What's New in Modeling

Sculpting Toolset

Artists can now shape models more artistically and intuitively using a new set of fully-featured sculpting tools. Simply select a tool from the new Sculpting shelf, adjust the sculpting tool settings, and move your cursor across a model to make a stroke.

Enjoy greater productivity by sculpting relative to an animated shot camera or on an animated character in the context of production camera shaders and lighting. Using the sculpting tools in conjunction with other tools and options, like OpenSubdiv and non-destructive deformers like shrinkwrap, makes your sculpting session more efficient. For a more complete shape authoring experience, use the sculpting tools with blend shapes. Updates to the Blend Shape Editor make creating and editing blend shape targets easier. Click new buttons in the editor and on the Sculpting shelf to create, edit, and remove blend shape targets without adding new meshes to the scene.

Modeling Toolkit integration

The Modeling Toolkit integration is now complete. The streamlined Modeling Toolkit no longer contains redundancies like duplicate tools and options, and the settings that remain in the panel are fully integrated into Maya. In addition to removing the power button, the following updates make the toolkit look and feel like a native part of the application:
  • Streamlined Tools: The same command is now called when you select Bridge, Bevel or Extrude from the Edit Mesh menu, the Modeling Toolkit, or the polygon marking menu.
  • Integrated Transform Constraints: The Move, Rotate, and Scale tools now include Transform Constraint options. See Slide polygon edges and Move polygon components along a surface.
  • Integrated Selection constraints: The Angle, Border, and Shell constraints can now be used without activating the Modeling Toolkit. These constraints can also be selected from the Propagation drop-down menu in the Polygon Selection Constraint window (Select > Use Constraints). New Edge Loop and Edge Ring propagation options have also been added, letting you quickly preview and select loops and rings on your mesh. See Expand a selection.
  • Integrated Soft Selection and Symmetry: The Soft Selection controls in the Modeling Toolkit are now the same as the native Soft Selection and Symmetry controls. Meshes no longer need to be completely symmetrical to activate topological symmetry. When the new Allow Partial Symmetry option is on (default), you can edit parts of a mesh that are symmetrical, even if the mesh is not symmetrical overall. See Edit a mesh with partial topological symmetry.
  • Integrated Modeling Toolkit preferences: Handle Selection and Manipulator Visibility options have been added to the Manipulators preferences and the Quad Draw Tool hotkey mappings are now available in the Modeling preferences.
  • Target Weld Tool integration: The Merge Edge Tool and Merge Vertex Tool have been removed, and the options for these tools have been added to the improved Target Weld Tool, making it the new default method for merging components. See Merge polygon components.
  • Object and component selection: You can now select objects (F8), and UVs (F12) using the Modeling Toolkit. See Modeling Toolkit selection modes
  • Reactivate the last used tool: You can now use the Y hotkey to reactivate the Multi-Cut Tool, Quad Draw Tool, Connect Tool, and Target Weld Tool after using them or switching to another tool.
  • Hotkeys: Expand the new Keyboard/Mouse Shortcuts section in the Quad Draw Options, Connect Options, Multi-Cut Options, and Target Weld Options to see a list of hotkeys for each tool.

UV brushes in the UV Editor

Manipulating UVs in the UV Editor is now easier with new brush-based tools. Quickly activate the Unfold UV Tool (), Optimize UV Tool (), Cut UV Tool (), Sew UV Tool () Grab UV Tool (), Pin UV Tool (), Pinch UV Tool (), and Smear UV Tool () from the UV Editor toolbar and drag across a UV shell to unwrap, untangle, split, weld, or move UVs in the UV Editor.

You can also move UVs in the viewport using the 3D Grab Tool (UV > 3D UV Grab Tool).

UV Editor updates

Contour Stretch UV Mapping

The new contour stretch UV mapping lets you project a texture onto a selection of an object's polygons. Instead of projecting according to a specific form, contour stretch mapping analyzes a four-cornered selection to determine how best to stretch the polygons' UV coordinates. Contour stretch mappings are useful for applying textures to tracks and roads on irregular, terrain-like meshes and for fitting regular-shaped textures onto curved meshes.

In-View Editor

The new In-View Editor displays a customizable subset of a node's attributes. An editor appears after you perform a number of different modeling operations or create a polygon primitive, letting you adjust attributes directly in your scene instead of opening the Channel Box or Attribute Editor. After creating a polygon primitive, you must activate the Show Manipulator Tool (Hotkey: T) before the In-View Editor appears

Multi-Cut Tool enhancements

New snapping support makes cutting more accurate and flexible. You can now snap to perpendicular points and find perpendicular angles on existing edges, letting you quickly create 90 degree angle cuts. See Make 90 degree cuts with the Multi-Cut Tool and Snap cut points to an edge with the Multi-Cut Tool.

Improved pivot editing workflow

Complicated pivot editing is simplified with an improved pivot editing mode. The new workflow integrates many features from the Modeling Toolkit's custom pivot workflow, and boasts new functionality, like support for object pivots. You can now easily align one object to another, without using another tool. See Align objects,

Activate custom pivot editing mode (Hotkey: Insert or D) to use new modifier keys (Ctrl, Shift, Ctrl + Shift) that let you adjust pivot orientation, position, and alignment. When you hold a modifier key, text appears on your cursor, indicating the pivot adjustment associated with that key.

Transform tool settings improvements

OpenSubdiv improvements

  • The new OpenSubdiv Catmull-Clark Adaptive subdivision method uses the GPU to generate a high resolution mesh that can be rendered at a high frame rate, without affecting your scene's performance. Adaptive subdivision supports high levels of tessellation and adjusts tessellation based on camera position, providing you with a smooth mesh whether your model is close to the camera or far away. OpenSubdiv Catmulll-Clark Adaptive is only supported on Windows and Linux when using OpenGL 4 and DirectX11 compatible graphics cards.
  • Artists can now enjoy improved performance when working with both OpenSubdiv methods because of the new multi-threaded evaluation core.
  • Turn on the new UV Tiles option in the OpenSubdiv Controls to load and display tiled textures in your scene.

Bevel improvements

The new bevel algorithm works to maintain parallel edges during bevel operations, giving you better results. Additionally, you can now bevel (Edit Mesh > Bevel) only the perimeter edges of your face selection, instead of all the associated edges. See Bevel polygon edges and faces.

Interactive creation

Interactive creation for polygon and NURBS primitives is now off by default.

Manipulator updates

Move components along their normals

New hotkeys let you pull components in (Ctrl + -drag left) and push components out (Ctrl + -drag right) along their normals using the Move tool.

Selection improvements

Hard Edge display mode

Display only the hard edges on your mesh when you turn on the new Hard Edges (Display > Polygons > Hard Edges) option. While soft edges can still be highlighted and selected in this mode, they don't appear on your mesh.

Automatically set the tumble pivot

Turn on the new Automatically set tumble pivot option (View > Camera Tools > Tumble Tool > ) to set the tumble pivot to your work area, reducing the time you spend adjusting the camera during your sculpting and modeling workflows. See Tumble Tool options.

Updated modeling menus and shelves