Maya 2011
 

Yawn, yet another useless release on the horizon. Its looking better if you are a rigger but us modellers have been ignored again....that copy of modo I threatened to buy last year is looking more prominent!!

http://www.infinity.no/pdf/maya_2011...hure_a4_us.pdf

Jay

I hear you Jay! I have been saying it for a long time - Maya needs a face lift in the modeling department because it's falling way behind the power curve.

yeah totally....it sux!

I hate to sound ignorant... but what's Maya lacking in the modeling department?

I think the link's down...

EDIT: Found this link: http://www.cgchannel.com/2010/03/aut...and-maya-2011/

Looks like a big visual change... (i.e. it's grey) Looks like adobe now. That's about all I can see :p

Yay for the skinning tools but it looks a little underwhelming. Having said that I'm still with 08 and don't have the money or processing power to upgrade anyway.....

Yay...Woo!!!...
My desktop theme Changes maya to look almost exactaly the same, and if you want a black background in the modeling view, the lovely crtl+B combination does that for you...so.....why the reskin for reduced eyestrain?....hmmm

Far as the rest.. yea..sure...when was the last decent over all upgrade to maya..

8.0?...08...i forget..
I'm sticking with 08 for now..
Been pondering getting to know Modo myself too, just on the side...maybe use it for modeling and Maya for Dynamics and such. dunno. money's tight so.

g-man

I'm still excited for it. The layout is nice. It is a big step in the right direction because at least it is a big change in Maya.

Let's not forget ndynamics, those were a huge improvement over the crap Maya dynamics.

Maya, whether it seems so or not, has changed for the better, albeit slowly, lately. So as I was saying, changing the layout is a good step, and maybe other nice changes will follow!

IDK, I want this now.

I was wondering that myself ??? - I love modeling in maya - best max an xsi anyday

It's just not as robust as other apps in the modeling dept. It has all the standard tools to get a job done but while other apps continue to refine their modeling tools and modeling workflows to make things faster and easier, Maya's improvements with each release lie more in the rigging/animation pipeline so folks are stuck using tools that don't always work as they should. The best way to see the difference is to spend some time with MAX or Modo or something.

QFT

whats qft mean?

i never found modeling in maya to be hard or particularly bad. The one time i tried the free XSI trial i found myself confused and kept trying to set it up to be the same as maya.

You are the second to not know, haha.
This must be the only forum with people like that :p

QFT = Quoted For Truth

Yeah the tools dont get an update as they should. This is why people develop plugins that got the extra mile. Take the NExTool for instance its just insane, it keeps the original form of your model without crushing it. Artisan is still as bad as it was in version 3 of Maya. The UV editor isnt great, its still lacking in the unwrap dept, Ive been using the new UV master in ZBrush of late as it does the job that no other unwrapper does, beats the crap out of roadkill and those other pelters that shrink uv areas where you actually need to paint high detail, also kickstandlabs have bought out Stretchmesh a while back, apart from its uses for rigs, it alone will bash the crap out of the softmod tool plus it has in built collision abilities that could benefit any modellers work flow - christ I could moan all day long...but you get the picture.

Jay

oh make me the third person on the forum not to know QFT....load of arse hahaha.

Jay

Yeah I said the capabilities of NeX should have been brought into Maya all the way back at 8.5. As for artisan, I say it should be renamed to - The Lumpy Bumpy Lets Destroy Your Mesh Tool. But that might be a bit wordy ;) The simplest way to describe the fidelity and control you get with artisan is to imagine trying to sculpt clay while wearing boxing gloves.

Maya has the base tools needed to model (well at least by 1985 standards) but it could dearly use some updates for better control, precision, and ease of modeling. Simply take a short list of features from a more modern modeling application like modo and pin it to a wall and start throwing darts!

Better selection tools, better precision, fall offs, background constraints, better sculpting tools, better uv'ing tools, more accurate bevels and champfers, surfacing tools, better asset management and those are just a short list of polygon improvements!

Nurbs needs a major overhaul as well. I prefer NURB's to splines but half the time maya's nurbs tools do not work or require all sorts of convoluted tricks to get them to work properly and then you have to play endlessly with the tesselation, which always confused me since alias also made one of the best automotive nurbs based surfacing appliations called studiotools. I never understood why the maya's nurbs tools were so inferior to the tool set in studiotools. But that is another topic of debate.

This looks like a more complete listing of the new features:

http://area.autodesk.com/blogs/cory/what_s_new_in_2011

I'm really glad to see Arbitrary Scaling (along different axes!!!! :attn: )
Object level soft select sounds pretty useful.
Camera sequencer should be cool too.
Better icon features/support (but still don't know if you can access the regular set?)

Either way, it's a bigger list than I've seen previously, and there's a lot of dynamics additions and improvements which I hope to get into someday.

THe dynamics stuff does look good, the auto resize for fluids looks good and will give quicker simulation times.

Hope I ray gets in there but I doubt it.

Would be nice to have some modeling features as well as some UV mapping stuff too, but hey ho

Thanks for the enhanced list. I like the arbitrary scale and uv edge loop selection (long over due!).

Pinch tool is a good step, but inflate would be a nice compliment.

I will hold out hope that autodesk is not positioning maya to simply be a animation, dynamics, and rigging application and at some point they will come back and update both the polygon and nurbs tool sets.

I'm #4 not to know!

Jay...Mate!....check your e-mail!....
there has been one stagnate in there for 3 weeks now..LoL
i'd began to wonder if you croaked and forgot to tell me mate.

anyway, Bakc to maya...
Nextool? i...feel ashamed...i don't recall everyign ahving heard of it, or i have forgotten if i did.

After looking at the new list provided of upgrades to maya, i will say i seem to think that these coud be usefull.

New File Browser
Tabbed browsing for Attribute Editor and Channel Box
Drag and Drop interactivity
Most of the modeling can be atleast semi useful.
The improved time warping could be useful. though i'm not sure how much simple key-framing the attributes could get hen they already are.
i can see many uses for this :Point on Poly constraint:

ohh hell I'll say this..
IT does seem better then the initial link posted ( no offense to jay's kindness in posting said link). but i will still agree that while i still find Maya to be the best overall graphics solution i do believe that it is time that Auto desk implement many new or upgraded tools into maya.
There will soon come a time when the advantages that Maya has in adding plugins to make up for its short comings, and its Dynamics and animation capabilities. will no longer give it the needed edge if auto desk doesn't stat to catch up with the curve.

That being said, i still love maya, it like an old faithful dog I've had around for years. and i think with the proper TLC from auto desk, it still has plenty of years of usefulness left in it.


G-man

And hey! They added the 'spin edges' tool! The script for this has only been around for what? Two? Three? Four years now? :D

Ha yeah Nitro, the Spin faces tool, yeah its gotta be as old as that easily.

The new list is still pretty cack though in the modelling dept.

LOZ: yeah I have read it mate just replying has been an effort lately, been working lates and weekends so getting home and back on the PC has been an effort to say the least


will reply soon

J

They did center on the more non modeling tool sets within maya,
I think if i had to guess its mostly because they recognize that maya has fallen behind as a modeling tool but still holds the forte for a lot of other tool sets.. One can only hope they planned to fortify its standing there with animation and dynamics, only so the next release could bring the modeling tools back up to par once more?...

I understand you've been busy mate, no worries.
Just glad you're alive.
you might want to wait till i get a chance to mail you again before you reply anyway as, that one is so far out of date, you'd be replying to things that arn't a factor anymore LoL

G-man

On one of those screen shots it does look like theres a setting for a linear workflow in MR, that will save a mess about.

One thing anyone got used to nparticles yet?

Think i'm getting old, just use them and get frustrated and go back to original ones! Just thought of that as i'm making an object burst into sparks and just went for ol school ones!

On the modeling side, it makes maya easier to teach to people if the tools stay the same!

It does help if the tools stay the same, but Im asking to add even better tools to make the job better and more productive....every other software does.

Yeah man, totally agree with you, was just messing about.

well i must say my last purchase was maya2010 only because of stability with mental ray as for modelling i dont think i can complain too much about maya i usually get the work done
as for jay and the rest of the modellers whats the use of spending 2k plus on upgrading if nuthin really has changed i vote maya 7 the best i ever used

Murambi

Absolutely. I still use Maya 2008 with custom plugins, I didnt even worry with 2009 0r 2010 and this next version will be overlooked too, unless theres a huge leap in the software development next time round and something in there to make me wanna buy it, I'll be staying put and my 2K will be spent on something more practical like a family holiday or a party with friends and hookers LOL, or even more fishing gear for the coming season!!

Steve: cool mate np

cheers
Jay

Yeah spot on.

I've had the privilege of using maya 8.5 upwards to 2010 and i'm sure that I will be using 2011 when it comes out too, and in all honestly theres not been much difference on the modelling front at all.

You going big for the fishing season Jay? Going to try and get out for a bit this year, didnt make the most of it last year.

Hey Steve

Yeah, been out in the cold, but the big freeze has really put the carp off taking the baits. Only a couple of guys have had takes recently since it thawed, one guy took a 54pound mirror carp last week while the rest of us just looked and sulked LOL. Im waitng a few weeks now until easter, let it warm up a bit.

If you are down here bring your gear I'll take you to our lakes here


later
Jay

I want to go fishing!....
...the closest place to go fishing here is about a 2 hour drive..and.. the cost to get in the place is stupid.

i miss fishing.....

:headbang:

g-man

yeah jay lets meet in south africa for the world cup already bought a few tickets to some games :beer:

Ahh GMan

Pity you are so far mate, I have a two dayer coming up over easter break.....


Murambi...cool mate!!

Jay

Jay..at least take me some more pics like you did last fall!...i can live vicariously through your camera....Aye i can...

G-man

2 Day binge eh Jay? Sounds cool!

Hey G man dont Americans hate carp? Dunno where I heard it but I remember hearing that they do for some reason.

Where I grew up in Michigan Carp was always considered a garbage fish. They were fished with bow and arrow for sport but I am not sure anyone really ate them.

Most of the fishing here is for bass, walleye, perch, sunfish, bluegills, pike, salmon, and musky. I prefer perch and walleye. Pike and bass are fun to fish for as they can give a good fight.

Oh there are catfish here in Michigan as well. I am sure there may be other game fish but I think that is the list of major species we have here.

Not slamming carp. Not all carp are the same. I have had talapia and I believe that is a species of carp. It's has very sweet and non-oily meat. I hear the carp species we have here in michigan are not very palatable. But as I have never had any or know anyone that has I can't verify it.

I have not had fresh caught fish here in michigan for some time now. The last time I was fishing up north there was some kind of worm infestation in the meat of the fish. The DNR (department of natural resources) said they were safe to eat but the idea of eating something with worms that you can see in the meat was not very appetizing.

In South FL, where I grew up, it was mostly bass, bream, catfish, and the occasional alligator gar in the canal systems. In the Everglades, it was Mudfish. It was all catch and release.

I liked salt water fishing a bit more...kingfish (spanish mackeral), mahi mahi, blackfin tuna, yellow snapper, red drum, wahoo, tarpon, etc....good fighting...good to eat...a majority of them were anyway....Bonitas were common to catch...hard fighting fish but too bloody to really eat. The only thing I didn't like about going out is I'd always manage to get seasick...no scopalamine patches back then and dramamine didn't really work. The Drift boat captain would always make jokes about my "Chumming for fish.":shakehead In any case, after tossing my breakfast for awhile, I'd manage to get up and fish.

On a side note, my Dad used to shrimp for years...really hardcore into it. You can see their eyes light up at night when flashing a light on them...used to headdown to several places in Miami and track his nightly hauls....our freezer in the garage used to be packed with large ziplock bags of shrimp.

Ohh as far as that goes Gster, I hate fish all together, I'm the best fishing partner in the world I hate to eat fish, but i love to go fishin. For me its getting out with nature, and enjoying nature, the relaxation of forgetting that my motherboard exists with all of its cantankerous attachments. And just enjoying the nice breeze, rippling water and outdoor goodness that we've all seamed to have forgotten in the rush to become new aged.

so yea, If Jay ( Or anyone else ) and I ever go fish'n, you can have everything I catch, so long as i get to enjoy the conversation and the nature around us.

g-man

I didnt mean for eating, meant for catching, i.e good sport.

Its always catch and release.

Hunting with a bow? Sounds a bit mad. I used to do Archery but it was target.

Carp are essentially like the pigs of the water. they roll around in the muck and stuff, but they are great sport to catch. The bigger they are the harder they are to actually get them to take the bait. We use boilies (for those not in the know, they look like giant gumballs) They have all flavours ranging from tutti frutti to Tuna and Chilli flavors. Carp are one particular species of fish that learn as they get older - up to 60years in fact. Its always catch and release with carp, though I believe people are setting up carp farms to breed them for eating because of the decline of cod in the sea around the UK. They did a test on it on one of these chef programmes on TV, it went down quite well with most people.

Stuff like bream are a bloody nuisance as they are always scavenging on the carp bait, plus when you catch them they are the slimiest fish in the water, and the slime just stinks!! Even days after my unhooking mat has just reeked -even when dry!! I had to put it in the machine - wot a hummer. Perch are fun to catch though they are aggresive little buggers to say the least.

anyway back to 3d, Im beginning to geek on fishing LOL

best to all
Jay