Maya

mel

Camera shape node - inconsistent naming

Hi All,
I've wrotten a script which sets up a couple of controls for a camera so that I can animate camera shake by hand. It's pretty primitive but works fine. However - I've run into some trouble...I suspect this is down to how Maya's apparently inconsistant way of naming camera Shape nodes.

If a camera is called shotCamera then the shape node is called shotCamera1
However is a camera is called camera1 then the shape node is called cameraShape1

Does anyone know why Maya shifts the number to the end like this - or how to allow for it in a simple script such as the one below....

// get selected camera name and position

string $cN[];
$cN = ls -sl;
string $cameraName = $cN[0];
$cP = getAttr ( $cameraName + ".translate" );

// get target name and target position

string $targetName;
$targetName = ($cN[0] + "_aim");
$tP = getAttr ( $targetName + ".translate" );

// copy animation from target

copyKey -time ":" -float ":" -hierarchy none -controlPoints 0 -shape 1 { ($targetName + ".translateX"), ($targetName + ".translateY"), ($targetName + ".translateZ")};

// put camera and aim to setup positions

setAttr ( $targetName + ".translateX" ) 0;
setAttr ( $targetName + ".translateY" ) 0;
setAttr ( $targetName + ".translateZ" ) 0;

setAttr ( $cameraName + ".translateX" ) 0;
setAttr ( $cameraName + ".translateY" ) 0;
setAttr ( $cameraName + ".translateZ" ) 5;

setAttr ( $targetName + "Shape.visibility" ) 1;
select $targetName;

// set name for new target

string $newTarget;
$newTarget = ($cameraName + "_aimGroup");

group;
rename $newTarget ;
string $newTargetShape;
$newTargetShape = ( $cameraName + "Shape" );

createNode -n $newTargetShape -p $newTarget locator;

setAttr ( $newTargetShape +   ".localScaleX" ) 2;
setAttr ( $newTargetShape +   ".localScaleY" ) 2;
setAttr ( $newTargetShape +   ".localScaleZ" ) 2;

// hide the old aim
setAttr ( $targetName + ".visibility" ) 0;

// create circles
string $smallName;
$smallName = ( $cameraName + "_smallShake" );
circle -c 0 0 0 -nr 0 1 0 -sw 360 -r 1 -d 3 -ut 0 -tol 0 -s 8 -ch 1; objectMoveCommand;
rename $smallName;
DeleteHistory;

string $bigName;
$bigName = ( $cameraName + "_bigShake" );
circle -c 0 0 0 -nr 0 1 0 -sw 360 -r 1 -d 3 -ut 0 -tol 0 -s 8 -ch 1; objectMoveCommand;
rename $bigName;
scale -r 1.666875 1.666875 1.666875 ;
DeleteHistory;

// need to rotate circles to face camera

setAttr ( $bigName + ".rotateX" ) -90;
setAttr ( $smallName + ".rotateX" ) -90;

// parenting to new Target

parent $smallName $newTarget;
parent $bigName $newTarget;

// orienting shakers to camera

orientConstraint -mo -weight 1 $cameraName $smallName;
orientConstraint -mo -weight 1 $cameraName $bigName;
orientConstraint -mo -weight 1 $cameraName $newTarget;

// apply the final point constraint to the camera_aim

pointConstraint $bigName $smallName $targetName;

// move camera and aim group back to start positions

setAttr ( $cameraName + ".translateX" ) $cP[0];
setAttr ( $cameraName + ".translateY" ) $cP[1];
setAttr ( $cameraName + ".translateZ" ) $cP[2];

setAttr ( $newTarget + ".translateX" )  $tP[0];
setAttr ( $newTarget + ".translateY" )  $tP[1];
setAttr ( $newTarget + ".translateZ" )  $tP[2];

// change circle colours

 setAttr ( $bigName + "Shape.overrideEnabled" ) 1;
 setAttr ( $bigName + "Shape.overrideColor" ) 17;

 setAttr ( $smallName + "Shape.overrideEnabled") 1;
 setAttr ( $smallName + "Shape.overrideColor") 4;

 setAttr ( $newTarget + ".overrideEnabled") 1;
 setAttr ( $newTarget + ".overrideColor") 18;

// paste keys into new target

pasteKey -time 1 -float 1 -option insert -copies 1 -connect 1 -timeOffset 0 -floatOffset 0 -valueOffset 0 { $newTarget };

// paste keys into new target

pasteKey -time 1 -float 1 -option insert -copies 1 -connect 1 -timeOffset 0 -floatOffset 0 -valueOffset 0 { $newTarget };