MAYA: Face-Scan Pipeline

AUTODESK 123D Catch > FBX > MAYA >

Make the mesh LIVE, then draw poly and edit verts.  With surface in LIVE state, verts will stick to the surface of the model.

Model away, then TRANSFER MAPS.

MAYA: Polygon Face Extrude

1. Select CURVE and shift+click POLY-FACE.
2. EXTRUDE FACE and make sure "Use selected curve for extrusion" is checked.

MAYA: Curve CV Navigation

Tapping the arrow keys LEFT or RIGHT will let you navigate the spans on a curve.  Saves a crapload of time when you're modifying a path curve for an extruded rope.

Basic Lighting Setup

Use an IBL node with a 0.700 Value (HSV) texture instead of an image for a basic, all around, even white fill.

MAYA: 3D Paint

For quick surface map painting, Right Click > PAINT > 3D PAINT.  Before you start, you have to Assign / Edit Textures.

MAYA: Render Optimization from Autodesk

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=7641552

MAYA: Quick Convert Selection Popup

Holding CTRL while RIGHT CLICKING brings up the Convert Selection Popup for quick change of selection types.

Select an edgeloop, then quickly change over to vertices, etc.

MAYA: Black Preview Textures?

While working on cleaning up someone else's previous file, I've noticed that sometimes applying an imported shader texture causes the viewport preview of a texture to go black.  Easily remedied by heading over to the UV Texture Editor and swapping out the preview texture under:


UV Texture Editor > Textures > (your texture).


BAM.






(EDIT:)


Also if you have multiple texture files applied within the shader network, you can select different textures to preview as well (bump maps, displacementmaps, you name it.)

NUKE: Tracked Transform Node Linking

Set TrackerNode transform to "matchmove" BEFORE LINKING CHANNELS to properly link an external transform node.

MAYA: Snap Align

If multiple objects need to be aligned on a certain axis, MAGNETIC SNAP keyboard modifiers (X,V, or C) will help align the items, with the pivot as your alignment point.

After Effects: Inverse Scale Percentage

Want to find out what the inverse scale would be for an object? Scale a parent object from 100% to say, 135%. Then parent a different object that was originally at 100% under the 135% scaled object, and BAM. Insta-Inverse percentage.

Adobe After Effects CS5 No-Sound Fix (RealTek HD audio)

Turns out After Effects CS5 defaults to the HD-Audio output, rather than the standard speaker output. Go under Preferences > Audio Hardware > and change it back to regular speakers. BAM.