KZ Quick Setup

The KZ Quick Setup is a small free Maya tool I put together because every time I started a new shot I kept repeating the same steps. Maya doesn’t ship with even the any cinematography overlays so I thought: why not make them myself and share it?

This isn’t anything groundbreaking, but it might save you a bit of time or give you a spark to create a better tool than this. Honestly, I hope someone more technical takes these ideas and makes them even better. I’m always too busy with my short films and animation work to push it further, but it’s “good enough” for now.

My favorite features:

• Free Image Plane (with Browser) – instantly drop in reference plates or straight from file browser and save at least a couple of clips everytime.
• Composition Overlays – rule of thirds and golden spiral,
  parented to the camera so they always stay in view.
  

  

• Depth of Field Locator – a simple locator setup to visualize DOF.
  Maya’s viewport DOF is quirky and this is never perfect for me, but the idea is there.

  

• Quick Camera & Lighting Setup – adding cameras, rename to shotcam, and droping in a 3-point light setup to get me started.

Everything is just small things I use when setting up a shot.

Why share this when it's so simple?

Because I’ve got nothing to lose, it’s free and maybe it’ll help other animators, directors, or anyone exploring animation, CGI, and cinematography inside Maya.