The MotionBuilder Shelf - free ADN Plugin of the Month for September

MotionBuilder is our real-time 3D character editing and animation software that has been embraced by some of the entertainment industry’s most successful studios. It lets you can acquire, aggregate, and refine data with greater reliability and precision; create, edit, and play back complex character animation in a highly responsive, interactive environment; and work with a display optimized for the individual requirements of both animators and directors. These capabilities have made MotionBuilder ideal for high-volume film and game animation, previsualization, motion capture, and performance animation.

// Learn more about MotionBuilder on Autodesk.com

The ADN Plugin of the Month program is a technology preview on Autodesk Labs where ADN members (Autodesk as well as other companies) provide plugins that show how easy it is to extend the functionality of Autodesk design applications. The source code is included to show how easy it is. This month's plugin is:

// Download The MotuonBuilder Shelf via Autodesk Labs

Until I get that Labs site defect fixed, make sure you login to the site before clicking on Download Now. This month's tool was developed by our own Manager of DevTech Media & Entertainment, Cyrille Fauvel. From the read me (each plugin comes with one):

This 'Maya style' shelf in MotionBuilder allows you to access all the key functionality that you would use daily from the Asset Browser, it is now right at your fingertips. You no longer have to dig around in the MotionBuilder UI to look for these items, they are in one central location for you. The File menu tab is the default display in the tool, giving you quick access at any time to create a new file, open a file, save a file and save as a file. Additional menus tabs provide you access to default Elements, Primitives, Characters, Constraints, and Devices. This one click creation workflow gives you the objects you desire in your scene immediately. If you're not sure what the images are, simply hover over the button for the Tooltips. This tool is easily extendable through the Python SDK, you can add your own custom workflows and tools right into the shelf.

As always we would love your feedback on this at [email protected]. We are always looking for new ideas for plugins as well as suggestions for how to enhance the ones that already exist. You can still download all past plugins:

// Browse ADN Plugins of the Month Catalog

We particularly love stories of users who have taken the source code and modified the functionality to suit their needs better.

Shelving is alive in the lab.