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Plugin Installation

Plugin Download

  • Get the plugin from the Gumroad page.
  • Extract the downloaded archive to a temporary location.

The archive contains a gltf2ImporterForMaya/ folder with PackageContents.xml and a Contents folder. Inside Contents there is a plugin folder with the actual plugin files:

  • gltf2_importer_plugin.py — plugin loader
  • gltf2_importer — plugin Python package/folder
  • extern_draco.dll — native Draco decoder (Windows only; enables KHR_draco_mesh_compression)
  • gltfImportOptions.mel — UI MEL script

You can install the plugin using either of two methods:

  1. Autodesk Application Plug-in Package (recommended): Copy the entire gltf2ImporterForMaya package folder to the appropriate ApplicationPlugins location for your OS (see the Installation section below).

  2. Manual install (classic method): Extract the individual plugin files from gltf2ImporterForMaya/Contents/plugin/ and manually copy them into your per-user Maya plug-ins and scripts folders as described in the Manual install sections below.

Installation

Windows

  • Close Maya: Make sure Maya is not running.
  • Install: Copy the entire extracted gltf2ImporterForMaya package folder into:
C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\gltf2ImporterForMaya
  • The package must contain a top-level PackageContents.xml and a Contents folder. Inside Contents there should be a plugin folder which holds the actual plugin files.
  • Maya (versions 2022 through 2026) will automatically detect and load the package at startup.
  • Restart Maya and confirm the glTF2.0 menu appears and the glTF2.0 Import file type is available in Maya's import window.

Manual install (legacy, per-user)

  • Close Maya: Make sure Maya is not running.
  • Copy gltf2_importer_plugin.py into:
C:\Users\<USER NAME>\Documents\maya\<Maya version>\plug-ins

Create the plug-ins directory if it does not exist.

  • Copy the following files into your per-user scripts folder:

  • gltf2_importer (folder)

  • extern_draco.dll
  • gltfImportOptions.mel

Put them into:

C:\Users\<USER NAME>\Documents\maya\<Maya version>\scripts

Create the scripts directory if it does not exist.

  • Restart Maya and open it again.
  • Enable: Go to Windows > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager, verify gltf2_importer_plugin.py loads (Load + Auto Load checked)

Updating / Uninstalling

  • When updating the plugin, delete any previous installation first.
  • Application Plug-in Package install: delete:
C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\gltf2ImporterForMaya
  • Manual/per-user install: delete:
C:\Users\<USER NAME>\Documents\maya\<Maya version>\plug-ins\gltf2_importer_plugin.py
C:\Users\<USER NAME>\Documents\maya\<Maya version>\scripts\gltf2_importer
C:\Users\<USER NAME>\Documents\maya\<Maya version>\scripts\extern_draco.dll
C:\Users\<USER NAME>\Documents\maya\<Maya version>\scripts\gltfImportOptions.mel

macOS

  • Close Maya

  • Copy the gltf2ImporterForMaya package folder to one of the ApplicationPlugins locations on macOS:

  • Typical (shared for all users):

    /Users/Shared/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/gltf2ImporterForMaya

  • User-specific (single user):

    ~/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/gltf2ImporterForMaya

  • System-wide (all users):

    /Library/Application Support/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/gltf2ImporterForMaya

  • The package must contain a top-level PackageContents.xml and a Contents folder (see example structure above).

  • Maya (versions 2022 through 2026) will automatically detect and load the package at startup.
  • Restart Maya and confirm the glTF2.0 menu appears and the glTF2.0 Import file type is available in Maya's import window.

Manual install (legacy, per-user)

  • Close Maya
  • Copy gltf2_importer_plugin.py into:
~/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/<Maya version>/plug-ins

Create the plug-ins directory if it does not exist.

  • Copy the following into your per-user scripts folder:

  • gltf2_importer (folder)

  • gltfImportOptions.mel

Put them into:

~/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/<Maya version>/scripts

Create the scripts directory if it does not exist.

  • Restart Maya
  • Enable: In Windows > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager, confirm gltf2_importer_plugin.py is loaded (Load + Auto Load)

Updating / Uninstalling

  • When updating the plugin, delete any previous installation first.
  • Application Plug-in Package install: delete gltf2ImporterForMaya from whichever location you used:
/Users/Shared/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/gltf2ImporterForMaya
~/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/gltf2ImporterForMaya
/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/gltf2ImporterForMaya
  • Manual/per-user install: delete:
~/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/<Maya version>/plug-ins/gltf2_importer_plugin.py
~/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/<Maya version>/scripts/gltf2_importer
~/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/<Maya version>/scripts/gltfImportOptions.mel

Linux

  • Close Maya

  • Copy the gltf2ImporterForMaya package folder to one of these ApplicationPlugins locations:

  • System-wide:

    /usr/autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/gltf2ImporterForMaya

  • Per-user:

    $HOME/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/gltf2ImporterForMaya

  • The package must contain a top-level PackageContents.xml and a Contents folder (see example structure above).

  • Maya (versions 2022 through 2026) will automatically detect and load the package at startup.
  • Restart Maya and confirm the glTF2.0 menu appears and the glTF2.0 Import file type is available in Maya's import window.

Manual install (legacy, per-user)

  • Close Maya
  • Copy gltf2_importer_plugin.py to:
$HOME/maya/<Maya version>/plug-ins

Create the plug-ins directory if it does not exist:

mkdir -p $HOME/maya/<Maya version>/plug-ins

  • Copy the support files to your per-user scripts folder:

  • gltf2_importer (folder)

  • gltfImportOptions.mel

Put them into:

$HOME/maya/<Maya version>/scripts

Create it if needed:

mkdir -p $HOME/maya/<Maya version>/scripts
  • Restart Maya
  • Enable in the Plug-in Manager and ensure gltf2_importer_plugin.py autoloads

Updating / Uninstalling

  • When updating the plugin, delete any previous installation first.
  • Application Plug-in Package install: delete gltf2ImporterForMaya from whichever location you used:
/usr/autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/gltf2ImporterForMaya
$HOME/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/gltf2ImporterForMaya
  • Manual/per-user install: delete:
$HOME/maya/<Maya version>/plug-ins/gltf2_importer_plugin.py
$HOME/maya/<Maya version>/scripts/gltf2_importer
$HOME/maya/<Maya version>/scripts/gltfImportOptions.mel

If the plugin doesn't appear after installation, follow the Verification steps below to troubleshoot.

Verification

After installation, you should see the glTF2.0 menu item in the main maya window and file type glTF2.0 Import available in the Maya's native import window.

If the plugin doesn't appear:

  1. Check file locations - Ensure the scripts and plug-ins files were copied to the correct user folders
  2. Verify plugin status - Make sure the plugin is enabled in the Plug-in Manager. Should be enabled automaticaly when Maya launches
  3. Restart Maya - Close and reopen Maya completely
  4. Check for errors - Look at Maya's Script Editor for any error messages