MEL Scripting for Maya Animators, Second Edition

✍ Scribed by Mark R. Wilkins, Chris Kazmier

• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 548
• Series: The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics
• Edition: 2
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Trying to learn Maya programming from the documentation can be daunting whether or not you are a programmer. The first edition of MEL Scripting for Maya Animators earned the reputation as the best introductory book on MEL, Maya's scripting language. Now fully revised and updated, the second edition also includes new features, such as a discussion of global procedures, new chapters on fixing programming bottlenecks, advanced user interface techniques, and optimizing character rigs. New chapters on utility nodes and Maya's Web Panel feature provide new ideas on how to use MEL in applications. This new edition has kept the popular style of the first edition that offered very clear explanations of programming concepts to those without programming experience. A generous collection of code examples and Maya scene files is included on the companion Web site. This is a book for animators, artists, game developers, visual effects developers, and technical directors who want to learn the fundamentals of Maya, how to automate tasks, personalize user interfaces, build custom tools, and solve problems with MEL. * Fully updated with several new chapters. * Profusely illustrated and includes a companion Web site with numerous code examples and scene files. * The authors bring their extensive experience in professional production studios to provide expert guidance.

✦ Table of Contents

0120887932......Page 1
copyright......Page 7
About the Authors......Page 9
Contents......Page 10
Preface......Page 18
1 Maya Under the Hood......Page 20
2 The Basics of MEL Commands......Page 42
3 Using Expressions......Page 56
4 Controlling Particles with Expressions......Page 80
5 Problem Solving with MEL Scripting......Page 114
6 Variables and Data Types......Page 134
7 Using MEL Commands......Page 156
8 Manipulating Nodes in MEL......Page 164
9 Controlling the Flow of Execution......Page 174
10 Procedures and Functions......Page 190
11 Naming Nodes, Scripts, and Variables......Page 208
12 Designing MEL User Interfaces......Page 224
13 Simple MEL User Interfaces......Page 232
14 Custom Dialog Boxes......Page 250
15 Making Advanced Dialog Boxes with formLayout......Page 278
16 Making Advanced Dialog Boxes with Web Panels......Page 290
17 Improving Performance with Utility Nodes......Page 314
18 Installing MEL Scripts......Page 322
19 Examples Using MEL with Particle Dynamics......Page 328
20 Examples Using MEL with Solid Body Dynamics......Page 370
21 Example of a Simple Crowd System......Page 428
22 Examples Using MEL in Character Rigging......Page 504
index......Page 536