Why export APF files to Maya?
The Autodesk® Showcase™
installation provides APF plug-ins you can load into Maya® (versions
8.5 - 2009). With this plug-in, you can import tessellated APF model
files into Maya and enhance them there (for example, by unwrapping UVs).
You can use the same plug-in to export the files to be read back
into Autodesk Showcase.
This workflow may improve
the appearance of materials using image-based textures (for example,
bump maps and lighting maps) when the images are mapped onto the
model surfaces. In addition, you can bake software-rendered textures
in Maya to make sure they appear correctly aligned and positioned
in Autodesk Showcase.
Tips and warnings
- You can change the overall shape of the
polygon mesh (for example, add creases, deform, bend, or stretch),
but you cannot remodel the polygonal mesh (for example, delete faces,
change the number of vertices, extract, detach, regroup, rename,
or cut).
- You must perform the same UV remapping
for each LOD (LODs appear as separate transforms in the Maya Outliner).
Some useful unwrapping tools in Maya include Polygon
UVs > Planar Mapping.
- You must use parametric mapping of textures
in Autodesk Showcase (as opposed to projection mapping) to see the
results of your changes.
- If you change the APF file in Maya, these
changes will not be preserved if you reload or re-tessellate the
model from its original CAD format back into Autodesk Showcase.
To install and load the Autodesk Showcase
plug-in Maya 2009
To import and export
APF files in Maya, use the following instructions to load the plug-in:
- From the Showcase 2009 installation launcher,
select Install the Maya 2009 APF plug-in,
and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
NoteYou must already
have Maya 2009 installed in the default location on your system
for the installer to find the plug-ins folder.
- If
you are running an earlier version of Maya (8.5 or 2008), or Maya
2009 for Windows 64-bit then you must browse the installation DVD or
download directory and run the appropriate standalone installer
instead.
- Once installed, launch Maya and select Window
> Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager.
- From
the list of plug-ins in C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya2009/bin/plug-ins,
check Loaded for the AutodeskPacketFile.mll file.
- You will have to load the mll file each
time you start Maya, unless you check Auto load as well.