[Python] How do I create a multi-index dataframe from tuples/lists

I want to create (for example) a small multi-index dataframe with 3 level index and one column of values. There will only be a handful of rows.

Value
Category Sub Category Sub Sub Category
Machine Car Sedan 10
Machine Bike 2 wheel 5
Machine Bike 3 wheel 4
Animal Donkey Big 2

A requirement is that the data has to be easy to enter, a row at a time, from left to right (not top to bottom), so my first step is to make a list of lists.

Then I can use DataFrame method and then the set-index method like this:

data=[["Machine","Car","Sedan",10], ["Machine","Bike","2 Wheel",5], ["Machine","Bike","3 Wheel",4], ["Animal","Donkey","Big",2]]
column_names=["Category","Sub Category","Sub Sub Category","Value"]
df=pd.DataFrame(data,columns=column_names)
df.set_index(["Category","Sub Category","Sub Sub Category"])


But is there a way to make the multi-index DataFrame directly from a list, or something like it?

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