Fix “Cannot Ungroup Leaf Level Transforms” Error in Maya

Issue:

When trying to ungroup a Mesh in Maya, the following error appears in the script editor:

Cannot ungroup leaf level transforms

Causes:

The pieces of the model were combined instead of grouped – ungrouping them will have no effect on the mesh itself.

Solution:

Instead of ungrouping the mesh, use the separate command to break up the mesh:

1. Select mesh.
2. Navigate to Edit > Delete by type > History.
3. While in the Modeling Menu Set, select Mesh > Separate.

If items are still in groups, they can be manually removed from groups in the Outliner with the following process:

1. Open the Outliner.
2. Expand the group by clicking the plus [ + ] next to the group name.
3. Click on the object to be removed from the group (it will highlight blue).
4. Using the middle mouse button, click, hold and drag the object out of the group.
   • Note: If the object is dragged on top of another object, it will form a new group (a white, dotted frame will appear around the object in the Outliner). To move the object outside of all groups, a single white line will appear indicating when to release the middle mouse button.

See Also:

• “Missing External Files” Appears When Loading 3ds Max Scenes Or Transferring Projects To Another Workstation
• How To Turn On/Off Bitmap Previews Within The Viewport And Material Editor In 3ds Max