Maya: the Advanced Playblast Tool.

Tired of huge playblast files? You're not alone.

Animators have relied on the QuickTime H.264 codec for years to create small, high-quality video playblasts. However, with the rise of modern CPUs (specifically those with 12 or more cores) and the retirement of QuickTime, this workflow is now broken in Maya. The only way to get a video out is by using massive, uncompressed AVI files or QT PNG with bigger file sizes. This leaves you with a major problem: spending extra time re-encoding your video in a separate program like Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve just to get a file small enough for review.

This script solves that problem! It's a simple, in-Maya tool that uses the power of FFmpeg to create a high-quality H.264 playblast with a small file size without ever leaving your scene.

This script comes in two versions: one for Maya 2019-2024 and another for Maya 2025 and newer, which uses Python 3. Simply copy the code into your script editor, save it to your shelf, and you're ready to go.

Before you run the script, you'll need to install FFmpeg on your computer. This is the critical step that allows the tool to work its magic.

Step 1: Get FFmpeg

The most important step is to install FFmpeg on your computer. You can download it for free from the official website.

• Go to the FFmpeg download page: https://ffmpeg.org/download.html (FFmpeg 8.0 "Huffman")
• Choose the version for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux).
• Download and unzip the folder to an easy-to-remember location on your computer, such as C:\FFmpeg on Windows or /usr/local/ffmpeg on macOS.

FFmpeg 8.0 "Huffman" https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ffmpeg-release-full.7z

8.0 was released on 2025-08-22. It is the latest stable FFmpeg release from the 8.0 release branch, which was cut from master on 2025-08-09.

It includes the following library versions:

libavutil      60.  8.100
libavcodec     62. 11.100
libavformat    62.  3.100
libavdevice    62.  1.100
libavfilter    11.  4.100
libswscale      9.  1.100
libswresample   6.  1.100

Step 2: Connect FFmpeg to Your Computer

You need to tell your computer where to find FFmpeg by adding its location to your system's environment variables (also known as your PATH).

On Windows:

1. Search for "Environment Variables" in the Start Menu and select "Edit the system environment variables."
2. In the System Properties window, click the "Environment Variables..." button.
3. Under "System variables," find the "Path" variable, select it, and click "Edit."
4. Click "New" and type the full path to the bin folder inside your FFmpeg folder (e.g., C:\FFmpeg\bin).
5. Click OK on all windows to save.

On macOS:

1. Open the Terminal application.
2. Type echo $SHELL to see if you are using zsh or bash.
3. Type nano ~/.zshrc (for zsh) or nano ~/.bash_profile (for bash) and press Enter.
4. Add the following line to the end of the file, replacing the path with the location of your FFmpeg bin folder: export PATH="/usr/local/ffmpeg/bin:$PATH"
5. Press Control + X, then Y, then Enter to save the file.
6. Close and reopen your terminal for the changes to take effect.

Key Features

Once the script is running, you'll have full control over your playblast settings.

• Set Output Folder: Choose exactly where your finished video will be saved.
• Resolution & Quality: Easily set the resolution, image quality, and encoding speed to balance file size and visual fidelity.
• Flexible Frame Range: Options for the time slider, animation range, and specific frame range.
• Show/Hide Ornaments: Control the visibility of viewport elements like the camera name, axis, and HUD.
• Audio Included: Option to include synchronized sound from your scene.
• Keep Temporary Files: Choose to keep the temporary image sequence that is created during the playblast process.

I hope this playblast tool helps you save time and focus on what matters most, creating great animation!