Scripting Languages

General Discussion
#1

I’d be curious to hear what scripting languages people use, prefer, are familiar with, and most importantly, which do you enjoy? If you use any others, it’d be great to hear what they are and what they might be based on. Kind of strides the gap of tech art and vfx here, but I know a fair few of us use scripting languages when required.

  • MEL
  • Python
  • Lua
  • Java
  • JavaScript
  • Maxscript
  • Raw assembly
  • C#
  • Other (Please mention!)

0 voters

I’ll personally chip in and say mostly maxscript for scripting. I have tried Python repeatedly and something about the forced indents really gets to me. I know it promotes good behaviour but deep down it hurts

#2

Love Python. Semicolons are the fruit of the devil.
Hate MEL. But I (used to) know it fairly well.
Very basic Java and javascript knowledge.
Basic VEX.

#3

I don’t script all that much, and the little I do would be C# in Unity. :slight_smile:

#4

I don’t think Blueprint counts, but that’s the only way I can really “script”. I’m the worst in the world at syntax, so having the code contained in nodes makes it much easier to focus on the actual functionality and not trying to find the one period or semicolon that breaks my entire string of code.

#5

Ohhh, can you add a “none” category. That would actually be really interesting to see.

1 Like
#6

I’m personally very fond of C#. I’ve found the Visual Studio + C# + ReSharper environment really easy to get into, with an excellent set of docs on the MSDN. It’s also popular enough that I’ve found answers to just about everything I’ve wanted to know via StackOverflow. I mainly learnt it because I worked in Unity-based studios for years, in which case it was super handy for writing Unity tools (or Windows tools via WinForms) and prototyping gameplay.

#7

This exactly! C# is great.

#8

python and C++ for me. I’m far more proficient with python though.

1 Like
#9

I like Python. I use Python with Maya but not exclusively. I use it for creating applications outside of Maya too. I like it because of its flexibility of being useful in multiple situations. Also think its quite easy to read code made by others compared to other languages.

Picked up C# thanks to Unity. Being able to make custom scripts in Unity unlocks a whole bunch of cool stuff.

1 Like
#10

wish I could! Not allowed to edit polls after 5 minutes, needs an admin or mod. Great idea to add that though!

#11

I’ve used Python in professional settings and been playing with C# during my free time. But if an artist were to tell me that they wanted to learn more about the technical side of VFX, I would suggest learning their way around HLSL/Cg before going into scripting languages

#12

Absolutely!! also I find shadertoy (https://www.shadertoy.com/) a convenient place to go doodle with glsl. There’s also a program called shadron on steam which is nice because it also lets output your buffers into textures etc.

1 Like
#13

Lua, more by necessity of our engine. It’s a very easy language to pick up and learn, and it helps being embedded into the engine, so any heavy lifting can be done in C++. Offline though, I’m moving away from Mel to Python.

#14

Hehe. Raw assembly.

I’m using Python professionally. It’s particularly great since I can build tools for multiple DCC packages. It’s particularly handy building tools for destruction related things since those can get pretty complex.

#15

No scripting, but some HLSL.