Create > Adobe Illustrator Object

The Create Adobe^® Illustrator^® Object menu item allows you to create 3D animated models from 2D vector data by loading Adobe^® Illustrator^® paths into Maya as curves or to generate polygonal surfaces from the Adobe Illustrator file.

You can reload the file if you make changes to it. You can also edit the path to the Adobe Illustrator file in the Attribute Editor after you create the object, and history and bevel information is automatically applied.

To use this feature, make sure the following conditions apply:

Text must be converted to outlines in Adobe Illustrator (select the text and then select Type > Create Outlines).
Only Adobe Illustrator 8 files are supported.
Be sure to delete any guides in Illustrator before saving the file, even hidden guides. These will be loaded into Maya as curves, which will cause problems for the bevel operation.

To create an Adobe Illustrator Object

Select Create > Adobe Illustrator Object.
Select an .ai file.
Click OK.

To update the Adobe Illustrator Object

Select the Adobe Illustrator Object.
Open the Attribute Editor.
In the IllustratorForBevel tab, expand the File Attributes section.
Click Reload.

Options

You can choose to import the Adobe Illustrator object as curves or generate polygonal surfaces (bevel).

The standard Bevel Plus options are available within the Adobe Illustrator Object options (see Surfaces > Bevel Plus for a description of the options).

Once you have imported the Adobe Illustrator object, there is a Tolerance attribute in the Attribute Editor’s illustratorforBevel tab that can help fixing beveling problems. See Where curve changes direction, the bevel is not correct.

Troubleshooting

The inside of letters or curves appear filled-in

Maya may not know which curves are on the inside and which are on the outside and your bevel results will be incorrect. In this case, you must open the file in Adobe Illustrator and add some more curve information to the file.

Here are two possible Adobe Illustrator workflows that may help to correct any problems with incorrect beveling in Maya.

Adobe Illustrator workflow #1

Select the problematic paths, and select Object > Compound Path > Release.
Select the inside and outside paths for each problematic object and select Object > Group.
Select Effect > Pathfinder > Subtract.
Save the file.

Adobe Illustrator workflow #2

Select the problematic paths, and select Object > Compound Path > Release.
Select the inside and outside paths for each problematic object.
Select Object > Compound Path > Make.
Save the file.

When you reload the file within Maya, the letters or curves should all appear correctly.

Where curve changes direction, the bevel is not correct

In an imported Adobe Illustrator file, if a curve is next to a line, the line point may be in a slightly different position than its neighbors. This can cause bevel errors where the bevel extends into space away from the main curve.

Possible solutions include:

Increase the value of the Tolerance attribute after import
Fixing the curves in Adobe Illustrator and re-exporting. This may be necessary if changing the value of the Tolerance attribute makes the points snap in a way you don’t want.
Note
If you use Tolerance, CVs may be snapped together. This can cause edges with zero length, which can be removed with the Poly Cleanup Tool.