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- - Timer? (https://simplymaya.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26300)

I was wondering if there is such thing as a timer, one that would time the how long a certain project is open and count the time you've worked on that specific project. I think it'd be interesting to know how long I've worked on something. I never really keep track of time when I'm working on projects so I kind of get lost in it. Maybe theres one built into maya that I don't know about?

haha i have never heard of something like that though that would be good if there was one ;) why dont you just download some program or buy a cheap timer and that would be as good :p

If youÕre using a Mac, I have a great solution for you. ThereÕs a widget called TheDailyGrind that has some great features. HereÕs the link for it:
http://microcore.dk/TheDailyGrind/index.php

If you just want an app instead of a widget (which I donÕt know why you would ;) ), check out this one:
http://www.theratrace.eu/

RatRace has some features that TheDailyGrind doesnÕt have, but I like the widget. I still havenÕt tried RatRace yet, but I might soon.
:beer:

Thanks for the replies

Jr. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I'm not using a Mac.

Marlon, I've thought of setting a timer, but I never think of it until it's too late. It would just be handy for one to be built in.

Any mel script writers out there that think they can make one? haha

For something that times how long maya has been open, no, not to my knowledge.

Should you ever care to know your render times, however, use your computer's "search function," search for a file called "mayaRenderLog" (or just "render log"). In that you can see all sorts of render stats, including how long it took to render individual frames.

I was actually talking to one of my buddies about this a couple days ago. There really is no good way to do it within mel.

I wrote a quick and sloppy hack though. The problem with this method is that it does not take into account switching files, crashing, or the idle times (and the easy fix for that can often eat up all of your CPU :P)
All it does is log how long Maya is open into a file in the same folder as your scene file, appending it if you're working on the same scene file for more than 1 sitting.

Anyway, here's how installation works.

Open up Maya, open the script editor (the double-rectangle looking icon at the bottom right), enter this code, and press ctrl+enter.

PHP Code:


		
			
{

/*This simply edits your usersetup.mel file to enable this script to run when you close Maya

if you want to disable it put two slashes "//" infront of the line.*/

    string $fileName = (`internalVar -userScriptDir` + "usersetup.mel");

    int $fileId = `fopen $fileName "a"`;

    fprint $fileId ("\n scriptJob -pro -e \"quitApplication\" \"TIMERJUNK\"; \n");

    fclose $fileId;

}

now put this TIMERJUNK.mel file into the my documents/maya/x.x/scripts/

close Maya and open it up again and it will write the .time file which you can open with notepad or wordpad.

I dunno how useful it will actually be :P.
There's not much more I can think to do in mel though... a more robust FUNCTIONAL timer would probably have to be done in the maya API.

I dont' know if thats exactly what I'm loooking for, I might have to give it a shot just to see how it works.
Thanks