Here is a collection of helpful resources. To the best of my knowledge everything listed below is free of copyright protection and available elsewhere on the internet for download. If this is not so please contact me and I will take action. Otherwise, comments are enabled here, please feel free to leave feedback if you find something helpful! (note, all scripts prefixed with EJL were created by me)

ajrAutoSave.mel I’ve been using this script since 2003 and haven’t lost any serious amount of work since. It was written by Andy Rawling in 2001. Set this up and you can tell Maya to incrementally save your scene at the time interval of your choice, in the location of your choice. I usually have mine set up to save every five minutes, in a folder that self deletes files after a week.

cometRename.mel Standard, and essential renaming script, written by Michael B. Comet. Renames selected objects with number increment and padding functionality.

curveFromEdges.mel This will let you convert a contiguous selection of edges in to a NURBS curve.

dp_SaveScenePlus.mel This was written by Diego Prilusky. It saves your scene incrementally. Newer versions of Maya now offer this functionality but I still prefer this script because it’s easily bound to a hotkey and does a slightly better job of keeping the version numbers in order. A limitation is that this only saves binary files (.mb).

EJL_clusterLoop.mel If you’ve ever needed to scale down a long piece of geometry proportionally (a helix, curvy tube or the like) then this is your script. It will turn any edges you have selected in to edgeloops, and then build a cluster on each edgeloop. In this way you can scale the clusters up or down and you will essentially be scaling on the normal, but in a much cleaner way. Just delete history when you’re finished scaling. This can also be used in conjunction with EJL_propScale for a nice tapering or widening effect.

EJL_copyPivot.mel This script will simply copy the pivot location from one object or group to another. Not something you frequently need to do, but when you do need to it can be a real pain to do manually. Select child or children first, and then parent (object(s) to receive new pivot, and then object that supplies the pivot information.

EJL_finishLoop.mel The initial plan for this script was to create a tool that would build an edge loop in between two other face loops to save time. It didn’t really work out too well for that, so instead I would use this to fill a hole in your geometry when it doesn’t matter what the geometry will end up looking like (if such a situation exists!) The script looks at the component you have selected. If it’s a border edge, it will attempt to 1. Fill hole (eliminates border edge), 2. Triangulate (eliminates possibility of n-gon), and 3. Quadrangulate (a feeble attempt at good geometry).

EJL_keyVerts.mel This will set a keyframe at your current position on the time line, for each vertex you have selected. This essentially ‘locks’ the verts down. In this way you can deformations to your entire object while keeping certain portions static. Once your changes have been made, scrub the time line and your keyed verts will snap back to their previous location. An example of where this might be useful, if you were modeling a landscape that has a river on it. You want to add lumps and features to the landscape, but the surface of the river obviously has to remain flat. You don’t necessarily need this script to do this in Maya, you can just hit the “s” key for the same effect (as a co-worker so elegantly pointed out after I’d written it). But, if you’re a freak like me, you’ve already changed all the default Maya hotkeys to something else, including “s”

EJL_maya2008_activeSmooth.mel This is my own version of the popular “active smooth” script that circulates on Highend3D. My version makes use of Maya’s new subD smoothing preview instead of poly smoothing, also a blinn shader with a low specularity is created for the geometry. It’s a toggle script, so bind it to one hot key for on / off functionality. (note: this has a few bugs that I haven’t had time to iron out yet. 1. it seems to throw you back in to Wireframe on Shaded mode upon exit, and 2. You must have nothing selected when you turn it off. I will fix these eventually.

EJL_mergeAbs.mel This will take two separate objects, combine them together and weld verticies that are within a .001 distance from each other. The idea here is to be able to put a model back together as quickly as you can take it apart with the Extract Faces tool in Maya.

EJL_normalCheck.mel Turns double sided lighting off. When this happens, objects or faces with inverted normals will not receive light, and therefore will appear black.

EJL_objXport.mel This script will cycle every object you have selected out and back in to Maya as a way of cleaning your model. When an object is written out in to OBJ format it effectively strips off a lot of crap. When the model comes back in it’s nice and clean. The script will keep object names, hierarchy location and translation transforms. **NOTE** to use this script, you must change line #31 to a directory that actually exists on your computer. The default is “C:\temp”.

EJL_propScale.mel Proportional scaling tool. Select objects you would like to proportionally scale down (such as a row of spheres). The order you select the models will determine how they are scaled (first object selected will be bigger than second object selected, i.e. actually location of objects in your scene is irrelevant). The script will open a small GUI, where you can enter a value. Entering -0.1 will scale object A by -0.1, object B by -0.2 and so on.

EJL_ripPolySeam.mel This will take a selection of contiguous edges that form a completed edge loop and use it as a basis for cutting your model in to separate parts. For example, selecting an edgeloop around a sphere and using this script will result in two separate sphere halves. Note: small bug exists where UVs are left split apart after the operation.

EJL_toggleWires.mel Toggles WOS (Wireframe On Shaded) on or off in your modeling pane.

EJL_transferUVInfo.mel Transfers UV’s from one object to another, or multiple others. Note: both objects MUST have the same number of points & point order / numbers per vertex.

EJL_transferVertInfo.mel Transfers vertex XYZ coordinate locations from one object to another, or multiple others. Note: both objects MUST have the same number of points & point order / numbers per vertex.

EJL_trianglesSuck.mel As implied by the name of this script, we often hope to reduce or minimize triangles in our meshes. This script will examine whichever objects you have selected and highlight non-quad faces. (no changes made to your model, it’s just a feedback system)

EJL_uberSnapTool.mel This is a fancy make-live button. It duplicates your model, makes it live and then hides it. From there you can drag components around your mesh and not have to worry about losing volume or translating funny. This is another toggle script, so bind it to one key for on / off functionality.

EJL_uvShader.mel A quick and easy way to view the UV’s on your object. This script creates a shader with a checker texture in the color chanel, and assigns it to the object you have selected. Note: You will need to change line #4 of this script to a directory on your computer that has a checker board texture.

fitMorph.mel Fitmorph, written by Erick Miller, is your one stop shop for shrink wrapping geometry across another object. For example, draping a table cloth over a table. This can also be very helpful for modeling terrain, and down-rezing scan data. It’s invaluable when it works but unfortunately it often crashes- perhaps because of a memory limitation. Regardless, save often when working with this tool.

OMT_to_selectionDragger.mel This is from the OMToolbox series (written by Jakob Welner), available here: link. The selection dragger is my favorite part of this pack. It allows you to slide an edge up or down the faces around it, along the face normal. Or you can also slide it out along it’s own normal in to space if you want. Love it.

randomSelect.mel Allows you to create a random selection of the objects that you currently have selected. (author unknown?)

randomPoints.mel Allows you to randomize or add noise to whatever component points you have selected. Helpful when you need a disorganized or muddy look quickly. Written by Dirk Bialluch in 1998!

randomObjects.mel Allows you to randomize the transforms of your objects. So, random rotation, scale or translation. This was written by a guy named Nathan, and you can find more of his awesome work here: link.

UV_mapper.jpg (right click –> Save As) This is a great texture to use when you are in the process of laying out UVs. It’s important to make sure your final layout is not warped at all. This will help you do that.