modifying the toolbox

[brenly]

Im sure someone out there has atleast tried to change the toolbox. Learning to use QWERT keys for translate,rotate etc is the first thing you learn in Maya making the Tool box almost redundant.

[cpan]

go to Program Files\Alias\Maya7.0\scripts\startup and locate toolbox.mel. Now open this script in a text editor and give a search inside it with the "move" keyword. You should find smth like this:

...
toolButton
-doubleClickCommand toolPropertyWindow
-tool moveSuperContext
-image1 "move_M.xpm"
moveTool;
... (below the move should be the rotate/scale/etc toolButtons)

All you need to do is to change the -tool and -image1 flags to another toolContext/image :)
btw type currentCtx in the commandline while a tool is active to find what u need to write on the -tool flag :). Also you may need to initalize the tools at maya's startup so their context is available for the toolbox.

-p

[brenly]

thanks for that .. Ill give it ago ..

[brenly]

Niiice! One problem, running currentctx in the command line didnt seem to pull up the right name that the -tool flag needed. I tested this with the other tools in the tool box.. Do you know of any other way of getting tool names? Does Maya have list somewhere??Also where does Maya go looking for the .xpm files, I did a search for them and I couldnt find the ones in the tool box. thanks ..

[Iconoklast]

The context for the paint select tool is: artSelectContext
As far as the icons, I remember someone mentioning the fact that the maya icons are stored within a file or something, so you won't find them by doing a search on your machine.
So, to get the icon for the paint select tool, you might want to try adding the tool to the shelf, open the shelf.mel in a text editor, and take a look what icon it points to, and just copy the text over to the toolbox script.

[amannin]

why not just make a hotkey for it, and not mess with any of the Maya Default scripts? besides, the lasso select tool is pretty useful...

[brenly]

Already got tons of hotkeys .. I just see these rarely used buttons on my interface and think why not change them for something Id actually use. The toolbox is handy when your starting off but after a few years of using Maya you learn to bypass it. I think if its on the interface it should be something that is used often.

[Iconoklast]

There's nothing wrong with modifying the default scripts (functionality would be very limited if we did not have the option to modify these scripts). Just aslong as you dont edit the default scripts directly, and make sure to copy them to the local maya directory in documents and settings and modify them there.

[cpan]

Niiice! One problem, running currentctx in the command line didnt seem to pull up the right name that the -tool flag needed. I tested this with the other tools in the tool box.. Do you know of any other way of getting tool names? Does Maya have list somewhere??Also where does Maya go looking for the .xpm files, I did a search for them and I couldnt find the ones in the tool box. thanks ..


ah, i think your problem is that those contexts aren't created atm you create the toolButton, so an error message gets spited out saying that that context doesn't exist.
To fix this you need to create the contexts (in the toolbox.mel) right before you're creating the toolButtons... You'll have to make some searches in the scripts/others to find out what you need to write down in order to create the context for a specific tool.

Anyway, here's how to make a button for the paint select tool (replace one of the other toolButtons with this code):

// right here we create the context -- found this in the artSelectToolScript.mel. notice you can find here the icons name too :)

string $tool = "artSelectContext";
if( ! `artSelectCtx -exists $tool` )
rememberCtxSettings `artSelectCtx -i1 "artSelect.xpm" $tool`;

// and now create the toolButton
toolButton
-doubleClickCommand toolPropertyWindow
-tool artSelectContext
-image1 "artSelect.xpm"
mySuperPaintSelectTool;


-p

[brenly]

:] Yashu the .xpm is working but Im still getting an error with -tool artSelectContext. Sorry I dont know enough to go digging into Maya to find out how to get that tool to work in the tool box .. So annoying, I now have the icon but no tool ..

[cpan]

just add all the code i've wrote above in the buttons section of the toolbox.mel.

btw here's the toolbox.mel (maya 7) with the paint select tool added insead of the move tool. Take a look at this one and if u got anymore problems feel free to say them :)

[brenly]

Sorry .. I see what you mean .. Got it now. So not as easy as what I was hoping. Thanks for your help.
Actually I was thinking about the toolbox this morning I and thought it would be nice to see the same functionality that photoshop has with its toolbox. You can select the tool in the tool box but by holding down the mouse itll bring up a drop box with variants of the tool which you can select. Thus allowing you to modify an otherwise rarely used window.

thanks!

[Jozvex]

Hi brenly, ages ago now I made a web-browser based replacement Toolbox for Maya as shown in this thread:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=145915

In the second last post is a screenshot and you can download it. My buttons probably aren't any use to you but you can modify any of it to suit your needs. Basically you can create any toolbar you like using html! It's great!

[goleafsgo]

You can select the tool in the tool box but by holding down the mouse itll bring up a drop box with variants of the tool which you can select.
Actually Maya can do this. In my Blog here at CGTalk I wrote a bit on how to do it and gave an example of a ToolBox which sits on the right side of the screen wich has buttons like that. I think in the example I had the regular Select tool, the Paint selection tool, and the Lasso tool all on the same button.

[Iconoklast]

That's hot..

Hi brenly, ages ago now I made a web-browser based replacement Toolbox for Maya as shown in this thread:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=145915

In the second last post is a screenshot and you can download it. My buttons probably aren't any use to you but you can modify any of it to suit your needs. Basically you can create any toolbar you like using html! It's great!

[cpan]

Sorry .. I see what you mean .. Got it now. So not as easy as what I was hoping. Thanks for your help.


nah, it doesn't seem too hard to me :P just some keyword searching in the scripts dir, nothing complicated :)
PS if you have some tools that u don't know how to create the context for (or don't know the icon name, command, blabla), give me their list and i'll search these for u :thumbsup:


Actually I was thinking about the toolbox this morning I and thought it would be nice to see the same functionality that photoshop has with its toolbox. You can select the tool in the tool box but by holding down the mouse itll bring up a drop box with variants of the tool which you can select. Thus allowing you to modify an otherwise rarely used window.


You can add a RMB popup menu to the any toolButton, containing other kind of tools or tool settings menus. Not exactly like in photoshop, but better in my opinion since you don't have to wait for the secodary tools menu to appear. Just use LMB for the main tool and RMB for the secodary ones :)

:thumbsup:


ehe Jozvex, pretty cool idea :)
that way we could even rewrite the whole maya UI using a flash / html based interface ;)
yum :D

[brenly]

Jozvex very nice .. I hope Maya take on that idea an integrate it more into Maya 8. Making it more accessable to the everyday user like myself. This is more like it .. Maya has SUCH potential to be the BEST 3D software package. In terms of useability (interface) I think its trailing XSI and Max .. at the moment. Maybe Autodesk will give it the overhaul it needs.

Yashu .. Im going to take u up on your offer. Could you lay out the toolbox like so
Delete history
paint select tool
split edge ring tool
Planar mapping tool
move tool
universal manipulator
Soft modification
Show manipulator tool

and if your feeling really generous could you added RMB to
Paint select > Lasso select
split edge ring tool>Split polygon tool>Cut faces tool
planar mapping>cylinderical mapping>Spherical mapping>Automatic Mapping

I totally owe you one!! Dont know how to repay u apart from saying that you having one very appreciative person on the otherside of the planet!!! Thanks !!

[cpan]

here u go brenly :)

just wrote the code and it seems to work ok. But if u find some bugs or want some changes don't hesitate to post here :)

to install, copy the toolbox.mel in your scripts dir/

cheers :thumbsup:

[brenly]

OMG!!!
This is it! Auto desk should have a look at this. I luv the way u can select a tool or by leaving the pointer over the tool the other related tools will be revealed like photoshop. This wasted bit of screen real estate has now become extremely useful. Thanks a million!!

Ive got another request while Im in the begging mode .. its got to do with the UV editor. Just wondering if it was possible to hack into it and change how some of the UV tool buttons work. No problems if it cant be done but just throwing this out just in case. First off is the 'Split Select UV' UV tool button. It works by splitting along edges to create borders. I noticed if you select a load of faces and hit the button it will seperate all the UVs so that you can move the selection away from the rest of the UVs which is nice but it seperates all the selected UVs. It would be nice if it would somehow just seperate all the border UVs and keep the UVs inside the selection still merged. I hope this makes sense.
Second request is the UV edit buttons .."U coordinate, V coordinate" I dont know who actually uses them and what for but it would be great if instead of working on individual UVs worked on a bunch of UVs at once and kept their relative spacing. You could select all your UVs and have them moved accross the UV space by one or any value you place in the numerical boxes. Also another two entry boxes for scaling UVs would be very handy ..

Anyway just a suggestion ... thanks again for the ToolBox!!!

[yinako]

whats this big fuss about toolbox, its just one of the shelfs placed vertically, I can't see how its all that useful.

[brenly]

I dont mean to offend but its this kind of attitude that is holding Maya back. And that is the problem .. the toolbox is not all that useful in its current state ... Maya has all the tools but its interface is so convoluted that its often hard to find things. Im using Max at the moment (for a short term) and Ive found it far more intuitive than Maya with its well thought out tools are a dream to work with. It didnt take me long to see why Max users hate coming over to Maya especially from the modelling side. I think XSI has the best interface. I luv the way the tools that run down the sides of the interface change according to the mode your working in .. modeling, animation etc .. I thought it must have been Alias but now Im suspecting its the users who are holding Maya back, users who dont know of anything better. Sorry Im just venting ..

[Iconoklast]

The reason why you'll get responses similar to Yinako's about the UI, is because in Maya a lot of people orient themselves around Marking Menus, rather than icons.

I, for example, don't use the shelf or toolbox, just because everything I need is in marking menus, but that's not to say other people don't use the shelf or toolbox, or a more intuitive UI wouldn't be beneficial.
I think though, that the UI improvements people would like to see are adjustments to the Channel Box and other information/adjustable driven UI components.
I can't stand XSI because it's very UI oriented, but at the same time is a very good application.

You'll find on a percentage basis, most people using Maya (at least in this forums) will probably comment on the same regarding the marking menu/ui issue, but I could be wrong.

[brenly]

I still remember when I moved over to Maya, I was so excited about marking menus .. that was a whiile back now. I luv and use them all the time but I have to say I find them a little slow at times, there seems to be a slight delay for them to appear .. could be just my graphics card or machine. Also I guess Im slightly more visually oriented hence Im a 3D artist, so pretty icons appeal to me. I find with icons I dont have to think as much just push and result. At the end of the day Im trying to get it all workind nicely .. interface,MM,hotkeys. I find I am more creative when my work method is fluid. When Im not thinking about where to find a tool.
So Im totally appreciative of people like yourself who are prepared to help people like myself with tool/interface modification requests.

[goleafsgo]

I luv and use them all the time but I have to say I find them a little slow at times, there seems to be a slight delay for them to appear .. could be just my graphics card or machine.
Ok...this came up in another thread recently and I was surprised by how many people didn't actually know this. Marking menus are not supposed to popup instantly. The point of marking menus is to "flick" the mouse in a direction (or multiple directions) and execute a command without actually seeing the menu. If you pause for an instant it will show you the menu, but if you know the direction for the command you want then your aren't really supposed to wait for the menu to pop up.

[brenly]

OK .. is there anyway to make them pop up instantly?? Or is that hard coded? Beacause Maya is the only program that I use which uses MM my brain finds it a little hard to come accustomed to doing things with a flick of the mouse. Altho from now on Ill try and train myself to take advantage of them. thanks.

[avinashlobo]

Personally, I agree with yinako. Modifying the toolbox is a pretty involved process while custom shelf creation and modification couldn't get much simpler & you can just as easily hide the toolbox.

Detaching yourself from Maya's lingo, you'll see that the shelf is really just a horizontal toolbar anyway. The vertical toolbar (toolbox) is just a housing ground for Maya's so-called 'sacred' tools, every single one of which has a the smartest set of hotkeys assigned to it out of the box (q, w, e, r, t & y - except that horrific soft-selection tool which shouldn't be there anyway)

My recommendation - hide the toolbox, use a custom shelf.

On a side note - if you're not liking the marking menus, you're missing out on what's probably the best part of Maya's interface. No other application (many of which have attempted to clone the marking menu system), comes close to the solid feel, speed & customization that Maya's MM system affords you.

[brenly]

Actually youll be suprised how few people actually take advantage of the MM. Ive worked in a number of companies that were Maya based. I saw lots of shelf and hot key action but not too much MM going on. Maya is the only one that approaches the MM as a flick of the mouse, that I know of. Max and Modo use it but its just a visual display. I dont know what other people think but for me it seems really hard to remember the strokes. But I guess I havent bothered to sit down and force myself to learn them .. Its about time I did .. so here I go .. time to rewire the neural networks..

[yinako]

Actually youll be suprised how few people actually take advantage of the MM. Ive worked in a number of companies that were Maya based. I saw lots of shelf and hot key action but not too much MM going on. Maya is the only one that approaches the MM as a flick of the mouse, that I know of. Max and Modo use it but its just a visual display. I dont know what other people think but for me it seems really hard to remember the strokes. But I guess I havent bothered to sit down and force myself to learn them .. Its about time I did .. so here I go .. time to rewire the neural networks..

thats because some people don't use maya very heavily, just like I don't use illustrator all that often, and when I do I'm not gong to know their hot keys so I'll need the go to the tool box. and the toolbox in Maya is for people like them, who don't want to know about qwert keys. I have seen animator who manipulate pose by click the move icon on the shelf all the time, for some modelers that would be very funny...

but if you want to get heavily in maya Marking menu is designed for that, you don't need to modify the toolbox.

[Emil3d]

.. Ive worked in a number of companies that were Maya based. I saw lots of shelf and hot key action but not too much MM going on....Are they still in business? If I ever have employees it will be “you ether flick or you are fired”:):):)

But seriously, MM is a genius idea that every program should have. Nothing can be faster than MMs that don’t require holding a key and only one button / one hand hotkeys can be faster than MM that requires holding a key. But there are only that much keys on a keyboard and only a small part of it is really convenient.
If one can’t remember where a command is on marking menu, he won’t’ remember its hotkey or the shelf and it place on a shelf either and will take even longer to find it. Usually people can’t remember commands that they don’t’ use often, then a little wait for a marking menu to appear won’t make much difference. Usual workflow requires repetitive tasks and the MMs allows you to become a power user, people who jump between completely different sessions, interfaces, programs, or even systems they usually always use the main menu and logic to find an appropriate command which is the slowest method and thus the opposite of a power user.

[goleafsgo]

MM is a genius idea that every program should have.
I believe that the part of MM's where you actually don't have to post them is patented. I think popup pie-shaped menus in general are not patented but the whole "flicking" motion thing is. I haven't read the entire patent but I think that part is in there.

Which I believe why in app's like Modo who have something similar actually have to post the menu. I believe in Modo you have the pie shaped menu's and you gesture in a direction but the menu always comes up?

[brenly]

Thanks guys this thread has been very useful!!
goleafsgo thanks! Now I understand the theory behind MM .. NICE! Ill spread the word.
Yashu .. the toolbar Rocks!

[Emil3d]

MM is a genius idea that every program should have..I believe that the part of MM's where you actually don't have to post them is patented.So what do we do?:shrug: I suggest a hunger strike until the other companies pay the royalties and implement the flick.:sad:

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