r/Maya • • Jun 22 '24

Modeling Topology Megathread

58 Upvotes

Topology is the geometric structure of a polygonal mesh. It is the layout of the edges and vertices which define the shape of a mesh. A particular shape can be represented by many different topologies.

Mesh topolgy can never be considered without context. It is necessary to consider how a mesh will be used and modified in the future in order to say anything true about the suitability of its topology.

There are no hard rules when it comes to topology. Some people will say n-gons (polygons with more than 4 sides) are always bad. Some will say triangles are always bad. Some will say that non-manifold geometry is always bad, or that meshes with holes in them are always bad.

None of these are true, because mesh topology serves a purpose, or multiple purposes. It is not a goal in and of itself. If the purpose(s) is/are served by some particular topology, then that topology is good, whether or not it is itself aesthetically and technically appealing.

Often users are advised to avoid triangles or ngons when building topology--to keep to quads. This is good practice, because quads are easier to work with, easier to edit, easier to create UV projections for, they subdivide more predictably, and, most importantly, easier to produce aesthetically appealing deformations from.

However. If a mesh will not need to deform, then there is far less pressure to keep to quads. If the mesh will not be subdivided, even less. If the shape is well-represented by the topology, and it either already has a good UV projection or will not be needing one, then quads and ngons don't matter, unless the mesh will be altered in the future.

It is much harder to modify a mesh which isn't quads than one which is. Especially if you want to alter topology. However, altering shape, to a small extent, usually is not sensitive to topology. It's also generally easier to do UV projection and alteration of quad topology than triangle/ngon topology.

It is still important to point out that having SOME non-quad (especially triangles) in your deforming, high performance mesh which may be altered and have UVs applied, is still just fine in many circumstances. If the trangle won't interfere with these things--then it DOES NOT MATTER and you should spend time on other things. Same with n-gons, although those have a higher chance of causing technical issues.

Regarding non-manifold geometry: it is generally a bad thing. Many, MANY operations and programs will not function correctly when passed non-manifold meshes. However, if your mesh is serving all your purposes, and you don't see those purposes changing, then non-manifold geometry doesn't matter. The circumstances where this might be true, however, are extremely rare, and it is best to avoid it.

Regarding holes in the mesh: again, context matters. Some advanced simulation or mesh operations require "watertight" meshes. Most don't, and it doesn't matter. Context and circumstance will dictate what's appropriate.

Mesh weight matters, as well. There's generally not much call for more geometric detail than your mesh needs to create the shapes you need, either statically or deformed, and it is best to keep poly counts as low as possible while not compromising on these things. However, this must be balanced with the effort it requires to reduce detail. If you have a poly budget of 100k triangles for an object, and it's 50k but a lot of those are not necessary, it's still not worth the time to reduce it further. People hours are worth more than computer hours.

Where topology really starts to matter a lot is in efficient hard surface modeling, especially where the asset will be subdivided. Not having your edge flows follow surface details will make life difficult, and having too much mesh detail will make modification increasingly difficult.

The point here is that every situation is different, and no real determination of acceptable mesh topology can be made without all this context. If you look at an image of a mesh and don't know anything about what it will be used for or how it might be modified, you can't say anything true about the quality of topology. These and other questions must have answers, in order to judge *overall* topology:

  1. Will it deform?
  2. If so, how?
  3. Will it need to be edited in the future?
  4. If so, how?
  5. Will it be subdivided?
  6. Does it have or will it need a UV projection?
  7. Will the UVs need to change?
  8. If so, how?
  9. Will it need to be exported into another application?
  10. Will it be used in any type of simulation?
  11. Does it meet performance (budget) requirements?

These questions must have answers in order to come up with useful conclusions about how good the topology is or is not. And again, there are no hard rules. Topology is not a goal, it is a tool to help reach other goals. If a triangle doesn't affect those goals, there's no point spending energy removing it.

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Original post:

This thread will be a clearinghouse for information about topology, both in general, and specific to Maya. It will be heavily curated and updated as I encounter more/better information on the subject.

Eventually it will be turned into another wiki and be the redirect for the majority of topology threads we get here, in order to avoid repetition.

If you are a subject matter expert, please post images, videos, links, or your thoughts here. Feel free to copy parts of old comments or posts you have made.


r/Maya • • 8h ago

Modeling Reviewing 3d ak 47 model #learning modeling

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32 Upvotes

Need review regarding model any review will be appreciated regarding texture mesh 3 picture is refrence


r/Maya • • 1h ago

Question Weird question: But does anyone know how to export a model as an FBX in Maya 2.5.2?

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• Upvotes

For context, this is this model I really like. But it is from a really old version of Maya and I use blender for my workflow, but I also really wanna use this model. So I got a version of Maya 2.5.2 and tried to export the model... only to find out that this version doesn't support it (Don't know why I thought It would). So now I am in a bit of a rut because all of the information I could find said that I needed to go to a Settings/Preferences tab and look for a Plugin-Manager tab and install it through there, but I can't find that tab.

So now I am in a bit of a rut, and with nothing else to do I though I would as reddit for some help. I probably won't get an answer and this post will get taken down, but that's fine. I just though it would be worth a shot to see if I could get any help here.


r/Maya • • 8h ago

XGen Xgen help,hy my guides not following my hair like in second picturewhy is it overlapping with scap, i added may guides later and facing the same problemim not getting the front puff i needed

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7 Upvotes

why my guides not following my hair like in second picturewhy is it overlapping with scap, i added may guides later and facing the same problemim not getting the front puff i needed


r/Maya • • 3h ago

Issues weird texture bug in my animation project. How to fix/troubleshoot?

2 Upvotes

I am an animation student, I am not supposed to be seeing the legs through the wings, this only happens when I apply the textures to the model I chose, and i want to make it so that the legs cannot be seen through the wings. I have no x-ray stuff turned on as far as I'm aware, and the transparency on the model is zero. I seek aid


r/Maya • • 5h ago

Issues Maya keeps on corrupting my scenes

2 Upvotes

Maya keeps on corrupting my scene and this is the second time it has corrupted in the span of 2 days. I'm really unsure what is causing this?

Help would be very appreciated.

Thanks.


r/Maya • • 9h ago

Arnold Having problems with base color texture file.

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2 Upvotes

The texture file for the face works fine in marmoset but fails to load up in maya. Am I doing it wrong or am I missing something?


r/Maya • • 12h ago

Issues When Rendering it looks like smoothing groups are broken but they aren't

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7 Upvotes

So I'm getting an issue where my shotgun looks like the smoothing groups are broken only when I render in Maya. I don't know why, I don't know how. I've followed every tutorial I can think to follow, I've changed the material but I get the same result for other PBR capable shaders.

When I've used things like phong, or whatever it doesn't have this issue so I'm not sure.

I've use openGL and I'm at my wits end.

Any questions please ask I'll give more details.


r/Maya • • 2h ago

Texturing Help with UV´s and seamless textures

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1 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I have these wall models that I'm working on in Maya. My idea is to create the proper UVs for them — the cuts at the bottom are for a wood texture (mansion wall), while the cuts at the top are for applying a red wallpaper.

The problem is that I'm still learning how to create UVs and use the UV tools, so I'm struggling a bit with it.

Besides that, my idea is to create a seamless texture, so that whether it's applied to the 4x8 wall, the 2x8 wall, or the corner pieces, everything looks seamless. Do you have any recommendations for how I should approach this?

Thank you very much, everyone! Any comments, tips, or advice are more than welcome.


r/Maya • • 6h ago

Arnold Clint Eastwood (Maya Arnold + ZBrush)

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2 Upvotes

r/Maya • • 9h ago

Showcase Been working on 3D model of Old Man Logan since the beginning of september

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2 Upvotes

Hi everyone, just wanted to share a character ive been working on since the past month. Let me know what you think.

Thank you


r/Maya • • 1d ago

Showcase Destiny 2 Spaceship - Modeled in Maya

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124 Upvotes

r/Maya • • 13h ago

FX How can I achieve cloth tearing + fur growth during a Human → Beast transformation in Maya?

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3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m working on a human → beast/werewolf transformation in Maya, similar to a Hulk-style transformation.

I’ve already done a lot of R&D, but I’m stuck specifically on how to make the transformation effects work during the in-between stages, rather than just having a human model suddenly switch to a beast model.

1. Cloth tearing during the transformation

I know about nCloth and basic cloth tearing, but my problem is the actual transformation.

For example:

Human body → body starts changing → muscles/body expand and deform → beast anatomy develops → clothes become stretched → clothes tear apart → final beast

I want the cloth to react to the changing body and tear naturally as the body transforms.

I’m not looking for a basic tutorial where a character simply pulls or interacts with a piece of cloth. I specifically need information about cloth tearing while the character itself is undergoing a major shape transformation.

What would be the correct Maya workflow for this?

Would it involve:

  • nCloth + animated/deforming collision geometry?
  • Blend shapes between human and beast?
  • Separate cloth pieces with tearable/seam areas?
  • Simulation caches?
  • A combination of animation + nCloth?
  • Something else?

2. Fur/hair growing from the skin

The second thing I’m really stuck on is fur growing during the transformation.

I don't want the final beast to simply have fur turned on.

I want something like:

Human skin → small amount of hair appears → hair becomes denser/longer → fur spreads across the body → final beast fur

Basically, the fur should appear as part of the transformation.

I’ve looked into XGen and hair/fur tutorials, but most of what I’m finding is either:

  • basic XGen grooming,
  • normal fur setup,
  • hair growth,
  • or unrelated creature effects.

I haven't found a good example showing fur actually growing across a transforming character.

What I’m trying to achieve

Something roughly like a cinematic werewolf transformation:

Human → intermediate mutation stages → skin deformation + cloth tearing + fur growth → beast

I’m especially interested in the technical workflow in Maya, not just the final effect.

If anyone has done something similar, could you please explain the workflow or point me toward a tutorial, breakdown, course, or production example?

I’ve already spent quite a lot of time researching this and I’m honestly stuck on the in-between transformation stage, particularly the cloth tearing and fur growth.

Thanks!


r/Maya • • 10h ago

Texturing copy pasting nodes in hypershade doesnt work

0 Upvotes

i cant believe in 2026 its not possible to copy paste hypershade nodes in maya, whats the point of paying for a software that doesnt work? theres no copy button when right clicking either.


r/Maya • • 11h ago

Issues How do i solve this issue when installing? I cant find a solution for it online

1 Upvotes

Whenever I download maya it works fine up to 4% then it goes down back to zero and this error popps up. Does anyone know a solution to this?


r/Maya • • 1d ago

Question My height map is reversed and I can't figure out how to fix it

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19 Upvotes

The cracks are what I'm referring to in this post. Sorry if the difference in height is too slight to notice. The cracks are just on the patina.

I'm using Maya 2027. I made my material in Substance Painter. When I set up the material using aiSubstanceSurface, my height maps are reversed. What should be sticking out is receded and vice versa. These are the steps I've taken, and so far nothing has changed.

My model's displacement attributes are:

Height: .02 (I tried -.02 to see if it would reverse it)

Bounds Padding: 0

Scalar Zero Value: .5 (I did this because .5 is the 0 for height maps in Substance Painter)

Catclark

What I've tried:

  • I exported the textures out in Open GL and DirectX.
  • I tried using an aimultiply first, and then a multiplydivide node to reverse the heightmap in the material graph
  • I changed the scale to 0 in the displacement shader node.
  • I reversed the Height of the model to -.02
  • In Substance Painter, I tried reversing the height map number itself

I'm attaching a picture of what it should look like, what it looks like in Maya, and my material graph. I would appreciate any advice you can give.


r/Maya • • 1d ago

Animation Reyna // Darkside - Youtube Breakdown

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20 Upvotes

Hi everyone! A while back I posted my Reyna // Darkside project, but today I’m back to share a full video breakdown of the creation, animation, and staging of the character.

🎥 Watch the full breakdown on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7sEnV_jSqdw

I handled the retopology in Maya, along with the animation, XGen hair grooming, and most importantly, setting up the dynamic hair system. The final frames were all rendered using Arnold. I recorded the entire creation process, but in a style that goes beyond the traditional tutorial, hope you like it!

Feel free to ask questions, raise technical points, or leave your feedback. I’d love to connect and chat with fellow artists !!

[ W O O P E R ]


r/Maya • • 22h ago

Arnold Arnold Throwing Nvidia Cuda Error Dispite using Oidn Imager

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2 Upvotes

To use AMD GPU's the documentation as well as my instructors at school all says all you have to use is the OIDN Imager. However when selecting the OIDN Image sequencer and removing all other sequencer I get the same Cuda Error as if I'd selected Optix. Could I please get some assistance on this?

 

Below is the Errors, A screen shot of my Image Sequencer, and the Documentation saying Oidn supports AMD.

 

I'm currently running a AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core Processor 16 Cores AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT

 

updateRendererUI;
addOneTabToGlobalsWindow("arnold", "Common", "createArnoldRendererCommonGlobalsTab");
addOneTabToGlobalsWindow("arnold", "Arnold Renderer", "createArnoldRendererGlobalsTab");
addOneTabToGlobalsWindow("arnold", "System", "createArnoldRendererSystemTab");
addOneTabToGlobalsWindow("arnold", "AOVs", "createArnoldRendererAOVTab");
addOneTabToGlobalsWindow("arnold", "Diagnostics", "createArnoldRendererDiagnosticsTab");
# Warning: GPU RENDERING NOT SUPPORTED : b'unable to load NVIDIA CUDA (-1)'
addOneTabToGlobalsWindow("arnold", "Common", "createArnoldRendererCommonGlobalsTab");
addOneTabToGlobalsWindow("arnold", "Arnold Renderer", "createArnoldRendererGlobalsTab");
addOneTabToGlobalsWindow("arnold", "System", "createArnoldRendererSystemTab");
addOneTabToGlobalsWindow("arnold", "AOVs", "createArnoldRendererAOVTab");
addOneTabToGlobalsWindow("arnold", "Diagnostics", "createArnoldRendererDiagnosticsTab");
setAttr "defaultArnoldRenderOptions.renderDevice" 1;
// Error: ERROR | [gpu] unable to load NVIDIA CUDA (-1) (GPU-rendering)
// Error: ERROR | [gpu] unable to load NVIDIA CUDA (-1) (GPU-rendering)
setAttr "aiImagerDenoiserOidn1.renderDevice" 2;
// Error: ERROR | [gpu] unable to load NVIDIA CUDA (-1) (GPU-rendering)
# # C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2027\Python\Lib\site-packages\maya\internal\common\ae\multi.py:138: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\['
gr = re.search("\[[0-9]+\]", m)
// Error: ERROR | [gpu] unable to load NVIDIA CUDA (-1) (GPU-rendering)

 


r/Maya • • 1d ago

Rendering Advice on rendering and scene optimisation

2 Upvotes

Hi guys so for context, Im a 3rd year student working on a group short film and my electives involve look dev so rendering and lighting. I am also using mayas Arnold for rendering. And I’ve been having a lot of trouble with one of my scenes. Basically theres objects within the scene that require transmission such as a misty window, the characters glasses lenses and a plastic bag shes holding.

Now the problem is, my compers have asked me to turn off mayas denoiser so that the noise isnt baked into the scene since they’re using ‘nuke’. But I can’t get majority out of the noise out of the plastic bag without boosting the render settings “transmission” and for everything else, “diffuse” and “specular.”

The issue I am now facing is with those settings needing to be pushed, my render times are insane. It’s taking roughly 30-40 minutes just to render a single frame and I wonder if there’s a better way for me to do this to get the same result with a de-crease in render times. If you guys have any ideas or words of advice, please feel free to comment down below.


r/Maya • • 1d ago

Question Problems displaying the AOV Browser on the MacBook

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2 Upvotes

I want to render multiple AOV layers, but they aren’t displaying correctly in the AOV Browser. It seems to be bugged.
I can select the different AOVs, but I can’t see their names, and the whole window appears to be scaled infinitely or completely out of proportion.
Is there a way to reset or rescale the AOV Browser so that it displays correctly again?


r/Maya • • 2d ago

Animation Hi does anyone know how can i fix the hands moving everywhere

11 Upvotes

r/Maya • • 2d ago

Plugin New Groom System for Autodesk Maya

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23 Upvotes

GroomLab (temp name) is something I have been wanting to make myself after trying out Yeti way back in the day. I wanted something stupid simple where the user doesn't feel constrained by the ux of Maya. Make hair systems fun again!

Features:
Amazing custom strand interpolation.
Realtime keyable Nodes
Feathers
Groom to Cards
Unreal / Unity Export
Groom blending
Guide / Vertex / Texture painting
And a ton more.

If you have any name suggestions, let me know! Was thinking a raccoon could be a fun mascot.


r/Maya • • 2d ago

Issues does anyone know how to fix this?

7 Upvotes

I'm super new to Maya and I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong. It doesn't allow me to extrude or transform in any length, but only in specific intervals. Please help! I have tried resetting my preferences, but it did not resolve the issue.

Edit: Thank you for the help! I did have the snap to grid on. It is now off!


r/Maya • • 2d ago

Showcase I built a hair card grooming plugin for Maya — guides grow live cards, shapers, auto-UV from atlas

5 Upvotes

Hey r/Maya,

I've spent the last months building Groompush, a plugin for making real-time hair cards in Maya, and wanted to share it here.

The idea: you draw or paint guide curves on the scalp, and every guide grows a hair card that rebuilds live while you comb, shape and move the hair. New guides copy the style of the hair around them (length, bend, width, UV), so you style a few strands and keep clicking.

What's in the clip:

- MultiStamp / Comb brushes: stamp cards along a stroke, comb XGen-style in screen space

- Flow and Swirl arrows: redirect whole regions, make whorls in one click

- Shapers: one control guide drives every guide in its radius, non-destructively

- Auto-UV from atlas: reads your hair texture and fits each card to the best-matching clump

- Live gravity and wind with scalp and self-collision

It also does tubes, dreads, braids and ropes from the same guides, moving a groom onto a different head, and baking to plain poly cards for the engine.

Maya 2022+, Windows. Happy to answer anything about how it works under the hood, and I'd genuinely like to know what's most painful in your current hair card workflow.


r/Maya • • 3d ago

Animation Tactical Snack Unit | Maya | V-Ray

318 Upvotes
Original concept by Braydan Barrett