Maya Python Tutorial

Powerful 3D animations are among Maya's uses.

Putting the power of animation, 3D modeling, visual effects, compositing and 3D rendering into the hands of creative professionals, Maya has become the go-to tool for creative graphics and motion graphics professionals everywhere. The power of Maya lies not only in its creation tools but in its workflow management and extensibility. Offering a choice of two Application Programming Interfaces, C++ and Python, Maya allows the user to automate and extend Maya's functionality. Python allows rapid creation of Maya plugins without the overhead of writing and compiling C++ programs.

Things You'll Need

• Maya
• Python 2.6 or higher

Instructions

1. Open a terminal session and check your version of Python by typing the following at the command line prompt:

   My-iMac:~ MyAccount$ python -v

   This will return a list of all the standard Python libraries and the current version of python, which should be 2.6 or higher.

2. Open the Maya script editor from the menu bar: Window -> General Editors -> Script Editor.

   Type the following Python script into the main text window:

   import sys

   import maya.OpenMaya as OpenMaya

   import maya.OpenMayaMPx as OpenMayaMPx

   #Define a new command, "Hello World." The sp prefix makes this a scripted plugin.

   kPluginCmdName = "spHelloWorld"

   # command

   class scriptedCommand(OpenMayaMPx.MPxCommand):

   def __init__(self):

   OpenMayaMPx.MPxCommand.__init__(self)

   def doIt(self,argList): print "Hello World!"

   # Creator

   def cmdCreator():

   return OpenMayaMPx.asMPxPtr( scriptedCommand() )

   # Initialize the script plug-in

   def initializePlugin(mobject):

   mplugin = OpenMayaMPx.MFnPlugin(mobject)

   try:

   mplugin.registerCommand(kPluginCmdName, cmdCreator )

   except:

   sys.stderr.write( "Failed to register command: "%s\n" %

   kPluginCmdName )

   raise

   # Uninitialize the script plug-in

   def uninitializePlugin(mobject):

   mplugin = OpenMayaMPx.MFnPlugin(mobject)

   try:

   mplugin.deregisterCommand( kPluginCmdName )

   except:

   sys.stderr.write( "Failed to unregister command: %s\n" %

   kPluginCmdName )

   raise

   print "Script done"

   Save this file as HelloWorld to the Maya scripts directory.

3. Type the following in the Maya command line window, located at the bottom of the main Maya window:

   loadPlugin "helloWorld";

   A window will open with the message, "hello world" and the Maya command line will display the status message, "script done."

References

• Autodesk Maya API Whitepaper
• Maya MEL Scripting Tutorial