Give me an Advice

[Frame]

I have a question.

When I try to do something new, like for example making a plugin, it causes a collision,
really I don't know how to start because I've never made a collision before.

So Do I need to be an artist first to understand how they create these things,  or what !!

I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me what I'm missing so that I can create new things on my own.  

[justin hidair]

> When I try to do something new, like for example making a plugin, it causes a collision,

explain in detail 

node id and node name as well as plugin name should be unique.

[Patrick Maina]

Hey there,

You definitely don’t need to be an artist first to start creating plugins or handling collisions in Maya. Many technical artists and plugin developers come from pure programming backgrounds — they learn the artistic concepts gradually as needed.

Here’s what you might be missing (and how to fix it):

1. Separate the Problem Into Two Skills

There are two different skill sets involved:

• Technical side: Python/MEL, Maya API, plugin architecture, nodes, attributes.

• Artistic/3D side: geometry, transforms, normals, colliders, rigid bodies.

You don’t need to master both at once. Start with the technical side, then pick up the 3D concepts as required.

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2. Understand What “Collision” Means in Maya

In Maya, you rarely “code” the physics yourself. Instead, you:

• Use existing nodes (nRigid, nCloth, collider shapes).

• Or write custom nodes/plugins that define how objects interact.

Before coding, experiment in Maya’s UI:

1. Create two objects.

2. Make one a passive collider.

3. Make the other an active body (nCloth or nRigid).

4. Watch how Maya sets up the node graph.

This teaches you how Maya thinks, which helps a lot when you start coding.

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3. Learn Plugin Building Through Small, Clear Steps

Don’t jump straight to collisions. Start with:

• A simple command plugin.

• A node plugin with a few inputs/outputs.

• A deformer plugin.
  Eventually, move toward physics-like behaviors.

Each small win builds confidence.

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4. What You Actually Need to Learn

• Basic Maya node graph concepts (DG, dependency nodes).

• How attributes flow through nodes.

• Maya Python API (or C++ API if performance matters).

• A bit of 3D theory: vectors, transforms, bounding boxes.

You can pick up the “artist stuff” slowly — you don’t need full modeling/animation skills.

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5. You’re Not Missing Talent — Just the Workflow

Everybody feels lost when starting Maya plugins. It’s not intuitive.
The trick is to look at existing Maya features in the UI, then replicate or extend them with code.

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6. Final Advice

• Don’t worry about being an artist.

• Play with collisions in the UI first.

• Start with tiny plugins.

• Build up understanding gradually.

You can create new things — the path is just step-by-step, not all-at-once.

Hope this helps! If you share what you’re trying to build, I can guide you more specifically

[Marcus Ottosson]

Thank you, ChatGPT. :D