<p>Your best bet is probably to look for developers of commercial Maya plugins and see if they are willing to do contract work.  Most studios have developers on staff to handle any project specific coding work needed.  It's a pretty specialized skill set and I doubt there is much of a market for doing it as consultants.  </p>

<p>That said, my (limited) experience playing with APIs in 3d graphics software would tend to indicate that any developer with experience working with 3d systems should be able to pick it up pretty quickly.  The concepts, when it comes to the programing, aren't that different from DirectX to OpenGL to SoftImage or Maya.  It's still shaders, geometry, physics, etc...</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-10T14:30:31.853Z
2014-01-10T14:30:31.853Z
AJ Henderson
<p>I'm not very familiar with VFX production but I've been asked to do some research on companies that develop Maya plugins.</p>

<p>However, I'm having trouble locating such companies.</p>

<p>First, I tried Autodesk's website, hoping they would have an official developer directory, but they do not.  <strong>Edit</strong>: I did find the <a href="http://area.autodesk.com/jobs" rel="nofollow">official Autodesk site</a>, but the rest of my question still stands.</p>

<p>Then, I tried Googling terms such as <em>hire "maya plugin" developer</em> and <em>"maya plugin" development companies</em>.  However, I am getting very few hits.</p>

<p>How can I search for companies that do Maya development?  I do not want a list of Maya development companies (that would obviously be off topic); I just don't know enough about the terminology to perform a search, so I'd like to know which keywords have potential.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-10T14:35:35.533Z
In addition to my answer, if you post more details about what you want the plugin to do, we might be able to give more information on what that kind of plugin might be called or if any plugins already exist to do it.
AJ Henderson
<recommendation>
What keywords to use when searching for a Maya plugin developer?
Patrick Kenny
# What keywords to use when searching for a Maya plugin developer?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-01-10)

I'm not very familiar with VFX production but I've been asked to do some research on companies that develop Maya plugins.

However, I'm having trouble locating such companies.

First, I tried Autodesk's website, hoping they would have an official developer directory, but they do not. **Edit**: I did find the [official Autodesk site](http://area.autodesk.com/jobs), but the rest of my question still stands.

Then, I tried Googling terms such as *hire "maya plugin" developer* and *"maya plugin" development companies*. However, I am getting very few hits.

How can I search for companies that do Maya development? I do not want a list of Maya development companies (that would obviously be off topic); I just don't know enough about the terminology to perform a search, so I'd like to know which keywords have potential.

**Tags:** recommendation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: In addition to my answer, if you post more details about what you want the plugin to do, we might be able to give more information on what that kind of plugin might be called or if any plugins already exist to do it.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-01-10. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Your best bet is probably to look for developers of commercial Maya plugins and see if they are willing to do contract work. Most studios have developers on staff to handle any project specific coding work needed. It's a pretty specialized skill set and I doubt there is much of a market for doing it as consultants.

That said, my (limited) experience playing with APIs in 3d graphics software would tend to indicate that any developer with experience working with 3d systems should be able to pick it up pretty quickly. The concepts, when it comes to the programing, aren't that different from DirectX to OpenGL to SoftImage or Maya. It's still shaders, geometry, physics, etc...


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