Autodesk’s Maya can be used to create expansive worlds, dazzling effects and complex characters. Maya is a visual effect and 3D animation software in layman’s terms.
When you’re doing something as simple as changing up your render layers, Maya chooses to crash on you. It can be pretty frustrating. We’ve compiled 6 proven methods to prevent Maya from crashing all that often. If you find yourself using other applications like DaVinci Resolve, we also have a guide if your DaVinci Resolve is crashing and how to fix it.
Contents
Why does Maya Crash?
A crash could be because of one or a combination of these possible reasons.
5 common causes lead Maya to crash:
- Uncertified Graphics Card
- UI Renderer is incompatible
- Outdated Software (Maya)
- User Preferences Corrupted
- Outdated Graphics Card Drivers
6 Fixes to Try When Maya Keeps Crashing
Install Updates
Make sure your Maya software version is up to date. A way to check what version of Maya you’re using is by navigating to Help > About
To check for updates all you need to do is:
- Sign in to your Autodesk Account
- Move to the Products and Services tab
- Click on “All products and Services”
- Select “Maya” from the list
- Click on the version you want and move to the “Updates and Add Ons” tab
- Check out the list of updates available for your version and choose what is right for you.
Reset to Default Preferences
Reset Default Preferences on Mac:
- Finder> Go Menu > ‘Go to Folder’
/Users/<username>/ Library/Preferences/Autodesk Maya/ <version>/
Note: If the above path doesn’t work edit the username and version.
- Press Enter or Click “Go”
- Locate the pres folder and rename it to presfOld
- Restart Maya, after setting it to Create Default Preference if prompted.
Windows:
- Use explorer to navigate with this directory:
C:\ Users\<username>\My Documents\Maya\<version>\ - Find the prefs folder and rename it to presOld
- Restart Maya
Change Viewport Rendering Engine
- Go to Windows>Settings/Preferences>Pref>Display> Viewport 2.0
- Change the viewport engine from the default ‘Open GL-Core Profile’ to ‘ Open GL- Legacy’ or ‘DirectXII’
Change the Evaluation Mode in Maya
- Go to Windows> Settings/Preferences> Pref> Settings>Animation>Evaluation
- Change the Evaluation Mode from ‘Parallel’
Verify Hardware and Drivers
- Verify that the graphics card complies with the system requirements and is listed on the list of Maya-certified hardware (these will vary depending on the version of Maya being used).
- Make sure the graphics card drivers are current (Windows and Linux).
- Make sure the appropriate Nvidia graphics card is being used by Maya. How to configure Maya on Windows to use an NVIDIA GPU.
Update of Remove Peripheral Devices
Maya may crash while using peripheral devices like 3D mice, additional monitors, tablets, etc.
- Remove the devices (unplug them and uninstall the drivers) to see whether the crashing stops.
- If the crashing ceases, there is a problem with the peripheral device’s compatibility.
- To solve the problem, get in touch with the device’s manufacturers, who are the proper support source.
- Ensure that the device has the most recent drivers loaded as well.
Conclusion
Crashes are painful especially when you have a looming deadline. If you’re looking to use other post-production tools and only pay for the time you use. Head on over to Postudio and find all the popular postproduction tools you’d need like Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and so much more.
FAQs
How to Find Crash/Recovery Files on Autodesk Maya?
Windows: Navigate to: Users\\AppData\Local\Temp/
Mac: Navigate to: /Documents/tmp
Linux: Navigate to:/tmp
How to turn on and utilize the Autosave feature?
To save scenes automatically in timed intervals:
1. Select Windows> Settings/Preferences> Preferences. The Preferences window should open up.
2. In the Categories, under Settings, select Files/Projects.
3. Turn on Enable, in the Autosave section.
