Missing Maya plugin in shelf & removing the plugin

Our Maya plugin should be automatically installed when using the installer directly in our renderBeamer app. If you followed our Maya guide and can't locate our plugin when you open Maya, then you can add the missing plugin manually.

There usually can be 3 causes of the plugin being missing in the shelf:

• Cause 1 - Plugin did not install in the correct Maya scripts directory
• Cause 2 - Some 3rd party addon interfered with adding plugin icon, or some other reason that prevented the icon from being added
• Cause 3 - Incorrect user privileges on OSX

You can check if this is the cause by running a command in the Maya script editor.

Paste the following text into the Python box, select all of it and click run:

from mayaBeamer import main
main.run()

If our plugin window opens, this is not the cause of the missing shelf icon. In this case, please proceed to the Cause 2.

If it does not open and script editor shows error like:

ImportError: file <maya console> line 1: No module named mayaBeamer

It means the plugin is not installed or it is installed in the wrong location.

The default Maya scripts directory is:

  Windows: C:\Users\{YourUserName}\Documents\maya\scripts\mayaBeamer
  OSX: /Users/{YourUserName}/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/scripts/mayaBeamer

Please make sure that you installed the plugin on the same user account that you are using Maya. This needs to be a user account that has administrator privileges.

1. Delete the renderBeamer shelf (Window > Settings/Preferences > Shelf Editor) and save preferences (File > Save preferences).
2. Uninstall renderBeamer (Windows Start > RenderBeamer > Uninstall renderBeamer on Windows OS).
3. Install it again, let it update and check if the plugin appeared in Maya shelf.
4. In case the first method fails, please apply the second method.

1. Create new renderBeamer shelf if you haven't got one after reinstalling Beamer.
   In case the shelf exists, please just click with your RMB on the item inside the shelf and hit "Edit". Next proceed to point g.
   

Sometimes the plugin icon disappears because Maya loses the ability to read custom shelves correctly. It is enough to remove the existing userPrefs.mel file.

userPrefs.mel file is located here:

• Win: C:\Users\{YourUserName}\Documents\maya\201X\prefs\userPrefs.mel
• OSX: /Users/{YourUserName}/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/201x/prefs/userPrefs.mel

Please check if the plugin's visible in Maya's shelf afterwards.

In case you still experience issues or need assistance, please get in touch with our support. In solving this issue on our side, it would be useful for us to see the content of the Output window and userSetup.py file, please prepare it and show it to us whenever it is possible.

Sometimes after installing renderBeamer with Maya plugin on OSX machines you can have issues with a missing icon in renderBeamer shelf.

Plugin is linked correctly, but it cannot be started because of the missing icon.

To fix this issue, you need to browse to the path where Autodesk Maya stores our plugin and change privileges to the whole directory.

To check the path to the .pxm file just edit the renderBeamer icon by right clicking and switching to the "shelves" tab.

In the example below, the user is "GarageFarm" but on your machine you will see your own user.

Next, browse (using Finder) to the path provided in the Icon Name and change the whole directory privileges to "Read & Write" for all groups and use the "Apply to enclosed items..." option.

Restart Maya to see changes.

To remove our plugin for Maya you can do it by using the "remove" option directly in our renderBeamer app:

If automatic uninstallation process of our plugin didn’t work and the plugin is still visible in Maya UI, please remove all plugin files manually. The default locations are:

  Windows: C:\Users\{YourUserName}\Documents\maya\scripts\mayaBeamer
  OSX: /Users/{YourUserName}/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/scripts/mayaBeamer