Maya Toolbelt

# 1 16-07-2014 , 11:04 PM

The Maya Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

Hi, guys,

Just wanted to let you guys know that I've started a YouTube channel where I'll be posting a series of Maya tutorials called The Maya Toolbelt. I don't think I'd be stepping on any toes here at SimplyMaya as my tutorials are all tool-based and SM's lessons are mostly project-oriented, from what I can tell.

I've only got a hand-full of videos up so far, but my goal is at least one a week. The long-term goal is to have a video going over *every* tool and command in Maya. Looooong way to go, but I hope you guys might check them out!

Definitely let me know if you have any suggestions as well, and I hope you subscribe and watch!

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/user/mayatoolbelt/

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 2 16-07-2014 , 11:46 PM

Super Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2006

Location: South FL

Posts: 3,522

This is a pretty neat idea to have a repository for comprehensive explanations on the modeling tools. Gonna blog about this one. Will this include the new Nex tools?

- Genny
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# 3 16-07-2014 , 11:59 PM

The Maya Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

Thanks, Gen! I'm hoping it will eventually have everything and anything Maya can do. I'll probably focus on more general Maya functions before diving into things like plugins, Nex or Bonus Tools and whatnot, but I definitely want to include all of it eventually.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 4 17-07-2014 , 08:05 AM

Subscriber
Join Date: Jul 2012

Posts: 112

Thank you so much for these tutorials. It will be great to have this as a reference esp. for commands you don't use every day. For sure it will be most helpful. As I saw, you have already a range of videos…so keep it up.

Best regards

Jens

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# 5 17-07-2014 , 10:58 PM

Super Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2006

Location: South FL

Posts: 3,522

The reason I mentioned Nex is because of the new and improved modeling tools implemented in Maya since 2014.

- Genny
__________________
::|| My CG Blog ||::
::|| My Maya FAQ ||::

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# 6 17-07-2014 , 11:38 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Jan 2004

Location: Bolton - UK

Posts: 2,457

Nice Mike nice - subscribed

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# 7 19-07-2014 , 05:25 AM

The Maya Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

Thanks, guys, I appreciate it. Hopefully you all like the series as it continues. Always happy to get feedback and suggestions as well!

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 8 20-07-2014 , 09:21 AM

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Join Date: Jan 2004

Location: Bolton - UK

Posts: 2,457

One tool I have just found out about is the Crease tool which is so useful when working for objects beening smoothed or being sent to Mudbox - but there is very little in the way of tips about that one.
Dont think I going to be able to live with out this one in the future, but dont know how to use it fully.

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# 9 20-07-2014 , 03:04 PM

The Maya Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

Done! Thanks for the suggestion!

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 10 20-07-2014 , 04:56 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Jan 2004

Location: Bolton - UK

Posts: 2,457

Great man understand the tool alot more now - my biggest problem was not having the message on (or in the bottom corner) and not knowing about the middle mouse drag but corrected that now.

Just wondering what verson of Maya you are using as I have 2014/2015 and your menus are very different. With this tool as a main point there is now a "Crease set editor" to keep a much better grouping of the creases (see screen grab) Only saying as these tips are great but dont want them to be sort of out dated straight away.

Many thanks again

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# 11 20-07-2014 , 05:01 PM

The Maya Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

Ah, yeah, I've only got Maya 2011 to work with. I'm hoping that one day these videos will bring in enough ad revenue to afford the upgrade, but for now, this is all I've got. When I'm able to upgrade, I'll probably be doing updated videos where needed.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 12 21-07-2014 , 01:18 PM

SM Tea Boy
Join Date: Apr 2002

Location: Prague

Posts: 3,228

Nice job Mike user added image

From a readers' Q and A column in TV GUIDE: "If we get involved in a nuclear war, would the electromagnetic pulses from exploding bombs damage my videotapes?"

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# 13 30-07-2014 , 11:37 PM

The Maya Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

Hi, guys!

Tweetytunes brought up a very serious point about my videos being out of date the moment they are posted due to my Maya license being 2011 and stuck in the past. Well, I was thinking that the only way I can see solving that issue would be a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds! But I wanted to get some feedback, so I'm posting this here to ask you what you guys think. This link just leads to a preview of the Kickstarter that I'm still working on.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...token=e14e7d37

I'd be very interested in your feedback and what you think of the rewards.

Thanks a ton!

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 14 31-07-2014 , 12:29 AM

EduSciVis-er
Join Date: Dec 2005

Location: Toronto

Posts: 3,374

Great idea, Mike. I think instead of shipping discs, most people would be happy to get digital downloads of the tutorials, which would allow you to include that at a lower reward bracket possibly, since it wouldn't cost you anything.

-stwert

Website - Blog - YouTube - Vimeo - Facebook - Twitter

-->How to Effectively Ask Questions on Forums<--

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# 15 31-07-2014 , 01:08 AM

The Maya Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

That's a good point, but isn't the videos being on YouTube already a digital source? Maybe I should just remove that whole idea? Let's see what others think about it.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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