1. General idea of the problem
   It takes too much time to implement GUIs for doing motion research.

2. Specific goal of what I expect to achieve in the short term.
   Figure out how Maya works and find what the basic framework
   for plug-ins look like and try understanding it.

3. What I'm going to implement, what I expect it will look like.
   A Maya plug-in that lets me do either motion-path-editing
   or footskate-solving.

4. Suggestion of the bigger picture
   Successful understanding of how Maya plug-ins work and being
   able to create them as needed can significantly lower the
   initial barrier for motion related projects.

5. Rough idea of my plan of attack.
   1. Figure out the basic framework of Maya plug-ins
   2. Understand the data structures and APIs used for Maya plug-ins
   3. Find the simplest method to integrate footskate solving to Maya
   4. If I still have time, find how I can make the interface better

6. What I intend to read for this project.
   Complete Maya Programming (Yu Chi's book)
   Maya SDK documentation
   Code examples of Maya plug-ins
   Web expedition for trouble shooting problems that arise