Dousen + Maya
The Dousen addon for Maya opens a Dousen shelf and a docked panel at startup. Each top-level group or mesh transform that contains a mesh becomes an instance. You validate and publish checked instances to Unreal as FBX from the Publish tab, with optional auto-publish on save and Perforce status in the panel.
- Load: launch Maya from the apps bar in DousenDesktop.
- Panel: docked, with tabs Publish, Perforce, New Asset, Materials and Tools.
- Exports: one FBX per instance with the project’s
export_presets.mayasettings; skinned meshes include their skeleton. - New Asset saves a
.mafile to the path your conventions resolve. - Panel shared with 3ds Max, Substance Painter and Substance Designer.
How does the addon load?
DousenDesktop ships the addon and loads it when you launch Maya from the apps bar. Maya starts with a Dousen shelf and the docked panel. The shelf also has Dousen Validate, which opens the Publish tab, and Dousen Asset. Maya started from a desktop shortcut has no panel.
What becomes an instance?
Each top-level group or mesh transform that contains a mesh, and each DousenClips clip if DousenClips is installed. To build your own, select objects and click + Instance from Selection, or add a dousenInstance attribute to an object set. If an export set holds only part of a group, put the group’s other children in their own set, or they aren’t published.
How do I validate and publish?
- Open the Publish tab. Click Reset after you change the scene.
- Check the instances to publish. Right-click one and choose Set Type if its type is wrong.
- Click Validate. Use Select Invalid to select failing objects and Repair where a rule offers a fix.
- Click Publish. Errors stop it. If only warnings remain, Dousen asks N warning(s) found. Publish anyway?
- Check Publish history in DousenDesktop.
What else is in the panel?
| Tab | What it does |
|---|---|
| New Asset | Load Conventions, choose a name, type and taxonomy, then Set Up Asset saves the scene and adds it to the task’s changelist. |
| Materials | The catalog material picker, one material per slot. |
| Tools | Send to Painter while Substance Painter is connected, and the Publish mesh.export on save checkbox. |
| Perforce | File status, Check Out, Sync & Reload, Revert and Refresh. |
Can Maya publish on save?
Yes. Check Publish mesh.export on save on the Tools tab. Each save publishes the checked instances, one mesh.export event per instance, or animation.export for an animation instance. It doesn’t run the validators, though it still checks instance names, so a naming rule set to error can stop it. The setting is stored in the scene, so check it when you open a different file.
How does Maya show Perforce status?
The Perforce tab shows the scene’s lock state and offers the actions that apply. The panel header shows the current task and the Perforce stream, or Classic depot. See Dousen + Perforce.
Related
Dousen is free during the studio beta, with access by request, and free forever for teams of up to 5 users. Request early access.