= undefined

Initializing a struct in maxscript

Ofer — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:18:23 +0000

Here's a quick tip on how to initialize a struct in maxscript, when an instance of the struct is created:

(
   -- This is just a sample of a struct that will be initialized
   -- when an instance of it will be created.
   -- For this demo, we'll populate the someArray variable with
   -- some random numbers.
   struct s_InitializableStruct (
       someArray = #(),    -- The default value is an empty array.

       -- The init function is the function that determines what will
       -- be initilized.
       fn init =
       (
           someArray = for i = 1 to 10 collect (random 0 1000)
       ),

       -- And this is the trick: use another variable, and assign to it
       -- the "result" of the init function.
       _init = init()
   )

   -- Create an instance of the struct
   local structInstance = s_InitializableStruct()
   -- Print the value of someArray
   format "%\n" structInstance.someArray
   -- As you can see, the someArray variable has been initialized with 10 random numbers
)

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Creating multiple masks with Renderman

Ofer — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:43:52 +0000

This tip describes how to create multiple masks with Renderman. This technique comes to expand the simple RGBA as masks technique.
The problem with masks is usually anti-aliasing. If you use an object channel, it can only have a discreet value for each pixel, meaning the each pixel can hold only one object id value (as demonstrated in the image below,) and this means no anti-aliasing.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Dynamic UI in Maya using Python

Ofer — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:25:23 +0000

In a recent job, I needed to create a dynamic user interface in Maya. I don't really like MEL, so I decided to go with Python. This was the first time I really used Python for anything.
One of the reasons I don't like MEL, is it kind of forces you to use global variables (using local ones becomes a pain if not impossible at some point.)
So, on I went and wrote something like this:

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

My shiny new blog

Ofer — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:47:14 +0000

OK, so I finally got me a blog.
I have to admit I didn't really see the point in me having a blog until now, and I hope I'll find time to update it on a regular basis. What caused the change of heart was a recommendation on this thread on tech-artists.org.
In addition to that, recently, while researching stuff for a couple of jobs, I found some information that I thought others might find useful, but I was too lazy to start formatting a web page, uploading it and linking to it from my main site.
So I decided to blogging might be the way to go. We'll see how it goes.

I hope you'll find some useful stuff in here. Enjoy your stay.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.