Chapter 2. Installation

Overview

The installation consists of the following steps:

• Copy the MEL scripts into a scripts folder of Maya.

• Copy the correct version of the DPK_bcs plugin into a plugins folder of Maya.

• Set up Maya to load the BCS plugin.

• Set up and configure hotkeys.

• Create any shelf buttons you want to have in order to conveniently open the main and/or other user interfaces of the BCS and its tools.

Note In contrast to MEL scripts, which, in most cases, work independently of the platform they’re used on, plugins have to be compiled for the Maya version and platform they are going to be used with.

Copying the Files

• Extract the file you’ve downloaded.

• Copy the “.mel” files into your scripts directory (e.g.: ../maya/scripts).

• Copy the plugin file for your OS and Maya version into your plugin directory (e.g.: ../maya/plug-ins). You can find the different versions in sub-folders of the plugin_files folder. If there’s no plugin for your platform and Maya version, please contact me at: daniel@dpk.stargrav.com

Loading the Plugin

If you’re not familiar with installing and loading plugins into Maya, here are the steps in detail:

• Start Maya.

• Open the Plug-in Manager (“Window->Settings/Preferences->Plug-in Manager…”).

• If you don’t find the DPK_bcs plugin, click the Browse button and navigate to the plugin you copied.

• Select both loaded and auto load. If this doesn’t work, you have copied the wrong version.

Hotkeys

The BCS package contains a few tools that benefit and/or require certain hotkeys to be present. For easier installation of the hotkey commands, there is a MEL script that makes them known to Maya.

To “register” all of these hotkeys at once, simply execute the MEL statement: DPK_registerHotkeys;

This will not alter any hotkeys you have assigned. It will just add new hotkey commands to the Hotkey Editor, so that you can assign an actual key or key-combination of your choice.

The commands that are registered are:

• DPK_toggleView
  This is used to trigger a Toggle View setup. See 10.2 Installation in Chapter 10. Toggle View for more information on how to set up and use this hotkey.

• DPK_toggleSmoothing
  This triggers a Toggle Smoothing setup that is part of a Toggle View setup. See Chapter 10. Toggle View for more information.

• DPK_UpperRadius_PaintDeformMM_Press and
  DPK_UpperRadius_PaintDeformMM_Release
  These two are used by the Paint Deform tool. They are used to show a dynamic marking menu for quickly switching the target object while painting with Paint Deform. Please see Opening the Menu in 8.4 The PaintDeform Marking Menu.

The following are just small helpers that might come in handy sometimes:

• DPK_toggleManipMode
  This will toggle the Move Tool between “World” and “Normal” mode when the selection is in component mode.

• DPK_toggleWireframeOnShaded
  This will toggle the wireframe display on and off when in shaded mode.

• DPK_isolateToggle
  This switches the Isolate Select state on and off.

• DPK_isolateAdd
  Use this to quickly add the selected objects or components to the set of objects to be displayed in the view when in Isolate Select mode.

• DPK_isolateRemove
  Use this to quickly remove the selected objects or components from the set of objects to be displayed.

Shelf Buttons

When working on a BCS setup, you will often need the main BCS UI. For easily opening this UI, you can create a shelf button with the following MEL command:

• DPK_bcsUI;

Apart from the main UI, the BCS package contains several additional tools. Here is a list of commands you might consider for further shelf buttons:

• DPK_mirrorGeoUI;
  This opens the UI for Mirror Geometry. For more information, see Chapter 7. Mirror Geometry.

• DPK_paintDeform;
  Opens the Paint Deform UI. See Chapter 8. Paint Deform for more information.

• DPK_rotateDeltasUI;
  This will open the UI for Rotate Deltas. See Chapter 9. Rotate Deltas for more information.

• DPK_toggleViewSetup;
  Use this command to open the setup window for creating Toggle View and Toggle Smoothing setups. For more information, see Chapter 10. Toggle View.

Note The above commands should be executed as MEL commands. You will get errors if you try to execute them in Python mode.