DotXSI4MayaSL
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The dotXSI4MayaSL plug-in
Moving data across different products has always been a challenge for both users and tool developers. It's like translating a document from French to English automaticaly. You can translate it using a word to word method ( babelfish way ) or translating sentences as concept, idioma, etc... There are many ways for translating documents. The best methods are when there is human intervention. Like when a translator translate a novel. You'll even get a better result if there's communication between the author and the translator. Because the translator under the concepts, ideas and the style of the author.
The goal for this plug-in is to simplify the job of the users for moving Maya assets into XSI as easy as possible. The biggest problem is that the tool developer doesn't know how the Maya scene was created and which are the interest of the user. Perfect conversion is almost impossible.
For the dotXSI4MayaSL plug-in, general scene analysis is done by passes and a UI is also provided for providing input to the converter.
The medium use to transport the asset is the dotXSI format ( v3.6 ).
The second phase will be to add support for dotXSI (v5.0)
Downloading
The dotXSI Xchange for Maya plug-in is a free, unsupported gift from Softimage.
The plug-in will evolve over time.
This product converts only a subset of the Maya scene; additional functionality is being addressed in ongoing releases such as this version. Current feature coverage is listed in this document.
You must meet two criteria to operate this plug-in:
- Be a registered owner of Maya
- Have access to a linking tool (a standard part of a development environment, such as Microsoft® VisualStudio™)
dotXSI Xchange for Maya is an unsupported gift. However, you are welcome to send questions, comments, bug reports and business enquiries to support@softimage.com
To download the dotXSI Xchange for Maya plug-in:
- Go to http://www.softimage.com/downloads/default.aspx.
- In the list of products, click Converters.
- Click the version of the plug-in you want to download.
Building the converter
For legal reasons, we are required to package the converter as object code (as opposed to a compiled plug-in or source code).
This means that you will need to assemble the plugin yourself using a standard development tool such as Microsoft® Visual Studio .NET™ We have provided the materials to streamline this process as much as possible.
Maya 8.0 Converter
Windows 32
Supported version of Visual Studio: .Net2003 and up
- Download Xerces 2.1.0 from http://xml.apache.org/dist/xerces-c/archives/Xerces-C_2_1_0/xerces-c2_1_0-win32.zip. Extract Xerces from the zip file.
- Extract the contents of DotXSIxchange1.2.2Maya8.0AllPlatforms.zip.
- Open a visual Studio .NET command Prompt.
- Change directory to the DotXSIxchange1.2.2Maya8.0AllPlatforms\Win32Maya8.0 folder.
- Edit the linkall.bat file to set the correct paths for Maya and Xerces. The linkall.bat file is read-only, so you have to change the file properties so you can save any changes you make.
- Run linkall.bat to link all the .obj files and build the dotXSI4MayaSL.mll binary file.
- Copy dotXSI4MayaSL.mll to the Maya8.0\bin\plug-ins folder
- Copy dotXSIExpOptionsSL.mel to the Maya8.0\scripts\others folder.
Windows 64
Supported version .Net2005 and up.
- Unzip the package file.
- Open a visual Studio .NET command Prompt.
- Change directory to the Windows version of dotXSI4MayaSL. i.e Win32Maya8.0 directory.
- Edit the linkall.bat file to assure the path of Maya is accurate.
- Execute linkall.bat - This will link all the .obj to build the dotXSI4MayaSL.mll binary file.
- Copy the content of the win64Dependencies folder into the Maya8.0\bin folder.
Linux
This linux version was tested using gcc 3.4.3. We beleive it will work with version version >= 3.4
- Unzip the package file.
- Change directory to the Linux version of dotXSI4MayaSL directory. i.e. LinuxMaya8.0 folder
- Edit the Makefile to assure the path of Maya and the path of the FTK are accurate. i.e. MAYA_LOCATION variable.
- Execute make -f Makefile - This will build the dotXSI4MayaSL.so binary file
- Copy the libxerces-c.so into the Maya8.0/bin path or add it the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable.
Maya 6.5/7.0 Converter
Windows
This means that you will need to assemble the plugin yourself using a standard development tool such as Microsoft® Visual Studio .NET™ We have provided the materials to streamline this process as much as possible.
- Unzip the package file.
- Open a visual Studio .NET command Prompt.
- Change to the Windows version of dotXSI4MayaSL directory.
- Change to the Maya version folder of the plugin version.
- Edit the linkall.bat file to assure the path of Maya and the path of the FTK are accurate.
- Execute linkall.bat - This will link all the .obj to build the dotXSI4MayaSL.mll binary file.
Linux
- Unzip the package file.
- Change to the Linux version of dotXSI4MayaSL directory.
- Change to the Maya version folder of the plugin version.
- Edit the Makefile to assure the path of Maya and the path of the FTK are accurate..
- Execute make -f Makefile - This will build the dotXSI4MayaSL.so binary file
Installing the converter
Copy the converter binary into a folder < c:\foo\stuff >. Put the following variables inside the Maya.env inside the following path similar to this one C:\Documents and Settings\martinb\My Documents\maya\6.5
MAYA_SCRIPT_PATH = c:\foo\stuff
MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH = c:\foo\stuff
List of supported features
This Maya plugin is made for Maya 6.5 and Maya 7.0 for the Linux and Windows OS.
Objects that do not appear in the following list are unsupported and are exported as NULL objects.
Supported objects:
For the EXPORT:
- Camera
- Exported as a rig.
- Animation on
- Transformation
- FOV
- Lights
- Directional
- Point
- Spot (exported as a rig)
- Animation on
- Transformation
- Color
- Cone
- Spread
- Constraints
- Direction
- Scaling
- Position
- Orientation
- Nulls (Locators)
- Animation on
- Transformations
- Polygon Meshes
- Geometry
- Envelopes
- Multiple UVs
- Color Vertices
- Normals
- Animation on
- Transformation
- Geometry (shape)
- NURBS Surfaces
- Geometry
- Open/Closed
- Linear/Cubic
- Envelope
- Animation on
- Geometry (shape)
- Transformation
- NURBS Curve
- Geometry
- Open/Closed
- Linear/Cubic
- Animation on
- Transformation
- Inverse Kinematics
- Exported as Forward Kinematics with Nulls
- Material
- Lambert
- Phong
- Blinn
For the IMPORT:
- Objects that do not appear in the following list are unsupported and are exported as NULL objects.
Supported objects:
- Nulls (Locators)
- Animation on Transformations
- Polygon Meshes
- Geometry
- Multiple UVs
- Normals
- Animation on Transformations
- Materials
- NURBS Surfaces
- Geometry
- Open/Closed
- Linear /Cubic
- Animation on Transformations
- Materials
Tips and Tricks
( looking for contribution )
Transferring camera data from Maya to XSI
To obtain accurate correspondence between Maya and XSI camera data, you need to make a few tweaks to the camera setup after importing has finished - here's what's missing:
- Up-Vector Constraint
Select the imported camera inside XSI and go to it's property. Change the Up-Vector Constraint by clicking Select button and pick the <camName>_UpVector object sibling to the camera.
- Picture Ratio
Match the camera.format.aspect or Pict. Ratio parameter from the imported camera in XSI to the Maya camera value called "Film Aspect Ratio".
General Maya scene setup before exporting
If possible you should try to Freeze the geometry before exporting from Maya. There are known issue that can't be fixed using the "Add Null to compensate for Rotate Pivot" Option. If you can't freeze because of animation, you should try exporting the scene using the "offset center for pivot" option.
