MEL and Maya: A Brief History

MEL wasn’t always the scripting language embedded in Maya; Maya has utilized a two other scripting languages to make Maya more robust.  Interestingly, Maya integrated MEL not simply because of progressive technological developments. The different corporate acquisitions and mergers involving Maya also affected the development of MEL. 

Before Maya…

Alias Research developed and owned the 3D modeling, animation, and visual effects suite PowerAnimator – the precursor of Maya. (Wikipedia, 2011 ) PowerAnimator ran on Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) computers, which utilized the UNIX shell-scripting interface.  When Alias Research began developing Maya, the Tcl scripting language was used in order to leverage its similarity to a UNIX shell and for the benefit of PowerAnimator users who would switch to using Maya. (Sharpe, Lumsden, & Woolridge, 2008)

Before MEL…

SGI purchased both Alias Research and Wavefront Technologies, merging the two companies to create Alias|Wavefront.  SGI eventually changed the Alias|Wavefront company name to Alias Systems Corporation (or simply, Alias.)  Of course, with all three companies combined, the products produced and technologies developed by their respective companies became absorbed.  Sophia and Dynamation were two such products brought by Wavefront Technologies. (Sharpe, Lumsden, & Woolridge, 2008)

Sophia was the scripting language used in Dynamation, and became the basis of MEL since “Sophia had many of the features the Maya developers were looking for in a scripting language” (Sharpe, Lumsden, & Woolridge, 2008)   

Sophia included features, like

• ease of use 
• fast execution
• a design suited to 3D algebra
• a design suited to UI Development
• resemblance to Unix shell scripting

Sophia was eventually developed and transformed into MEL at Alias. (Sharpe, Lumsden, & Woolridge, 2008)

SGI sold Alias to technology-focused private equity firm, Accel-KKR. A little over a year later, Accel-KKR sold Alias to Autodesk, Inc.  

Maya and MEL Today

Both Maya and MEL have been through numerous additions since their conception.  Despite how much Maya has changed since it’s first version, MEL has changed very little. (Sharpe, Lumsden, & Woolridge, 2008) “The syntax and data structures have remained steady in oreder to support customer workflows built on MEL” (Sharpe, Lumsden, & Woolridge, 2008)  Since Autodesk acquired Maya, the scripting language to enhance Maya has expanded beyond MEL.  Maya also allows for the programming language, Python, as an alternative to MEL. (Wikipedia, 2011 ) (Maya Embedded Language )

Bibliography

Gould, D. A. (2003). Complete Maya Programming : An Extensive Guide to MEL and the C++ API. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publisher.

Maya Embedded Language . (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Embedded_Language

Sharpe, J., Lumsden, C. J., & Woolridge, N. (2008). In silico: 3D animation and simulation of cell biology with Maya and MEL. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.

 

Wikipedia. (2011, October 12 ). Retrieved October 12, 2011, from Autodesk Maya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk_Maya

Wikipedia. (2011 , September 16 ). Retrieved October 09, 2011, from Maya Embedded Language: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Embedded_Language

Wikipedia. (2011 , September 16 ). Retrieved October 09, 2011, from Silicon Graphics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics

Wilkins, M. R., & Kazmier, C. (2003). MEL Scrpting for Maya. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publisher.