Complete Maya Programming: An Extensive Guide to MEL and C++ API

529 Pages·2007·17.22 MB·English

by  David Gould

Critical Acclaim for
Co mp lete Maya Pra gra m m in g!
David Gould is an expert at using, programming, and teaching Maya, a
People who need to program Maya will find this book essential. Even
who don't intend to do extensive programming should read this book
understanding of what's going on under the hood. Compact yet thorou
both MEL and the C++ API and is written to be informative for bot~
expert programmers. Highly recommended!
~Larry Gritz, Exluna/NVIDIA
This book should be required reading for all Maya programmers, novic
alike. For the novice, it provides a thorough and wonderfully well t
hands-on tutorial and introduction to Maya. The book's greatest contril:
ever, is that David shares his deep understanding of Maya's fun&men
and architecture so that even the expert can learn to more effectively ex
rich and powerful programming interfaces.
~Philip J. Schneider, Disney Feature Animation
Having provided a technical review of David Gould's CompleteM aya Pn
must say that this book is the definitive text for scripting and plug-in
for Maya. Never before has there been such a concise and clearly writ
programming for Maya. Any user smart enough to pick up this boc
better off for it.
~Chris Rock, Technical Director at a Large Animation Studio in Northern Califorr
If you ever wanted to open the Maya toolbox, this is your guide. With c
step instructions, you will soon be able to customize and improve the aF
well as create your own extensions, either through the MEL scripting
the full C + + API.
~Christophe Hery, Industrial Light + Magic
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COMPLETE
MAYA PROGRAMMING
A.r~. Extensive Guide to M.EL aI.~.d d~,e C+.+ .API
The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics and Geometric Modeling
Series Editor: Brian A. Barsky, University of California, Berkeley
Complete Maya Programming: Curves and Surfaces in Geometric Modeling:
An Extensive Guide to MEL and the C+ + API Theory and Algorithms
David A. D. Gould Jean Gallier
Real-Time Shader Programming Andrew Glassner' s Notebook:
Ron Fosner Recreational Computer Graphics
Andrew S. Glassner
MEL Scripting for Maya Animators
Mark R. Wilkins and Chris Kazmier Warping and Morphing of Graphical Objects
Jonas Gomes, Lucia Darsa, Bruno Costa,
Texturing & Modeling:
and Luiz Velho
A ProceduralApproach, Third Edition
David S. Ebert, E Kenton Musgrave, Jim Blinn's Corner: Dirty Pixels
Darwyn Peachey, Ken Perlin, and Steven Worley Jim Blinn
Geometric Toolsf or Computer Graphics Rendering with Radiance:
Philip Schneider and David Eberly The Art and Science of Lighting Visualization
Greg Ward Larson and Rob Shakespeare
Understanding (cid:1)89 Reality:
Interface, Application, and Design introduction to Implicit Surfaces
William Sherman and Alan Craig Edited by Jules Bloomenthal
Jim Blinn's Corner: Notation, Notation, Notation Jim Blinn's Corner: A Trip Down the Graphics Pipeline
Jim Blinn Jim Blinn
Level of Detail for 3D Graphics: Application and Theory Interactive Curves and Surfaces:
David Luebke, Martin Reddy, Jonathan D. Cohen, A Multimedia Tutorial on CA GD
Amitabh Varshney, Benjamin Watson, Alyn Rockwood and Peter Chambers
and Robert Huebner
Waveletsf or Computer Graphics:
Digital Video and HD TVAlgorithms and Interfaces Theory and Applications
Charles Poynton Eric J. Stollnitz, Tony D. DeRose,
and David H. Salesin
Pyramid Algorithms: A Dynamic Programming
Approach to Curves and Surfacesf or Geometric Principles of Digital Image Synthesis
Modeling Andrew S. Glassner
Ron Goldman
Radiosity & Global Illumination
Non-Photorealistic Computer Graphics: Francois X. Sillion and Claude Puech
Modeling, Rendering, and Animation
Knotty: A B-Spline Visualization Program
Thomas Strothotte and Stefan Schlechtweg
Jonathan Yen
Curves and Surfacesf or CAGD: A Practical Guide, Fifth
User Interface Management Systems:
Edition
Models and Algorithms
Gerald Farin
Dan R. Olsen, Jr.
Subdivision Methods for Geometric Design:
Making Them Move: Mechanics, Control, and
A ConstructiveA pproach
Animation ofA rticulated Figures
Joe Warren and Henrik Weimer
Edited by Norman I. Badler, Brian A. Barsky,
Computer Animation: Algorithms and Techniques and David Zeltzer
Rick Parent
Geometric and Solid Modeling: An Introduction
The Computer Animator's Technical Handbook Christoph M. Hoffmann
Lynn Pocock and Judson Rosebush
An Introduction to Splinesf or Use in Computer Graphics
Advanced RenderMan: and Geometric Modeling
Creating CGI for Motion Pictures Richard H. Bartels, John C. Beatty,
Anthony A. Apodaca and Larry Gritz and Brian A. Barsky
C O M P L E T E
MAYA P R O G R A M M I N
An, Extensi.ve Guide to MEL and the C++ ,,
David A. D. Gould
MORGAN KAUFMANN PUBLISHERS
An Imprint of Elsevier
SAN FRANCISCO SAN DIEGO NEW YORK; BOSTON
LONDON SYDNEY TOKYO
Publishing Director Diane D. Cerra
Publishing Services Manager Edward Wade
Project Management Yonie Overton
Editorial Coordinator Mona Buehler
Cover and Text Design Frances Baca Design
Cover Illustration Sean Platter
Composition Proctor-Willenbacher
Technical Illustration Dartmouth Publishing, Inc.
Copyeditor John Hammett
Proofreader Sharilyn Hovind
Indexer Richard Evans, Infodex Indexing Services, Inc.
Interior Printer The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group
Cover Printer Phoenix Color Corporation
Microsoft | and Windows NT | and Windows 2000 | are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Maya | is a registered trademark of
Alias I Wavefront. IRIX| is a registered trademark of SGI. All other product names mentioned
are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks or
registered trademarks. In all instances in which Morgan Kaufmann Publishers is aware of a claim,
the product names appear in initial capital or all capital letters. Readers, however, should contact
the appropriate companies for more complete information regarding trademarks and registration.
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers
An Imprint of Elsevier
340 Pine Street, Sixth Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104-3205
WWW. mkp. com
(cid:14)9 2003 by Elsevier
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
07 06 5
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any meansmelectronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwisemwithout the prior
written permission of the publisher.
Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier's Science and Technology Rights Department in
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2002111021
ISBN-13:978-1-55860-835-1
ISBN-10:1-55860-835-4
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
To my father, for instilling in me a love for the written word
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CONTENTS
Preface xix
Source Files xxi
1
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Maya's Programmability 2
1.1.1 Customization 2
1.1.2 Integration 3
1.1.3 Automation 3
1.1.4 Extensions 3
1.2 Programming Interfaces 4
1.2.1 MEL 4
1.2.2 c++5
1.2.3 MELor C++? 5
Ease ofUse 6
Specific Functionality 6
Cross-Platform Portability 7
Speed 8
Disclosure 8
2
FUNDAMENTAL MAYA CONCEPTS 9
2.1 Maya Architecture 10
2.1.1 Overview 10
2.2 The Dependency Graph 1 I
in: