Around the Corner

DevKit hotfix for Maya 2020

With the release of Maya 2020, there was a minor change to the IMF library names. It was previously named IMFbase.lib, but it’s been changed to adskIMF.lib. This caused a few problems in producing the DevKit and even in the Maya lib installation folder. For both the Linux and Windows platforms, the IMF library file is missing in the DevKit and Maya installation folder. For Mac OS, the IMF library was included with the Maya installation, but is missing in... Read more →

Maya 2018 Update 4 and new DevKit are available now

Autodesk just released Maya 2018 update 4 and new DevKit. You can find them at Maya Developer Center. On Mac, lib files that required for building devkit plugins and standalone applications are located in Maya.app folder. This is incorrect and will be addressed in a future release. To workaround this, you can either: 1) Create a folder named "lib" under devkitBase and copy lib files from Maya.app/Contents/MacOS and Maya.app/Contents/Resources to the newly created lib folder Or 2) Update linker paths... Read more →

How to build PyQt5 for Autodesk Maya 2018 64bit

Written by Cyrille Fauvel – Autodesk Developer Network (April 2013) Updated by Chengxi Li - Autodesk Developer Network (August 2018) Building SIP, and PyQt for Maya 2018 PyQt [https://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk] is a python binding to the Qt library. Because Maya uses Qt internally, you can use the PyQt modules in Maya python scripts to create custom UI. PyQt does not have the same licensing as Maya, Qt, or Python. Please consult the PyQt website for information about licensing for PyQt. Download... Read more →

Building SIP, and PyQt for Maya 2016.5

This is an updated version for Maya 2016.5' PyQt build instructions. This is an updated version of the Maya 2016 build instructions for PyQt and PySide (here). The very good news is that with Maya 2014 & onward, there is no more need to build PySide as it is coming by default in Maya :) libxml, openSSL, OpenAL, python2.7, qt-4.8.5-64 / Maya 2014/2015, qt-4.8.6-64 / Maya 2016 and tbb are also coming by default in the Maya include and lib... Read more →

OpenColorIO Library Issues

The OpenColorIO library is a third-party library from Sony Pictures and it is opensource code found here. Through the Maya 2016 Extension 1 release, OpenColorIO library is included with the Maya release. The Maya customized OpenColorIO library is statically linked with the SynColor library (ie. SynColor.dll on Windows). Note that the OpenColorIO library supports all platforms as OpenColorIO.dll in Windows, OpenColorIO.so in Linux and OpenColorIO.dylib in OSX. If you download and build OpenColorIO on your own and then link with... Read more →

Building SIP, and PyQt for Maya 2016

This is an updated version for Maya 2016' PyQt build instructions. This is an updated version of the Maya 2015 build instructions for PyQt and PySide (here). The very good news is that with Maya 2014 & 2015 & 2016, there is no more need to build PySide as it is coming by default in Maya :) libxml, openSSL, OpenAL, python2.7, qt-4.8.5-64 / Maya 2014/2015, qt-4.8.6-64 / Maya 2016 and tbb are also coming by default in the Maya include... Read more →

Fedora Core 20 gcc 4.8.2 Installation instructions

If you are trying to build and install gcc 4.8.2 from source code on Fedora Core 20 box, you will find lot of challenges to fix the dependencies. To fix that issue and to reduce the time here I have listed out the steps to be followed to get the successful build. Install build pre-requisites: Before installing gcc 4.8.2, install the build pre-requisites 1. yum groupinstall "Development tools" 2. yum install glibc-devel.i686 glibc-i686 3. yum install gcc-c++ 4. yum install... Read more →

Maya compiler versions (update)

This is an update on previous posts for older versions which can be found here: Maya 2015, Maya 2014, Maya 2008 to 2013. Maya 2016 Windows 64bit Win7x64 Visual Studio 2012 Update 4 + Win 8 SDK .Net framework 4.5.1 Intel Composer XE 2015 Initial release (15.0.0.108) Linux 64bit RHEL/CentOS 6.5, FC20 gcc 4.8.2 Intel Composer XE 2015 Update 1 (15.0.1.133) Note: For our internal builds on RHEL/CentOS 6.5, we use Red Hat DTS 2.1 to have gcc 4.8.2, plug-in... Read more →

Writing an FBX importer / Exporter plug-in

While I am working on a WEBGL project, I wanted to share some hints I had to work through with you. The FBX documentation isn't clear on every steps, is a bit out of date even if it fairly easy to identify the pieces to update and spread all over the place. I hope that post will help on this. The project I am working on is a glTF importer / exporter. glTF is a specification (under development) for WEBGL... Read more →

Maya compiler versions (update)

This is an update on a previous post for older versions which can be found here. OS Compiler Maya 2015 Windows 64bit Win7x64 Visual Studio 2012 Update 4 Intel Composer XE 2013 Update 5 (13.1.3.198) Linux 64bit RHEL/CentOS 6.2, FC14 gcc 4.1.2 Intel Composer XE 2013 SP1 Update 1 (14.0.1.106) Mac 64bit Mountain Lion 10.8.5 Xcode 5.0.2 with SDK 10.8 (Mountain Lion) clang with libstdc++ Intel Composer XE 2013 SP1 Update 1 (14.0.1.103) Embedded Python 2.7.3 - Internal to Maya... Read more →

Building SIP, and PyQt for Maya 2015

This is an updated version for Maya 2015' PyQt build instructions. This is an updated version of the Maya 2014 build instructions for PyQt and PySide (here). The very good news is that with Maya 2014 & 2015, there is no more need to build PySide as it is coming by default in Maya :) libxml, openSSL, OpenAL, python2.7, qt-4.8.5-64, and tbb are also coming by default in the Maya include and lib folder, so unless you have a very... Read more →

ADN Maya API training material freely available

Back from vacation, ..., and a tons of emails to process :( But I can see a light that is coming to an end. If you tried to contact me and not yet received an answer, please ping me again. Anyway I am pleased to announce that after many years we decided to publish our API training material as we will continue to maintain it in future. The video recordings are already published here: for Maya, for 3ds Max, for... Read more →

3ds Max and Maya SP1 debug available now.

What are symbols? Symbols or Program Database Files (PDBs) are a by-product of the build process and contain debugging information for specific binary modules (e.g. exe or dll files). By default, a C++ PDB file contains the following information: Public symbols (typically all functions, static and global variables) A list of object files that are responsible for sections of code in the executable Frame pointer optimization information (FPO) Name and type information for local variables and data structures Source file... Read more →

New Maya C++/C#/Python plug-in Wizards

This topic was suggested by one of our ADN members who had problems to setup his Mac OSX environment for building a Maya plug-in on the Mac. I quickly replied by a post here to mention what compiler / environment to use on the Mac since the Maya 2014 documentation is wrong (it actually still reference the Maya 2013 compiler / environment whereas it changed for Maya 2014). More important, you should better not upgrade to Mountain Lion if you... Read more →

Maya compiler versions (update)

This is an update on a previous post for older versions which can be found here. OS Compiler Maya 2014 Windows 64bit Win7x64 Visual Studio 2010 SP1, Intel Composer XE 2011 Update 11 Linux 64bit RHEL 6.0, FC14 gcc 4.1.2, Intel Composer XE 2011 Update 11 Mac 64bit Lion 10.7.4 Xcode 4.3.3 with SDK 10.6 (SnowLeopard), gcc 4.2.1, Intel Composer XE 2011 Update 11 Embedded Python 2.7.3 - Internal to Maya Embedded PySide 1.1.2 Qt 4.8.2 Boost 1.47 TBB 4.1... Read more →

Distributing plug-ins/files on Maya (and 3ds Max)

You probably remember this article where I described in details how to work with Maya Modules and integrate your files and plug-ins in Maya. This time, I am going to explain what changes were made in Maya to support the Autodesk Exchange Store. To submit an application / content package on Autodesk Exchange Store, you need to follow few but important rules. The application should be self-contained and easy to install for example. Self-contained means that all files should go... Read more →

a New Distribution Channel for Maya & 3ds Max

With the release of Maya 2014 and 3ds Max 2014 the Autodesk Exchange site makes it easier for plug-in, content, and tutorial developers to distribute and sell their content more easily to Autodesk customers. This is a new channel to make new customers and does not necessarily means that you have to switch from your existing distribution channel to this one entirely. You should really see that as a new oportunity for you and your future customers to work together.... Read more →

Building SIP, and PyQt for Maya 2014

This is an updated version for Maya 2014' PyQt build instructions. This is an updated version of the Maya 2013 build instructions for PyQt and PySide (here). The very good news is that with Maya 2014, there is no more need to build PySide as it is coming by default in Maya :) libxml, openSSL, OpenAL, python2.7, qt-4.8.2-64, and tbb are also coming by default in the Maya include and lib folder, so unless you have a very specific need,... Read more →

Maya Device API

Recently there was a lot of enthusiams around Virtual Production and use of Motion Capture. This article really summarize what great future and fun we will get on that side. But this is mainly about Virtual Production in general and mostly applied to MotionBuilder when it comes to Motion Capture. But there are many people asking - ok, but what about Maya and/or 3ds Max. I am not an expert on 3ds Max, but what I am going to say... Read more →

Maya on .NET

For those of you who are already on the Maya Feedback Community forum (beta forum), it is probably not really new. But for all others, this is quite a big change - Maya will get a native .NET API for its Windows platform version. So I am proud to announce the Maya .NET API here. The Maya .NET API is a new technology that allows Maya plug-in developers to harness the full power of Microsoft’s .NET Framework. With the Maya... Read more →

Debugging Python in Maya with Eclipse/Pydev

This post is a follow-up on the previous post here. Installing Eclipse & Pydev Note: On Windows: depending on whether you are on a 64 or 32 bit machine, make sure you install the correct version of Java and Eclipse. Install Java on your machine if it isn’t yet done http://www.java.com/ http://www.java.com/en/download/ie_manual.jsp?locale=en&host=www.java.com:80 Go to http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ and then click ‘Eclipse Packages' Choose any of the last ‘Packages’ version. It is not really important which one you download, could be the Java,... Read more →

Python debugging in Maya

With the power of the Maya API and the scriptability of MEL, Maya Python hits a sweet spot in Maya's suite of development tools. Being an interpreted language it allows for quick turnaround, making it perfect for rapid prototyping and with thousands or dedicated users around the world contributing modules to Python, Maya inherits a large and growing array of new capabilities. However, debugging Python code in Maya has not made to be easy like it is with C++ and... Read more →

Using LXML in Maya

Recently someone asked me if we could use lxml inside Maya and it turns out that lxml can be used in Maya excepted the Linux version. If you wonder what is lxml, here is a quick description: The lxml XML toolkit is a Pythonic binding for the C libraries libxml2 and libxslt. It is unique in that it combines the speed and XML feature completeness of these libraries with the simplicity of a native Python API, mostly compatible but superior... Read more →

FBX 2013.3 plugin for Maya2013.5 on Linux is not installed

To install the Maya FBX plug-in: Find the 2013.3 FBX installer which is included with the Maya 2013.5 install package. Remove the old plug-in from the /usr/Autodesk/maya/bin/plug-ins/ (where is the version of Maya you have installed,) directory by entering rm –f fbxmaya.so at the command prompt. Type the following command to install the Maya FBX plug-in: ./fbx_maya_linux_enu (Where FBX is the version of the Maya FBX plug-in you have installed). This installs the plug-in to the following directory: /usr/Autodesk/maya/bin/plug-ins/... Read more →

Building Qt, PyQt, PySide for Maya 2013 - Part 2

This is a continuation of the previous post and this time we will focus on building PySide. PySide [http://www.pyside.org/ or http://qt-project.org/wiki/PySide/] is a python binding to the Qt library. Because Maya uses Qt internally, you can use the PySide modules in Maya python scripts to create custom UI. PySide does not have the same licensing as Maya, Qt, or Python. Please consult the PySide website for information about licensing for PySide. Download Shiboken & PySide: http://qt-project.org/wiki/PySideDownloads Download Cmake: http://www.cmake.org/cmake/resources/software.html Maya... Read more →

Building Qt, PyQt, PySide for Maya 2013 - Part 1

To complete the article written by Kristine last month, I could not resist to go through the process of building these libraries myself on the 3 platforms Windows x64, Linux and MacOS (I tend not to work on win32 anymore). Unfortunately, the documentation provided by Autodesk isn't always very clear. Not I mean it is wrong or incorrect, but sometimes assumes you either know these Qt underneath requirements and/or Autodesk internal build procedures. Building Qt Whatever you decide to do,... Read more →

Maya API thread safe?

In general it is not safe to assume any Maya API is threadsafe if it is not documented as being so. There can be internal caching or state being set, meaning functions that may seem threadsafe are in fact not. An example is MFnMesh::getVertexNormal(). These normals are evaluated lazily, meaning the first call to this function may trigger a full recompute of all normals, so two calls simultaneously may have bad consequences. One clunky way around this is to do... Read more →

Looking at undo in regards to deleting attributes and nodes

Today, I want to talk about the recommended way of handling the deletion of attributes and nodes within Maya through the wise guidance of Dean Edmonds (Autodesk Maya API Architect). We will examine this potential solution for this scenario: Let’s say you have plug-in that has a connection to a user defined attributes on other objects in a scene. You may write some code that detects that if the node is deleted, then the user defined attributes on the connected... Read more →

Mudbox compiler versions

Lots of talk about Maya recently, but to reflect my post on compiler versions for Maya, here is a list of the various OS and compiler you would need to build plug-ins on Mudbox. Note that Mudbox plug-ins are C++ only compared to Maya. But Mudbox uses CG and Qt a lot, so most of the time you would need to support those too. OpenGL is also an option. Visual Studio Express compiler is not officially supported, but less the... Read more →

Distributing files on Maya - Maya modules

How many of you struggle with installers and making Maya work with your content files which you may have to support multiple release, language, and platform? I know it is a hard work, and never easy... While working on a project for the next major Maya release, I had to make some research and chose on the technology to use for redistributing applications and contents for Maya. One nice feature in Maya is the support for ‘modules’ – see the... Read more →

Top 10 Autodesk Maya Python API Gotchas When Getting Started

Not Understanding the Difference between Python Script and Python API Maya has four programming interfaces, two of which are using the Python language. It’s important to know the distinction between the terminology of Python Script and the Python API, because they each access different functionality within Maya (with very little overlap). The other two interfaces are Maya Embedded Language (MEL) and the C++ API. Python Plug-in Disclosure You cannot hide your Python API code from users! If you’re a games... Read more →

What’s New in the FBX 2013 SDK?

The FBX SDK animation system has been completely redesigned. Take nodes, take node containers, current takes, and FCurves have all been replaced by animation stacks (FbxAnimStack), animation layers (FbxAnimLayer) animation curve nodes (FbxAnimCurveNode), and animation curves (FbxAnimCurve). The classes in the FBX SDK have all been renamed using the "Fbx" prefix, instead of "KFbx" or "K". All structures have also been renamed with the same prefix, including global functions and enumerations. We did this to make the SDK simpler and... Read more →

Expose your code to Python - get Boost 'ed!

Some house cleaning first... "Boost provides free peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries". http://www.boost.org/ The Boost C++/Python binding library is just one member of the boost C++ library collection at http://www.boost.org It is quick and easy to export C++ to Python using Boost. Boost is also designed to be minimally intrusive on your C++ design. In most cases, you should not have to alter your C++ classes in any way in order to use them with Boost Python. The system should... Read more →

What’s New in the Maya 2013 API?

The “devkit/plug-ins” folder has been reorganized so that the plug-in associated files are encapsulated under one folder and the plug-in project will be parented under a single parent solution file called “Plug-ins.sln” The module support for plug-in distribution has been improved so that you will be able to more easily create a distributable deployment of your plug-in. New attribute pattern API classes MAttributePattern: class that will provide a pattern of attributes to be applied to nodes as dynamic attributes or... Read more →

Maya compiler versions

Like promised the other day, here is a complete map of compiler and libraries used by Maya OS Compiler Maya 2013 Windows 32bit Win7 Visual Studio 2010 SP1, Intel 12.0.4.196 64bit Win7x64 Visual Studio 2010 SP1, Intel 12.0.4.196 Linux 64bit RHEL 6.0, FC14 gcc 4.1.2, Intel 11.1.073 Mac 64bit SnowLeopard 10.6.8 Xcode3.2.1 gcc 4.2.1, Intel 11.1.089 Embedded Python - Internal to Maya 2.6.4 Qt 4.7.1 TBB 3.0u7 DirectX SDK June 2010 MR 3.10 Linux base build is RHEL 6.0/CentOS 6.0... Read more →

Compatibility of Maya plug-ins between releases

This is a huge topic, so I'm not going to be able to do it justice in this one post. Plug-ins developed using Maya's APIs need to be ported and tested on each major releases to make sure they work with a new release of the Maya platform. For several generations of Maya we have consistently broken binary plug-in compatibility every major releases. To make plug-ins work on interim hotfix, service pack, they might need minor porting work to migrate... Read more →