To quickly convert your files to ASCII, you can use this script:

string $path = "C:/temp/";
string $filelist[] = `getFileList -folder $path -filespec "*.mb"`;

for ($i=0;$i<size($filelist);$i++){

file -f -open ($path + $filelist[$i]) ;
//Extra commands here if you want
file -f -save -type "mayaAscii";
file -f -new;
sysFile -del ($path + $filelist[$i]) ;

}

One important thing is the first line. Edit it to where you want to do the conversions. YOu will also have to have a “/” on the end of this path file name otherwise the script will fail for some reason or another.

There are some great things for this like Deadline (free for two boxes) or Backburner, but sometimes simpler is better.

So if you have an email account that is easily accessible from anywhere then this one might come in handy.

I always recommend using a command line for your Maya batch renders, so add in this line before you call render.exe:

mayapy "PATHTO/renderMail_pre.py"

Obviously while changing “PATHTO” to the correct location of where the script lies. User forward slashes always.

And this for the post render:

mayapy "PATHTO/renderMail_post.py"

I personally also add one more line to my command line to save power, however this will only work in Windows. Not sure what the equivalent is in Linux or Mac:

 shutdown.exe /s 

In the end your batch render script should look similar to this:

mayapy "Username/My Documents/maya/scripts/renderMail_pre.py"

"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2012\bin\Render.exe" -r vray -preRender "setAttr vraySettings.imap_currentPreset 0" -preRender "setAttr vraySettings.dmcMaxSubdivs 4" -preRender "setAttr vraySettings.dmcMinSubdivs 1" -preRender "setAttr vraySettings.dmcMaxSubdivs 4" -preRender "setAttr vraySettings.dmcThreshold 0.02" -preRender "setAttr vraySettings.dmcs_adaptiveAmount 0.7" -preRender "setAttr vraySettings.dmcs_adaptiveThreshold 0.01" -threads 0 -x 3508 -y 3508 -log "Username/My Documents/maya/mayaRenderLog.txt" -proj "D:/maya/projects/08_31_chouse/FS/" "D:/maya/projects/08_31_chouse/FS/scenes/chouse_v3_v09.ma"

mayapy "Username/My Documents/maya/scripts/renderMail_post.py"

shutdown.exe /s

After the email and mayaRenderLog.txt is sent to your email address, the workstation will shut down. It’s quite nice when its up and running.

Please note – you will have to manually edit this script yourself  in order to get it working for your email provider.

At the bottom of the script you can fill out your own details. If you know your email host details it’s all very much self explanatory….just make sure to also check the SMTP port.

PRE Render

Post Render

It won’t work for material ID’s though, only objects.

Download

I wrote a really quick script that will popup a new UI and whereby you can insert more splits than just 10.

It will insert splits at an even distance.

Just select your edges (must be more than one), run the script and type in the amount of edges.

Personally, I have this code set to a “z” hotkey.

markingMenu_renderLayer;

And this code set to the z release key:

if( `popupMenu -exists renderLayerMM` ) deleteUI renderLayerMM;

Below is the MEL file, make sure to bind it to a hotkey as it is not intended to run as a script.

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First things first – if you want Maya to do something when it first opens, then the userSetup.mel is your only chance. It is one of the first things Maya looks at when loading and will do what its told.

userSetup.mel lives in your Maya prefs directory, under the scripts directory. If it is not there, you can safely create one.

You can put any code there including scriptJobs, load custom menu’s….anything!

Here’s what mine looks like currently:

source standardMenu.mel; standardMenuLoad;
if(!`pluginInfo -query -l -n vrayformaya`) loadPlugin "vrayformaya";
if(!`pluginInfo -query -l -n DirectConnect`) loadPlugin "DirectConnect";
if(!`pluginInfo -query -l -n OpenEXRLoader`) loadPlugin "OpenEXRLoader";
if(!`pluginInfo -query -l -n tiffFloatReader`) loadPlugin "tiffFloatReader";
if(!`pluginInfo -query -l -n fbxmaya`) loadPlugin "fbxmaya";
if(!`pluginInfo -query -l -n nearestPointOnMesh`) loadPlugin "nearestPointOnMesh";
if(!`pluginInfo -query -l -n DCExport`) loadPlugin "DCExport";
if (!`objExists manipScaleOrient`) source manipScaleOrient.mel;
if (!`objExists madRecentCrashFile`) source madRecentCrashFile.mel;
if (!`objExists roundoff`) source roundoff.mel;
grid -size 100m -sp 10m -d 5 ;
scriptJob -runOnce true -idleEvent "modelEditor -e -lineWidth 2 (`getPanel -type modelPanel`);";

The first block of lines (if(!`pluginInfo -query -l -n vrayformaya`)) is merely querying if the plugin is loaded or not. If it isn’t it will be.
You can substitute any plugin with your own.

For instance, if you specifically wanted mental ray, it would be:

if(!`pluginInfo -query -l -n Mayatomr`) loadPlugin "Mayatomr";

I find that Maya always somehow manages to lose it’s grid settings, so above where it says grid – Maya will now load these exact same settings everytime!

There are a lot of possibilities with this file, but this an example.

Basically, this “Windex” script will “thicken” the windows so I can apply realistic shaders with real life index of refractions to windows. Thick glass is essential for realism.

So instead of manually “thickening” windows one by one, just select all glass elements with a scene and run the script. A popup will appear whereby you type in the thickness of the window. The front element of the window will stay in place and it’ll extrude backwards, however all original normals will remain facing the same way in the end.

Two things though, since it relies on the new “thickness” attribute in Maya – this *will not* work on Maya 2011 or older unfortunately. Since it also relies on this “thickness” attribute, it’s at the mercy of Autodesk’s algorithms here.

Generally I find it to work very well but it has been known to screw up – just check your normals “thickefeying” your windows – that is the main problem. Also lamina faces and just really bad geometry in general will break this as is the usual case in Maya.

Anyway, I thought I should share this little script.

Just select a face from an object (or objects), run faceToObject and the script will convert the selection to to the object level.

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Just select any objects in the scene, run roundedEdges from the script editor or otherwise and type in the amount needed.

To remove rounded edges, just select the objects, run the script again and select the “Remove” button.

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