MAYA for Windows and MacIntosh

There are two ways to bring files and geometry into a Maya scene: importing and referencing. When you import a file into Maya, you are permanently merging the file into the current scene. This is recommended if you're working with just one file that is not very large.

Often, you'll want to use the same model in multiple scenes (Figure 1.58). You can use referencing to bring the same file into multiple scenes simultaneously. Referencing gives you a chance to edit the original file and have those revisions updated in all the scene files that use the reference. For instance, you can create a character in one file and then reference it into different files for each camera shot. If you later want to make changes to the character, you can open the original character file and make the changes, then save the file. The updates are automatically made to all files that reference the character (Figure 1.59).

Figure 1.58. Referencing a file into multiple scenes allows the original scene file to be edited; the reference files will inherit the changes.

Figure 1.59. Changes made to a referenced file are automatically included in each scene in which the referenced file is used.

Referencing can be particularly helpful when more than one person is working on the same project. In such cases, you can have the modeler create a low-resolution character for the animator to reference into a scene. This way, the modeler can continue making additions to the character while the animator is creating its motion. As the model is updated, the animator can see the changes as he or she works. The other advantage is that the low-resolution model will draw faster onscreen because there isn't as much geometry for the CPU to process (Figure 1.60).

Figure 1.60. From left to right we have smoothed deformable geometry, a polycage, and then a stand-in created from primitive cubes.

Using references is a powerful way to manage your large projects. Larger scenes can be segmented by storing the individual parts in separate files, so the new scenes that you do save will be smaller. This saves you time (saving large scene files to the hard drive can be time consuming) and disk space.

Tips

  • When editing referenced files the names of nodes and objects become extremely important. If the names change then the scene that refers to them will no longer be-able to find those objects.

  • Maya can assign a locator when you import a reference. For large scenes this allows you to unload a referenced object by right-clicking the reference's name in any of the views and choosing Unload Related Reference. You will still see the cross hairs of the locator and the references name, but since the geometry is no longer loaded, your scene's display will be much faster while you focus on another part of the scene (Figure 1.61).

    Figure 1.61. Unloading references will greatly improve real-time performance while animating.

In addition to importing and referencing, you can also export objects out of a scene. There are two export options: Export All and Export Selection. The Export All command exports everything in the current scene to a new file. The Export Selection command exports currently selected objects. Export also exports cameras, but when you import the scene only the cameras with unique names will be included. The cameras with default names like Front, Top, Side, or Persp will be ignored when you import.

To export an entire scene:

1.

From the File menu, select Export All (Figure 1.62).

Figure 1.62. To export everything in the scene, use the Export All command.

The Export window opens.

2.

Navigate to the folder in which you want to place the exported file.

3.

Click Export.

All the file components are exported.

To export selected objects:

1.

Select the objects you want to export (Figure 1.63).

Figure 1.63. This creature is being selected in the Outliner so that it can be exported separately from the rest of the scene.

2.

From the File menu, select Export Selection (Figure 1.64).

Figure 1.64. To export only the items that are selected in a scene, use the Export Selection command.

The Export window opens.

3.

Navigate to the folder where you want to place the exported file.

4.

Click Export.

The selected objects are exported.

To import a file:

1.

From the File menu, select Import (Figure 1.65).

Figure 1.65. Importing a file into another scene combines the imported file with the open file.

The Import dialog box opens.

2.

Navigate to the folder where the file you want to import is located.

3.

Click the file you wish to import, and then click Import (Figure 1.66).

Figure 1.66. A creature scene file is being imported into the currently open scene.

The file is imported into the scene.

To reference a file:

1.

From the File menu, select Create Reference (Figure 1.67).

Figure 1.67. Select File > Create Reference to bring a file into an existing scene.

The Reference dialog box opens.

2.

Navigate to the folder where the file you want to reference is located.

3.

Click the file you want to reference, and then click Reference (Figure 1.68).

Figure 1.68. Browse to the file you want to reference and click Reference, or double-click the file name to use it as the reference file.

The file is referenced into the scene.

Tip

  • Do not group referenced objects to non-referenced objects. If you translate the group node in-between loading and unloading the references, Maya may loose track of where the reference is supposed to be.

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