how to fix maya - reset maya, rescue disappearing objects, and more

1/6/15, 11:17 AMHow to fix maya - reset Maya, rescue disappearing objects, and more.

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Now we know where to find our crash save files. But chances are good that whatever caused that

file to crash once, will make Maya crash again. What causes these problems, and how do we deal

with them? Read on to learn how to fix Maya when it breaks.

Like all hugely complicated software programs, Maya has lots of problems! The first step in learn-

ing to fix Maya is to start understanding how Maya thinks.

As I lay out each technique, I will explain the thinking behind it as well. When the next new problem

pops up, youll be better equipped to try to diagnose and fix it!

Fixing the magical disappearing objectWhen a magician makes something disappear, its fun! When Maya makes something disappear, its

infuriating.

This technique will deal with any problem specific to an object not just disappearances. If your

TUTORIALS

HOW TO FIX MAYAGALLERY | DECEMBER 31, 2013 | JAMES TAYLOR | 13 COMMENTS



object is behaving strangely, follow these steps!

Mesh Combine technique

1. We start with our object. This guy is angry at Maya.

2. Create an ordinary polygonal cube (or any polygon object) and move it off to the side, some-

where that you can see it.



3. Select the cube first, then shift-click the broken model. The order you choose the models in is im-

portant! The cube must be selected first.

Both are now selected, so go to the Mesh menu and Combine them.



4. Now our two meshes are one, with a new name like PolySurface60.

5.Go to Face mode, and delete the faces of the cube!

6. Your original mesh is the only thing left standing.



7. Last, do a Delete by Type > History.

How does it work?

What weve done here is tried to make Maya forget whatever was causing the problem.



We create a brand new poly object, which we know works fine.

Then we combine the objects. We are trying to trick Maya into forgetting whatever was causing

the problem with our original object, and instead replace that with the good history of the new

polygon object.

Then we get rid of the poly faces and delete our history. Hopefully Maya has forgotten the issue!

If it didnt, then try the next step!

Exporting to FBX

The FBX file format is a pretty robust one. It is the shared file format that lets us move objects and

scenes from one Autodesk package to another. Used to be, getting something from Maya to Max

was near impossible!

1. Select the object in question and in the File menu, choose Export Selection.

2. This window will pop up. At the very bottom, switch the file format to FBX export. Then save it

where ever.



3. Create a new file, and then do a File > Import. Our object should pop up, and hopefully our prob-

lems are fixed!

How does it work?

Again, were trying to make Maya forget whatever issue it has with our object. The FBX format car-

ries a lot of data, but hopefully whatever glitch is stopping Maya isnt transferred.

But what if that doesnt fix it? Time to go caveman.

Exporting to OBJ

Were going to try exporting again, but this time with a different file format The old

Wavefront OBJ format.

1. Same as before File menu, choose Export Selection.



2. However, in this window, where we switched to FBX format, well see that there is no OBJ format.

By default it isnt enabled!

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3. We need to open the Window menu, then go to Settings/Preferences. Then, go to the very bot-

tom of the Settings/Prefs menu and open the Plug-in Manager.

This window will pop up. Find objExport.mll and check the box next to Loaded. You can also

check Auto load, if you want to load the OBJ plug-in every time Maya starts.

4. Repeat step 2, but this time choose OBJ and export.

5. Create a new Maya file, and import the OBJ file. Hopefully the problem is fixed!

How does it work?

Whereas FBX is a robust modern format, OBJ is an old format that doesnt support many features.

Thats why its our last resort OBJ will save our mesh and our UVs, and usually our materials, but

thats it. Complex shaders or skin nodes will be left behind.

What if that doesnt do it? Time for the big guns.



Nuke the site from orbit: Reset MayaWe are going to reset Maya back to factory specs. It will be exactly like the first time we ever

opened the package!

1. CLOSE MAYA! Maya must be shut down for this to work!

2. YOU CLOSED MAYA, RIGHT? Are you sure? There should be no instances of Maya running.

When Maya closes, it saves the pref files, so if you delete the prefs before closing Maya, youre

wasting time.

3. Go to the Maya prefs folder.

For Windows, its in \Documents\Maya\[version number, like 2013-x64]\prefs

For Mac, its in /users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/en_US/[version number, like

2013-x64]/prefs

4. Select all the files in that folder and delete them.



5. Restart Maya. If it worked, well see the welcome screen, the annoying movies pop-up, etc.

We will see that Maya is back to its default user interface. Any custom menus, shelves, marking

menus, or hotkeys are gone! If you want to keep those, copy the appropriate files from that prefs

folder before you delete. You can reinstate them afterwards.

How does it work?

At this point, Maya has been reset to its default state. And weird glitches it picked up should be

gone. The thinking is that somewhere in one of our preference files, something was causing Maya

to act flaky. By getting rid of those preferences outside of Maya, we remove the detrimental be-

havior.

BONUS: HELP why is my object green???If your object turns this particular shade of green:



That means that the material that was assigned to that object has been deleted. Assign a new ma-

terial to the object!

Like a soap operaYou may have picked up on the theme of making Maya forget things. Thats how I think about it. If

there was a way to induce permanent amnesia in Maya I am convinced it would work better.

Working as an instructor, Ive seen more than my fair share of Maya problems. If you run across

any problems that you cant solve this way, just drop me a comment!

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13 THOUGHTS ON HOW TO FIX MAYA

JUNE 27, 2014 AT 7:23 PM

James,

Id like to thank you for helping me NOT throw my computer (Maya) out the window!

Disappearing objects luckily since Im still learning I havent had to deal with this too much.

But the info I could find about it was: If the object is showing up in the Outliner but the vert

count is zero Guess what, toots? Youre outta luck!

Magically, I found your How To Fix Maya tutorial and it works like a charm! Instead of re-doing

all of todays work at 5pm on a Friday, now I can call it a day and have a margarita instead. The

first ones dedicated to YOU!

Cheers,

Shannon

P.S. Your artwork is amazing! Wow. Intimidating. It makes me feel like I should keep working

through the weekend.

JUNE 28, 2014 AT 11:42 AM

Where does Maya save crash files?

In "Tutorials"

Maya Character Modeling Tutorial

In "Tutorials"

Maya UV Unwrapping tutorial

In "Tutorials"

FEATURED MAYA PROBLEM MAYA TUTORIAL TROUBLESHOOTING

Shannon Stevenson

James Taylor



Ha ha, glad I could help!

AUGUST 7, 2014 AT 4:19 PM

None of that worked! Thats the best character Ive ever modeled.

AUGUST 7, 2014 AT 6:42 PM

What is the exact problem you are having with your file?

AUGUST 8, 2014 AT 12:55 AM

Uh oh The admin chopped my comment and now it looks meaningless because it didntconvey the mood I posted with Arrrggghh!

Anyway, I made a mistake and was undoing for several times (I guess I overworked maya,

plus my laptop is not a good device for 3D anim) all of a sudden the mesh just disappeared.

It shows in the outliner but when I selected it, it shows (on the viewport) as if I selected an

empty group and then I stupidly saved the file on the one I was working on thinking if I

restarted maya the problem would be fixed. Obviously not.

Anyway, Ive spent another painful 3-4hrs to model another character but, you could pro-

vide a solution, incase of next time.

Thank you

AUGUST 8, 2014 AT 10:29 AM

In the outliner, select the character node and try assigning a new material to it. Some-

times the material disappears, but the object is ok.

If that doesnt work, and you saved on top of your file, there isnt much you can do with-

out a backup. Turn on Incremental Save in the Save option box, it automatically creates

backups for cases like this.

lucifer

James Taylor

lucifer

James Taylor



Without seeing the file Im guessing, but I suspect you had a history node that broke

when you did an undo. In the future, regularly delete history on your object and Maya

should have less issues.

AUGUST 8, 2014 AT 10:50 AM

Assigning new material was the second thing I tried but, thank you so much for your

time, I really appreciate. Ill turn on the incemental save and probably just create an

icon on the shelf for delete history

Cheers

AUGUST 8, 2014 AT 11:45 AM

Sorry! I know how frustrating it is to lose work. Thats how Ive discovered these

tricks over the years. The only thing I can say is that redoing your work means it is

usually much better than the first time through!

AUGUST 8, 2014 AT 12:27 PM

Yeah, its true. I get better with every new thing I model, even if it is an eye ball. The

new model was better than the old one for sure I cant wait to animate.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 AT 6:10 PM

Hi James,

I have its not too late to ask for help/suggestion for a problem I am trying to solve.

So I am on a Mac OSX using Maya 13 (Student version) My problem is Batch Render. I am try-

ing to do a Batch Render using MR, the Script Editor says, Rendering with Mental RayDoesnt do anything for a while, and give a dialog box saying there was an error. Later the

Script Editor also says Rendering Completed. Se console of more information. But nothing is

rendered.

lucifer

James Taylor

lucifer

jyaasa



I can perform a render in the viewport using MR. And Batch Render works when Im using

Maya Software. I have tried batch rendering a very simple scene as well, nothing is rendered.

Please let me know what I need to do go move forward. I am stuck because of this issue.

Thanks.


jyaasa can you email/dropbox the file to me take a look at it? Assuming it isnt too huge, or

contains proprietary info. I started going down a checklist of things to check, it seemed easi-

er this way. My email is at the top of the page, or you could share it via google plus

(https://plus.google.com/+MethodJTV)

JANUARY 5, 2015 AT 7:22 PM

delete prefs


I also want to add that I tried deleting the files you mentioned above. That didnt work either.

James Taylor

computergraphmuseum

jyaasa