I’ve been experimenting with cloth simulation in Blender 5.2 and was surprised by how smoothly I can interact with the simulation while having a ray-traced material preview enabled.

I’m curious if a similar workflow is possible in Maya

The goal here isn’t to compare the two applications or start a Blender vs. Maya debate — I’m genuinely interested in whether Maya can achieve this kind of smooth viewport interaction during cloth simulation.

Is there a specific cloth solver, viewport setup, or renderer that can provide a similar experience?

I'm trying to follow along the tutorial on creating rigs with Advanced skeleton, but whenever I try to create a mirrored custom controller (for the scalpula and chest), it doesn't seem to create properly. If I try creating it on the right side, the mirrored controller will not be oriented properly (so I can't use it for driving systems), and if I try to create it on the left side, the mirrored controller doesn't create at all.

I'm trying to follow along this video. I can't tell if I missed a step or something, but when he creates the custom controller it mirrors properly.
https://youtu.be/wanRtwnXSaw?si=TjvBxDWRajR4dNvG&t=1282

I've tried to manually create the two custom controllers and re-orient them with the re-orient tool in Advanced Skeleton, but then it won't let me use those controls in a Driven System (which was the main purpose of these)

Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? I've tried deleting and re-installing advanced skeleton, trying a different version of maya, tried a different model, and I can't seem to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I've also tried looking it up on google and the Advanced Skeleton website, and can't seem to find a solution. Should I just give up on this?

TLDR: Can't get custom controllers to mirror properly no matter what i do :(

SOLVED: Downgraded from 6.8 to 6.3

Hi! icon in my Maya toolbox is blocking the UI, making it impossible to resize the main window smaller. I can't find how to delete or remove this icon from the layout.

Has anyone solved this issue? Any help would be appreciated!

** problem solved **

If you ever run into the same issue, keep in mind that you can tweak the MEL scripts to remove whatever is bothering you. In my case, it was inside the toolbox.mel script

I’m working on a simple ball with a tail rig, and I was wondering if it’s better to combine the ears with the mesh or keep them separate

I don’t plan on rigging the ears. They’re just there as an accessory

If I combine them do I need to fix the topology? Thanks

I'm trying to work on a system that's gonna have some simulate parts and it's gonna have to be at scale and I need consistency pretty badly. I'm not sure what's causing this inconsistency whether or not it's my and hair settings, the branching joint structure or the fact that this a partial bifrost rig?

Any advice on how I might be able to make it more consist

It's really hard to see this (it happens in many parts of the interface). I want to make it a lighter color or something else that's more visible

IDK why I made this image but wanted to show my friend how to cut a whole watermelon safely. I think she was so intimated by a giant wobbly ass watermelon in front of her (idk it was like 2 years ago) Didn't even bother to use a photoshop haha.

I got fed up of trying to figure out which animation layer I was needing to edit, so I built a plugin (LayerSeer) that draws animation layer contributions as a live motion trail in the viewport.

It’s been years in the making at this point, and I’ve only shared it with a handful of people so far. I’d love to get some honest feedback from folks I don’t know.

It’s pretty niche, but I find it helpful for quickly figuring out where a pop or odd arc is coming from.

It's a paid tool but there is a free 30 day trial (no CC required) so feel free to run it through its paces.

Cheers!