MayaVisualizerTools

Python modules, Mel scripts, and related data to help make Caustic Visualizer for Maya even better.

Caustic Visualizer is a interactive raytraced 3D rendering tool from Imagination Technologies that extends Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® 3Ds Max®. You can find out more about it and even get a trial edition at http://www.caustic.com

The scripts here are public, open, and NOT part of the standard Visualizer release -- they're provided to help users be even more awesome.

Current Contents

• Caustic Concierge is a one-button scene-prep tool -- load or create any scene, and have the Concierge prep all the settings to ensure good out-of-the-box results with Caustic Visualizer: IBL settings, linear color workflow, proper shadow setups, etc. Concierge now also watches for Maya hypershade issues and provides guidance for translation. (Python)

• CVSettingsManager provides Maya presets for the Caustic Visualizer viewport -- you can quickly jump between different setups depending on whether you want fast flipbooks, WYSIWYG matching to the Batch Renderer, etc. It also provides easy shortcuts for copyng values bwteen the two render contexts and shortcuts to the settings windows. (Python)

• ShadowPanel provides a single-dialog panel for managing all the shadows and key lighting properties in your scene. (Python)

• CausticVisualizer_IBL_Setup makes sure that your mental ray stringOptions are up to date. This functionality is also included in the Caustic Concierge. The script here is exactly the one mentioned in recent Caustic forums posts and in this tutorial video: https://vimeo.com/68349810 (Mel)

• MatchAttr is a tiny Mel-script-editor utility that's useful when hunting-down specific attributes on a Maya node -- it matches their names against a regex (Mel)

Installation

You can download & install these tools with or without a (free) GitHub account -- though with an account is easier!

1. Clone the repo or download and unpack the ZIP file to your desired location
2. Open the Maya file open_me_to_install.ma & then restart Maya -- Maya will do the rest for you

Of course, if you like the Old School Ways, just copy the .mel and .py files to your existing Maya script locations. If you use the New Way, then anytime you pull updates into the same directory, they'll be available instantly in Maya, no further installation required.

Enjoy, and please feel free to comment, share, and especially contribute here on GitHub.

kb, 5 Sept 2013