The Illinois of Art, Chicago
Programming for the Artist
Instructor: Lindsay Grace

 

Mel Resource Links:

There are a variety of very different resources about MEL scripting on the web. Some are very academic, others are just confusing. As always, the resources are of varying quality. I tried to list useful links that match the needs of most students in this course. I would strongly suggest you start with the Maya introduction I wrote for Illinois Institute of Art Students. It provides a basic list of syntax rules and common pitfalls designed specifically for students in our class. you might also want to try this introduction, or here, or here.

If you are interested in learning more about what MEL can do and why you should lear it, then you could stroll through the MEL overview on wikipedia.

If our discussion of for loops just didn't stick, you might want to try this free "video" tutorial from digital tutors. It's about loops.

I also really enjoyed, and have presented the simple to use and understand MEL scripts from Rob the Bloke. In class we will use a few of these to demonstrate interface construction. I'd also suggest using the book from which I learned (and am still learning), Complete Maya Programming. It's not a light read, and not practical page-by-page resource for the 4 weeks of MEL scripting you will be doing, but it may prove useful when you are stuck. Lastly, there is the MEL companion: Maya Scripting for 3D Artists, which looks promising, although I have not read it (yet).

Help with Assignment 1: Find and Present a Useful MEL Script

Your first assignment is to find a useful MEL script and present it. Highend3D is a good place to start, as their repository of Mel scripts offers a a healthy range of solutions. Highend has several scripts for download.

A few scripts ar worth reviewing in the supplementary website for the book, MEL Scripting for Maya Animators. There are also some older scripts (2001-2003) available here

Just for kicks, here's a job for a MEL Scripter at a game company in Sydney.

 

 

Last modified: August 30, 2008