About
This tool was made for artists who want to make their Maya projects more organized. It works by detecting the objects within the scene and assigning a prefix from a JSON file.
Users are also able to assign custom prefixes and suffixes using the textfield at the bottom. All prefixes and suffixes are able to be removed once assigned, and will only be assigned/removed once if buttons are pressed multiple times.
Assignment/removal works throughout group/transform hierarchy. So all object names and their transforms will be changed no matter their position within the outliner. Included with the tool is a installation/usage guide for artists.
Here is a quick graphic to illustrate how the tool algorithm works:
Learning
This was my first Maya-Python project that I’ve seen all the way through! I’ve had several WIPs for nearly a year now, but I wanted to finally finish one. Overall it was a really educational experience and I learned a lot more about JSONs, Maya, and Python whilst working on the project.
The base functionality of the project is fairly basic, the most difficult part was navigating Maya’s documentation. Maya is not open source, so finding backend information on it is fairly difficult. The Maya-Python documentation also leaves much to be desired. Most of my time was spent Googling and using Python to uncover Maya functionality.
I’ve since shared the tool with my classmates, and have been recording their feedback for future projects. I’m glad to have seen this project through and I’m looking forward to learning more!