Maya ---> Second Life (Beta version)
an approach for creating Second Life content in Maya via MEL
Download the script!!
Overview
Second Life may be a great place to socialize, but it can be really frustrating to develop content in world due to lag and camera control issues. A better solution for most cases would be to use a 3d content creation tool such as Autodesks' Maya. However, Second Life at present (and with some very good reasons) only supports parametric geometry. Getting Second Life to support Maya (i.e. non-parametric) content is a significant development task, and one that only the Lindens can perform. However, it is still possible to create content in Maya by re-creating the Second Life toolset using MEL.
Why recreate the SL tools? Because that provides the user with the best of both worlds- the models are still built in exactly the same way (which ensures that they will be efficient in-world), while also allowing for the fluidity offered by a professional 3d content package. Ultimately, this makes the content creation process much more rapid and controllable.
How it works
The solution has two components- a MEL script (SLmodel.mel), and a "replicator" object in Second Life. SLmodel.mel provides the user with the tools very similar to Second Life's primitive creation tools.
Content is created by using the script along with Maya's conventional movement, rotation, and scaling tools. Once a model has been created in Maya, the script provides a textual description of the collection of primitives that can be used to recreate the object in Second Life.
To create the object in Second Life, the above text is copied and pasted into a notecard in the inventory of the replicator object.
Once the information has been added to the notecard, a copy of the original object can be created by touching the replicator.
It takes a bit of time to build an object, due to the built-in delays associated with creating objects and setting thier parameters with LSL, but it has the fringe benefit of being fairly interesting to watch. The system is still very much in progress, as it only supports boxes and cylinders at present. Also in the works is a better-looking replicator object and some form of progress indicator as the replica is built.
The present version is usable, though- scroll down to see videos of it in use (requires the Flash 8 plugin).
Demo Videos
Another example of manipulating a prim in Maya, but with the new GUI.
Building up a Utah teapot in Second Life from the replicator object.
Previous vids
An example of using the SLmodel.mel script to create a box and manipulate its properties, both with Maya's transformation tools and the options offered by the script (taper, twist, hollow, path start/end).
An example of creating a simple object (a treasure chest) in Maya, using the SLmodel.mel script. The chest is created with simulated prims, and text is generated and grabbed for later use in Second Life.
Switching over to second life to create the treasure chest in world. The replicator object is selected, and the text generated by SLmodel.mel is pasted into a notecard in its inventory. The replicator is then touched, and the building process commences without further involvement on the part of the user.