The Migration Poll

Discussions about migration to other software

What's next (apart from still using Softimage)?

3ds Max
1
2%
Blender
4
6%
Cinema 4D
8
12%
Houdini/Houdini Apprentice HD
17
26%
Lightwave
1
2%
Maya/Maya LT
14
21%
Modo
7
11%
Softimage only
13
20%
None of the above
1
2%
 
Total votes: 66

Nox
Posts: 108
Joined: 16 Apr 2013, 13:28

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by Nox » 21 Aug 2014, 09:04

Code: Select all

After having finally uninstalled Maya
So, what is the most horrible thing about Maya?

User avatar
Hirazi Blue
Administrator
Posts: 5107
Joined: 04 Jun 2009, 12:15

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by Hirazi Blue » 21 Aug 2014, 16:15

Well, I never claimed it to be “horrible”. It’s got a very impressive feature set, but very bad documentation and was clearly made with no consideration towards that elusive quality called “user experience”. As I am a “mere” hobbyist having fun with this hobby is rather important to me, so when I finally figured out that I was having no fun whatsoever with Maya, the choice was surprisingly easy to make.
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

User avatar
Tekano
Posts: 488
Joined: 09 Jun 2009, 14:49
Location: London, UK

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by Tekano » 21 Aug 2014, 16:28

have some consideration for those who have no choice but to use it every day :ymsick:
can't help feeling am being constantly 'trolled' by Maya.

biggest reasons I hate it are:

inconsistency in UI and scene selection & navigation
simple navigation errors just by pressing 'f' to focus - it ewither zooms a million miles out or nan's the camera
breathe hard and the camera turns to NAN on all values
make a new camer, press 'f' it nans that too
things mysteriously stop working.

right now it wont even translate objects they just turn blue. wwwwwhhhhhhyyyyy????????


I truly despise it. perhaps if all I knew were its inconsistencies (and workarounds) the experience may be not so bad but after so many years in SI there are so many levels of crap in Maya its truly beggers belief that this is the 'standard'

by the way this is not week 1 - I am 11 months into Maya 2012 now and it still does something everyday that is completely idiotic. maybe there is something wrong between the keyboard and chair :p
Gossip is what no one claims to like, but everybody enjoys.

luceric
Posts: 1251
Joined: 22 Jun 2009, 00:08

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by luceric » 21 Aug 2014, 16:50

It's a bit hard to get into anything, frankly. I've been getting into Maya, but also migrating from visual studio to xcode and a collection of tools on the mac to get back to everything I was doing with Visual Studio. The UX is probably great in Modo, but I've never been able to wrap my head around modelling in it (I'm a modelling hobbyist). I'm still a bit scared about the hypershade compared to the render tree, but that's going to be changing in future. Just like the pre-modeling toolkit polygon modeling, it's not not a good moment to get into it unless you need to be in production with older releases -- which obviously I do not :P There are a lot of UX changes coming in the future.

User avatar
MauricioPC
Moderator
Posts: 1085
Joined: 16 Sep 2013, 13:39

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by MauricioPC » 21 Aug 2014, 16:58

luceric wrote:It's a bit hard to get into anything, frankly. I've been getting into Maya, but also migrating from visual studio to xcode and a collection of tools on the mac to get back to everything I was doing with Visual Studio. The UX is probably great in Modo, but I've never been able to wrap my head around modelling in it (I'm a modelling hobbyist). I'm still a bit scared about the hypershade compared to the render tree, but that's going to be changing in future. Just like the pre-modeling toolkit polygon modeling, it's not not a good moment to get into it unless you need to be in production with older releases -- which obviously I do not :P There are a lot of UX changes coming in the future.

The 'new hypershade' from the Rendering video reminded me a lot of the Slate Material from 3ds Max. There's some nice functionality on 3ds Max that I bet will be look at to bring into Maya.

I started yesterday to do some things in Modo. I love the interface ... but I still haven't made my mind about it.

User avatar
Tekano
Posts: 488
Joined: 09 Jun 2009, 14:49
Location: London, UK

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by Tekano » 21 Aug 2014, 17:26

ha thanks for the support luceric! but yes unfortunately im in a production department that needs to use this version of Maya :/ R&D have been unsuccessfully compiling their plugins for Maya for only 2 years now.... we have been promised maya 2015 - as 2012 is getting long in the tooth now I guess.

hypershade - ooof! I get as far as rendering>surface shader> change color in attribute editor - phew, hypershade is truly from the 80's and stuck there.

A saving grace is I can use Softimage 2015 to do the ICE particle data simulations and then the data is passed to Maya / in house tools. I still have to playblast shots in Maya though and moving stuff around is a real problem (for me)

ah well, back to the grind
Gossip is what no one claims to like, but everybody enjoys.

User avatar
talent103
Posts: 181
Joined: 08 Jan 2010, 15:47
Location: New York City
Contact:

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by talent103 » 21 Aug 2014, 17:49

I think Hirazi Hit it on the head, It just is not a fun experience for me after so many years in Softimage. And that is not because I am getting into it. I learned Maya first and knew it very well. I was totally clueless. At that time ( alias days) I did enjoy working in MNaya as 3D was so new for me. Now it is very hard to go back. I can but it is a drudgery and take 3 times longer to do what I normally can do in Softimage. The main reasons have been said over and over. No Gator/ No Ice/ Modelling sucks though it is getting better with the nex plug in. Render Passes not as robust or user friendly. All UI is hidden. Feels like traveling with a horse and buggy. I am strange in that I do like the Hypergraph and Hypershade and using utility nodes. It took me a while to get into the render tree.

luceric
Posts: 1251
Joined: 22 Jun 2009, 00:08

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by luceric » 22 Aug 2014, 03:49

if you don't have much use for Maya for work, anything that Duncan is involved can be quite fun to play with. For example, PaintFX, fluids or the neucleus stuff. The sample scenes are tucked away in Window > General Editors > Visor Duncan's blog has a lot of samples. Duncan is easy to find on cgtalk or the maya google group (maya_he3d)

User avatar
talent103
Posts: 181
Joined: 08 Jan 2010, 15:47
Location: New York City
Contact:

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by talent103 » 22 Aug 2014, 06:20

Yes I have been meaning to learn Paint FX since day one but never did. I forgot to mention, I do love the N hair and I am using on a personal project. Sending xsi scenes through alembic to maya and then using n hair for a hair pass is rocking my world.

User avatar
myara
Posts: 403
Joined: 28 Sep 2011, 10:33

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by myara » 22 Aug 2014, 07:39

Hirazi Blue wrote:After having finally uninstalled Maya b-(
Softimage will quite probably remain my (only) “weapon of choice".
I knew you would. I mean, I wouldn't use it if I hadn't to.

I use mostly preMTK Maya, and even when I use MTK(2014) I hate it too (I haven't used 2015 yet). I mean Maya has nice features and gives you good results, but the user experience is stressing.
Tekano wrote:inconsistency in UI and scene selection & navigation
That's the most annoying part because you are using it all the time. And I could add snapping.

It is very easy to miss-select something or add an edge where you didn't want to because it didn't snapped (in Maya you need to click and drag just to be sure you are snapping it to the vertex, in SI we just click). It is not uncommon for me to receive data with mistakes like that, double edges, overlapping polygons, etc.

And things that work one way in "n" tools, won't work in some others. To be fair in SI we also have a little of this here and there, but Maya is in another level.

The GUI is not as friendly and smart as Softimage, you can't just select a bunch of objects, open some property and change all of them with one click. Simple little things that we use all the time. You'll need to use Attribute Editor or another tool, or script it.

MTK is making Maya a little more bearable but it still ins't there yet (2014). It feels like another plugin, disconnected from everything just like a lot of things in Maya. It has tools that are similar to the old ones but work slightly different here and there like MTK symmetry and move tool's reflection, or Add Divisions and Connect, etc. And don't necessarily work better, ex: you can't change the numbers of edges you added with Connect. Curvature Continuity is also absent in MTK, so for adding edges, you may want to stick with the old tools.

MTK doesn't work at all if you have a deformer alive such as weigth skins, lattice, etc. It just gives you an error so you will need to use the traditional tools without changing topology. (I think you already know you can't change topology at all when you have deformers, you'll need to copy and transfer weights with one or another tool).

And a lot of small things that makes me script a lot or search for a script out there. Like the other day I needed to select the part Obj A was using Material A. In Softimage we have polygon clusters so it is easy, but in Maya you don't, so you may have to script it if you have a bunch of other objects that are also using Material A.

I work a lot faster if I do everything I can in Softimage before sending it to Maya using "send to Maya", FBX and dotXSI Crosswalk, and struggle with the final retouches.

I just wanted to reply HB but it seems that I can't stop when I'm bitching about Maya, sorry :P
Last edited by myara on 22 Aug 2014, 10:31, edited 3 times in total.
M.Yara
Character Modeler | Softimage Generalist (sort of)

User avatar
Hirazi Blue
Administrator
Posts: 5107
Joined: 04 Jun 2009, 12:15

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by Hirazi Blue » 22 Aug 2014, 10:12

myara wrote:
Hirazi Blue wrote:After having finally uninstalled Maya b-(
Softimage will quite probably remain my (only) “weapon of choice".
I knew you would. I mean, I wouldn't use it if I hadn't to.
Yes, I probably should open an “I told you so" thread. :D

And the sad/funny (depending on who you ask) part is, that I will probably reinstall Maya again relatively soon to be able to play with the new Renderman. But I’ve set out on a journey to create my own little “short” and this I don’t see myself doing with Maya any time soon. Again, it’s not the feature set, but I much rather traverse that ocean in the ship I know, rather than facing the unknown on the unknown.
But first I think I’ll explore the wonderful world of Fabric for a while… I must regain my feeling of fun when thinking of 3D and that was in rapid decline whilst learning Maya…
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

User avatar
MauricioPC
Moderator
Posts: 1085
Joined: 16 Sep 2013, 13:39

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by MauricioPC » 22 Aug 2014, 14:12

Hirazi Blue wrote:
myara wrote:
Hirazi Blue wrote:After having finally uninstalled Maya b-(
Softimage will quite probably remain my (only) “weapon of choice".
I knew you would. I mean, I wouldn't use it if I hadn't to.
But I’ve set out on a journey to create my own little “short” …
I'm gllad to hear that. Hope to hear more about it.

User avatar
FXDude
Posts: 1129
Joined: 19 Jun 2012, 21:59

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by FXDude » 22 Aug 2014, 16:08

Would love to see some of your work Hirazi, I'm positive it would not be 'bad'! And I'm sure many here would be of great help with WIPs!

User avatar
Hirazi Blue
Administrator
Posts: 5107
Joined: 04 Jun 2009, 12:15

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by Hirazi Blue » 22 Aug 2014, 17:02

If I had "stuff" to show, I would gladly do so, but I haven’t created that much “finished work”", I’m proud enough of, to dare throw at all you hardened professionals. Over the years my focus has shifted from being “creative” myself to more of a supporting kind of role here at the si-community anyway. I think I know a lot about the software, but, sadly, I am unable to apply all this knowledge in the actual creative process. Having said that: the “short” I was planning to make obviously should end up in public space, for all to see. In this case I am once again (probably overly) ambitious, like in my early days. But knowing myself all too well, I wouldn’t expect a “release” any time soon…
:!!
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

User avatar
FXDude
Posts: 1129
Joined: 19 Jun 2012, 21:59

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by FXDude » 22 Aug 2014, 21:27

Hirazi Blue wrote:I think I know a lot about the software [...]


That's why I was asking, I saw you help-out people on a pretty wide range of things..
Could that pride possibly be a little high? enough to perhaps prevent you from seeking feedback?
(and/or getting some of that help back? ;] )

You have to put yourself out there, and feedback also motivates us for the next round of changes
.. that or completely destroys us lol .. but is also ultimately good, as we see in just the next round after that.

And you have the freedom to choose what you use.. so why not use the friendliest that doesn't involve you know.. -any- compromise.

I'm pretty sure that if you did it, what would come out would be very good!! :-bd :ymsmug:

User avatar
csaez
Posts: 253
Joined: 09 Jul 2012, 15:31
Skype: csaezmargotta
Location: Sydney, Australia
Contact:

Re: The Migration Poll

Post by csaez » 23 Aug 2014, 00:14

I totally agree, sometimes that sense of status in the community sets a very high entry barrier, pushing yourself to only show the "good stuff" and missing the opportunity to get feedback and learn from your mistakes (sounds silly but happens, I've been there).
Just start a new thread and share your progress, it doesn't have to be great or anything, the greatness will come listening to the feedback and refining as you go :)

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests