Maya to After Effects Live Link not sending Camera Data

[Anonymous]

I am having an issue using the Maya Live Link to After Effects.

When I open up both windows in both programs, it states that there is in fact a connection. But I am having an issue porting the Maya camera I am using. It will not send the camera over to after effects. I have tried it in a fresh scene with a new camera, but it still wasn't working.

I tested to see if I could send something from After Effects, so when I sent an AE camera to Maya, it worked and sent it over with no keyframes. But my main issue is that when I drag my camera in maya into the live link window, its not showing up in after effects.

I am using both of the latest versions of both programs.

[sean.heasley]

Hi @Anonymous  and welcome to the community!

Can you try unloading and reloading the Live Link plugins?

Also, if you try bringing in anything besides a camera from Maya does that not work as well?

[Anonymous]

Yes I have tried both. I tried to re-download and install the plugin in after effects. Not too sure where to find the plug-in installation for Maya. 

I have also tried other items, such as Nulls and Lights, and nothing seems to be transferring over. When I start with a blank scene in AE, and establish the connection between the two, it does make a composition in AE, but still nothing shows up in the composition when I  drag it over. But if I make a null in AE, and port it over to MAYA, it does transfer the null

[sean.heasley]

Hi @Anonymous 

What version of AE are you using and is it up to date?

Also, if you manually export something instead of using Live Link and then import that into AE does it work?

[Anonymous]

I have the latest version of after effects cc. 

And funny thing is, when I try to manually export something out of Maya, its not letting me use the function button. All the other functions, Pause, Push, Sync, Import are able to be clicked, but the Export function does not. I tried to do a screen record so you can see what I am working with. Please see attached 

[jordan.giboney]

Hi @Anonymous 

Thanks for posting! I would like to test this out on my machine locally. Can you tell me exactly what version of Maya you are working with? If you launch Maya and then select Help > About Maya, a new window will pop up stating the exact version + Update, as well as the Cut ID. 

Can you share that information with me?

Thanks again for being a part of our community!

[Anonymous]

Thank you for helping, here is that info. 

Version: Autodesk Maya 2019.1

Cut ID: 201905131615-158f5352ad

[jordan.giboney]

Hi @Anonymous 

Thanks for your reply! I tested this with Maya 2019.1 with my version of Adobe After Effects (14.2.1.34), and was not able to reproduce the same issue. Standard cameras linked appropriately over to After Effects as expected. Is there anything unique about your camera? What version of After Effects are you working with?

Thanks again for your time and efforts with this case! I look forward to hearing from you.

[Anonymous]

Well at first I thought it was that issue because I did  have an Octane Render camera in there initially. But then I have tried it with a standard camera from Maya, and it still didn't work. I even tried it on a fresh scene, with a new camera and in a new AE project and still the same issue is occurring. 

Tom 

[jordan.giboney]

Hi @Anonymous 

Thanks for your reply! Very strange that the issue is still occurring with a standard Maya camera. I cannot reproduce this issue on my side. 

I would recommend that we take everything back to basics to see if we can isolate the issue:

1. Shut down Maya and Reset the Preferences to default
2. Uninstall and reinstall the AE livelink app (possible that this app got corrupted during install)
3. Launch Maya and unload any non-native plug-ins that are loaded (Windows > Settings/Preferences > Plugin Manager)
4. Create a camera and and send it over to AE

One more question I had was about your setup - is Maya installed in the default location? Are you using any virtualization/parallels like Bootcamp?

Also, what Graphics card are you using?

Thanks again for your efforts with this! I look forward to your reply. 

[jordan.giboney]

Hi @Anonymous 

Hope you are doing well! 🙂 I wanted to check in and see how things were going. Any luck with the suggestions from my previous post? Any clarifications needed?

Thanks again for being a part of our community! I look forward to getting this issue resolved for you.

[Anonymous]

Hello! Sorry for the late reply, I have been out of town and hadn't had a chance to try this. 

I did try your steps this morning and we have some progress. I re-set the preferences, re installed the Live Link and I did not load any plugins that were not native to Maya. 

When Maya was clean and fresh, the live link did work! It sent a camera and a locator to AE just fine and the connection worked perfectly.

So we may be getting close to the issue. When I reloaded the Octane Render for Maya plugin, my issue persisted. I then unloaded it and restarted all programs, and the live link worked fine when it was clean again. 

Also, when I started with a blank slate in maya with Plugin unloaded (camera working fine), I then tried to load the Octane Plugin and it gave me an error saying I couldn't load the plugin. 

So I think our issue is now that the Octane Render plugin is not playing nice with the LiveLink? Thats what I deducted at least. Any reason this may be a thing? 

[jordan.giboney]

Hi @Anonymous 

Thanks for the reply! Yep, I agree with you - if the issue is only persisting with Octane renderer active, that implies that the issue is with that program. Sadly, I do not have access to Octane, but I am sure they (and Adobe) would be eager to hear about your experience and get it resolved!

I found the following support channels for both:

• OTOY | Support
• Adobe help center  (phone: 1 (800) 833-6687)

Thanks again for keeping us posted!