Sample Add-Ins

The extras\Interactive folder provides several unsupported sample add-ins. To use them, either copy them into the directory where the user preferences file userPrefs.xml is located (e.g. C:\My Documents\Autodesk Showcase 2012) or use the add-in manager from the File > Add-in Manager menu item.

• AutoGroupCustom.py - Defines and use a message that groups objects based on some criteria. In this example, the objects that have meta-data coming from Autodesk Revit scenes (families, categories, type, etc.) are grouped based on those values.
• BackgroundCustom.py - An example add-in showing how to set the window background color, or size. Menu items that set the background color to white, black and default are created in the View menu. If the environment variable SHOWCASE_BACKGROUND_COLOR is set to three space separated values, the background will be set on startup. Additionally, two menu items are created, also in the View menu, to set the window size to 800x600 and 1024x768. This add-in can be edited to allow more choices.
• BrowserCustom.py - Menu items are created that open the internal web browser.
• ButtonSimulateCustom.py - An example and support for pressing a keyboard key by sending a message. This can be useful when navigation is done from a custom UI.
• CallScriptCustom.py - To go with the addition of the EXECUTE_MODULE message, this add-in allows us to call a batch script with blocking message processing.
• CameraPropertiesCustom.py - Appends a menu item (under Options for now) that shows the adjust camera properties dialog. This item is enabled when the scene is loaded and disabled when the scene is closed.
• ContextMenuCustom.py - A sample add-in showing how to add menu items in the context menu for the Alternatives, Behaviors, Environments, Materials, Shots and Storyboard.
• CorrectSyntaxCustom.py, CorrectSyntaxDialog.py - In the context menu of Alternatives, Behaviours, Shots and Storyboard, a new menu item Show syntax for Custom UI is created that will pop up a corresponding syntax dialog to show its correct syntax.
• DeleteEmptyGeometryCustom.py - Removes invalid geometry nodes in a file.
• EchoMessagesCustom.py - Echoes Showcase messages to the console when you use ShowcaseConsole.exe to run Showcase. Also adds a custom right-click menu item.
• EmptyCustom.py - This script does nothing, but as a side effect adds the user preferences directory to the Python system path.
• GridArrangeCustom.py, GridArrangeDialog.py - Adds a Tools menu the Showcase menu bar containing the Arrange items in a grid menu item. This menu item opens a dialog box that allows the user to arrange selected items in grid patterns.
• InCanvasCustom.py - A sample add-in showing how to switch between wireframe and shaded mode using in-canvas controls.
• InternalMessagesCustom.py - Add a menu item under Help to show internal messages.
• MaterialSaveCustom.py - Adds a Save To Custom Materials menu item to the material right-click menu for Materials in this Scene. Select the menu item to add that material's definition to the CustomMaterials.xml in your preferences\Materials directory. You must restart Showcase to see those materials in the material library.
• MaterialTypeCustom.py - Adds a number of context menu items to the material in scene elements. You can persistently choose what aspects of that material you want editable in the material editor.
• MenusAndHotKeysCustom.py - Add two menu items under the Help menu to show all menu items and all hotkeys.
• MessageByLabelsCustom.py - Registers helper messages that allow users to send messages by label instead of ID. Mostly used for sending messages from HTML pages. Also registers and documents the CONVERT_LABELS message.
• NudgeCameraCustom.py - Adds Nudge Camera Left by 0.1 and Nudge Camera Right by 0.1 menu items to the View menu with corresponding hot-keys.
• OptimizeCustom.py - This is a testing add-in using NVSG optimizers to optimize eliminate, combine and unify. Calling these will probably get your scene into an unstable state.
• ResizeCustom.py - Add several menu items under the View menu to resize the main window.
• ShotsHtmlCustom.py - Creates a custom user interface when you Save Shot as Movie that lets you play the shot from an HTML file. You must save the movie in the same directory that contains the provided files: SaveMovieShotHeader.html, SaveMovieShotBody.html, SaveMovieShotFooter.html. When you save the movie, the following changes are made to the SaveMovieShotBody.html file:
  • All occurrences of SHOT_NAME are replaced by the actual shot name;
  • All occurrences of SHOT_THUMBNAIL are replaced by a pointer to the location of the shot thumbnail image;
  • All occurrences of SHOT_MOVIE are replaced by the pointer to the movie.
• SidedCustom.py - Adds Set Single Sided and Set Double Sided items to the Material menu. When selected, these options make the selected object display as single or double (default) sided, respectively.
• SimpleSpaceNavigatorCustom.py - Adds a device controller interface for the 3DConnexion Space Navigator. Requires additional Python modules specified in the comments.
• StereoCustom.py - Enables stereographic viewing mode, specifying eye distance or automatic eye distance based on the focal point. To get true stereo viewing, the script requires enabling it in the driver.
• TextureLimitCustom.py - Enable the texture upload size limit to be set.
• TransformCustom.py - Adds the Custom Transform menu item to the Edit menu. When Custom Transform is enabled, the left mouse button transforms the scene and the right mouse button rotates the scene.
• XRiteCustom.py - Enable full support for X-Rite material editing and measurement when installed.