Maya to Blender

Greetings All…

I’m just a 3D hobbist, but some years ago I directed the pilot episode of a 3D animation/live action TV show. The 3D part was produced in Maya. Now I’ve started playing with Blender and it has given me the idea of rekindling the project as a possible “open-source” or “community” affair. As a first step I’ve been trying to figure out how we would move assets (models, textures, animation, etc.) from Maya to Blender. Since we had a team of over 50 people working for almost five months there are a lot of assets.

I’ve read over a dozen posts here, but haven’t found the answer to my question…or it may be that I’m just not finding the answer that I want/need :D. Seems clear that there is NO way to open Maya files directly in Blender. Is there any way to convert files without having Maya? Can anyone direct me to a clear (hopefully step-by-step) explanation on how a project could be moved from Maya to Blender effectively?

Thanks,
Greg

You would need to export every single object individually from Maya. If you do not have access to Maya then you are pretty much locked out of your assets unfortunately.

Thanks NinthJake. Autodesk offers Educational versions of their software…so now I need to decide whether to use Blender of Maya in my homeschooling curriculum for my daughter. Really like the idea of using opensource software, but I guess it’s a good chance to try out both and see what she thinks. Might be interesting to get an 11 year old’s view of the useability of the two packages. After we get into learning both I can try out the export from Maya to Blender. Need to start looking for some info/tutorials on how to effectively move assets.

Just thinking out loud here, but my opinion is that if someone is learning 3D for the first time, it might be a good idea to start learning using only one program until they get down the basics. Otherwise they could get confused when 2 of the same things in different programs are named differently, as well as a different workflow in each program.

Either way, that sounds like a fun homeschooling curriculum! Get started on CG early!

Export all to FBX and import in Blender. Preferably export all to OBJ and redo the shaders in Blender. That’s the best way