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MillimeterReview: Autodesk Maya 2009
Apr 10, 2009 12:00 PM, By Stephen K. Mann
Tenth release packs on the muscles and mental rays.
Two new, notable selection features in Autodesk Maya 2009 are camera-based selection and edge-loop selection. Camera-based selection lets the user select only the components facing the camera. Edge-loop selection lets the user select a full or partial edge loop by clicking on two edges or points.
Maya 2009 marks the 10th release of Maya and the third release from Autodesk. As a longtime Maya user, I am always excited to check out the new features and updates. This new version promised a lot: faster and better integration with the mental images mental ray renderer, a whole new particle dynamics system called nParticles, new animation layers, the upgrade and inclusion of cMuscles as Maya Muscles, and an all-around upgrade to the toolset.
The first thing I noticed when opening up Maya 2009 is that all the icons have gotten a little bit of a facelift—all are beveled and have self-shadows. There is the addition of a panel menu bar at the top of each camera view, and a new menu set called Animation Layers was added to the channel box.
The panel menu bars allow you to quickly access some of the more common settings for the panels, such as x-ray and x-ray joints, various field and view guides, shading modes, and the quality of the display. I particularly like having an icon to access the panel view Isolate, which shows only selected objects in that camera view. Prior to 2009, it was nested under several menus. For those of you who don't want a lot of extra menus, you can maximize your screen space by toggling the panel menu off and on using Shift+Ctrl+M.
Another camera-view improvement is that the resolution gate now has a shaded border, so it's much easier for you or your director to visualize what's in the camera's renderable frame. Along with that, you can now change your background colors to several different shades of gray using the Alt+B shortcut. There's also a new faded horizon line that makes it much easier to visualize your space, similar to the background found in Autodesk's Mudbox application.
Modeling and selection
I first used Maya 2009 on a model of a Volkswagen Thing. It's not the most complex of models, but the new selection and modeling features really came in handy. The two most notable selection features are the camera-based selection and the new edge-loop selection. The camera-based selection is similar to polygon-backface culling in that it lets you select only the components that are facing the camera so you don't end up selecting the backsides of objects or objects that are obscured behind other objects by mistake. This option comes in handy with dense models when you want to be particular about what you're selecting. For the most part, I left this option on by default. But with Maya's new "q" marking menu, this and many other selection options can be toggled on and off quickly with just one mouse movement instead of digging through the preferences. (Autodesk also reorganized the "W," "E," and "R" marking menus for changing the move, rotate, and scale options, making them a little bit more accessible.)
The new edge-loop selection method lets the user select full or partial edge loops by simply clicking on two edges or points. Maya will even select the loop if the selections are not along the same edge loop; it will just find the closest path between them. This makes it much easier to select the components you want compared to the old methods of selecting each face by hand or selecting a full loop and then deselecting all the points you didn't want.
Added to all the translation tools is the Soft Selection option, which moves points based on a fall-off curve. After toggling it on by pressing "B," you are given a visual display that shows which points will be affected and by how much. Autodesk added this tool in the 2008 extension 2, but it is faster in Maya 2009 and has the option to act globally—affecting any surrounding geometry. The company included a collection of preset curves that you can use to define how Soft Select behaves, or you can define the curve manually. For quick global changes, Soft Selection is terrific; because it works with translate, rotate, and scale as an option, you can make quick changes without a lot of overhead.
Another great option added to the transformation tools is the Preserve UV option, which maintains UV space as you edit your models so your textures won't stretch and warp. Like Soft Select, it works with all the transformation tools. I put a logo on the side of the door of the Volkswagen and was able to move the door mold up and down without affecting the texture placements, saving me from having to redo my UVs and image maps.
I also introduced a bird to the animation, and what I always dread is editing UVs on organic characters. In Maya 2009, I was pleasantly surprised with the updates to the Unfold and Relax UV-editing tools, which make them respond better. Most amazing was the speed. Both the Unfold and Relax tools now have a virtual slider that lets you choose the amount that they affect the UVs. Even on a three-year-old laptop, the speed and interactivity were excellent.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.