Practical Maya Programming with Python: Unleash the power of Python in Maya and unlock your creativity

by Robert Galanakis

Overview

Unleash the power of Python in Maya and unlock your creativity

Key Features:

• Create and customize UIs using standard tools and libraries
• Understand how Maya can leverage advanced Python features
• Make your tools, and Maya itself, fully automatable

Book Description:

Autodesk Maya is a 3D computer graphics software. It offers a vast and flexible set of features utilizing Python. It is not difficult to get started using Python in Autodesk Maya, but it can be difficult to go from writing procedural, MEL-inspired tools to building the powerful yet simple systems that Python promises.

Practical Maya Programming with Python will help you master both Python and Maya. With thorough explanations, illustrative examples, and complete sample projects, you will learn how to use Python to charm Maya into obeying your every command. Practical Maya Programming with Python will teach you how PyMEL works as well as how to deal with errors and write composable code in Python.

What You Will Learn:

• Understand the architecture of Python objects, Maya nodes, and PyMEL
• Write composable code that is modular and re-usable
• Make Maya "Pythonic" through the use of decorators and context managers
• Learn about different Maya UI options and libraries
• Use PySide and PyQt to build Maya user interfaces
• Turn Maya into a server that can be controlled remotely
• Understand how to use Python with Maya's API
• Conquer custom nodes using Python's dynamic type creation

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849694728
Publisher:	Packt Publishing
Publication date:	07/25/2014
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Robert Galanakis is a technical artist cum programmer who has worked in various areas of game development. He is the Technical Director of EVE Online at CCP Games, Iceland, where he focuses on Python, Lean, and Agile training and evangelism. In 2008, Rob founded tech-artists.org, which is the largest and the most active community focused on tech art on the Internet. He has spoken at Game Developers Conference several times and has also written many articles about tools, pipelines, and culture. His blog can be found at www.robg3d.com. He lives in Reykjavík, Iceland, with his wife Casady and their son Marcus.

Table of Contents

1. Introspecting Maya, Python, and PyMEL
2. Creating your library
3. Exploring Maya and PyMEL
4. Building the pmhelp function
5. Summary
6. Writing Composable Code
7. Dealing with Errors
8. Leveraging Context Managers and Decorators in Maya
9. Building Graphical User Interfaces for Maya
10. Automating Maya from the Outside
11. Taming the Maya API
12. Unleashing the Maya API through Python
13. Becoming a Part of the Python Community