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View Full Version : MEL in 2009 - External editor necessary?

danshewan
03-25-2010, 01:05 PM
So I'm just starting to get more involved with scripting, specifically MEL. I figured it'd be better to get a grasp of MEL scripting before starting to learn Python.

I'm using Maya 2009, and before I start getting my hands dirty, I'm wondering if Maya's default Script Editor is sufficient for a beginner, or should I be looking at external editors?

I really haven't done much yet, so I'm unsure if Maya 2009 supports features such as syntax highlighting, and I hoping to get some feedback on what more experienced MEL users are using and why, and what you'd recommend for someone new to MEL.

Thanks in advance for your input.
Rafael Braga
03-25-2010, 02:01 PM
Hey Danshewan!

The maya's mel script editor is ok for beginners.
There are no sintax highlights and colors in this.

Once you feel you are familiar with Mel/Python, you might want to use an external editor to programming your scripts/tools. But again, the maya's mel script editor isn't good enough, but it can make you happy at beginning :)

Good Luck!
Etoia
04-03-2010, 02:19 AM
If you are just starting out with mel scripting, I recommend that you use a simple editor (I found the maya script editor horrible prior to the 2011 one) :

- On Linux you can use kate with this mel Syntax Highlighter http://www.kreanimate.co.uk/site/index.php/Tools/Other/KWrite/Kate-MEL-Syntax-Highlighting.html

- On Windows you can use Notepad++ (there is a portable version of it if you want).You may find the Mel syntax on CreativeCash.com

Personaly, I use Eclipse+Pydev+Eclipse Mel-editor with Mapy to connect to Maya and send my scripts/commands.But I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner (or for someone who just want to write littles scripts from times to times).
ThE_JacO
04-07-2010, 04:39 AM
The default pre 2011 script editor isn't ok for anybody really, pro or beginner. It's worth reading about it and learning a couple things and some of its idiosyncratic crap anyway because it's always useful to know your way around the OOTB software or being able to do something quickly, but past that it's as far from a good text editor as you can possibly get without explicitly trying to make an editor useless.

If you're on windows and can fork out a few bucks mel studio pro is alright and will make things a little bit easier while still having a decent integration. If you don't want to fork out money or you're on linux then try a few freebies (crimson, np++, scite or one of the million scintilla based editors) and find one you like and that doesn't take you years to setup in a way you like. Maybe for the time being stay away from config heavy, highly customizable but intimidating full fledged IDEs (so give eclipse, netbeans etc. a miss for now maybe).

Getting used to pushing things in and out of maya won't be too hard anyway with MEL, since there's not much you can do past loading a file and sourcing it or running it.
Python at a certain level becomes more interesting and involved, but you can probably cross that bridge when you get to it :)
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