Maya vertex problem! :(

Ok suddenly after having no problems with maya in the past...I activate the vertex on my model to move the points manually..

Although this time when I go to move the points..the WHOLE object moves

I dunno what to do!

( also happens with the deformer)

Hope someone can shed light on what I might have clicked wrong to freeze it in this state!

Thanks

Sounds like you have something that I always think of as called Proportional Falloff editing turned on. It might be called something else in Maya, and quite honestly I just plain can't remember where it is.

Essentially, it allows you to affect all vertices/faces/edges within a radius, with various types of falloff, allowing for mounds, cliffs, and so on, very easily. But if you increase that radius too far, it just causes it to move every vertex/face/edge about the same distance, causing the whole object to essentially just move (Don't use this to move the whole object intentionally, as there will probably be tiny deviations in the locations, and it won't be as perfect as it started).

ANYWAY, if that rings a bell, just make sure that's turned off. If it's not ringing a bell in your mind, I hope someone who uses Maya more than I have comes along and points it out.

If that's not the issue, hope it gets figured out soon!

Good luck.

The Maya term for what Keira's describing is Proportional Modification, or "PropMod" for short. If you've got the PropMod tool selected, then depending on settings, the entire object certainly could end up moving along with any single vertex.

It's a little hard to select that tool accidentally, though. By default it's only accessible via menu. (Modify -> Modification Tools -> Proportional Modification) If it's the last tool you used, then it will show on the toolbox, but as soon as you select a different tool, its button will be replaced with that of the new one.

The Soft Modification tool is somewhat similar, and does have a permanent place in the Toolbox. But it doesn't behave quite the way you've described.

If you're unable to move individual vertices with the Translate tool, then I'm not sure what to tell you. That shouldn't happen.

Actually my students routinely turn it on by accident, so there must be some simple hot-key for it that I don't know about. I think it's different in 2009 which is why I don't know (I have 2008 at home.)

kookie, make sure you have Tool Settings open (as with most things in Maya there are multiple ways to do that, one way is Windows>Settings/Preferences>Tool Settings) and then switch to your Translate tool. Scroll down in the Tool Settings window and look for the checkbox that refers to soft selection. Although, soft selection also colors your model so if your vertices aren't all turning orange then it wouldn't be this.

Johan, I assume that soft selection setting you refer to is new in 2009? In 2008 and older,, there's no such option. The Soft Modification tool is completely separate from the other mod tools.

lol I know, I said that in the second line of my post.

To clarify what I was saying, I have 2008 at home and am most familiar with that, but in the classrooms where I'm teaching the students use 2009 and they frequently call me over because they're confused by the soft selection they've accidentally turned on. What I figured out pretty quickly is that now there is a checkbox for soft selection in Tool Settings. What I haven't figured out it how they are accidentally turning it on in the first place; I'm assuming there is some new hotkey because it's pretty hard to accidentally check the box in Tool Settings (although lets be frank, I wouldn't put it past some people to do that.)

Thanks for the clarification, Johan.

A little Googling just led me this article, which may explain what's going on:

http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/review/software_and_services/autodesk/maya_2009/274603

If I'm reading correctly, the B key, which was always used for changing brush radii, including softmod radius, can be used to enable softmod in 2009, since softmod is now a property of the standard manipulation tools, rather than a separate tool in its own right. Perhaps your students are hitting B accidentally as they work?