Initial Setup
To connect Cargo to Maya, first follow the Basic Software Setup guide.
After you have selected your version of Maya, Cargo will install all necessary files to your computer and ask you to activate your plugin.
To find the Cargo Connect Plugin, you will need to Load the plugin in to Maya. To do this, go to
Open Maya and navigate to:
Windows → Settings/Preferences → Plug-In Manager
From the Plug-In Manager, search for “Cargo”. Make sure the checkboxes are active for “Loaded” and “Auto Load”. If they are already checked, do not toggle them; you can just close this window to continue
On the top file menu, find the “KitBash3D” drop down. From here, select “Cargo Connect”.
The Cargo window will open. Click “Connect” and make sure the checkbox indicates “Connected to Cargo.
You can now continue to the Import test to complete Basic Software Setup.
Maya Troubleshooting
Before you begin troubleshooting, please make sure you have a supported version of Maya installed on your computer. Cargo currently supports Maya 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
If you are using a supported version of Maya, and you do not see a KitBash3D menu , check to make sure the plugin is loaded in Maya by following these steps:
Navigate to: Windows → Settings/Preferences → Plug-In Manager
In this window, search for “Cargo” and make sure the “Load” and “Auto Load” checkboxes are active. If they are both active but no Cargo menu is visible, you may need to restart Maya.
If the plugin is not displayed, you’ll need to redo Basic Software Setup.
If you receive the following error message, you’ll need to ensure “Load” and “Autoload” are checked on, and restart Maya:
Error: file: C:/Users/Dan/AppData/Roaming/kitbash3d/plugins/maya/2023/KitbashCargoMaya2023/scripts/cargo.mel line 28: Cannot find procedure "KB3DActivate".
*Note - do not toggle these, only check the boxes if they are unchecked.
Maya does not see the Cargo plugin after Software Setup
It can happen that Maya isn’t looking in the Documents folder we are expecting the Maya.env to be at. In general that is on the C: drive in the Documents folder for your user.
To find out where your Maya is actually looking for this file you can run in a MEL script editor the following line:
string app_dir = `getenv “MAYA_APP_DIR"`;
It will give you the path where Maya is looking for the environment variable file Maya.env.
Default location MAYA_APP_DIR
Having gone through the Software Setup at least once you should be able to find the Maya.env file in the default location. C:/Users/Name/Documents/maya/VERSION/Maya.env for your VERSION of Maya. The other location will be in the result of the MEL script just used.
Open both Maya.env files and copy the lines that start with KB3D_ to the correct file (KB3D_PLUG_IN_PATH, KB3D_SCRIPT_PATH and KB3D_XBMLANGPATH). Make sure that the MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH, MAYA_SCRIPT_PATH and XBMLANGPATH all have references to the Cargo-related environment variables.
Below is an example where also Redshift is installed:
KB3D_PLUG_IN_PATH = C:\Users\Name\AppData\Roaming\kitbash3d\plugins\maya\2023\KitbashCargoMaya2023\plug-ins
KB3D_SCRIPT_PATH = C:\Users\Name\AppData\Roaming\kitbash3d\plugins\maya\2023\KitbashCargoMaya2023\scripts
KB3D_XBMLANGPATH = C:\Users\Name\AppData\Roaming\kitbash3d\plugins\maya\2023\KitbashCargoMaya2023\icons
REDSHIFT_COREDATAPATH = C:\ProgramData\Redshift
REDSHIFT_PLUG_IN_PATH = %REDSHIFT_COREDATAPATH%\Plugins\Maya\2023\nt-x86-64
REDSHIFT_SCRIPT_PATH = %REDSHIFT_COREDATAPATH%\Plugins\Maya\Common\scripts
REDSHIFT_XBMLANGPATH = %REDSHIFT_COREDATAPATH%\Plugins\Maya\Common\icons
MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH = %REDSHIFT_PLUG_IN_PATH%;%KB3D_PLUG_IN_PATH%
MAYA_SCRIPT_PATH = %REDSHIFT_SCRIPT_PATH%;%KB3D_SCRIPT_PATH%
XBMLANGPATH = %REDSHIFT_XBMLANGPATH%;%KB3D_XBMLANGPATH%
You should be able to go successfully through the Cargo Software Setup steps for your Maya version.
If your problems persist, contact info@kitbash3d.com