Fianna
04-06-2009, 04:37 PM
Hi all - here is an update to a Maya tool previously called LevelTools. The new version is now called "LayoutTools2009 (http://area.autodesk.com/index.php/downloads_plugins/plugin_detail/layouttools2009/)". The new version is meant to be more general purpose. It is also now Mac compatible where as the older version was not.
"Introduction:
LayoutTools2009 replaces what was formerly known as "LevelTools". It is a suite of tools that was originally designed with game level assembly in mind. Over time however, it has become apparent that these tools were being used by many people outside of the games industry for basic layout and assembly of objects within a scene (e.g. assembling virtual sets, blocking out architectural spaces, populating environments with object, etc...) It was also evident that many Mac users required similar functionality, but unfortunately the previous versions did not support the Mac platform. Therefore LayoutTools2009 has been renamed to reflect it's more general purpose uses and has also been updated for Mac compatibility.
LayoutTools provides new functionality and also consolidates many of Maya's existing features into one streamlined, easy to use interface. The interface itself is broken down into 3 main sections: Layout, Display and Import.
The Layout section contains tools for the placement of objects within a scene. This includes positioning, orienting, aligning and snapping. Standard Maya features such as the AlignTool and the SnapTogetherTool are integrated into the UI, as well as new tools such as Target Snapping, Object Replicating and the OrientToTool.
The Display section provides controls for setting and adjusting the visual aspects of your scene and the objects within it. This includes tools for navigating through your scene such as the WalkCamera and utilities for storing information in your scene such as the FileAnnotation feature. It also contains simple controls for things such as view modes, panel settings, and geometry attributes just to name a few.
The Import section provides a simple icon based UI, which allows you to quickly and easily populate a scene from a library of objects. LayoutTools will search a user defined location for "importable" files and automatically builds icon buttons for each file that it finds. By simply clicking on an icon, the associated file can be imported or referenced into the scene and then easily positioned by clicking in the viewport and simply dragging it into place. A handy custom icon creation tool is also included.
Note: LayoutTools is compatible with older versions of Maya, although certain tools may not work in versions prior to Maya2008. See full documentation for details."
For more info+download >> http://area.autodesk.com/index.php/downloads_plugins/plugin_detail/layouttools2009/
"Introduction:
LayoutTools2009 replaces what was formerly known as "LevelTools". It is a suite of tools that was originally designed with game level assembly in mind. Over time however, it has become apparent that these tools were being used by many people outside of the games industry for basic layout and assembly of objects within a scene (e.g. assembling virtual sets, blocking out architectural spaces, populating environments with object, etc...) It was also evident that many Mac users required similar functionality, but unfortunately the previous versions did not support the Mac platform. Therefore LayoutTools2009 has been renamed to reflect it's more general purpose uses and has also been updated for Mac compatibility.
LayoutTools provides new functionality and also consolidates many of Maya's existing features into one streamlined, easy to use interface. The interface itself is broken down into 3 main sections: Layout, Display and Import.
The Layout section contains tools for the placement of objects within a scene. This includes positioning, orienting, aligning and snapping. Standard Maya features such as the AlignTool and the SnapTogetherTool are integrated into the UI, as well as new tools such as Target Snapping, Object Replicating and the OrientToTool.
The Display section provides controls for setting and adjusting the visual aspects of your scene and the objects within it. This includes tools for navigating through your scene such as the WalkCamera and utilities for storing information in your scene such as the FileAnnotation feature. It also contains simple controls for things such as view modes, panel settings, and geometry attributes just to name a few.
The Import section provides a simple icon based UI, which allows you to quickly and easily populate a scene from a library of objects. LayoutTools will search a user defined location for "importable" files and automatically builds icon buttons for each file that it finds. By simply clicking on an icon, the associated file can be imported or referenced into the scene and then easily positioned by clicking in the viewport and simply dragging it into place. A handy custom icon creation tool is also included.
Note: LayoutTools is compatible with older versions of Maya, although certain tools may not work in versions prior to Maya2008. See full documentation for details."
For more info+download >> http://area.autodesk.com/index.php/downloads_plugins/plugin_detail/layouttools2009/