Standalone Installation

Linux, Mac, Windows

If you're trying to install on Windows in a Python 2 environment see here

To install the latest release directly from PyPi follow the following steps.

Note

The nxt-core is just the Python backend of NXT, it does not include the visual editor.
The core will automatically install with the nxt-editor.

Video

Written

  • First time install
    • For just the cli and backend: pip install nxt-core
    • For the backend and the visual editor: pip install nxt-editor
  • Launch (nxt editor)
    • nxt ui
  • Update
    • pip install -U nxt-core
    • pip install -U nxt-editor

To execute a graph with the nxt Python core, use the following:

import nxt
nxt.execute_graph('path/to/graph.nxt')


Windows (Python 2.7)

If you're installing into a Python 3.7.x environment you can use the above steps

Note

These steps are only necessary if you want to use the nxt standalone editor outside of Maya.
The nxt-core will pip install on Windows Python 2.7 without issue.

Due to the limited availability of PySide2 on Windows for Python 2.7 the steps to install on Windows are slightly more involved. For the simplest instructions, please follow the developer installation steps.
If you're comfortable working in an IDE and using git we suggest you follow the contributing documentation.


Blender plugin

The Blender addon relies on the pip package nxt-editor and its dependencies being installed into the Python environment used by Blender. We only support Blender version 2.8 and newer.

Video

Coming soon...

Written

  • Install:
    1. Download Blender addon (nxt_blender.zip) from the latest release
    2. Extract and follow nxt_blender README instructions (also included in the download)
  • Launch:
    1. Load the nxt_blender Addon (Edit > Preferences > Add-ons)
    2. Navigate the newly created NXT menu and select Open Editor.
  • Update:
    • Automatically: NXT > Update NXT
    • By Hand: /path/to/python.exe -m pip install -U nxt-editor
    • Relaunch Blender after


Maya plugin

Our Maya plugin comes with both a visual editor and the core. We've tested Maya 2018-20 on all platforms.

Video

Written

  • Install:
    1. Download the maya module(nxt_maya.zip) from the latest release
    2. Follow the nxt_maya README instructions (also included in the download)
  • Launch:
    1. Load nxt_maya plugin in Maya
    2. Select the nxt menu from the menus at the top of Maya
    3. Click Open Editor
  • Update:
    1. Download the nxt_maya zip from the latest release
    2. Extract the zip and replace the existing nxt_maya files with the newly extracted files.
    3. Re-launch Maya


Planned plugins:

  • Houdini
  • Nuke


Developer Installation

See our contributing documentation

NXT Python Dev Environment (Miniconda)

The following steps are only needed if you intend on contributing to the NXT codebase or you are trying to install NXT standalone on Windows Python 2.7. To get the correct Python environment setup on your Windows machine you will need to follow these steps. The nxt environment is specified in our nxt_env.yml.

  • Conda is best installed via miniconda. We recommend not adding conda python to your system path and not making it your system python.
  • You can either clone the nxt source from our core repo / editor repo or download the desired core release / editor release source code zip and extract it.
  • Lets assume you place the source code at C:/Projects/nxt
  • Launch the Anaconda Prompt and install dependencies: conda env create -f C:/Projects/nxt/nxt_env.yml

Launching the nxt editor

From Anaconda Prompt

  • conda activate nxt
  • cd C:/Projects/nxt
  • python -m nxt.cli ui

From Python

import nxt_editor
GRAPHS_TO_OPEN = ['a_graph.nxt'] or None
nxt_editor.launch_editor(paths=GRAPHS_TO_OPEN, start_rpc=True)


Bootstrapping nxt

Tested with Maya2018/19/20, Houdini18, Nuke11,12

Warning

This setup is temporary, and will eventually be replaced with a command port connections with host plugins.

Find your conda env with this command in the Anaconda Prompt: conda info --envs Copy the following code into Maya and edit NXT_PATH and ENV_PATH to reflect your environment. You can then drag it to your shelf or save it to a file, up to you.

import sys
import os
# path to your nxt clone
NXT_PATH = '~/Projects/Sun/nxt'
# path to conda env
ENV_PATH = 'C:/ProgramData/Miniconda2/envs/nxt/Lib/site-packages'
# Default file(s) to open, can be `None`
LAUNCH_FILES = ['~/Projects/SomeGraph.nxt']
if ENV_PATH not in sys.path:
    sys.path.append(os.path.expanduser(ENV_PATH))
if NXT_PATH not in sys.path:
    sys.path.append(os.path.expanduser(NXT_PATH))
from Qt import QtCore
import nxt_editor
# The `paths` kwarg can be omited if you don't want to open any graphs.
# Due to the way some thrid party Python interpeters are setup, we recommened setting `start_rpc` to `False`.
instance = nxt_editor.show_new_editor(paths=LAUNCH_FILES, start_rpc=False)
if sys.platform == 'win32':
    instance.setWindowFlags(QtCore.Qt.Window)
# To force close the instance run this line:
# instance.close()
Optional window attach

To attach to the main window in Nuke

def _nuke_main_window():
    """Returns Nuke's main window"""
    for obj in QtWidgets.QApplication.topLevelWidgets():
        if (obj.inherits('QMainWindow') and
                obj.metaObject().className() == 'Foundry::UI::DockMainWindow'):
            return obj
    else:
        raise RuntimeError('Could not find DockMainWindow instance')
nuke_window = _nuke_main_window()
instance = nxt_editor.show_new_editor(start_rpc=False)
instance.setParent(nuke_window, QtCore.Qt.Window)

To Attach to the main window in Houdini

from hutil.Qt import QtCore
instance = nxt_editor.show_new_editor(start_rpc=False)
instance.setParent(hou.qt.mainWindow(), QtCore.Qt.Window)

To Attach to the main window in Maya

import maya.OpenMayaUI as mui
pointer = mui.MQtUtil.mainWindow()
maya_window = QtCompat.wrapInstance(long(pointer), QtWidgets.QWidget)
instance = nxt_editor.show_new_editor(start_rpc=False)
instance.setParent(hou.qt.mainWindow(), QtCore.Qt.Window)