What is this
This tool is used in Maya to export and import animation data. It is intended to save animation data to a *.dkanim file to then be able to import said animation to same, or almost the same rig, in another or same Autodesk Maya scene file. It was first developped by Daniel Kramer, then by Dan Erwin and then by myself : David Saber. Thanks to Daniel Kramer for creating dkAnim tool 25 years ago! It is an awesome tool for exporting and importing animation that has worked in all scenarios I have found myself in.
Doesn’t it date back from the dinosaurs?
Yes it’s true but it’s still a good script and after 25 years (!!!!), it’s still needed in Maya. Shows how committed Autodesk’s development team is. There is a MEL version that still works, but I decided to convert it to Python because I want to add some lines of codes from time to time and I prefer to learn Python rather than MEL.
Gimme more info
There’s an HTML file inside the ZIP file that explains everything : Description, Installation, Uninstallation, General Usage, Instructions, Commands, Screenshots, Additional Information, Todo, Contact and Version History. Read this file first!
The script is now available on GitHub, so other people can update the code. Highend3d was a great site that was full of ressources for 3D artists. Even if the look and system of the website were dated, it was still the place to go when looking for a good Maya script. But now, in February 2024, it has been offline for about 4 months. So I need to share the script somewhere else and I chose GitHub which allows other developers to easily add some code and to fix bugs.
Gimme the good stuff
Download it locally here, or at GitHub.
