The Undeclared Variable

Just moments ago Chad Dombrova announced that the PyMEL module will now be shipped with Maya starting with the 2011 release. The module itself will not be replacing the default Maya Python package. This is really great news and what makes it even better is that PyMEL will stay open source with the actual maintenance being handled by the same developers who have brought it this far. A small step in the right direction.

Nothing much to add, still watching the videos. Head over to CG Channel to get a sneak peak at what is on the horizon.

- Ed

Since the Durian team is a little too busy I thought it wouldn't hurt to try and get some Sintel banners out there. The last set of banners revolved around the pre-sale campaign so I am trying and get something more current in the ads rotation at the top of my website.

The Array for Maya script is undergoing a huge re-write and overhaul of all its code. Even though I have sworn off new features there will be one more, which is more of an amendment to a current feature than anything else. Outside of the new-ish feature will be a vast improvement in performance when changing the array count. Also all preview objects will now be contained within a group node which will clean up the Outliner considerably.

Since yesterday it seems that www.blenderart.org is down. When trying to view the page all I get is a database error that reads 'Error establishing a database connection'. I have not spoken with Sandra Gilbert, the editor, so I do not know any details.

To be honest I don't know why this movie was slammed so hard by critics, well let me take that back because I do. More and more I am starting to believe that critics are forgetting how it is to sit back with with a snack and a cold drink and just enjoy themselves without over analyzing every single frame of every single film ever made. Not every film needs to be ground breaking with a flawlessly written story and characters.

So yeah, it is done. I think this is it for features, if there are any serious bugs I will address those. Now on to the next headache...

Download from Creative Crash

Last year I released Array for Maya to the public. I got lots of great feedback from many happy users. However there was one major problem. The UI was only truly usable on Windows. Anybody out there with considerable time coding interfaces for Maya for multiple platforms is familiar with many of the limitations, especially when using formLayout.

Sorry, I can't help but gloat a little over getting our first review at Amazon and having it be a 5 star review at that. I can't believe it is nearing two years since I happened to make Kevin's acquaintance and started work on that book.

Review of Professional MEL Solutions for Production at Amazon.com

- Ed

Mike has released his 10th Blender 2.5 tour. He states "this is my longest tour to date ~50 minutes long :S". Like always his tours are worth time for anyone interested in Blender 2.5 changes and updates.

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