Custom Maya Projects
You don’t always have to use the default project set-up that ships with Maya!
If you’ve ever found yourself deleting folders or repeatedly adding in folders when starting new projects with Maya, there is actually a lot easier and quicker way to do this.
Using a text editor (something like Notepad ++ with MEL syntax highlight), you can edit scripts in Maya to make your work-flow faster.
One of these scripts is projectSetup.mel (Maya 2010 and older) or np_getFileRuleWidgets.mel (Maya 2011 and newer).
Notepad++ with MEL syntax highlighting
Good organisation is key and I believe that keeping unnecessary and empty folders can make it harder to archive projects down the line so I find it best to trim Maya’s Project hierarchy to make it easier to work with.
Default Project Set-up vs Custom Project Set-up
The default projectSetup.mel or np_getFileRuleWidgets.mel can often create too many empty, useless folders which you will probably never end up using like the screenshot above.
After editing projectSetup.mel or np_getFileRuleWidgets.mel you can make nice, clean project folders. The process of making your own Maya Project hierarchy is quite simple and should save you a lot of time in the long run.
Before You Edit Scripts
First of all find the projectSetup.mel file (Maya 2010 and older) or the np_getFileRuleWidgets.mel file (Maya 2011 and newer) in your Maya install directory – you can do a search for it or find it under “Autodesk\Mayaversion\scripts\others”.
Copy this file to your Maya prefs directory
Then copy this file to your Maya prefs scripts folder (usually located in Documents or My Documents).
Paste the script into your Maya Prefs folder
It’s beset to copy this file. You never want to edit the original scripts that are in your Maya install directory. Maya will always look for the script in your prefs folder first before it uses the script in the main Program Files directory.
The last thing you want is a borked script which will force you to reinstall Maya because you don’t have a backup!
Editing the Script
Now using your text editor, you can open up this MEL script and add in your own lines to start editing the way Maya structures it’s project folders.
For instance, I have added a PSD Files folder so whenever I set-up a new project, Maya will create a folder called “psd”.
In the file, find the lines similar to the screenshot below, there you can add in your own folders if you follow the existing formatting:
Adding in this highlighted line will let Maya know to create a folder called "psd" the next time I create a new project
You can also see here I’ve added in other useful folders to my work-flow like a V-Ray renderData folder, new import and export folders…basically anything that will organise projects a lot more efficiently.
If you do not want a folder created at all, you can merge it with another generic folder like “data” or “renderData” or just leave it blank so Maya will not create a folder at all.
Maya’s New Customised Project Dialogue Box
After adding in the psd line in the previous screenshot, Maya will create a new folder called "psd". The blank spaces are where Maya will not create a folder.
Hopefully this little tip can help you out somehow and helps to make a more efficient work-flow. Happy editing!
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Comments
Great article . Thanks.
Thanks Darok! It seems Autodesk have changed how this whole thing works with Maya 2011 so I have updated the article.
Older versions of Maya pre 2011 use the projectSetup.mel script but Maya 2011 now uses the np_getFileRuleWidgets.mel script. The contents and process to modifying these scripts is still exactly the same though.
Thx
Hi and thanx for the article.
There are still some folders I can’t get Maya to get rid of though… fur and the DXF_DC, fbx, etc.
It looks like they are created in a loop further in the file.
Fun comments in the file btw… “This naming admittedly doesn’t make much sense” :)
I just don’t understand why they haven’t made it possible to do presets on this menu
Hi there,
If you see the line that says “string $ignore[] = {” which is under the comment “This is a list of translators to completely ignore”, you can add “DXF_DC”, “FBX” and other strings in this section.
Maya will not create any folders when you add strings to this section as they will just be ignored.
I also totally agree, presets would be a good idea – but on the other hand allowing us to code our own options in Maya is also a good advantage to have as well. Cheers!
