Dump Truck'n the Innerweb

mdTaters back!

2011-10-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

Some people had asked so here it is... mdTater has been reborn.

mdTater is a random transform ( translate, rotate, scale) Tool. Just pick the Axis you want and the type of transformation desired and Tater does the work for you.

**Fixes** 10-8-2011
Works in all versions of Maya: Tested in Maya 2008 - 2012 sp4.
Fixed the scale behavior: Now when uniform scale is turned on the object(s) scaling is proportional.

mdTater.mel (right click and save as)

nDo!!!

2011-10-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

Awesome! nDo is normal mapping plug-in for Photoshop that is 100% fantastic... dont believe me try it out!

Nice little short...Mac 'n' Cheese

2011-08-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

Mac 'n' Cheese from Mac 'N' Cheese on Vimeo.

Some Inspiration...

2011-04-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Gun

2010-06-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

I will remove this in a bit...

Unigine 2.0

2010-04-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

Check out the real time rendering going on @ unigine.com. The video on this page is more a beauty pass demo. Check out the real time tessellation video here.

Pretty amazing if you ask me.

Been a long time...

2010-04-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

So Its been a long minute since I updated this thing but since I'm the only person that actually reads this thing I will forgive myself this one time.

The Point of this post is to inform me (and you... whoever you are) about the awesomeness of a few little apps and sites that are true life savers...

ninite.com This little bad boy makes reinstalling your OS a piece of cake. Select the programs that you use the most and let Ninite do all of the hard work for you. Best of all it says no to shitware like Yahoo tool bar and other annoying additions that may be included in the installer!

MysticThumbs is an amazing program that gives Windows Explorer (XP/Vista/7) the ability to show previews (thumbnails) of .PSD, .PDF, .tga, .dds and many more image file types. Version 2 of MysticThumbs should be out soon.

Along the same lines as MysticThumbs Fast Picture Viewer will solve all RAW file previewing issues.

Instant Eyedropper automatically pastes the HTML color code of any pixel into your clipboard for fast color selection outside of Photoshop or any other image editor for that matter.

LR2 / TreeExporter will export an entire catalog of images from Lightroom but retain the original images folder structure. It is one of a bunch of amazing tools made by Timothy Armes @ Photographer's Toolbox.

Another Lightroom plugin genius is Jeffery Friedl. He has lots of good stuff on his site but his GPS plugin is the bees knees for photographers who don't have GPS built into their cameras.

Custom User Menus in Maya

2009-07-01T02:04:00.000-07:00

I tend to be back and forth between Polygon, surface and animation tabs a ton when I'm working in Maya. I have no shortage of hotkeys and marking menus but I think this little trick can make navigation a much more happy task.

In Maya open the mode selection drop down box on the status line and pick customize.

Click the New Menus Set button and name your menu.

The middle pane is the Menus that are currently active in your Menu set. The right pane is all available menu. You can either right click or middle mouse drag the items you want to add to your new menus set. Once the item is in the middle pane "Menus in menu set" you can reorder your selections with middle mouse drag.

Now you have your own menu! But wait it gets better!

Hotbox to boot!

Remember to save your preferences (Window>Settings/Preferences>Preferences>Save) and Enjoy!

Add some randomness to your life

2009-06-30T22:22:00.001-07:00

Update 7-2-2009 - added uniform scaling options per Mr. Villabon's request.
Here is a simple MEL script I wrote called Tater. Tater is a random transform (rotate, scale, translate) Tool. Just pick the Axis u want and the type of transform and Tater does the work for you.
Update 10-8-2011 - Script is broken in Maya 2011 and 2012 do to some changes in the way MEL handles UIs. I will be updating the script soon.

Tater.mel (right click and save as)

Mel Scripts, Plugins and Bears... Oh My.

2009-06-29T02:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of scripts that make my day to day grind that much more bearable. Some scripts are free from such amazing sites like Creative Crash (formerly highend3d) and Autodesk Area. Others, (mostly plugins) like that amazing NEX plugin have a price tag.

Bonus Tools and Layout/Level Tools
NEX plugin
Zen Tools
Comet Scripts
Array
djRivet
yd_cracKut
mh_selectFaces

Here

oaRelaxVerts

Here

Crucutski

Everything

dp SaveScenePlus
X-Tools
Tartarus

Getting a Focus on the Command Line.

2009-06-29T02:32:00.000-07:00

If you do a lot of command line work then this will make your day...
I was looking for a shortcut key to focus on the command line in Maya. I found some non-official documentation from and older version that said the ` key focus on command line... well that isn't true in newer versions of Maya. On top of that it doesn't have a shortcut key at all by default! Well i was digging around for a few min and I found this little gem.

setFocus $gCommandLine;

Alternatively you can use this code to toggle the command line and set focus in the event that your command line isn't already open.

 if (`isUIComponentVisible("Command Line")` != 1) { 
    toggleUIComponentVisibility("Command Line");
} 

global string $gCommandLine;
evalDeferred("setFocus "+$gCommandLine);

Set a hotkey with this command or add it to a marking menu and your set!

have fun...

Make Maya Work...

2009-06-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to my first real blog post.

As Maya artists we are constantly encountering new problems and limitations to our work flows. It can be frustrating to attempt a seemingly simple task only to be let down by sub par results or results that just don't work for one reason or another. It can also be tedious to do repetitive tasks manually when a script could do the work for us.

Let me introduce you to a friend of mine named MEL. MEL is short for Maya Embedded Language and it is the backbone of Maya. Everything you do in Maya calls a MEL command. All of our menus, buttons, tools, etc are powered by MEL.

I'm not going to get into the fundamentals or syntax of MEL. I'm not trying to teach you, so much as, inform you as to the importance of learning MEL (at least how to find, install and source/run a MEL script or Maya Command).

OK the B.S. introduction is over, now for the meat and potatoes...

1. Maya MEL Interface

Maya's Script Editor (Window > General Editors > Script Editor) is just what it sounds likes, a place to edit scripts. It's also the place where Maya tells us whats going on behind the scenes. Inside of the Script Editor we have two panes. The top pane is history and the bottom is the input. By default Maya shows us a simplified history of whats been happening in our scene. 99% of the time the average Maya user will be more then content with amount of information contained in the standard history pane. On the rare occasion that we need more feedback from our history pane, turn on Echo All Commands (History > Echo All Commands) in the Script Editor menu. Now be warned that echo all commands uses memory... I don't know how much or if it can be an issues but Its good form to turn it off when not using it.

The Input pane is where we can give Maya commands or inputs. At the top of the Input pane you will see two tabs, One named MEL and one named Python. Python is another language that Maya supports but is beyond the scope of this tutorial. For the purpose of this article you just need to be aware of what type of script you are running (.mel or.py) and whether you are in a MEL tab or a Python tab when inputting commands. Most of the time you will be in MEL tabs but there is always a chance that the script you're trying to run was written in Python and thus requires a python tab to execute the commands.

The most basic example of MEL in action is to type: sphere; in the input tab. Note* Every command you execute must end with a semicolon ( ; ). Maya doesn't know what to do with the command if the semicolon isn't present. Hit the Enter Key on the number pad to execute the command. Now you have a nurbs sphere! I know what you're thinking... pointless! Right?

Here's the deal, you just learned how to run commands or user made scripts in Maya. Now all you need to do is find the Maya Command or Script you want to use and run it.

2. Installing Scripts

If you're using a user created script, copy the desired files to the scripts folder (located in your C:\Users\"your name"\(My)Documents\maya\"your Maya version"\scripts folder) and launch Maya. Once in Maya, open the Script Editor and source (File>Source Script) the script that you want to run. This loads the script into Maya's memory so that it knows what we are talking about when we execute a command. Now just type the proper command to execute the script, just like we did for sphere above. Most of the time the command to execute a script is the same as the name of the script minus the .mel(magicMaker.mel would be inputted as magicMaker; ). This is not always the case. Some times the author uses different names, so read the help/readme/script comments associated with these scripts to ensure you are on the same page as the creator.

On a semi-related note, if you are using someones script, tell them you like it or what could be better... Its the least you can do. People write scripts to make computer work more efficient and bearable for themselves and their studio and they don't have to share. If you use it, show your appreciation for the hard work they did to make your life easier. I find that most people like user feed back... just be constructive if you have a problem/suggestion.

*Script Editor Notes*

Selecting the text (code / command) before hitting the enter key will keep the text in the input field making it easy edit the previous inputted commands/code.

You can make a button out of the script by selecting the text in the input field and selecting File > Save Script To Shelf...

Maya has a ton of help documentation use it!

Under Edit menu there are three options at the bottom to clear the History and or the Input panes if things get messy.

Explore Maya and the Script Editor... I don't have the time to cover every feature, nor do I know what they all do. Investigate!

*Article Notes*
This tutorial / article is not intended to be the be-all end-all MEL reference. This was intended as a beginners guide to understanding what MEL is and how to take advantage of it in its most simple form. If you're a computer scientist and you're upset because I'm not using programmer jargon or missing fundamental scripting concepts in the article, then you're not the person for whom it is intended.

Axe Update

2009-05-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

So I cleaned up the geo of the Axe a bit. Its all quads and oh so smoothable. I'm happy with where its at so I'm off to Zbrush for some strap sculpting...

Spear WIP

2009-05-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

Another weapon based on a Paul Richards concept.

Bone Axe WIP

2009-05-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here is an axe that is loosely based on a concept by Paul Richards. I got carried away and decide to make the handle more hard surface then the concepts tree branch handle. I plan on doing the tree branch version as soon as this one is complete.

Shark Attack 2

2009-04-09T00:34:00.001-07:00

Wireframe and shaded screen shots from Maya.

Shark Attack

2009-04-09T00:09:00.001-07:00

I made a shark...

Heart Tree (WIP)

2009-03-27T18:23:00.001-07:00

Small update to the branches. Moved and reshaped a few and added in a tiny bit of sculpty goodness.

Heart Tree (WIP)

2009-03-27T12:23:00.001-07:00

Base and quick sculpt of a Heart Tree from the book "A Song of Ice and Fire".

Grand Opening

2009-03-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to what will be a very short lived blog...

Dump Truck'n the Innerweb

mdTaters back!

nDo!!!

Nice little short...Mac 'n' Cheese

Some Inspiration...

Gun

Unigine 2.0

Been a long time...

Custom User Menus in Maya

Add some randomness to your life

Mel Scripts, Plugins and Bears... Oh My.

Getting a Focus on the Command Line.

Make Maya Work...

Axe Update

Spear WIP

Bone Axe WIP

Shark Attack 2

Shark Attack

Heart Tree (WIP)

Heart Tree (WIP)

**Grand Opening**

Grand Opening