Customer Reviews

The MEL Companion: Maya Scripting for 3D Artists (Charles River Media Graphics)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Having helped write "MEL Scripting for Maya Animators," I cracked open "The MEL Companion" wondering if I was going to have my lunch eaten.

What I found, to my pleasant surprise, was an interesting, well-written book that picks up with more advanced MEL examples at about the level that my book left off. "The MEL Companion" is heavy with examples... don't expect a lot of involved discussion of how MEL fits into Maya.

The examples, though, are substantial, production-quality code that implement reasonably advanced techniques with comprehensive explanations of how they work and where they could be pushed farther.

If you're a beginner, I suggest you get some experience with simple MEL before cracking this book open, but if you've done some scripting and want to become an expert, this is the book for you.

While this book was VERY hard to follow ( I'm a pretty technical guy when it comes to 3D) i WAS able to follow it most of the time. What really pisses me off is that it is a programming book and just about every page has a syntax error of some kind or another. Really mad about the fact that just as you think you're getting it there's a not always so obvious syntax error that the author and the editor and the publisher all missed!I spent more time troubleshooting the authors oversights then i did learning anything - WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? nobody buy this book until they fix all their little screw ups.

It's ironic in a sad way that a programming book be filled with syntactical errors and painfully obvious the author didn't bother to proof read, let alone run, his code. I am a newcomer to MEL, but have been programming in other languages (C, C++, Python, Java) for ten years; I feel I've taken a step backwards insofar as my MEL progress is concerned. No one involved with this book has put forth the required effort and as such has done the MEL community a disservice

If the code weren't rampant with errors, this would be the best MEL book out there. As it stands, it's the worst. At the very least, the publisher could have released the errata on their website as others have done.

I recommend David Gould's "Complete Maya Programming" series as an excellent replacement. There's a reason this book is so inexpensive when purchased used. Don't waste your time.

I have never purchased a book that has so many errors in it! Most of the script in the book and the CD will not execute. Plus the printed script does not match the script in the CD. The CD has VERY little info--to be exact, 18.9 Meg...The CD also has many missing key scenes and scripts. For an example if you were trying to create the "grass" project. My advice to you is: Go and buy other MEL books because you'll need it to decipher this project or another projects in this book. Try the animation chapter. It has 14 pages of script that is NOT included on the CD, type at your risk! I would get more specific but that would require me to write a book. I can't believe the people at CHARLES RIVER MEDIA puts out this [stuff]! This book is[n't worth the money].Try reading MEL Script for Maya Animators by Mark Wilkins and Chris Kazmier. It's a much better book with the exception of chapter 18. They even have a web site for errata. And the author will acknowledge your emails.

After having the chance of both meeting David and looking over the book, I have to agree with my co-author Mark and say that I found it a great well rounded book about the Mel language. From some soild sections on basic computer graphics concepts with Mel all the way to some advance scripting examples. I would have loved for this book to have been out when I first started scripting Mel. Both the book and David are class acts!

Don't buy this book if you are looking for some in-depth mel scripting. I bought this book and skimmed through it in less than 15 minutes. The book briefly touches every area of maya from lighting and animation to creating tools and GUI's with one or two unexciting examples for every chapter. If you know the basics of mel scripting you are ready for something more exciting than this book.

I recently took a Maya scripting class at University. They recommended another title to go along with this course but the price was a bit more than I was willing to pay. Instead I bought this book used, and found it was perfect for my needs. The book spends a few chapters talking about basic computer science topics, including a terrific discussion of Vectors (and vector math). Finally I understand how vectors are implemented in Maya. The author then moves on to discuss the MEL language and syntax, then proceeds on to specific projects.
I found the author's approach of defining the problem, researching, and then beginning to lay out code, adding functionality step by step, to be very useful. The chapter on creating user interfaces is extensive (going far beyond what we learned in class).
Overall - I'd say if you want to spend a few (and just a few) dollars on a computer science scripting book, this one would be a good choice.

For a while, I thought that there was something wrong with me. Now I know, from testing, asking around and reading the other reviews on this site that the book has syntax errors. A lot of them. It depends on how you want to look at it- I am going to finish the book, and pretend that it is giving me pseudo-code.

The concepts seam to be right on, but like most things, don't take it literally. And buy another book.

an excellent advanceded resource......does the best job explaining UI layouts and their required nesting I have read yet. Very clear and concise. Has full file write and read chapter...file format...even outputing an html page. It is not just in the programs, but the text is very clear and to the point. Includes flow charts, ui layouts...just the whole process to make a student into a professional. Probably the most advanced tutorial is the save weights tool....it reads and writes the vertex skin weights for all influences to a file based not on id but world space locations to compensate for changes in topology.

I am shocked at the bad reviews this book has received. Make no mistake -> THIS ONE IS A REALLY GOOD ONE . This book is not for rank beginners in mel . Its more for someone who understands the Mel Language adequately.
Definetely the most advanced of books available on Mel. Beginners can take a look at Marks Book. Once you know mel reasonably well this is the book to go for. Yes few printing mistakes are there but that cant take away much from what is a nice book with some thought provoking examples. 5 stars.