Maya align tool?

[Reverenddevil]

Does anyone who uses Maya know if there is a way to align vertices? The way in max was use planar then you could align along x y or z. is there an equivalent in Maya?
Thanks..

Also there is a symmetry modifier in mAx is there the equivalent for that in Maya?

Also is there a way to rename your custom icons in your created shelf? Thanks...

Also can someone hook me up with a decent rendering setup in Maya. Every time I render it looks like crap...

Also how do you change the background color of your render in Maya instead of being black..

[Reverenddevil]

Anyone???

[benclark]

Does anyone who uses Maya know if there is a way to align vertices?

You can snap vertices by holding down the V key while moving them, so select your vert and hold v and snap it along whatever axis you need to allign. Alternatively there are a bunch of allign options in the modify menu


Also there is a symmetry modifier in mAx is there the equivalent for that in Maya?

I'm assuming you mean modeling symmetry?

Edit > Duplicate Special Options > selct instance instead of copy and type -1 in the X scale box (the first one)

Now when you select an object and press Ctrl+shift+D and you will get a mirrored copy

Also is there a way to rename your custom icons in your created shelf?

Window > Settings and preferences > Shelf Editor

Also how do you change the background color of your render in Maya instead of being black

Open your outliner (window > Outliner)
Now select the camera you are rendering from in the outliner window and open the attrbute editor. One of the attribute drop down menus is called environment, collapse it and you can set a colour


The render setup question is kinda vague, what is wrong with your current renders? what are you rendering? what renderer are you using?

[3rdman]

hey reverenddevil, i use maya, i think the solution to your problem might be in terms of actually 'moving' the verts? if so, you can simply go to move settings by double-clicking on the Move tool, (left side) then click on 'Normals' instead of World Space or Local Space, I hope this solves the problem.

[Sentientv2]

I highly recommend to anyone using Maya to register at area.autodesk.com and download the Level Tools plugin they have. You can do so many things, include change background, from the tool. It is quite an invaluable tool for Level Designers... so much that someone who worked on Elder Scrolls thanked me a bunch when I first showed it to him because it allows him to walk through a level like a fps.

I suppose it would be safe to say that it isn't all new stuff, but it puts a ton of hard to reach things at your finger tips (after the first time you run it you can get to it by pressing the L key).

[Baida]

Thanks Sentientv2, I use from time to time Maya, going to take this

[Sefiroth]

- activate the move tool. Go to the tool options and select ''set to edge'', you can then select a edge and the move tool will be alligned to it.

-cant help you with that. Dont know that tool.

- already been told by benclark

-let me know what you expect something specific, but I can give you a fast and nice on. Create a sphere and use it as skydome, so make it big enough. give it a surface shader with whatever you want, but keep in mind that the color of this dome will determine a the overall color of the scene. Make it sky blue for start. Go to the attribute editor when the sphere is selected and go to the sphereShape tab. Under render stats. Turn of cast and recieve shadows. Create a directional light, for sunlight. make it slightly yellow so that the bleu of the sky and the yellow of the sun will neutralize eachother except in shadow areas so dont gorget to turn on raytrace shadows. Turn on final gather in the render settings of mental ray. If I didnt forgot to tell anything you will have a nice render.

- already been told by benclark

[thanoz]

V to snap to verts, C to snap to curves (nurbs only) and X to snap to grid. Usually I use X to snap every vertex to grid, one at a time in an Orthographic view, then I move all the snapped verts to wherever I need em once they're aligned. The final step of moving them where I want them to is a bit of an eye-balling-it process but that's not worrying me a hell of a lot in most cases. The only disaster you can make in Maya in terms of alignment, is to make a complex plane covered in verts, then rotate it a bit, and try to move a few verts around and expect the surface to remain flat. That's where you gotta remember to use the Move Tool in Normals mode (I think).