[Nuke] Snap Keyframes in the Curve Editor

When moving keyframes around in the curve editor, to avoid them ending up with fragmented numbers:

Select the keyframes, right click--> edit--> move.
in the inputs type :
rint(x)
rint(y)

[Maya] Relative Transform

Came across this today when needing to resize a bunch of instanced objects for a particle debris explosion:

Select all the instanced objects
Press R for Scale (or any transformation)
Change the Menu of Input Line Operations dropdown to Relative Transform
Change the scale in the input boxes to the right of the dropdown

-- all the selected objects will transform and stay relative to their original values

[Maya] Linear Workflow in Maya 2010

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Linear Workflow in Maya 2010
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1) モニターカリブレーションをsRGB 2.2ガンマに設定
2) Photoshop等でテクスチャーを作る（イメージは2.2ガンマ）

Maya:
3) Mental Ray Render Settings/Quality/FramebufferをGamma 1.0 RGBA (Float) 4X32Bitに設定　
4) テクスチャー毎に0.4545GammaCorrectノードを掛ける
5) 色・ライト・マテリアルは0.4545を掛ける
6) プレビューの為に2.2ガンマのレンズシェーダーを掛ける (physical sun, physical sky/mia_exposure_simple)
7) レンダーする前、mia_exposure_simple gamma を1.0に戻す

8) コンポジットはNUKE/AEで 32bit Linear Float with sRGB 2.2 vlut

*Maya 2011にはLWF設定があるので、それを使ったほうが便利。

Research:
https://www.fxphd.com/lounge/showthread.php?t=14855
https://www.fxphd.com/lounge/showthread.php?t=14431&highlight=mental+gamma+vlut
https://www.fxphd.com/lounge/showthread.php?t=2559&highlight=mental+gamma
http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/09/13/linear-workflow-and-gamma/
http://www.xsi-blog.com/archives/133
http://mymentalray.com/wiki/index.php/Gamma
http://mymentalray.com/wiki/index.php/Linear_color_space
http://highend3d.com/3dsmax/tutorials/rendering/vray/147.html
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=305727
http://www.cgsd.com/papers/gamma_intro.html
http://www.gijsdezwart.nl/tutorials.php
http://www.luxology.com/training/video.aspx?id=212
http://www.floze.org/2008/07/six-tuts-on-light-and-shade-part-i.html
http://www.poynton.com/notes/colour_and_gamma/GammaFAQ.html (gamma)
http://www.lightillusion.com/home.htm
http://3dlight.blogspot.com/2008/09/gamma-tools-10.html (Gamma tools)
http://3dlight.blogspot.com/2008/09/linear-workflow-for-maya-mental-ray.html (Linear Workflow)
http://3dlight.blogspot.com/2008/09/linear-workflow-addition-1.html (Linear Workflow)
http://www.farrarfocus.com/ffdd/space.htm
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=2&t=610790
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=87&t=713356 (gamma correct)
http://galannicolas.com/mediawiki-1.13.3/index.php?title=Color_Space_101 (colorspace faq)
http://www.3delight.com/en/modules/PunBB/viewtopic.php?id=1210 (tone mapping)
http://www.tokeru.com/t/bin/view/Maya/MayaMentalRay?rev=24#Tutorials_Tips_n_Tricks
http://www.13thmonkey.org/~boris/gammacorrection/ (rec709 gamma)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=87&t=713356&page=3&pp=15 (maya linear workflow)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=87&t=701702 (mr linear workflow summary)
http://www.floze.org/2008/07/six-tuts-on-light-and-shade-part-i.html (floze gamma tutorials)
http://www.normankoren.com/makingfineprints1A.html#Monitorsetup (monitor calibration)
http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/gamma.html (gamma)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=87&t=713356&page=2&pp=15 (mr framebuffer)
http://www.hdrlabs.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1218917875 (hdri + linear workflow)
http://www.hdrlabs.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1224203105 (hdri env mapping)
http://www.3delight.com/en/modules/PunBB/viewtopic.php?id=1210&p=1 (tone mapping after render)
http://forum.mentalimages.com/showthread.php?t=5437 (mr framebuffer)
http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/index.php/Gamma,_Linear_Color_Space_and_HDR (softimage gamma wiki)
http://forum.mentalimages.com/showthread.php?t=5437 (MR framebuffer vs gamma correct node)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=87&t=764761 (maya framebuffer vs gamma correct node)

[Maya] broken image plane workaround

Sometimes the image plane just stops showing up in the viewports which can be really frustrating. Not exactly sure what causes it, but it seems to happen on cameras with multiple sub groups when using the mia_exposure_simple lens shader.
If adjusting the near/far clip plane doesnt fix it, the camera is probably broken.

Heres a workaround:
1) Create a new camera
2) Copy all settings from old to new camera
3) Constrain point/orient from old to new
4) Bake keys, delete constraints
5) Create a new image plane
6) Lastly add mia_exposure_simple

-- This basically clones the bad cameras attributes onto a working one

[Maya] Mel Script: Node Select

I wrote this for a friend, will have to remember to translate to english later

１．　Hypershaderを開いて、Nodeを選択
２．　Script Editorを開く（先のCommandが出る）
３．　数字を削除して、Nodeのベース名前だけをコピー
４．　下記のScriptで[Node]の代わりに貼り付ける

select -r `ls -type [Node]`

５．　Script EditorからMel ShelfまでMiddleClick+引きずらしたら、Melボタンが出る

例：
ls -st gammaCorrect1

select -r `ls -type gammaCorrect`

結果：
全部のgammaCorrect Nodeが選択になる

Some stuff ive worked on in Japan so far

[Maya] Render Layers Tip

1) Create multiple Render Layers and assign your objects to them
2) Select a Render Layer
3) In the R.Settings window - hover over an attribute. If an icon appears next to the cursor you can right click and select Create Layer Override.

-- The attribute turns orange and the setting will change only for that particular render layer

[Maya] [AE] Exporting Maya Camera to After Effects

Heres a technique for baking and exporting your camera data from maya to after effects.

*Baking in CG means rendering or fixing something down so it doesnt change. For instance- baking lighting into a texture, or in this case- baking keyframes into every single frame so there is no interpolation.


1) Make a copy of your maya scene file and name it file_camExport
2) In Maya, select the Camera. From the Channel Box hilight any attributes that have keyframes
3) Edit--> Keys--> Bake Simulation (choose "From Channel Box" in the options)
-- if the camera is in a group (camera+aim), make sure to bake both the camera and camera_aim
4) Create--> Locator, name it null_01 and move it to where you want to insert your element in ae. Bake Simulation
5) Select the Camera and null_01 in the Outliner, and File--> Export selection
6) Open the .ma file in After Effects and use the nulls to position your layers





And another way that comes in handy sometimes:
1) Duplicate your Render camera in the Outliner
--- if the camera is in a group, select the duplicate camera and press shift+P to remove it
2) Select original cam, then ctrl+select the duplicate cam
3) Animation menu---> constrain---> select point constrain, then select orient constrain
--- this locks the duplicate cameras path to the original
4) Open the graph editor and check the start/end keyframes for the camera.
--- Make a note of the rounded framerange (ie: frame 142.3-215.7 would be baked as 142-216)
--- if you have any other attributes being animated (zoom, center of interest, etc), select the entire range of keys and copy them 1 by 1 over to the duplicate camera.
5) Select only the duplicate camera in the Outliner
6) Open the Channel Box, and right click--> unlock any greyed out attributes. Next, select the attributes you want to bake (ie: Translate, rotation, focal length)
7) Edit--> Keys---> Bake Simulation options
8) Select "From Channel Box", and set the Start/End values to the keyframe numbers you wrote down earlier
9) Bake keys for frame range
--- to speed up the baking process, select an empty window so maya doesnt have to redraw all the frames
10) Goto Create--> Locator, name it null_01, and move it to the location that you will insert the 3D layer in AE
11) If you want to lock it to a moving object: select the object or locator and ctrl+select the locator in the Outliner
12) Constrain---> point constrain, orient constrain
13) Select the attributes and bake the keys, then you can safely delete the constraints for your camera and locator
14) Goto Rendering Editors--> Render Settings and double check that the Renderable Camera and Image Size options are setup correctly
--- this will affect the resolution and settings of the exported .ma comp
15) Select the duplicate camera and null_01, then select File--> Export selection

and there you go. A note of warning, there are tons of reasons the import might fail depending on how the scene is set up!

First

Im creating this blog as a way to keep a record of various skills and techniques i encounter working in the visual effects industry.

Its mostly just for me to solidify lessons learned and to keep as a reference, but if anyone stumbles onto it maybe theyll find some of it useful. or not