Importing Maya Files

			Maya/Toxik Interoperability and 3D Limitations
Chapter 10, Maya/Toxik 3D Interop

You can import all renderable cameras, camera planes, and locators. When you import a Maya scene, a new composition is created within a Reaction node with all 3D data.

The name of the created composition (the one that contains the Reaction node) is based on the name of the Maya file. However, 3D updates are not supported; you can only overwrite the existing composition. To update a composition, you can transfer objects from one Reaction node to another by copying and pasting.

Before Importing a Maya File...

If you are importing a Maya file, make sure the following conditions are met:

Maya 2009 and Toxik 2009 are installed on the same system.
Both applications are the same architecture. That is, if you are running Toxik 2009 32-bits on Windows, then you need Maya 2009 32-bits installed.
A line is added to the toxik.ini file that specifies the Maya location. The toxik.ini file is in C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya. The line specifying the Maya location is in the toxik.ini file, but commented out. You must delete the pound (#) sign. The line must point to the Maya install directory. It does not matter where you add the line, but it should be as follows: toxik::deployment::mayaLocation C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya<version>.

To import a Maya file into Toxik:

Select File > Import or press Ctrl + I.

The Import Browser is displayed.
Locate the folder in which the Maya file (.ma or .mb) resides.
Right-click the Maya file you want to import and select Import 3D Scene.

Hint: You can also drag and drop the Maya file into a particular Toxik folder, which sets the destination of the imported 3D scene composition to the drop folder. Otherwise, the destination is the project root folder..

Note: Maya files can only be imported in Toxik one at a time.

The Embedded Script Console displays the progress of the import.
Open the Library Browser by selecting Composition > Open or pressing Ctrl + O.
Open the imported composition. The composition name is based on the Maye file name but without its extension.
Select the Reaction node to view the layers.

Warning: There is currently no mechanism in Toxik that locks imported objects to their original values. If an object's values are changed by mistake, use the undo feature or Ctrl + Z. Pressing Reset will reset the values to the default settings of the identity matrix, not to the original values of the object.

To view the imported objects in the Player:

Right-click and swipe south to display the Player options.
Under the Reaction label, select Interactivity. Under the Display label, select Tool Output.

Imported objects are now visible in the Player.

To view the camera image plane and its properties:

In the Layer Editor, select the camera image plane layer.

Its properties are displayed in the Reaction tab.
In the Player, right-click and select View From > Perspective or press Shift + 2 to view from the perspective camera.

To view locators and their properties:

Select the Reaction node in the Schematic view and then select the Locators tab.

To view the imported Maya transforms:

In the Tool UI, select the Axes tab and select an axis to view.

The imported Maya transforms are displayed in the Player and their properties displayed in the Axes tab.

To view the camera(s):

In the Tool UI, select the Cameras tab.
From the Cameras list, select Camera01.

The camera is selected in the Player and its properties are displayed in the Cameras tab.

To view the camera animation:

In the Tool UI, select the Animation tab.
In the Composition Browser, select the Reaction node, which is named after the Maya file. Select Camera > Transform.

The Curved Editor displays the animation curves of the camera transformation. To accurately represent the animation that was created in the Maya file, a keyframe is set at each frame.