tentacletk 0.9.51

A multi-application marking menu and UI framework for Maya, 3ds Max, and Blender.

Tentacle: A Python3/qtpy Marking Menu

Tentacle is a Python3/qtpy marking menu implemented using Qt's QStackedWidget. It is designed for use with Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, and any other DCC app that supports qtpy. In it's current implementation, it only has slots set up for Maya 2025.

Design

Tentacle runs on top of uitk, a qtpy dynamic UI loader, which allows for the creation of fully-featured UI with less time and code.

Example

The following example demonstrates re-opening the last scene, renaming a material, and selecting geometry by that material.

Structure

The structure of the project is as follows:

Module	Description
tcl	Handles main GUI construction for the marking menu.
overlay	Tracks cursor position and UI hierarchy to generate paint events that overlay its parent widget.
ui	Location of the dynamic UI files.
slots	Location of the various slot modules.

Installation

Tentacle can be installed either using pip directly in the command line or by downloading and running mayapy package manager in Windows.

Installation via pip

Install via pip in a command line window using:

path/to/mayapy.exe -m pip install tentacletk

Installation Using Mayapy Package Manager

Alternatively, you can use the mayapy package manager for a streamlined installation process. Download the mayapy package manager from here. (Give your Maya version. Hit 1 to install package. The package name is tentacletk)

Usage

To launch the marking menu:

For Maya, add the following to your userSetup.py:

import pymel.core as pm

def start_tentacle():
    from tentacle.tcl_maya import TclMaya
    TclMaya(key_show='F12') # Change 'F12' to match your chosen hotkey.

pm.evalDeferred(start_tentacle)