maya and hl2 exporter specifics.

[vyder]

hey guys...do any of you have any documentation on how maya will be able to export maps/models for hl2? i would like to start building a map for hl2, but i find hammer a bit too slow for big maps. i wanted to construct the shell in maya and then place entities in the map using hammer.

thanks.

 

[Bigcheese]

as far as we know right now (this is from valve not from my beta experiance) maya will only have model exporters, but XSI will have map exporter. But the good news is that xsi has a .obj importer so you could make it in maya and send it over to xsi.

 

[vyder]

hey thanks for the response,

what version of xsi will i have to download to be able to do this? i am kinda concerned about this. will i have to export to obj then to xsi LOL...what a workaround. my problem is that i know maya pretty decent...but i dont know xsi. lol...i hope the downgraded version will be free and i can try and export from there. what i will do is try and contact valve about specifics. right now so close to the release the details are a bit sketchy.

peace

 

[Doorstopp]

ok this is the thing I think Vyder was talking of. In hammer as it stands now, its not real good at geometry. If he models say a building thats bombed out and is nothing but a shell with jagged edges in the concrete and so on we found that you cant model something that complex in hammer. If he modeled it in maya or whatever and was to export it later when hl2 is realeased is that geometry still a limitation. He doesnt want to waste his time designing a detailed model only to see it not being able to be imported to hammer correctly.

 

[Bigcheese]

thats what models are for...

ppl THIS IS NOT HL1. this is hl2, we have MODELS you dont need BSP(sept for the bace of the map).

i love unreal

 

[vyder]

wait hold up a second. if i model my bldgs in maya for example, and then export these models as a mdl for hammer to place in the world, will those models block out VIS? will players be able to interact with those models? will the proper physics/lighting/materials be applicable to the models?

this issue is a bit more complex which is why i want to learn more. but i guess since the SDK aint out yet no one (except those who already have the SDK) will know.

 

[Bigcheese]

no vis, no rad, but the rest is all there.

 

[TAT-P90]

Maya ANd HAmmer

Hey i started to make a map and all and used maya (from UT2004 CD) to make some models of some machineries...

AFter i made everything i couldnt figure out how to export the maya scene to a halflife 2 model so i can put it in the map.

Can u guys help me on this one????

 

[Cunbelin]

there is no support for Maya PLE, you need a full version of Maya to export anything into HL2. XSI has a free version that exports to HL2 here:

http://www.softimage.com/products/Mod/v4/

(If you already have XSI exp for HL2 get this new version it's based off of XSI 4.2 and has a limit of 7500 polygons).

If you learned Maya you can learn XSI. Unless you have been using a custom made version of Maya, XSI has all the tools Maya has and more for polygons. Oh and the first thing any Maya user should do is make a cube, and hit plus on the numberpad and wonder why the hell Sub-D surfaces couldn't work like that in Maya.

 

[TAT-P90]

thx for the info...
but the thing is that XSI (for me) crashes at start up , no menu no letters, no anything. But this happens to EXP for Half Life 2...
Can some one tell the problem and the way to fix it!!!!

 

[samplerInfo]

Unless you have been using a custom made version of Maya, XSI has all the tools Maya has and more for polygons. Oh and the first thing any Maya user should do is make a cube, and hit plus on the numberpad and wonder why the hell Sub-D surfaces couldn't work like that in Maya.

Cunbelin,
if you don't know what you're talking about, then please don't talk about it
/MaX
Softimage XSI & Maya user

 

[Cunbelin]

Cunbelin,
if you don't know what you're talking about, then please don't talk about it
/MaX
Softimage XSI & Maya user

I'm sorry could you be more specific ? Rather than us both being dicks I'd like to suggest we take a chance to learn from each other. I imagine you are probably more familiar with Maya than I am, and I imagine I'm more familiar with XSI than you, so if you have something you like from Maya you're looking for in XSI perhaps I could help you ?

 

[samplerInfo]

It's just that I'm so :x tired of flamewars between users of different software. I'm glad to hear you're not one of them =)
I just thought that your comment about subD's was unnecessary -if you have a thorough understanding of the underlying structure of the programs you would rather be happy that subD's don't work that way in Maya

 

[Cunbelin]

No flamewars, perhaps I'm in the wrong as I've not used Maya 6 very much, but my experience in 5 was that it was easier to just smooth the polygons rather than dealing with the rather frustrating Sub-D system. I probably should give Maya 6 a spin but there are only so many hours in the day, and only a personal budget for one full program.