Before I purchase this beast in the next week or so, I'd like to know have they sorted out the object referencing. Maya's referencing has been total crap since I began using 2.5, has it been fixed yet and has it been done properly?


Also what I found interesting is what Gster said about having Maya Complete and then buying a plugin, say Ncloth to add on. This is very interesting because I have in the past ranted at Alias reps for this type of thing. I recently did it when Autodesk released Maya 8 to at another rep. Have my words made their mark finally.

I think its a better way to go, buy complete and then add to it. They should do like they do with max, sell it with Motion builder and add the rest on after when you can.

I mean lets face it, I'm reading thru this lot, all you dudes using Unlimited, Im jealous because I can only afford to buy Complete and Ive yet to see some bloody cool work done with fur, hair, cloth and fluids, even banging on about particle rendering in MR...its just not happening, so why bother, is just the 'to have it' factor? I tell you if I had all that stuff, the hood on that would have been opened and seriously abused by now

I understand some of you go to Uni or college and get to use it there, but what about the rest of you?

Anyway if someone could shed the light on referencing that would be good

Cheers
Jay

jay, i dont even know what you mean.., referancing.., im sure you have thought of this but.., can auto-desk help you

apart from that, despite my bashing auto desk, maya 2008 is unlimited would certainly rock your world.

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hey Mirek

Im sure they could help me, but I want to know from a hands on point of view.

referencing is where an object is referenced from an original source file thats on your hard disk. Instead of being opened or imported its referenced. For example lets just create an imaginary scene: we have a row of houses in a street filled with cars. Each object has been imported separately and the scene is pretty heavy going in polygons. Lets say one of the houses needs a bit of editing. You dont want to go into the scene and start farting about as its too much to sort. So by opening the original file of the house on its own you make your changes and save it. Then merely open the massive scene you have got and its updated!

Also referancing is good for replacing objects on the spot, say you move the referance object fifty grid spaces and have a good cameraa setup that you want to keep. Then just select the rferance file and replace it. The original file is now replaced on th espot with you moving it 50 grid spaces again.

This procedure has always been an ass in Maya and I was wondering if its been fixed.

Cheers
Jay

Hey Jay

IVe never tied it to be honest, How do you go about it? I'll give it a go for you.

Cheers

Steve

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"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle

Jay from what I can tell reference proxies work exactly the same as in 8.5 , the workflow is identical and there is no mention of any improvements in the Docs under whats new.

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I doubt there would be anything in the whats new docs, as its not really new, it was basically in need of a serious overhaul tbh. Its been something I know quite a few other artists including my self have grumbled about in the past

Steve

You basically go to File>reference editor> create a reference file, then move it or something in the scene the go back to the editor and replace reference object, in v6 it still defaults back to the zero coords.

Just to really annoy people: Lightwave has had this abilty for many years and ALWAYS does it right off the bat, never fails

Let me know

Jay

File referencing is also quite nice in Max so hopefully some of this will be ported across in the new Maya stuff

It sounds like it should be straightforward to write a plugin that stores the reference information correctly in the master file. A kind of custom node especially for the job (if there already isn't one). If I ever get the time Jay I'll let you know

Si

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thanks jay, from the sounds of it referancing is similar to th e .psb extention in PS.., also known as smart objects in the CS3 PS when in the 3D mode or using the object tool. Using the 3D mode in PS requires one to create a completely new folder to hold the entire project so one can referance from that so no 'damage' is done to the original file or project.., this only from my understanding so far.

as far as maya 208.., i thought you were still using 6.5.., maybe not..?? but even someone on my level can see the improvements to rendering, some of the texture tools,, ect have come along way since then. the n-cloth seems somewhat better intergrated in this version than 8,5.., theres a heap of minor 'improvements' but since 6.5.., well theres a lot.

for a modellor like you, maybe not too much?? certainly though you would dig some of the UV texture editor tools.

how do you feel as a pro to have to watch all these 'versions' fly by.., no comment ..?? or do you just wait and sit on the fence until maya comes of age in autodesk land (which to me sounds a wise thing for a pro to do considering the cost verses the benefits of buying or upgrading every 6-8 months or whatever. big bucks i feel for an idependant.

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Cheers Jay, I'll give it a go.

Mirek Check your PM,

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"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle

live and learn.., whats a PM?? i was wrong??.., again

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Private Messages

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"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle

hey, check your PM sorry i figured it out seconds after pushing the send button

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Hi,

I've just been modelling with Maya 2008 properly for the first time since I installed it, I've mainly been sorting out lights and stuff on other models, sorry I digress....

My point is that I really like it! The fact that you can hit 2 and 3 to smooth out your poly model without actually smoothing it.... GENIUS!! If it was possible in Maya 8 (my previous version) I totally missed it but hey I've found it now.

Apart from that little gem, I really like N-Cloth, beats the pants off Maya Cloth for ease of use and also the dynamics seem to solve much quicker (could have something to do with my new computer though).

Overall thumbs up from me (so far).

Later,

Mat.

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Mirek: Heh yeah still on version 6.

As far as versions go, I tend to get a bitted pissed off when new releases come out, version 7 looked great but yep you're right I couldnt afford it at the time. The when Autodesk got the reins for Maya and V8 was out I was pretty annoyed as it was 'just' a release with their name on it. Then 8.5 was released within the year and that had some nice features, but when you only use Maya Complete as I do the updates really are not worth the hassle. But I find myself in a weird situation, producing tutorials for Simply using version 6 kind of sucks, because all the noobs, college guys etc are getting the latest version and I kind of feel a bit of a vintage user, ya know. So...now comes the time too upgrade finally!

Hopefully if all bodes well this week, I will be ordering an update.
BUT....my dilemma is this...Buy Maya 2008 (complete version) for 1320 english pounds or buy Softimage Essentials for 1400.

Buy Maya Complete I hear you all say its cheaper. I agree says I but the latest release of SoftImage essentials has made me think. for 1400 english notes I will get All the usual modelling texturing and rigging tools, but heres the the bit that made me think, for an extra few quid I can also have Hair and Syflex cloth to then add to my characters, thats a pretty good deal considering Maya Unlimited sells for near 5grand and then you get added fluids too

the only downside with buying softimage is I'd have to learn new software...

Any thoughts?

Jay

Well, I’m been testing it out for a couple of days, and it really is much faster.

Originally posted by happymat27
My point is that I really like it! The fact that you can hit 2 and 3 to smooth out your poly model without actually smoothing it.... GENIUS!! If it was possible in Maya 8 (my previous version) I totally missed it but hey I've found it now.

Originally Posted by

Oh, man, I really love that too! What’s amazing is how fast it is. Now I’m never using subds again! :p