ArchSun

ArchSun is a Python-based Autodesk Maya tool that creates and updates an Arnold daylight setup from real-world location, date, time, and scene north settings.

Demo

This project was built as a CG TD trainee portfolio piece. The goal was to make a small but complete Maya tool that combines:

• Qt UI inside Maya
• scene creation and scene updates through maya.cmds
• a NOAA-style solar-position calculation
• release packaging for non-technical users

What It Does

• Creates an Arnold daylight setup in the Maya scene
• Uses latitude, longitude, date, time, and north offset to drive sun direction
• Provides a dockable Maya UI
• Lets the user choose a preset city or pick a point from a world map
• Supports manual scene-side intensity adjustment
• Builds an installable release bundle with install and uninstall scripts

Current Scene Nodes

ArchSun currently creates and manages these Maya nodes:

• Group: ARCHSUN_DAYLIGHT_GRP
• Skydome transform: ARCHSUN_SKYDOME_LGT
• Physical sky texture: ARCHSUN_PHYSICALSKY_TEX

Tech Stack

• Python
• Autodesk Maya
• Arnold (mtoa)
• PySide2 / PySide6 compatibility layer

Project Structure

• archsun/core: solar math, data models, location helpers
• archsun/maya: Maya runtime access, daylight setup creation, installer support
• archsun/ui: dockable Qt UI, sections, resources, status messaging
• tests: unit, integration, and manual smoke coverage
• tools: release build script

Main Workflow

1. Launch ArchSun inside Maya.
2. Choose a city or pick a location from the map.
3. Set the date and time.
4. Adjust north offset and intensity if needed.
5. Click Update Lighting.
6. ArchSun creates or updates the Arnold daylight setup in the scene.

Running In Maya

ArchSun is meant to run inside Autodesk Maya.

If the package is available on Maya's Python path, you can launch it with:

from archsun.launcher import show_archsun
show_archsun()

Building A Release

Build the release bundle from the repo root:

python -m tools.build_release

This creates:

• dist/ArchSun-0.3.5
• dist/ArchSun-0.3.5.zip

The bundle includes:

• archsun_install_drop.py
• archsun_uninstall_drop.py
• a packaged archsun folder
• a simple install readme for Maya users

Testing

The project includes:

• unit tests for solar logic, status text, launcher behavior, and release packaging
• Maya-facing integration tests built around a fake maya.cmds layer
• a manual UI smoke checklist

Typical command:

python -m pytest -q

Install development dependencies with:

python -m pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

Strengths Of The Project

• Clear separation between core logic, Maya integration, and UI
• Real scene-side behavior instead of a UI-only demo
• Release packaging and shelf-install support
• Naming cleanup for scene nodes
• A test suite that covers multiple layers of the tool

Current Limitations

• Timezone handling is manual and not daylight-savings aware.
• The tool is currently Arnold-specific.
• UI smoke testing inside Maya is still partly manual.