Install¶

Unzip anywhere, drag one file into a Maya viewport, press Install. Two minutes, no folders to move by hand.

The installer¶

Inside the release archive there are exactly two things: the Am_picker folder, and Drag_me_into_maya_for_install.py beside it.

Unzip the archive somewhere — your Downloads folder is fine, it does not have to be anywhere special.
Start Maya.
Drag Drag_me_into_maya_for_install.py from Explorer or Finder onto a Maya viewport.
The installer window opens. Press Install.

That is the whole procedure. The window tells you what it is doing as it goes, and ends with the shelf button in place.

Drop it on the viewport, not the Script Editor

Maya only runs a dropped Python file when it lands on a viewport panel. Dropping it into the Script Editor just opens the text.

What you can change before pressing Install¶

Option	What it means
Install location	The `AM_Tools` module root. Defaults to `<Documents>/maya/AM_Tools`, or to your existing AM_Tools if you already have one.
Add a shelf button	Which shelf gets the button. Defaults to the shelf you are looking at; the list has every shelf, plus a new AM_Tools shelf option.
Register the AM_Tools module with Maya	Writes the `.mod` file that puts the tools on Maya's paths at every launch. Leave this on unless you know why you are turning it off.
Open Am_Picker when done	Launches it straight after installing, so you can check it worked.

Where things end up¶

Am_Picker installs into AM_Tools — one Maya module shared by every AM tool, rather than a folder per tool:

<Documents>/maya/AM_Tools/
├── scripts/
│   ├── AM_Tools/        the shared registry and shelf menus
│   └── Am_picker/       this tool
├── icons/
└── plug-ins/

and one line registering it, in <Documents>/maya/modules/AM_Tools.mod. That file is version-independent, so every Maya you run picks the tools up.

Why one shared module

A module per tool means a .mod file per tool, a path entry per tool, and a fresh argument with your pipeline department every time you add one. AM_Tools is registered once. Installing a second AM tool later drops it into the same scripts/ folder and the same shelf menu system, and installing it does not disturb Am_Picker.

The reverse holds too: uninstalling Am_Picker only removes Am_Picker. The module and any other tools in it are left alone, and the module itself is only removed once it is genuinely empty — and then only if you say yes.

If you already have an AM_Tools module — from an earlier AM tool — the installer finds it, fills its path in for you, and adds Am_Picker to it. Your existing .mod file is not rewritten. Under the path field it names the module, and the tools already living in it, so you can see it found the right one.

It finds that module even when Maya is not currently reading it: a .mod line that has been switched off (a - instead of a +, by hand or by an earlier install tidying up what it read as a clash) still points at a folder full of tools, so the installer offers that folder and switches the line back on, rather than building a second module beside the first.

Point it somewhere else and it will argue

Change the path while an AM_Tools already exists and the notice under the field turns amber. This is the one mistake that does not fail at install time — it fails at the next Maya launch, in a different tool — because Maya reads the first declaration of a module name it finds and silently drops the rest. A Use it button beside the notice puts the path back in one click.

The shelf button¶

The installer puts one button on the shelf you chose. Clicking it opens a small menu:

Entry	Opens
Anim Picker	The picker in Anim mode — the everyday one.
Edit Picker	The picker in Edit mode, for building and fixing layouts.

Why a menu instead of two buttons

Most people open the picker in Anim mode all day and Edit mode a handful of times a month. Two shelf buttons would spend that whole month telling animators there is a mode they should not touch. One button, one flick, and the edit half stays out of the way without being hidden.

Installing by hand¶

The installer is a convenience, not a requirement. Am_Picker is a plain Python package that imports nothing outside itself except Maya and Qt.

Copy the Am_picker folder onto the Maya script path — usually:

<Documents>/maya/scripts/Am_picker/

Then from the Script Editor:

import Am_picker

Am_picker.load()             # Anim mode
Am_picker.load(edit=True)    # Edit mode

That is a complete install. You lose only the shelf button and the AM_Tools module registration; see Python API for making your own shelf button or menu entry.

Updating¶

Run the installer again over the top. It closes any open picker window, replaces scripts/Am_picker, and rebuilds the shelf button rather than adding a second one. Your pickers are not touched — they live in your Maya scenes and .ampkr files, not in the installed folder.

Am_Picker also checks for new versions by itself and tells you when one exists; see Updates for how that works and how to turn it off.

Uninstalling¶

Drag Drag_me_into_maya_for_install.py in again and press Uninstall. It removes the Am_picker folder, the shelf button and the Am_Picker icons, and leaves everything else in AM_Tools alone.

Pickers already saved in Maya scenes stay in those scenes. They will simply have no window to open in until Am_Picker is installed again.

If something goes wrong¶

Symptom	Cause and fix
Nothing happens when you drop the file	It landed somewhere other than a viewport, or you are on Maya 2016 or older (drag-and-drop install needs 2017 Update 3+). Install by hand instead.
"Could not find the Am_picker package"	`Drag_me_into_maya_for_install.py` was moved out of the unzipped folder. It has to stay beside the `Am_picker` folder — keep them together and drop it again.
The shelf button is there but does nothing	Restart Maya once. The installer wires the module into the running session, but a Maya that was mid-way through loading something can miss it.
`ImportError: No module named Am_picker`	The module is not registered. Re-run the installer with Register the AM_Tools module ticked, or add `<root>/scripts` to `PYTHONPATH` yourself.