Also to note, if you're in a mixed pipeline but need the same tool (asset loader for example) creating the UI in Qt will keep it consistant across apps. Recently I ported my renamer tool to PyQt and it looks exactly the same in Maya as it does in Softimage. Small tweaks to the code obviously for the actual renaming.
PyQt is a pythonic way of creating UIs as well so if you're familiar with python programming, creating UIs will feel more natural than the Softimage PPG widgets. As Tim said above, it's infuriatingly hard to create nicely spaced UIs in Softimage out of the box. Also if any of the devs are reading, please can we get a built in PyQt implementation? Pretty please? If I had a choice as to where my subscription money went, I'd put it all towards that. :D -------------------------------------------- Eric Thivierge http://www.ethivierge.com On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 9:30 AM, Simon Anderson < [email protected]> wrote: > As Tim wrote, what ever you can imagen you can achieve with Qt, and usualy > extremly rappidly due to the structure of the API. In the past I have > writen entire project tracking systems, and some really fun and interactive > tools. > > The only down side to QT is that at the moment if you do develop a plugin > and a user wasnt to run it they have to install a bunch of 3rd party > plugins to get the software to run, but if your willing to do that then you > can have some really great tools. > > > > On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 8:07 AM, Tim Crowson < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> That's not a stupid question. I'll answer as best I can. More >> experienced people can correct me and add their own voices. The PPG options >> in Softimage are substantially more limited than what Qt offers. And by >> 'substantially,' I mean not even in the same category. I can't possibly >> cover all the differences, but I can hit some practical highlights: >> >> *Under-the-hood stuff:* >> - A great variety of signals for defining more specific callbacks (not >> limited to on_clicked() or on_changed()) >> - Model view programming, to efficiently store and share data across your >> UI! This is big! >> - The full power of the Qt library, which contains over 400 classes. >> - UI files created in QtDesigner can be loaded into any app that runs a >> Python Qt library (as far as I know). So it's good for more than just >> Softimage stuff. >> * >> Look-and-feel stuff:* >> - Tab Widgets anywhere you want. You're not limited to placing them at >> the top >> - Buttons defined to look any way you like >> - Intelligent 'Layouts' that resize their contents elegantly (including >> Slider layouts which can be collapsed) >> - Dockable widgets >> - Tree views! >> - Menu bars! >> - Status bar! >> - Toolbars! >> - Extremely detailed control over the design via CSS. >> >> I could go on, but perhaps we need some people to post more examples to >> really demonstrate how useful it is. >> >> *Tim Crowson >> **Lead CG Artist* >> >> *Magnetic Dreams Animation Studio, Inc. >> *2525 Lebanon Pike, Building C. Nashville, TN 37214 >> *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com >> [email protected] >> >> >> >> On 8/29/2012 3:17 PM, piotrek marczak wrote: >> >> Sorry for stupid question, but what’s advantage of using qt over PPG? >> >> *From:* Tim Crowson <[email protected]> >> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 29, 2012 4:12 PM >> *To:* [email protected] >> *Subject:* Re: Some more questions about PyQt in Softimage (addon v1.14: >> fixesbutton size and adds command to Soft menu) >> >> As a matter of fact, Simon, that's the exact setup I use! I especially >> like Eclipse's "interactive debugging", for lack of a better term, where it >> instantly highlights syntax errors, unused variables, undefinied variables, >> etc. Really speeds things up! So many other things to like about Eclipse >> too. So far, my workflow is to create a new addon directory from Soft, then >> set that as a PyDev project in Eclipse. I still use Sublime Text 2 every >> now and then for one-offs, but Eclipse my main environment. >> >> *Tim Crowson >> **Lead CG Artist* >> >> *Magnetic Dreams Animation Studio, Inc. >> *2525 Lebanon Pike, Building C. Nashville, TN 37214 >> *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com >> [email protected] >> >> >> On 8/28/2012 6:25 PM, Simon Anderson wrote: >> >> Im not sure what Dev Environment you are using, but if you use eclipse >> and install pyDev for it, when you develop for Qt you get auto completion, >> wich can be very helpful. >> >> On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 1:11 AM, Ana Gomez <[email protected]>wrote: >> >>> Life with stylesheet becomes easier when you find this: >>> >>> http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/stylesheet-reference.html >>> http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/stylesheet-examples.html >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> ------------------- >> Simon Ben Anderson >> blog: http://vinyldevelopment.wordpress.com/ >> >> >> -- >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > > -- > ------------------- > Simon Ben Anderson > blog: http://vinyldevelopment.wordpress.com/ > >
