We’ve recently been working with particles in Maya and all I can say is wow. I don’t mean in a good way either! I’m not sure why but the Maya particle system seems to be either unfinished or created by someone with no regard for an intuitive interface. My biggest peeve is the inability to render certain particles with mental ray. If you need to create a special effect using these unrenderable particles you have to create a separate render using whatever renderer works rather than mental ray (which is most likely what the rest of your composition is created in). Also, shadows for certain particles are more than a pain to get working if at all possible! Just these 2 issues add hours to a project’s completion time.
Apparently, most effects that you can use particles for can also be achieved using the fluid system! The fluid system in Maya, in contrast to the particle system, is actually polished. No problem with rendering using mental ray and no problems with shadows.
A new version of Maya has been released (Maya2008) but I haven’t had a chance to use it yet. Apparently, we’ll be getting it installed for use in class once the graduating class is finished. I hope they’ve done something to improve the particle systems. It just seems odd to me that a $7000 package can be shipped with such an unpolished component. Anyway, that’s my rant for the day… back to work!
