Lightwave to Maya, help

[hairy_llama]

Is there a way to convert LW objects + textures to maya?
I mean mostly everything. Color/Diffuse/Spec/Gloss/Trans etc.
I know I can save out an OBJ which will include my UVmap
but it does not include any surfacing.

Thanks for any help!


-Amariah

[Titus]

With the beaver project (http://www.thebeaverproject.com/) you can, but it has a cost.

[hairy_llama]

Might have to buy it... Is there anything else?

[oDDity]

There is deep exploration. There's a free trial with that.

If the surfacing consists of only image maps applied to uv maps in various channels, then you can transfer it/.
If it's more advanced than that and you have gradients and procedurals and shaders and have used blend modes etc, then you'll have to set it up in maya again, I don't think there is any app whoich can transfer that sort of detail, since the maya and lightwave surface editors are quite different.

[phillydee]

Is this still a valid way? I kept this in my bookmarks in CASE I had to go to Maya for animation, but so far, not the case.

http://www.leegabel.com/vfx-journal.php?date=10-2004&id=39

[Dodgy]

Well you can use my mtl plugin to save out texture information maya can understand along with .obj format objects, but for animation you need to lay out some cash for the beaver project or deep exploration or similar.

[Cageman]

http://thespread.ghostoutpost.com/Maya2LW2.html

Maya2LW2 is a good tool if you only need to do the animation in Maya. Basicly, you can use any tool to do the modeling, then use Maya to do the animation, uv-mapping, camerawork etc. Then bake the animation of the object into an MDD-file which you then apply on the object in LW. It will also export the object (to obj) if you are unsure wether or not it has the same topology.

And it is free...

[kennez]

Point Oven Pro is a great option. Not free, but not expensive either. http://www.ef9.com/