MEL (and Python) Script. Maya. 2014
Video coming soon...
Challenge:
- Our studio was using alembic caches for the first time and the lighting artists ran into an issue when they went to import the character animations: the materials were not assigned to the geometry. I was asked to develop a script that would auto-assign the hero character's materials with the click of a button.
Solution:
- I decided that I'd match the materials by using a solid naming convention.
Steps:
1. The first part of the script searches the existing scene for relevent materials and then deletes them from the scene.
2. Then the script imports fresh materials from a designated master material folder and connects them to shading engines.
3. Finally the script iterates through the predefined lists and executes the shader assigning commands for each piece of geometry.
Future Goals:
- This was my first big script, so it was created with limited coding knowledge and written in my most familar language at the time: MEL. I'm now in the process of translating the code into Python and making it more efficient/automated by using code to compile lists and iterate over those lists for existing geometry and materials that have matching names
Alternate Solutions:
- Create an temp alembic with all necessary character geometry in it >>> assign textures to that geo >>> reference this file to the scene for rendering >>> replace the reference with the animated alembic (all the shaders should automatically attach themselves to the new alembic geo)
