task?
Runs fine here on my macs using the divx plug. (?)

That's a good alternative media player, but since we are no longer making divx movies, it's kind of a mute point....

Currently, the wmv codec is FAR better for our needs in overall quality,, price (free), and final filesize which is a MAJOR consern for a large majority of our users that are still on modem dial-up connections.

No problem:) And, I/we will, are, and always do.
...and I also use Maya on a mac.


The Window Media codec IS a standard compression codec which is one of the reasons we use it:)
Also, the ACELP.NET audio codec used in combination with the wmv vid codec is, and has been, very much a standard on the web.
And personnaly, I still don't understand why some macs have problems with it, yet other macs with the same hardware/software configuration don't? Boggles my mind...

And out of curiosity, where are you finding Mac-specific melscripts? Just wondering...as I would like to know, so we can post the links to them in the future.

Also, every melscript I use and write on my pc work just fine on my macs.

There are, however, a few melscripts that only work on a pc, but that leads me to your plugin comment:

As has been said elsewhere in the 3d community that, "maybe if there was more of a demand for mac-compatable-plugins, the maya-on-a-mac plugin developer community would make an effort to make them"



Again, this was not intended as some kind of personal attack.
I just wanted to clear the air of possible rumors.

Thanks again!
:beer:

Thank you for the reply,

RageCgi, the problem with the Acelp codec is that it is not supported under mac OSX. It was under OS9.2.2. Look at the microsoft site if you do not believe me. I am running OSX 10.2.4 on a dual GHZ with 1,5 GB internal memory with a Nvidia Titanium card. The store is that the soundCodec is just not supported and there is no codec available. You have to switch to OS9 wich is a workaround. Anyway, I understand that you use wmv (although it's only supported by 10% of the users worldwide) and for most of the tutorials it is no problem. Only the ones with the sound encoded in acelp.net and for some reason microsoft stopped supporting it under OSX in there mediaplayer.

Anyway, not taken as critisim what so ever. Just a tip since we all pay for the tuts right? Even if it's nothing compared to what I learn from you guys.

Thanks for the tutorials anyway and for the time and efford you put into it.

Sebastian

No problem, glad to help:)

And when you say, "10% of the users worldwide"
I assume you are talking about the mac machines right?

Because Window media player is installed on 94% of the computers in use today.

Which is one of the other reasons we use it, seeing how it is a majority standard....

Sadly, just like politics, when it comes to something like this, we're not going to be able to make everyone happy, but we are trying our best:)

Hi, I just downloaded the polyhead modeling tutorials and I'm having the same exact problem on my mac. I see the video, but I don't hear any sound at all... I'm using a dual 867mhz G4, so I don't think its that my machine is slow. Have you guys gotten close to finding an easier workaround then converting the movies on a pc? Maybe you could just encode the video the same way that you did the hand tutorial- I can hear the sound on that one fine. Sorry, if I wasn't supposed to reply to this post or anything, I'm a new user.

I do have a few of the latest movies that I will try to convert to the layer 3 codex soon but this may not be possible,

the reason they are not en-coded the same is that mike cannot use the layer 3 codex.... he has problems with this particular codec so there fore has to output in a different codec that mac users have trouble using..

Some have found work arounds but none of us have a mac to test on so therefore it is hard... we do what we can but the mac is a real pain in the ass :(

Thanks for responding. What I've done is just to watch them on a pc at my job. Just sucks to not be able to watch them in my dorm room! No big deal though :) At least I can finally get some help with Maya. By the way... the head modeling tutorial is great. Mike mentions a lot in the movies that he's not comfortable doing a walk through on head modeling, but I wanted to tell him that his tutorial is already 10 times more helpful than all the ones I've read online. Its really helpful to see someone's method in action. Thanks!

glad you like it. :) Next part should be done soon.

Having trouble. Was able to watch (and hear!) the Cyberdog tut by switching from OSX to 9.2.2 but the "refresh" rate seemed awful. I should be seeing constant movement on the screen instead of it changing once a minute, right? I'm on 550 MHz titanium, 10.1.5, 1Gb ram. Maybe my hardware is just too pokey? Haven't had problems with other wmv downloads: Skeleton Basics - Part 1 for instance.

So I paid for these points and am reticent to download anything after experience with cyberdog tutorial (see above). Is there a list buried somewhere describing the video *and sound* codecs for each tutorial? Do you need someone to test them on a mac? (just a thought) Is there a way to get reimbursed?

The only information we provide is which Video codec was used, and its allways ether WMV or DiVX sorry to here you are having problems with the cyberdog tutorial, I have had people play it fine on a Mac so...

Alias/Wavefront has reported that 25 percent of all commercial units of Maya are now sold for the Mac OS X platform in North America and 20 percent globally. The company says this shows that Maya is the leading 3D animation software package on the Mac.

macworld.com