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Install the Freeform Tools (Example for Maya 2020)
Install the Freeform Tools (Example for Maya 2020)
- Download the toolset.
Go to the Freeform Tools GitHub. There are 3 ways to download the toolset.
(Easiest) First you can download a Release of the tools. This is a vetted snapshot of the code from when the release was created and will be the most stable version of the tools. However it will not have any features or improvements made since the release was created.
Find the Releases section on the right side of the page under About.
Click on the release name(FreeformTools_27 1.0.0) to go to the latest release. Or click on Releases to see all available releases, including a Python 3.7 pre-release for Maya 2022.
On the release page click the link 'Source code (zip)' to download the release.
Right click on the .zip file and go to Properties. At the bottom of the properties window there will be a Security section with an "Unblock" checkbox. Check the box and hit Apply or OK.
When Windows downloads from a code hosting site like GitHub it will block the file incase there's malicious code. While the files are blocked any program running code will be unable to access the blocked files.
Extract the zip to the folder you want the code base stored at. We'll use an environment variable to point to this location, so you can put the code anywhere.
Second you can download the current code base.
On top of the page click the 'Code' button and choose 'Download ZIP'
Right click on the .zip file and go to Properties. At the bottom of the properties window there will be a Security section with an "Unblock" checkbox. Check the box and hit Apply or OK.
When Windows downloads from a code hosting site like GitHub it will block the file incase there's malicious code. While the files are blocked any program running code will be unable to access the blocked files.
Extract the zip to the folder you want the code base stored at. We'll use an environment variable to point to this location, so you can put the code anywhere.
(Advanced) Third, you can use GitHub command line or your Git program of choice to clone the code.
This method creates the easiest way to stay in sync with the latest changes without having to download new ZIP files and manually replace the code base. However, covering the topic here will be too much.
Once the code is downloaded, unblocked, and extracted you should have a folder that looks like this.
D:\FreeformRigging_Releases\FreeformTools-main
2. Set up the Install
2. Set up the Install
The Freeform Tools are setup as a Maya Module, so the FreeformTools.mod directory needs to be added to MAYA_MODULE_PATH.
From the Windows start menu type "environment' and choose "Edit the system environment variables"
On the bottom of the window that pops up choose "Environment Variables..."
In the top half of the window that pops up choose "New..."
Variable name: MAYA_MODULE_PATH
Variable value: This should be the location you installed the tools. In our example it's D:\FreeformRigging_Releases\FreeformTools-main
Press "OK" on all windows.
Setup your configuration file. See Tools Config for more information.
3. Run Maya
3. Run Maya
Open Maya
Once Maya is open open the Script Editor and scroll to the top. You should see a section that looks like the below screen shot. If it looks like this your tools are installed successfully and you're good to go!
To open the Rigger UI run:
import rigging.usertools; rigging.usertools.helix_rigger.HelixRigger().show()
If it does not look like this you will see some kind of error message under the DOTNET SETUP banner. The most common setup error is that Maya is unable to find HelixResources, Freeform.Core and Freeform.Rigging. If you see this make sure you unblocked the .zip file before extracting it.
For other errors feel free to contact me Discord or create an issue on GitHub.
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