In this two-disc set on MEL, Kevin Mannens introduces the rich possibilities of Maya's Embedded Language. With over ten hours of lecture, Kevin creates a well-structured foundation for Maya's scripting language. Through an in-depth look at what goes on under Maya's hood, he leads you to a firm understanding of commands, syntax and procedures. Based on real-life production examples of MEL scripts, the second disc of this set delves right into advanced scripting methods. By carefully dissecting every line of code in an existing script, you will learn about each command, Kevin's scripting workflows, tricks and common pitfalls.

• Script Editor
  
• External Editors
  
• Variables
  
• Data Types
  
• Conditionals
  
• Loops
  
• Procedures
  
• Top Down Design
  
• FormLayout
  
• PopUpMenu/MenuItem
  
• ListConnections
  
• PromptDialog
  
• StringArrayRemove
  
• GetPanel/ModelPanel
  
• CameraView
  
• ScriptJob

Chapters: Disk One
1. Introduction
2. What Is MEL and What Can I Do with It?
3. Looking at Maya with Different Eyes
4. Using MEL Commands
5. Variables and Data Types
6. Conditional Statements
7. Looping Statements
8. Procedures
9. Strategies for Designing MEL Scripts
10. Environment Variables and userSetup.mel

Chapters: Disk Two
1. Top Down Design of km_bookmarkManager
2. Creating a UI with formLayout
3. Populating Cameras & Bookmark textScrollLists
4. Renaming Elements in the TSL
5. Remaining RMB-functionality of Camera TSL
6. lookThroughBookmark & deleteBookmark
7. Copying Bookmarks
8. The "Add Bookmark" Button
9. Adding New Cameras with scriptJob
10. The Help Window

• Product Code: KMA01
• ISBN: 1-59762-942-1
• UPC: 805366015831
• Duration: 649 minutes
• Formats: DVD-ROM

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Kevin Mannens

Moving Picture Company

Kevin Mannens, a Belgian native, originally pursued an academic career at the University of Leuven, where he received his MA in philosophy. Due to a mind-boggling sequence of fortunate events, he regained consciousness and worked three years at the Alias|Wavefront (AW) European Support Centre as an application engineer. Traveling around Europe, Kevin worked with and trained AW clients such as Moving Picture Company, Double Negative, CFC, Cinesite and many more. Wanting a warmer climate and new professional challenges, Kevin moved to Manila, in the Philippines, for a job as Technical Director at ImagineAsia. He hasn’t looked back since and swears by his lifestyle as a lyrical vagabond, alternating between TD and SCUBA instructor, most recently in China, Malaysia, Philippines, New Zealand, Taiwan and Thailand. He is currently Technical Director at The Moving Picture Company in London. His feature film credits include: 10,000 BC and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.