FAQ - Look here for fequently answered questions!
 

So, this thread is for an FAQ. Any frequently asked questions that are asked all the time? Feel free to post an answer here. I'll be moderating this thread and only posts that have viable answers to questions will be kept. Any misc. comments and such will be removed.

I'll go first!

Q. Why is it when I do an extrude, extract, etc. etc. that each face is extruded or seperated individually rather than all together like I want!?

A. If when extruding faces, you find that each face is extruding seperately and not working like you want, try first going to Polygons > Tool Options > Keep Faces Together. Any extrude or extract or similar command will no longer seperate each face in this manner.

This one pops up a lot.

Q.What's the difference between Nurbs, Polys, and Subdivisions?

A.Polys- good for organic models- you have great control over the actual surface, no need to edit inderectly with curves, CV.s, etc.

Nurbs-good for inorganic. Precise details without lumping is easy. Bevlels and stuff- also easy. You can get perfect round, smooth interpolation between surfaces eaily too.

Subd- mostly a polygon, though they have some nurb-like features. You edit it like a polygon, but its not an actually polygon, its as if the polygon were smoothed. In normal mode, you can access different levels of detail in the subdiv, which can be used for detailing the surface.

[MOD EDIT:] the above should be considered the poster's opinion. In my personal opinion, for example, Polys are just as good, if not better, at inorganics as nurbs. :) It's all a matter of personal preferences, but of course, feel free to try them all! [/MOD EDIT]

Also- this has popped up about 3or 4 times since I have been here at SM:

Q.How do you make displacement maps?

A.http://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...threadid=21707

Since I'm a noob, i migth answer wrong, but also I encounter alot of problems :) So I'll try to keep this updated... Most answers I get from tutorials/members on this forum, so I take no credits for finding the answers.

Q: How do I show border edges as a thick line?
A: Click on Display > Polygon Components > Border Edges. You can also click on Display > Custom Polygon Display (Option box) and then decide the width of your edges by changing the "Edge Width" attribute.

Q: I display border edges When I put together a model of 2 halves and merge the vertices, the edges between still looks thick. How do I make them go away?
A: There is an easy fix for this. Select your Polygon. And click Polygon > Cleanup (Option Box). Check off the "Nonmanifold Geometry" and then click Cleanup and it should be fixxed.

Q: My undo list contains a limited number of undos, is there anyway to make this list bigger?
A: Yes, you can increase the number and even make the list infinite. Just click on Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences... . Then click in the list where it stands "Undo" and you can chose infinite, or the length you want of a finite undo list. I'm using infinite numbers of undo, and I haven't noticed it slowing down my computer.

Q. My move/rotate/scale tool is itty bitty/really HUGE! What do I do?

A. The - and + keys will change the size of your tool's gizmo. :)

Good idea for a thread mtmckinley

Q How do i make a chome like material?

A Make an environment for it to reflect or use hdri maps


Q How do i get/put on shelf the X-Ray toggle icon

Q My keybard short cuts ie. Q,W,E,G ect dont work

A make sure cap lock is off

Q. Why can't I merge my vertices on these two objects?

A. Combine the objects together first, then merge.

Polygons > Combine
Edit Polygons > Merge Vertices

Also, you may need to play with the merge settings to get the right distance you need. The higher the distance setting, the further apart the two points can be and still be merged together.

Q In maya 7 image planes are displayed incorrectly (ie twisted)

A - orig posted by tonymd19

Q: When i try to use booleans both objects dissappear, why??

A: This is becuase u have combined the objects inncorrectly, make sure there are no open faces in the object, they will esaier to find if u choose display border edges as a thick line. (see 5 post above here), then use merge vertices to combine the sides together

Q: i created a texture and added to my object and im sure i did everything right why isn't it there???

A: It is, press 6 to view textures

Q: all my menus are gone how do i get them back?

A: press Ctrl+Space

A. When I try to rotate my object, it scales all weirdly.

B. The object is more than likely grouped or parented to something. Remove it from the group/parent and it should then rotate without difficulty.

how to view model from the other side ie the right side not the left?

A
to view model from other side without creating new camera sets

works in maya 7 not sure about the others but worth a check

in the view port go view -> predefined bookmarks-> an chose from the list
ie right or left side
top or bottom
front or back

Q: how come part of the ui has gone missing?

A. press ctrl + M to bring back the whole ui. or go to display > ui elements, then check the ones you want or dont want.

Q. How come reflections or raytrace shadows aren't working no matter how much I fiddle with them?

A. Make sure raytracing is turned on in the render globals options.

actually CTRL + M only brings back the program's main menu (with file, edit, create, etc.)

if you lost some of your User Interface, press CTRL + Spacebar... it'll get rid of everything else in your interface, but then if you press it again, it'll bring everything (including the part you lost to begin with) back.

Q. My move,scale,rotate buttons dont work. It says that there are no details or something to them. I cant even click them. I have to use the channel box.

Q) Is there a way to display the motion path of an object in the workspace?

Q) How do I create sets of channels to be selected and loaded into the GE and DS? For example, say I want to load the rotation channels for the hips and feet so I can edit the keys relative to each other?

Thanks.