SMDMaya

A Maya plug-in for importing and exporting Valve SMD and Valve DMX models and animations.

Supports Autodesk Maya 2019 through 2027 on Windows (x64).

Features

• Import SMD models and animations into Maya
• Import DMX models and animations into Maya

Installation

1. Go to the Releases page and download the zip that matches your Maya version (e.g. SMDMaya-Maya2024-Release.zip).

2. Extract the zip. Inside you will find SMDMaya.mll.

3. Copy SMDMaya.mll into Maya's plug-in folders:

   • C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya<version>\bin\plug-ins\

   Replace <version> with your Maya version, e.g. 2024.

Loading the plug-in

1. Start Maya.
2. Open Windows -> Settings/Preferences -> Plug-in Manager.
3. Find SMDMaya.mll in the list.
4. Tick Loaded to load it for this session. Tick Auto load if you want it to load every time Maya starts.

If the plug-in loaded correctly you will see [SMDMaya] loaded. in Maya's script editor output.

Importing a model or animation

Something to note is your import options should be set to "Override to Match Source" in File -> Import for Framerate Import and Animation Range. Make sure to double check your scene is at 30FPS.

1. Go to File -> Import...
2. In the Files of type dropdown, choose Valve SMD or Valve DMX.
3. Select your .smd or .dmx file and click Import.

Or.. just drag it into your scene.

Exporting a model or animation

1. In the viewport or Outliner, select the objects you want to export.
2. Go to File -> Export Selection...
3. In the Files of type dropdown, choose Valve SMD or Valve DMX.
4. In the export options on the right side of the dialog:
   • Leave Export Animation unticked to export the selected model geometry.
   • Tick Export Animation to export the skeleton animation instead.
5. Choose a filename and click Export Selection.

Supported Maya versions

Builds are published for Maya 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027. Make sure you download the zip that matches the version of Maya you are running. A plug-in built for one Maya version will not load in another.

Troubleshooting

• The plug-in does not appear in the Plug-in Manager. Double-check that SMDMaya.mll is in one of the plug-in folders listed above, then click Refresh in the Plug-in Manager.
• Maya says the plug-in failed to load. You are most likely using a build for a different Maya version. Download the zip that matches your Maya version.
• My format is not in the Export dropdown. The plug-in is not loaded. Open the Plug-in Manager and tick Loaded next to SMDMaya.mll.
• Animation keyframes are being planted weirdly Check your framerate matches your imported animations framerate (likely 30FPS).
• My problem isn't listed here! Create an issue on the issues page and I will get around to it.

Building from source

If you want to build the plug-in yourself instead of using a release:

1. Install Visual Studio 2022 with the Desktop development with C++ workload.
2. Download the Autodesk Maya devkit for your Maya version and extract it somewhere on disk.
3. Open SMDMaya.sln in Visual Studio.
4. Set the MAYA_ROOT MSBuild property to the path of the extracted devkit (the folder that contains include\ and lib\).
5. Build the Release / x64 configuration. The output is bin\Release\SMDMaya.mll.

The repository also includes a GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/buildandpublish.yml) that builds the plug-in for every supported Maya version and publishes the results as a GitHub Release.

License

See repository for license information.

Credits

Thanks to the guys who make BlenderSourceTools which I used for reference.