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 Welcome to MGtools v1.0 !
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MGtools is an free mel package for Maya character animator. I myself am an 3d animator in China.
This tool package is written for great efficiency and speed in your workflow so that animator can focus more on animation acting.
All tools are written in MEL language, All operation are Maya's default node operation, So don't be worried about the universal aspect of your scene file.
This Help system will explain every single tool in detail.
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 MGtools' main feature list:
| • | Neat, flexible, decent designed UI. 
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| • | U can embed any user MEL, integrate them into a single bar and into popupMenu of MGtools's MGshelf icon as well.
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| • | U can embed any folder shortCut.by this animators can visit certain folder very quickly. There are "Maya program directory","Maya script directory","Maya failSave directory " quick entry in popup Menu as well.
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| • | U can embed any file / program shortCut to quickly visit them.
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| • | Floating MGchannelBox, and there are special features beside the default features of Maya's channelBox.These functions are all base on MarkingMenu.
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| • | Selection set feature which is base on exterior ".set" file. All this set could be listed both in long name and shelf mode in Selection set UI. meanwhile the selection set can be retargeted to select the other characters. All sets could be converted into traditional shelf and vice versa 。(Which is often the favorite of most animators.) They could be saved with your scenes if U want .(Using Loators)
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| • | Selection Manager, U can manager selection temporarily very easily. for example : Current selection plus / Minus / Intersect the former selection / Copy paste animation.
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| • | Constraint Tool, which is build for great efficiency in constraint objects. When doing constrainting, it will autoSkip the locked channels of the object to be contrainted, or constraint the second selection's parent,etc.
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| • | Constraint lister. Select constrainted object and load it ,U r able to select among the contrainter , contrainted object and the contraint node quickly, clear constraint, correct weight attr name,or export / Import constraint offset ,etc.
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| • | Select smoothBind joint via selected vertex.Use this joint to constraint props or something.
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| • | Export / Import constraint offset. (Using external file)
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| • | Two or three viewport configuration switch which could be customized. No longer need to click all stuff in maya's viewPort menuItems.
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| • | Display layer set. U can store the display layer information as an external file.Use them to build displayLayer quickly.
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| • | Snap feature. This could be the tool U gonna used most. Other than most other snap tools, it is speciallized for animation stage other than rigging stage . U can quick snap feet, point snap, orient snap, or relative snap. all this snap will be resulted in keyframe. A boring snap progress could be finished in a jiffy and intuitively .
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| • | Animatable pivot stuff. Make selected controller 's pivot be animatable without a pop. The Pivot stuff will be independent to selection and control the latter with constraint.
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| • | MG-Animation Library. U can built and update your library directly through the Mel UI. Export / Import animation become so easy.
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| • | MG-Timer. record time in any frame rate or HH:MM:SS like form. U can input time data to covert to other frame rate as well.
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| • | MB-MA Converter .Sometime maya will popout "Scenes can't change format" warning which u can used this tool to handle.
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| • | Reference tools. Export / Import reference, remove reference( with the namespace ), correcting namespace by force.
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| • | HUD Display. U can display Current Frame / Total Frames, Animator name, Scene name,Camera name information in your model panel view. U can also customize the position of them and after that it could be save as a external config file which could be reused in future.
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| • | Make the selection sticky in your model panel viewport, such as emotion control panel. U can build "sticky viewport " via current selection as well.
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| • | BackUP / Restore animation. These will be saved as locators with your working scenes.
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| • | Position marker. supports multi-selections and multi-frames.
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| • | Draw a curve via current selection's keyFrames / allFrames .The curve could be used in motionPath animation.
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| • | MotionPath calculator. input necessary information ,it will give u the right U value and the frame that helps preventing your character from floating feet.
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| • | All main futures could be set hotkey through MGtools config. also they could be installed to shelf, set to be autoloaded with maya.U can switch MGtools all UI language between English and Chinese. |
All these issues are fairy simply theoretically, but all of them are written for troubleshooting in animation stage. They really costed me a lot of time to write and debug. Hopes they could help U well.
About the author :
Miguel, 3D character animator. Visit the "Profile" link on the page head to know more.
Donate:
MGtools are completely free and will always remain free, which means you can use it free of charge for any purposes. If you are satisfied with MGtools and want to help MGtools improve or motivate the development of other quality programs, any amount of donation small or large will be welcome and gratefully appreciated.
Terms of Use:
This software is provided "as is", without any guarantee made as to its suitability or fitness for any particular use. It may contain bugs, so use of this tool is at your own risk. I take no responsibility for any damage that may unintentionally be caused through its use.
Platform:
MGtools currently could only be used in Microsoft Windows.
FeedBack:
Any bug reports or suggestion will be appreciated. U can click me or mail to MGLAND@gmail.com to send your feedback. Thx!
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