Hi Adam, somehow I missed your message yesterday. It's also the first time that I'm addressing myself directly to an homonym, how confusing after so many years ! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Yes, all seems to converge to the fact that I didn't aprehend the task correctly in the first place, and this discussion came in handy. If I was under a passion for computer graphics during more than 20 years, it's only now that I'm effectively trying to code, and Maya is definitely my choice for an environement. python is obviously becoming cross-platform enough to justify the choice. In my case acquiring python should be my first target, if I got you all correctly. You'll hear me again when I bite the bullet ;) Thank you, Adam On 20 avr, 04:27, wannAPI <[email protected]> wrote: > To Owen: this was the link: > > http://mayastation.typepad.com/maya-station/2009/12/maya-api-where-to... > > Adam > > On 20 avr, 03:54, wannAPI <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > Perfect answer Paul, I'm set now... my turn to give some. > > > Yes I'm looking after scripted plugins creation, for a featured > > exporter using XML scene description. > > > Plugins will involve new shaders, utilities and new DAG nodes in > > general. I want AE support for these nodes and specific HyperShade > > tabs, off course :) > > > How much API is this ? > > > Parsing XML with MEL is... sick ? > > > My take was that there must be better than just MEL to parse DAG and > > stuff, plus achieving deep UI integration, question mark. > > > Thanks so far. > > > Adam > > > On 20 avr, 00:38, Paul Molodowitch <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Ditto what Judah said - if you want to use the api, you're gonna > > > either need to know python or C++... and if you don't want to > > > compile... > > > > However, regarding pymel + maya API... first, you need to ask yourself > > > a question: what do you want to use the API for? Are you looking to > > > gain access to all of the API methods / functions to use when writing > > > scripts? Or do you want to write plugins - which allows the creation > > > of custom node types, manipulators, locators, etc, as Count Zero > > > pointed out? > > > > It's a very important distinction, because, depending on which you > > > intend to do, there are very different restrictions on what methods / > > > etc you can safely use. If you're doing script-level programming, you > > > can use... pretty much everything. There are dangers associated with > > > mixing in some of the API functions in in scripts (mainly due to > > > issues with undo), but there are ways around these (the simplest / > > > most brute force being just disabling undo, for instance). If this is > > > your goal, then pymel may be a good option for you - it will enable > > > you to get at a lot of the API functionality without the extra hassle > > > that dealing directly with the API can involve. > > > > If, on the other hand, you want to do api-level programming - ie, > > > plugins - there are a lot more restrictions on what you can use: > > > essentially, you're stuck with only using what the API provides, and > > > none of the script level stuff - ie, maya.cmds, which has all the > > > mel-like functions you're probably used to. In this context, pymel is > > > less useful, for the simple reason that it's never really been > > > designed to be used in this context. While it does have a fair amount > > > of internal workings for dealing with the api, they're not really > > > easily accessible, and would probably just make things even more > > > confusing for someone new to the API. (We do have plans to eventually > > > provide more API-level support, but that's another discussion > > > entirely...) > > > > In either case, though, if your goal is really to LEARN the maya API, > > > pymel is probably NOT the best option. While it provides access to a > > > lot of the API functionality, it's also essentially trying to protect > > > you from it. The goal with pymel is that you shouldn't need to know > > > the details of the api - which is great if you just want to use it, > > > but not if you want to learn it. If you want to learn about the API, > > > then either check out MRV or just use the standard python API... (or, > > > bite the bullet and learn it in C++... the python API is just a crude > > > wrap over the top of the C++ api, and introduces a number of other > > > complications, so in many ways the API only really makes sense when > > > you view it through a C++ lens...) > > > > - Paul > > > > --http://groups.google.com/group/python_inside_maya > > > --http://groups.google.com/group/python_inside_maya-Masquer le texte des > > messages précédents - > > > - Afficher le texte des messages précédents - > > --http://groups.google.com/group/python_inside_maya- Masquer le texte des > messages précédents - > > - Afficher le texte des messages précédents - -- http://groups.google.com/group/python_inside_maya
