Maya is an “open” product which means that anyone outside of Autodesk can change existing features or add entirely new features. Our “openness” support now includes a Python interface to Maya commands (described elsewhere in the documentation) and a Python interface to the C++ Maya API. We refer to the last item as the Maya Python API. The Maya Python API is available on all of our supported platforms: Microsoft^® Windows^®(32 and 64 bit), Linux^®(64 bit), and Apple^® Mac OS^® X.

Most of the Maya API is available in the Maya Python API and you can write the following types of solutions:

• Scripts that make use of the wrapper classes and function sets to modify the Maya model.
• Scripted plug-ins that use proxy/MPx classes to add new functionality to Maya. Includes new:
  • Commands that support undo.
  • Nodes that are saved/retrieved in the Maya scene file with appropriate requires lines for the Python script.
• Standalone scripts that make use of the wrapper classes and function sets to modify the Maya model that can be run from the command line.