maya-geometry · diff
git:20260513.7130de8 to git:20260514.dcb4cda
19 added, 19 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: maya-geometry
description: |-
- Interchange stage — scene I/O and FBX / OBJ interchange. Save Maya
- scenes (.ma / .mb) and round-trip geometry through FBX or OBJ. The FBX
- export tool drives every FBXExport* option through the FBX plugin's MEL
- globals, bakes animation by default, and verifies the output file. Use
- for cross-DCC handoff. Not for primitive creation (maya-primitives) or
- shot packaging (maya-shot-export).
+ Interchange stage — FBX / OBJ geometry interchange. Round-trip geometry
+ through FBX or OBJ; scene save is owned by maya-scene. The FBX export
+ tool drives every FBXExport* option through the FBX plugin's MEL globals,
+ bakes animation by default, and verifies the output file. Use for cross-DCC
+ handoff. Not for primitive creation (maya-primitives) or shot packaging
+ (maya-shot-export).
license: MIT
allowed-tools: Bash Read
metadata:
dcc-mcp:
dcc: maya
layer: domain
stage: interchange
version: 2.0.0
tags:
- maya
- geometry
- interchange
- fbx
- obj
- - save
- export
- import
search-hint: |-
- save Maya scene, save .ma .mb, export FBX, import FBX, export OBJ,
- file_exists, geometry round trip, scene interchange, FBXExport options,
- bake animation FBX
+ export FBX, import FBX, export OBJ, file_exists, geometry round trip,
+ scene interchange, FBXExport options, bake animation FBX. Use
+ maya-scene save_scene for .ma/.mb scene saves.
aliases:
- maya-interchange
- maya-io
- maya-fbx
side-effects:
- reads-scene
- reads-disk
- writes-disk
- calls-fbx-plugin
depends: []
tools: tools.yaml
groups: groups.yaml
skill-reference-docs:
- "references/*.md"
---
# maya-geometry (Interchange stage)
- Scene I/O and geometry interchange. Despite the legacy name `maya-geometry`,
- the responsibility is **interchange**, not modelling — see the alias list
- in the frontmatter (`maya-interchange`, `maya-io`, `maya-fbx`).
+ Geometry interchange. Despite the legacy name `maya-geometry`, the
+ responsibility is **interchange**, not modelling or native scene-file
+ persistence — see the alias list in the frontmatter (`maya-interchange`,
+ `maya-io`, `maya-fbx`).
## Why this stage exists
Once an Authoring-stage skill has produced geometry / animation, you
- need a reliable way to (a) save the Maya scene file and (b) hand the
- geometry off to other DCCs or downstream pipelines. That is what the
- Interchange stage handles. Every export tool here:
+ need a reliable way to hand geometry off to other DCCs or downstream
+ pipelines. That is what the Interchange stage handles. Native `.ma` / `.mb`
+ scene saves are intentionally routed through `maya_scene__save_scene`.
+ Every export tool here:
- pushes its full option surface through the official MEL globals (no
silent reliance on plugin defaults);
- bakes animation by default for FBX so downstream apps see the same
motion the artist sees;
- verifies the destination file (existence + non-zero bytes) and
surfaces the size in the result envelope.
## Cross-Maya FBX contract (P0)
When handing FBX to **another Maya year** or a different DCC, treat these fields as mandatory knobs—not plugin defaults:
| Parameter | Guidance |
|-----------|------------|
| `fbx_version` | Pin a concrete enum value (e.g. `FBX202000`) so source and target agree on file format. |
| `bake_animation` | Keep `true` whenever motion comes from IK, constraints, expressions, or simulation; otherwise downstream may see static meshes. |
| `start_frame` / `end_frame` | Set explicitly to the bake window you need for production; do not rely on UI playback range alone. |
| `up_axis` | Set `y` or `z` explicitly when your pipeline requires a fixed world orientation. |
The `export_fbx` script resets the FBX plugin option store (`FBXResetExport`) before export and returns `applied_options` plus `size_bytes` in the success envelope for audit and regression triage.
## Bulk and multi-file export (agents)
For **N separate FBX paths** (e.g. one file per root transform), prefer **one** `execute_python` payload that loops in Maya, applies the **Cross-Maya FBX contract** fields each iteration, and returns e.g. `context.written_files`. Invoking the `export_fbx` tool **N times** over MCP is possible when each call must be individually validated, but it costs **N round-trips** — collapse to a single script when the user only needs throughput and deterministic naming.
## Groups
- **core** (`default_active: true`) — `file_exists`. Pure filesystem,
no Maya state.
- - **geometry** (`default_active: true`) — main-thread Maya scene save +
- FBX/OBJ import / export.
+ - **geometry** (`default_active: true`) — main-thread FBX/OBJ import / export.
## Scripts
- - `save_scene` — Save the current scene as Maya ASCII or Maya Binary
- `file_exists` — Check whether a file exists on disk (no Maya state)
- `export_fbx` — Export the scene or current selection to FBX with full FBXExport* control
+ - `import_file` — Import generic Maya-recognised scene / geometry files
- `import_fbx` — Import an FBX into the current scene; returns new node names
- `export_obj` — Export the scene to OBJ