Definition layer¶
The definition pipeline module is were the each definition, schema and Framework plugin are stored.
As mentioned previously, the new Framework is designed to make it easy to write custom code that takes care of asset load and publishing, the new Framework achieves this by introducing “definitions” which basically are JSON schemas that configures which Framework plugins (loaders and publishers) to run for a certain ftrack asset type. This module is were you most likely do customisations in order to tailor the Framework to the studio needs.
Definitions module are divided into two parts:
resource/
definition/
plugins/
definition¶
This directory contains the definition JSON configuration files for each engine and host type.
We have highlighted some file of importance, leaving out built-in definitions that would be left out of an potential customization:
asset_manager/
..
loader/
..
maya/
geometry-maya-loader.json
publisher/
..
maya/
geometry-maya-publish.json
loader¶
Loader definitions, used by the Assembler client during load of assets.
maya/
Maya loader definitions.
loader/maya/geometry-maya-loader.json
The Framework definition for loading geometry asset versions into Maya:
{
"type": "loader",
"name": "Geometry Loader",
"asset_type": "geo",
"host_type": "maya",
"ui_type": "qt",
"contexts": [
{
"name": "main",
"stages": [
{
"name": "context",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "context selector",
"plugin": "common_passthrough_loader_context",
"widget": "common_default_loader_context"
}
]
}
]
}
],
"components": [
{
"name": "snapshot",
"file_formats": [
".mb",
".ma"
],
"stages": [
{
"name": "collector",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Collect components from context",
"plugin": "common_context_loader_collector"
}
]
},
{
"name": "importer",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Import paths to Maya",
"plugin": "maya_native_loader_importer",
"options": {
"load_mode": "import",
"load_options": {
"preserve_references": true,
"add_namespace": true,
"namespace_option": "file_name"
}
}
}
]
},
{
"name": "post_importer",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "maya",
"plugin": "common_passthrough_loader_post_importer"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "model",
"file_formats": [
".mb",
".ma"
],
"stages": [
{
"name": "collector",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Collect components from context",
"plugin": "common_context_loader_collector"
}
]
},
{
"name": "importer",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Import paths to Maya",
"plugin": "maya_native_loader_importer",
"options": {
"load_mode": "reference",
"load_options": {
"preserve_references": true,
"add_namespace": true,
"namespace_option": "file_name"
}
}
}
]
},
{
"name": "post_importer",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "maya",
"plugin": "common_passthrough_loader_post_importer"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "cache",
"file_formats": [
".abc"
],
"optional": true,
"selected": false,
"stages": [
{
"name": "collector",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Collect components from context",
"plugin": "common_context_loader_collector"
}
]
},
{
"name": "importer",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Import paths to Maya",
"plugin": "maya_abc_loader_importer"
}
]
},
{
"name": "post_importer",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "maya",
"plugin": "common_passthrough_loader_post_importer"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "game",
"file_formats": [
".fbx"
],
"optional": true,
"selected": false,
"stages": [
{
"name": "collector",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Collect components from context",
"plugin": "common_context_loader_collector"
}
]
},
{
"name": "importer",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Import paths to Maya",
"plugin": "maya_native_loader_importer",
"options": {
"load_mode": "import",
"load_options": {
"preserve_references": true,
"add_namespace": true,
"namespace_option": "file_name"
}
}
}
]
},
{
"name": "post_importer",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "maya",
"plugin": "common_passthrough_loader_post_importer"
}
]
}
]
}
],
"finalizers": [
{
"name": "main",
"stages": [
{
"name": "pre_finalizer",
"visible": false,
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Pre finalizer",
"plugin": "common_passthrough_loader_pre_finalizer"
}
]
},
{
"name": "finalizer",
"visible": false,
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Finalizer",
"plugin": "common_passthrough_loader_finalizer"
}
]
},
{
"name": "post_finalizer",
"visible": false,
"plugins": [
{
"name": "Post finalizer",
"plugin": "common_passthrough_loader_post_finalizer"
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
Attributes:
type; Definition type, binds to the host engine names.
name; The name of the definition should be kept unique within the pipeline.
host_type; The type of host this definition should be available to, basically the name of the DCC application.
context; Section that defines the plugin to use when selecting context (Task) and the asset version to load.
components; Section that defines each loadable component (step) - which definition plugin and options to use for collect and load into the DCC app. See plugin and their widgets directories below.
finalizers; Section that defines plugins that should be run after load has finished.
Publisher¶
Publisher definitions, used by the Publisher client during publish of assets.
The structure of a publish definition is very similar to the loader, with different plugins and options.
Asset Manager¶
Plugins and options are defined that are used with the Framework asset manager client and engine.
The Assembler dependency resolver options are defined here, and allows tuning of which asset types are to be resolved for a certain task type.
Schema¶
JSON configuration files defining the rules that apply to the syntax of definitions (asset manager, loader and publisher). Typically you will not alter these files, but you can add your own attributes to definitions here, that can be picked up by the plugins.
plugin¶
The plugins are were the code lives, that are referenced within the definitions. The plugins for each host type is depending on both the framework core, Qt and the corresponding DCC plugin.
Plugin structure:
..
maya/
python/
loader/
importers/
widget/
smaya_native_loader_importer_options.py
maya_native_loader_importer.py
..
finalizers/
maya_merge_abc_loader_finalizer.py
publisher/
collectors/
widget/
maya_geometry_publisher_collector_options.py
maya_geometry_publisher_collector.py
..
validators/
maya_geometry_publisher_validator.py
..
exporters/
maya_abc_publisher_exporter.py
..
finalizers/
publish_result_maya.py
opener/
..
common/
python/
asset_manager/
..
..
maya/
Plugins for Maya hosts.
maya/python/loader/importers/
Directory that should harbour Python plugins responsible for collecting options and do the actual loading into the DCC app.
maya/python/loader/importers/widget/maya_native_loader_importer_options.py
This Qt widget plugin defines the UI elements presented to the user, so the user can set the load options. These load options are then read by the loader plugin below. The name of the plugin has to be unique within Framework but can be shared with the loader plugin:
..
class MayaNativeLoaderImporterPluginWidget(
plugin.MayaLoaderImporterPluginWidget
):
plugin_name = 'maya_native_loader_importer'
idget = MayaNativeLoaderImporterOptionsWidget
..
maya/python/loader/importers/maya_native_loader_importer.py
This is the actual required DCC app plugin that reads the data from disk, as collected by the Framework, and loads it into the current open project.
maya/python/loader/finalizers/maya_merge_abc_loader_finalizer.py
This optional plugin runs after load and here the post process of the imported data can be performed as necessary.
maya/python/publisher/
Plugins for exporting data out from DCC app to disk and creating a version in ftrack with reviewable and components.
maya/python/publisher/collectors/widget/maya_geometry_publisher_collector_options.py
The Qt plugin that defines the widget associated with the geometry collector, and usually is based on the standard built in collector that adds selected objects to a list of objects.
Set auto_fetch_on_init property to True and the fetch function within the collector plugin will be called upon widget instantiation - enabling immediate population of objects based on selection or other expressions/rules.
One can also define a different function, than the default “run” function, to be executed when the plugin is run.
maya/python/publisher/collectors/maya_geometry_publisher_collector.py
The plugin that fetches objects from the loaded DCC app project to be published, in this case Maya geometry. Depending on the type of integration, Pythonic objects can be returned to the next stage or a path to object(s) is returned (Houdini, Unreal).
maya/python/publisher/validators/maya_geometry_publisher_validator.py
(Optional) Validator plugins that can be used to make sure the collected(selected) objects are eligible for publish.
maya/python/publisher/output/maya_abc_publisher_exporter.py
The plugin that is responsible for exporting the collected(selected) objects to disk, to a temporary path. The file will then be moved to its correct path dictated by the API structure plugin associated with the location (if a managed), upon finalization.
maya/python/publisher/finalizers/publish_result_maya.py
(Optional) Plugin that can be used to prepare the data for publish, after the output stage is done. A post process plugin can be implemented that runs after version have been published, allowing for example a trigger that sends out extra notifications or do uploads to additional storage.
Schema validation¶
This host performs validation of the definitions at boot and when a definition is supplied to be run with a engine.
The validation is important to make sure the syntax and plugin references are correct within the definition.
Search the DCC log for validation errors, for example Maya log is located here:
Windows; %LOCALAPPDATA%\ftrack\ftrack-connect\log\ftrack_connect_pipeline_maya.log
Mac OSX; ~/Library/Application Support/ftrack-connect/log/ftrack_connect_pipeline_maya.log
Linux; ~/.local/share/ftrack-connect/log/ftrack_connect_pipeline_maya.log