Maya Mirroring problem

Submitted by Jason on
Forum
Artists

Hi guys, I'm having some trouble in Maya. I've made a model which is roughly human in proportion. I've done the torso, head etc... But what I did was just make one arm and one leg with the intention of mirroring them at the end to complete the other half.

So I did polygons > Mirror Geometry and I went into
the setting and made them mirror in the right direction
and turned off the 'merge with original' setting.

When I do it, it mirrors the object, but the end result is
attached to the original object, so whenever I move
it, both the original and new object move. Is there a
way of mirroring for example, a thigh, and then having
the new mirrored object being independent of the
original?

I need this because when I mirror, the position it appears does not correspond with the socket part I've made in the torso that I intended it to go in. I need to be able to move the new object separate from the original.

Gee I hope if you read this you understood what I was talking about. All the objects I've made were originally sub divs and then I converted to polys. If that helps at all...

Submitted by Aven on Sun, 19/10/03 - 7:32 AM Permalink

i think i understand what you would like to do.

use the mirror geometry tool only when the mesh is complete, as it will make the mesh a whole.

it should be as simple as simply pressing (shift+d (D)). this will duplicate the mesh as a new object. now swich to your scale tol (r) and start to scale it in the given axis (should be x right?), until it 'flips' and starts to mirror. to make it so that it is completely proportional, type in -1 in the 'scale x' box in your channel bar (assuming it is the x axis, otherwise change as needed). that is it.

note that the two objects will be COMPLETELY seperate meshes. if you do something to one, it WILL NOT do it to the other. if you would like to instance the geometry, do the following.

select the mesh. go to Edit > Duplicate (option box). tell it to mirror the geometry in the give axis (say the x axis) and make sure that the 'Instance' check box is checked. now when you edit one mesh in component mode, the other will update.

hope that helps. please let me know if you need pics or any other advice (i wrote this very quickly).

duplicate the mesh using edit > duplicate (option box). mirror the mesh in the

Submitted by Jason on Sun, 19/10/03 - 8:53 AM Permalink

Hi Aven, thanks for your help. I was actually given that suggestion on another forum, but then someone told me the easy way. Just mirror it then choose the 'separate' command from the edit polygons menu. So easy!
Thanks again for your help :)

Submitted by Aven on Sun, 19/10/03 - 6:29 PM Permalink

i was going to suggest that method as well, but was unsure whether you wanted the mesh instanced or not (and the msg was getting long enough :p). it's good to hear that you got it working though.

Posted by Jason on
Forum
Artists

Hi guys, I'm having some trouble in Maya. I've made a model which is roughly human in proportion. I've done the torso, head etc... But what I did was just make one arm and one leg with the intention of mirroring them at the end to complete the other half.

So I did polygons > Mirror Geometry and I went into
the setting and made them mirror in the right direction
and turned off the 'merge with original' setting.

When I do it, it mirrors the object, but the end result is
attached to the original object, so whenever I move
it, both the original and new object move. Is there a
way of mirroring for example, a thigh, and then having
the new mirrored object being independent of the
original?

I need this because when I mirror, the position it appears does not correspond with the socket part I've made in the torso that I intended it to go in. I need to be able to move the new object separate from the original.

Gee I hope if you read this you understood what I was talking about. All the objects I've made were originally sub divs and then I converted to polys. If that helps at all...

Submitted by Aven on Sun, 19/10/03 - 7:32 AM Permalink

i think i understand what you would like to do.

use the mirror geometry tool only when the mesh is complete, as it will make the mesh a whole.

it should be as simple as simply pressing (shift+d (D)). this will duplicate the mesh as a new object. now swich to your scale tol (r) and start to scale it in the given axis (should be x right?), until it 'flips' and starts to mirror. to make it so that it is completely proportional, type in -1 in the 'scale x' box in your channel bar (assuming it is the x axis, otherwise change as needed). that is it.

note that the two objects will be COMPLETELY seperate meshes. if you do something to one, it WILL NOT do it to the other. if you would like to instance the geometry, do the following.

select the mesh. go to Edit > Duplicate (option box). tell it to mirror the geometry in the give axis (say the x axis) and make sure that the 'Instance' check box is checked. now when you edit one mesh in component mode, the other will update.

hope that helps. please let me know if you need pics or any other advice (i wrote this very quickly).

duplicate the mesh using edit > duplicate (option box). mirror the mesh in the

Submitted by Jason on Sun, 19/10/03 - 8:53 AM Permalink

Hi Aven, thanks for your help. I was actually given that suggestion on another forum, but then someone told me the easy way. Just mirror it then choose the 'separate' command from the edit polygons menu. So easy!
Thanks again for your help :)

Submitted by Aven on Sun, 19/10/03 - 6:29 PM Permalink

i was going to suggest that method as well, but was unsure whether you wanted the mesh instanced or not (and the msg was getting long enough :p). it's good to hear that you got it working though.