Starting Maya in different configurations from the same user account (win)?

[Tim Leydecker]

Hello gang,


I would like to use two different setups for the same base Maya
installation on a single windows user account.

One using Redshift and one using Arnold (with a specific build),
disabling the other accordingly to
avoid compatibility issues and have the option to set specific plug-ins
loaded on start-up.

Project based settings, basically.

I am not sure how I could accomplish this or where to start?

What would you recommend to look into and how could this be approached best?


Kind Regards,


tim

[Steve Davy]

I would assume all that stuff is stored in your preferences, so just create two sets of preferences and switch the folder out before startup depending on what setup you want to use?

---

From: maya...@googlegroups.com <maya...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Tim Leydecker <baue...@gmx.de>
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2018 12:24 AM
To: maya_he3d
Subject: [maya_he3d] Starting Maya in different configurations from the same user account (win)?

 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "maya_he3d" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maya_he3d+...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Tim Leydecker]

Hi Steve,

thanks for the reply!

That points me in the right direction.

I´ve come to remember that I asked a similar question before...

There is some trickery that involves creating seperate (desktop) links for each desired project setup,
pointing to the according prefs.

I´ll see if I can dig it up.

For step 1, your suggestion is great to test this out manually.

Cheers,

tim

[Steve Davy]

We use the maya.env file to look up an xml file for certain color management settings here. That might also be a route worth exploring.

---

From: maya...@googlegroups.com <maya...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Tim Leydecker <baue...@gmx.de>

Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 1:47 AM
To: maya...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [maya_he3d] Starting Maya in different configurations from the same user account (win)?

 

[stephenkmann]

Hey Tim, 

   take a look at this Batch file creation FAQ from Arnold. 

 It outlines setting up different environments for different versions of MTOA
 https://support.solidangle.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1086655

you can do a lot with the "path" variable to set the different locations of your software as well  .. 

so you can use SET PATH  = C:\Program Files\Autodesk\maya2018\bin;C:\solidAngle\mtoadeploy\2018\lib;

and it won't know about the other versions of maya or arnold on your system .  

--.. and in case that link is borked---- 

What's the best way to handle the different environment variables needed for MToA to work?

Sometimes it is cumbersome to have to define the different environment variables required for MtoA, especially if you have more than one version of Maya that you often work with.

There are several options to simplify this procedure. You can create a batch file with the following form, assuming a Windows installation and that the file is located in the root of the Maya installation:

SET PATH = %PATH%;C:\solidAngle\mtoadeploy\2012\lib;
SET ARNOLD_PLUGIN_PATH = C:\solidAngle\mtoadeploy\2012\shaders
SET MAYA_MODULE_PATH = C:\solidAngle\mtoadeploy\2012
SET MTOA_EXTENSIONS_PATH = C:\solidAngle\mtoadeploy\2012\extensions
start \bin\maya.exe
exit

Maya also has an special .env file. Using the Maya.env file is recommended so that you don’t clutter the standard environment settings with Maya-specific variables. Search for "Setting environment variables using Maya.env" in the Maya documentation for more information on where the .env file is located and how to fill it. The result will be very similar to the previous batch file, assuming a Windows installation:

ARNOLD_PLUGIN_PATH = C:\solidangle\mtoadeploy\2012\shaders
MAYA_MODULE_PATH = C:\solidangle\mtoadeploy\2012
MAYA_RENDER_DESC_PATH = C:\solidangle\mtoadeploy\2012
PATH = %PATH%;C:\solidangle\mtoadeploy\2012\bin

stephe...@gmail.com
http://smannimation.blogspot.com/
http://nymayausersgroup.blogspot.com/
http://smann3d.blogspot.com/

[stephenkmann]

you may also want to check out this tutorial 

Setting up our Maya session in a bat file  

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/python_inside_maya/UV_fdWrS3YM

just be sure to go to the top of the forum for the original posting 

hth

-=s

[Tim Leydecker]

Oh guys,

after following Stephen´s links and googling around, I actually found my own original question from 2015
and a beautiful answer from Carlos Rico Adega to go with it.

For my needs, all I want to do is set up Prefs per Project, e.g. have individual "MAYA_APP_DIR" locations.

I paste his answer for your convenience:

----------------------- Re: Starting different Maya Prefs from the same user? Using a shortcut?-------------------------

You can use 3 different batch/cmd files to set your environment before starting and use them to launch Maya.

By default "MAYA_APP_DIR" env variable on windows is set to:

C:/Users/[USER]/Documents/maya


So you could do for example create these files:


prefs1.bat or prefs1.cmd  (inside it)

    set MAYA_APP_DIR=C:/Users/[USER]/Documents/mayaPrefs1
    maya.exe



prefs2.bat or prefs2.cmd  (inside it)

    set MAYA_APP_DIR=C:/Users/[USER]/Documents/mayaPrefs2
    maya.exe


prefs3.bat or prefs3.cmd  (inside it)

    set MAYA_APP_DIR=C:/Users/[USER]/Documents/mayaPrefs3
    maya.exe



This way you can have different maya prefs inside each path.

Carlos Rico Adega


-------




Thanks again, Carlos and Cheers to you guys.

tim

[Tim Leydecker]

Here´s a dummy walkthrough for win10 and Maya 2018:

- Start Notepad

- paste this in:

set MAYA_APP_DIR=
start "CustomPrefs2018" C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2018\bin\maya.exe

and save the file as CustomPrefs2018.cmd

---

Finding your Maya Preferences Folder, if you do not set the MAYA_APP_DIR variable, the default values for Windows are:

C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Maya\2018

(see http://help.autodesk.com/view/MAYAUL/2018/ENU/?guid=GUID-228CCA33-4AFE-4380-8C3D-18D23F7EAC72

---

Make a new empty folder in C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Maya\ - named CustomPrefs2018, e.g.:

C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Maya\CustomPrefs2018

---

- Paste this new path in your CustomPrefs2018.cmd here:


set MAYA_APP_DIR=C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Maya\CustomPrefs2018

--

Your CustomPrefs.cmd file should now look like this:


set MAYA_APP_DIR=C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Maya\CustomPrefs2018
start "CustomPrefs2018" C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2018\bin\maya.exe

Where <username> is your current user and "CustomPrefs2018" is the title you´ve given Maya to start,
just for your convenience. At a later date, you could decide to customize even paths more....

---

Save and Close CustomPrefs2018.cmd.

--

Now Double Click on CustomPrefs2018.cmd

--

Maya 2018 should start now using your customized  MAYA_APP_DIR settings and create new Default Preferences in:

C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Maya\CustomPrefs2018\2018

-- --------------

A for dummies way of testing if it worked is as follows:

From inside this new Maya session, open your Preferences and Script Editor.

Change something like the Framerate or Time Slider settings and save the new settings

Check the Script Editor for the paths it saved the preferences to, it should say something like:

// Saving preferences to : C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Maya\CustomPrefs2018\2018\prefs\userPrefs.mel //

---------------------


Configure and save your settings to your hearts content to fit that specific project.

---------------------

Enjoy,


tim

[Carlos Rico]

You are welcome Tim. To be hobest I did not remember that post :) glad to know it was useful to you.

 Cheers. 

[Tim Leydecker]

Hi Carlos,

it took me three years to actually set it up finally but your help is very much appreciated to begin with!

Cheers,

tim