Dailies Helper
quick download here
Playblasting in Maya is great.
Well.... maybe not so great.
I mean, it's great and all, but sometimes it just doesn't show enough to be really great.
What's missing you ask? Have you ever seen work in progress clips from your favorite special effects movie, and in the corner are things like a frame counter, the shot name, who was working on the shot, and that overbearing PROPERTY OF BLAH BLAH BLAH right along the top? That stuff is missing from the default maya playblast.
But not anymore!
Presenting the Jonathan R. Nelson Dailies Enhanced Playblasts!
This mel script adds three very important pieces of information to your maya screen window:
Why is this important? When you make a playblast, this information will stay on the screen for the duration of the playblast. If you are working on multiple shots or versions of the same scene, you can easily tell from what file any particular playblast came from, when it was made, who made it, and if anything notable happens you can easily tell what frame number in the actual scene file it happens on.
If you don't want to see that information for some reason, like maybe it is getting in the way, you can easily turn it off in the HUD
Paste the following script into your userSetup.mel file in the maya\5.0\scripts\ folder, or just place this file in there if you don't have one yet. Be sure to change my name to your name where noted.
/*
************************************************************************************
Dailies Script v1.0
by Jonathan R. Nelson
jonathan@jonathanrnelson.com
created 02/24/2004
----------------------
Quick Install
-------------
Copy the entire contents of this script into your own userSetup.mel
file in the maya\5.0\scripts\ folder, or just put this file in there if you don't have one yet. Be sure to @CHANGE YOUR NAME@ below in the second section!
More Detailed Explanation
-------------------------
This incredibly useful script adds some much needed improvements to the maya stage, especially for playblasts.
Addition #1 - Your very own name!
Addition #2 - Today's date!
Addition #3 - A Frame Counter!
How is this useful you ask? How is it not I ask you! Have you ever made an animatic in Premiere with cross fades and other transitions and been frustrated to not be able to quickly tell from your playblast exactly what frame some incredibly important event takes place? This fixes that! How about when you are working with a team of people on a single shot with multiple file versions and the producers decided they liked the shot from 17 versions ago, not the most curret one, and you can't remember what file that one was? Now you will, it's in the corner! Plus your name too so they know who to give the credit!
All of these simple (but seriously overlooked) additions can be turned on or off at will easily in the Display->Heads Up Display menu.
For additional help, email me at jonathan@jonathanrnelson.com
- Jonathan R. Nelson
************************************************************************************
*/
//GETTING TODAY'S DATE
global proc string tdate()
{
string $qwert = eval("system(\"date /t\")");
return $qwert;
}
//ADDING YOUR NAME
headsUpDisplay
-section 5
-block 2
-blockSize "small"
-dfs "small" // change to "large" for a bigger size
-ao 1
-l "Jonathan R. Nelson" // <--CHANGE YOUR NAME HERE
-command tdate
-atr
HUDArtistName;
//ADDING YOUR NAME MENU ITEM
global string $gHeadsUpDisplayMenu;
menuItem
-parent $gHeadsUpDisplayMenu
-checkBox true
-label "YOUR Name"
-command "headsUpDisplay -e -vis #1 HUDArtistName"
-annotation "Your Name: Toggle the display of YOUR name here";
//ADDING THE SCENE NAME
headsUpDisplay
-section 5
-block 3
-blockSize "small"
-dfs "small" // change to "large" for a bigger size
-l "scene"
-command "file -q -sn"
-atr
HUDSceneName;
//ADDING THE SCENE NAME MENU ITEM
global string $gHeadsUpDisplayMenu;
menuItem
-parent $gHeadsUpDisplayMenu
-checkBox true
-label "Scene Name"
-command "headsUpDisplay -e -vis #1 HUDSceneName"
-annotation "Scene Name: Toggle the display of file name";
//ADDING FRAME COUNTER
headsUpDisplay
-section 5
-block 1
-blockSize "small"
-dfs "large"
-ao 1
-l frame
-command "currentTime -q"
-atr
HUDFrameCount;
//ADDING FRAME COUNTER MENU ITEM
global string $gHeadsUpDisplayMenu;
menuItem
-parent $gHeadsUpDisplayMenu
-checkBox true
-label "Frame Counter"
-command "headsUpDisplay -e -vis #1 HUDFrameCount"
-annotation "Frame Counter: Toggle the display of frame counter";