newbie question

[dmcgrath]

I actually don't know what you mean.
Try this: Open up Maya, go to the command line and type this in, for me.
polyCube;

You'll see what you get is a cube, you don't have to type in three lines of code for one cube. So I don't understand what you mean.

If you are referring to the actual procedure that Maya has to go through to make the polyCube behind the scene, then that's a bit different.
Maybe you mean all these other little things liek this:
polyCube -w 3 -h 3 -d 3 -sx 2 -sy 2 -sz 2 -ax 0 1 0 -tx 1 -ch 1;

all these "-"s are called flags, they are specific parameters for the procedure polyCube.

Now the reason why MEL is so great for animators (and really for anybody else) is easy. MEL gives you a great amount of flexibility, you can do your own programming, make your own procedures, etc.

You can make all your repetitive tasks into one call button, or one script. The possibilities are really wide open.
Since I am assuming you are new to Maya, I would recommend not getting into MEL right away. Use it for a while to get the hang of it, and then move into MEL. It is a really important step, but many people have used Maya for years and never really needed to use MEL.

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.