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Autodesk Maya Basics PDF
Autodesk Maya Basics PDF
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Table of contents
1 Interface overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
About Working in Maya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3D coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Mayas Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Objects and components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Selection, tools, and actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Main window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Menus and menu sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Marking menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Shelves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Maya Web browser plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Autodesk Maya Error Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
How do I? Get help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Print the Maya Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Work with menu items, tools, and options . . . . . . . . 25
Select tools and actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Set the options for a tool or menu item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Select actions from marking menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Select actions from the hotbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Select actions on a shelf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Load the default shelves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Start Maya from the command line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Install the Maya Web browser plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2 Selecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
How do I? Select objects or components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Select a node. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Select only certain types of objects or components
(selection masks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Save and reuse a selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Select objects based on hierarchy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Select components by painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
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4 Transforming objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
About Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
The pivot point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
World space, object space, and local space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Mayas interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Construction history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Construction planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Copies vs. instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
How do I? Transform objects and components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
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Use manipulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Lock a manipulator to the current selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Move, rotate, or scale objects and components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Move, rotate or scale components proportionally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Use the Universal Manipulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Move, rotate, or scale components with reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Change the pivot point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Flip objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Transform along different axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Set transformation values to zero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Align and snap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Snap to the grid, a curve, points, or a view plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Snap all creation tools to a surface or construction plane . . . . . . . . . 73
Align objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Snap one object to another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Change history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Undo, Redo, and Repeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Edit completed commands (construction history) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Show a custom manipulator for the selected node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Create and edit models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Create geometric primitives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Create text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Edit objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Cut, Copy, and Paste. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Duplicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Edit component numeric values directly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
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The Outliner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
The Hypergraph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Node types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
How do I? View and edit attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Change attribute values in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box . . . . 95
Show or hide the manipulator for an attribute in the Channel Box . . 97
Inline numeric calculation in multiple cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
View and edit multiple attributes on multiple nodes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Save and reuse attribute presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Lock the value of an attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Create, edit, or delete custom attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Open multiple Attribute Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Control the display of attributes in the Channel Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
View and change the hierarchy of nodes . . . . . . . . . 104
View and edit the hierarchy of nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Change the visual layout of nodes in the Hypergraph . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Change the order of nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Organize nodes into logical groupings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
View and change input and output history relationships
between nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Show inputs and outputs (dependency graph) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Connect input and output attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Connect attributes with an expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Break connections between attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Set a nodes update state. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Change the display of nodes and attributes . . . . . . 114
Show or hide nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Control which objects or attribute types appear in an editor . . . . . . 115
Save and reuse object or attribute visibility filters in editors . . . . . . 116
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Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Window > Settings/Preferences > Tool Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Window > Settings/Preferences > Performance Settings . . . . . . . . . 304
Window > Settings/Preferences > Color Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Window > Settings/Preferences > Shelf Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Window > Settings/Preferences > Marking Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Window > Settings/Preferences > Panel Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Window > Hypergraph: Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Window > Hypergraph: Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Window > View Arrangement, Saved Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Window > Frame All in All Views, Frame Selection in All Views . . . 309
Panel menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
View > Camera Tools > Tumble Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
View > Camera Tools > Track Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
View > Camera Tools > Dolly Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
View > Camera Tools > Zoom Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
View > Camera Tools > Roll Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
View > Camera Tools > Azimuth Elevation Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
View > Camera Tools > Yaw Pitch Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
View > Camera Tools > Fly Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Shading menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Shading > Wireframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Shading > Smooth Shade All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Shading > Smooth Shade Selected Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Shading > Flat Shade All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Shading > Flat Shade Selected Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Shading > Bounding Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Shading > Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Shading > Shade Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Shading > Interactive Shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
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Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
Basics
16
1 Interface overview
3D coordinates
The most basic visual entity is the point. The point has no size, but it has a
location.
To determine the location of points, we first establish an arbitrary point in space
as the origin.
We can then say a points location is so many units left (or right) of the origin, so
many units up (or down) from the origin, and so many units higher (or lower) than
the origin.
Basics
17
1 | Interface overview
About > Objects and components
(7,3,4)
Origin
(0,0,0)
7 3
4
These three numbers give us the 3D coordinates of the point in space. For
example, a point 7 units right (x), 4 units down (z), and 3 units above (y) the
origin has the XYZ coordinates (7,4,3).
To specify points on the opposite side of the origin, we use negative numbers. In
the example, a point at (-5, -2, -1) would be 5 units left of the origin, 2 units up,
and 1 unit below.
Y axis
X axis
is
ax
Z
Mayas Interface
Basics
18
1 | Interface overview
About > Selection, tools, and actions
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
Select tools and actions on page 25
Switch operations between actions and tools on page 160
Main window
This section is a brief summary of Mayas main interface. As you read, keep in
mind the following:
You can show or hide any of the UI elements in the main window using the
Display > UI Elements menu.
Basics
19
1 | Interface overview
About > Main window
You can also hide a UI element by clicking the hide button to the left of or
above the UI element. To show a UI element, press the right mouse
button on another hide button and select the desired UI element from the
pop-up menu.
You can hide all the interface elements and instead use Mayas quick
command features: the Hotbox, Marking Menus, and hotkeys.
A menu icon appears to the right of the mouse pointer when a right
mouse button pop-up menu is available for the control over which the mouse
is hovering.
Main menus
Status Line
Shelves
Panel menus
Tool Box
Quick layout
buttons
Panel
Time Slider
Range Slider
Command Line
Help Line
Channel Box
Layer Editor
Basics
20
1 | Interface overview
About > Menus and menu sets
Related topics
Shelves on page 23
Display > UI Elements on page 292
Quick layout buttons on page 196
Status line (toolbar) on page 179
Command line on page 183
Attribute Editor on page 338
Channel Box on page 346
You can create custom menu sets that contain your choice of menu items. For
more information, seeCustom menu sets on page 150.
Basics
21
1 | Interface overview
About > Marking menus
Tear-off menus
You can display menus as separate windows. This is helpful when you use a
menu repeatedly. Pull down the menu and click the tear-off line at the top. Tear-
off menus always display on top.
Related topics
Marking menus on page 22
Select tools and actions on page 25
Marking menus
You can quickly access many of your most commonly used tools with marking
menus.
Marking menus are used throughout the Maya interface. When you right-click an
object, a marking menu appears that lets you select a selection mode and other
options. Some marking menus appear when you hold a key and press a mouse
button.
Marking menus are very fast for experienced users because once you get used to
showing them and the positions of their items, you can select the items using
very quick gestures with the mouse or tablet pen, sometimes so fast the entire
menu wont even display.
Related topics
Select actions from marking menus on page 26
Create or edit a marking menu on page 153
Assign a marking menu to a hotkey on page 155
Basics
22
1 | Interface overview
About > Shelves
Shelves
Shelves hold commonly used actions and tools, allowing them to be accessed by
clicking an icon. You can also put custom scripts and panel layouts on a shelf.
Related topics
Select actions on a shelf on page 28
Create, rename, rearrange, or delete a shelf on page 146
Add a tool, action, or MEL script to a shelf on page 147
Edit the MEL script associated with a shelf item on page 148
Edit the contents of a shelf on page 148
Use a custom name or icon for a shelf item on page 149
Change the display of shelves on page 150
Related topics
Install the Maya Web browser plug-in on page 31
Basics
23
1 | Interface overview
How do I? > Get help
In this dialog box, you can enter your email address to get notifications regarding
this error report. As well, you are encouraged to enter the steps that caused the
problem so that Autodesk developers can reproduce it and help solve it.
To... Do this
Show the online help in a Select Help > Maya Help, or press F1.
browser.
Show the help for a Select an item in the windows Help menu.
window.
Basics
24
1 | Interface overview
How do I? > Print the Maya Help
To... Do this
Basics
25
1 | Interface overview
How do I? > Set the options for a tool or menu item
Related topics
Selection, tools, and actions on page 19
Menus and menu sets on page 21
Switch operations between actions and tools on page 160
Basics
26
1 | Interface overview
How do I? > Select actions from the hotbox
You can assign marking menus to hotkeys. Hold the key and press the
mouse button to show the marking menu.
The q, w, e, and r keys have default marking menus attached to them.
Marking menu items can show additional marking menus, allowing you to
pack more commands onto the marking menu.
Related topics
Marking menus on page 22
Select actions from the hotbox on page 27
Create or edit a marking menu on page 153
Assign a marking menu to a hotkey on page 155
Add a marking menu to the hotbox on page 155
Marking Menus editor on page 366
Basics
27
1 | Interface overview
How do I? > Select actions on a shelf
Related topics
Add a marking menu to the hotbox on page 155
Customize the hotbox on page 156
Drag menu items or snippets of code onto a shelf with the middle mouse
button.
Basics
28
1 | Interface overview
How do I? > Start Maya from the command line
loadNewShelf "shelf_Polygons.mel";
loadNewShelf "shelf_Subdivs.mel";
loadNewShelf "shelf_Deformation.mel";
loadNewShelf "shelf_Animation.mel";
loadNewShelf "shelf_Dynamics.mel";
loadNewShelf "shelf_Rendering.mel";
loadNewShelf "shelf_Fluids.mel";
loadNewShelf "shelf_Fur.mel";
loadNewShelf "shelf_Hair.mel";
saveAllShelves $gShelfTopLevel;
Related topics
Main window on page 19
Create, rename, rearrange, or delete a shelf on page 146
Add a tool, action, or MEL script to a shelf on page 147
Edit the contents of a shelf on page 148
Window > Settings/Preferences > Shelf Editor on page 307
Basics
29
1 | Interface overview
How do I? > Start Maya from the command line
Notes The -batch command is not used for batch rendering. Instead,
use the Render command. However, -batch does check out a
render-only license instead of a full Maya license.
On Windows, type mayabatch when using the -batch flag. The
mayabatch command runs within the command prompt window,
whereas the maya command starts a separate window.
The -render flag is now obsolete. Use the Render -r command
instead.
Basics
30
1 | Interface overview
How do I? > Install the Maya Web browser plug-in
-optimizeRender flags
Use this command to optimize the specified scene file for rendering, send the
result to an output file and then close Maya.
maya -optimizeRender [options] [file] [outfile]
The available [options] are:
Automatic installation
You can install the Maya Web browser plug-in for your default Web browser
through the Maya Help menu.
Basics
31
1 | Interface overview
How do I? > Install the Maya Web browser plug-in
Manual installation
Files to install the Maya Web browser plug-in are installed with your Maya
installation in the ExternalWebBrowser folder under your Maya folder, with
separate folders for each supported platform. By default, this is:
(Windows) C:\Program
Files\Autodesk\Maya8.5\ExternalWebBrowser\Windows
(Mac OS X) /Applications/Autodesk/Maya8.5/ExternalWebBrowser/
MacOS
(Linux) /usr/autodesk/Maya8.5/ExternalWebBrowser/Linux
Windows
1 (For all browsers except for Internet Explorer [Netscape-compatible
browsers such as Firefox, Mozilla, and so on])
You can skip this step if you are using Internet Explorer only.
Copy PlugIn\npmcpplugin.dll into the plugins folder of your Web browser
(for example, <FirefoxLocation>\plugins).
2 (For Internet Explorer, and to allow all applications on Windows to handle
mel: protocol URLs)
You must register the COM object. In the ExternalWebBrowser\Windows
directory, double-click Register.bat.
For further details, see the instructions in <Maya Directory>/devkit/
ExternalWebBrowser/COM.
Mac OS X
1 Copy McpPlugIn.plugin into ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ or /
Library/Internet Plug-Ins/.
Linux
1 Copy libmcpplugin.so into the plugins folder of your Web browser (for
example, <FirefoxLocation>/plugins).
2 On Linux, MEL URL handling must be set up manually. See the instructions in
<Maya Directory>/devkit/ExternalWebBrowser/Linux.
Examples
Examples of scripts that communicate with Maya through the Web browser can
be found in the Examples directory under the ExternalWebBrowser directory,
including a JavaScript file that contains many useful Maya-web browser
communication functions, such as browser and platform detection, presence of
plug-in, and error handling.
As well, we provide a document in the same directory to help you transition
existing solutions designed to work with the Maya embedded web browser to the
external web browser approach.
Basics
32
2 Selecting
To... Do this
Basics
33
2 | Selecting
How do I? > Select a node
To... Do this
Related topics
Selection, tools, and actions on page 19
Edit > Select All on page 226
Edit > Select All by Type on page 227
Select a node
To select a node, do any of the following:
Select an object with which the node is associated, click the nodes tab in
the Attribute Editor, and click the Select button at the bottom of the Attribute
Editor.
Select an object with which the node is associated, then click the nodes
heading in the Channel Box.
Open the Hypergraph (Windows > Hypergraph) and select Graph > Input and
Output Connections. Then click the node in the graph.
With a node selected, you can click the Show Manipulator Tool in the Tool Box to
show custom manipulators for the node.
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
Nodes and attributes on page 85
Basics
34
2 | Selecting
How do I? > Select only certain types of objects or components (selection masks)
To limit selections, you select which types of objects or components you can and
cant select. This is called the selection mask.
To... Do this...
Switch between selecting Use the Select by object type and the
objects and components. Select by component type icons in the
Status Line (toolbar).
The icons available in the selection mask
depend on whether you are in object or
component selection mode.
Set the selection mask Press the left mouse button on the pop-up
to all types. menu icon to the left of the selection mask
and select All Objects/Components On.
Clear the selection Press the left mouse button on the pop-up
mask. menu icon to the left of the selection mask
and select All Objects/Components Off.
When all types are off, you cannot select
anything. Make sure to turn at least one
type on again if you want to select.
Set the selection mask If the area to the left of the selection mode
to a preset combination icons on the Status Line (toolbar) is hidden,
of objects and click the bar to expand it.
components based on
workflow.
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
Status line (toolbar) on page 179
Basics
35
2 | Selecting
How do I? > Save and reuse a selection
Related topics
Edit > Quick Select Sets on page 227
Create > Sets > Quick Select Set on page 261
To set the selection mask to only select only nodes without children (leaves)
1 Click the Select by hierarchy and combinations icon in the Status Line
(toolbar).
Basics
36
2 | Selecting
How do I? > Select components by painting
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
Edit > Select All on page 226
Basics
37
2 | Selecting
How do I? > Grow, shrink, or change the selected region of CVs or polygon components
Tip Many of the convert selection features are available from the
context sensitive polygon marking menu when you press Ctrl + right-
click whenever a polygon component is selected.
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
To... Do this
NURBS CVs
To... Do this
Select the CVs around Chose Edit NURBS > Selection > Select CV
the current selection. Selection Boundary.
Select CVs on the edges Chose Edit NURBS > Selection > Select
of the surface. Surface Border.
Basics
38
2 | Selecting
How do I? > Grow, shrink, or change the selected region of CVs or polygon components
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
Basics
39
2 | Selecting
How do I? > Grow, shrink, or change the selected region of CVs or polygon components
Basics
40
3 Viewing the scene
Tumble
Track
Dolly
Alt + Ctrl The left mouse button Draw a box around the part
of the view you want to
dolly in on.
If you drag the box out
from left to right, you
dolly in.
If you drag the box out
from right to left, you
dolly out.
Basics
41
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Use the mouse to control camera azimuth, elevation, yaw or pitch
Related topics
Use the mouse to control camera azimuth, elevation, yaw or pitch on
page 42
Return to previous views on page 43
View > Camera Tools > Zoom Tool on page 313
View > Camera Tools > Roll Tool on page 313
View > Camera Tools > Drag left and right to change the
Azimuth Elevation Tool azimuth.
Drag up and down to change the
elevation.
View > Camera Tools > Yaw Drag left and right to change the yaw.
Pitch Tool Drag up and down to change the pitch.
View > Camera Tools > Fly Drag to change yaw and pitch.
Tool Hold Ctrl and drag up and down to move
forward and back.
Basics
42
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Center the view on selected or all objects
Related topics
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 41
Return to previous views on page 43
View > Camera Tools > Azimuth Elevation Tool on page 313
View > Camera Tools > Yaw Pitch Tool on page 314
View > Camera Tools > Fly Tool on page 315
To... Do this
Show the selected In the panel menus select View > Frame
objects selected or press F.
Show all objects In the panel menus select View > Frame all.
Point the camera at the In the panel menus select View > Look at
selected objects but selection.
dont move the camera.
Related topics
Return to previous views on page 43
Show or hide objects on page 48
To... Do this
Bookmark the current view. In the panel menus select View >
Bookmarks > Edit bookmarks.
Click New bookmark.
Change the name of the bookmark to
something descriptive.
Basics
43
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Change the panel layout
To... Do this
Create a shelf button for a bookmark In the panel menus select View >
Bookmarks > Edit bookmarks.
Click the bookmark.
Click Add to shelf.
Related topics
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 41
Center the view on selected or all objects on page 43
To... Do this
Switch to a saved layout Click one of the Quick Layout buttons below
of panels. the Tool Box.
or
In a panel, select an item from the Panels >
Saved Layouts submenu.
Change the number and Press the right mouse button on the panel
division of panels contents proxy (at the bottom of the Quick
Layout buttons below the Tool Box) to show
the layout menu.
or
In a panel, select an item from the Panels >
Layouts submenu.
Basics
44
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Create a window from the contents of a panel (tear off)
To... Do this
Resize the panels Drag the dividers between panels. Drag the
point where the dividers cross to resize all
panels at the same time.
Set the contents of a Click the icon for that panel in the layout
panel. proxy below the layout thumbnails, then
select a panel from the pop-up menu.
or
In the panel, select an item from the Panels
> Panel submenu.
Use a preset layout of In a panel, select an item from the Panels >
panels. Saved layouts menu.
Go forward in the panel In a panel, select Panels > Layouts > Next
layout history. arrangement.
Related topics
Control what camera is shown in a view on page 46
Create a custom panel layout on page 145
Quick layout buttons on page 196
Panel editor on page 327
To... Do this
Copy a panel into a floating In the panel, select Panels > Tear Off
window. Copy.
Basics
45
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Control what camera is shown in a view
To... Do this
Move the contents of a In the panel, select Panels > Tear Off.
panel into a floating window
and change the panels
contents.
To... Do this
Assign a camera to a view In the panel, open the Panels menu and select
a camera from the Perspective or Orthographic
submenu.
or
If the camera object is visible in the scene,
select it and in the panel select Panels > Look
Through Selected.
Create a new camera for a In the panel, select Panels > Perspective > New
view or Panels > Orthographic > New.
To... Do this
Hide the grid in one panel. In the panel, select Show > Grid.
Edit the spacing, look, and Select Display > Grid > .
extent of the grid.
Related topics
Show information over top of a view (heads-up display) on page 47
Display > Grid on page 288
Basics
46
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Show information over top of a view (heads-up display)
Related topics
Create a custom heads-up display readout on page 164
Display > Heads Up Display on page 290
1 Rough
2 Medium
3 Fine
You can also use Display > NURBS Smoothness > Hull and
Display > Subdiv Smoothness > Hull to get an even faster/
rougher approximation of a NURBS or subdivision surface
than the Rough option.
4 Wireframe
5 Shaded
Basics
47
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Show or hide objects
Related topics
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 41
Show or hide objects on page 48
Change an objects wireframe color on page 51
To... Do this
Hide the selected Select Display > Hide > Hide Selection.
objects.
Redisplay the last Select Display > Show > Show Last Hidden.
object(s) you hid.
Show all hidden objects. Select Display > Show > All.
Hide or show all objects To change the display of all panels, use the
of a specific type. items in the Display > Hide and Display >
Show submenus.
To change the display of one panel, use the
items in the panels Show menu.
Hide the actual geometry Select Display > Object Display > No
of an object while leaving Geometry.
other components
visible.
Basics
48
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Show or hide components
To... Do this
Show only an objects Select Display > Object Display > Bounding
bounding box. Box.
Related topics
Show or hide components on page 49
Show or hide object-specific UI on page 50
Show an isolated subset of objects or components in a panel on page 50
To... Do this
Show CVs on all NURBS Select Display > Show > All Surface CVs.
surfaces.
Related topics
Show or hide objects on page 48
Basics
49
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Show or hide object-specific UI
Related topics
Show or hide objects on page 48
To... Do this
Only show the selected In the panel, select Show > Isolate Select
objects/components in a > View Selected.
panel.
Basics
50
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Change an objects wireframe color
To... Do this
Always only show the In the panel, turn on Show > Isolate
selected objects in the Select > Auto Load Selected Objects.
panel as the selection
changes.
Select whether new objects In the panel, turn Show > Isolate Select >
will or wont be in the Auto Load New Objects on or off.
isolated subset.
Related topics
Show or hide objects on page 48
To... Do this
Basics
51
3 | Viewing the scene
How do I? > Change an objects wireframe color
To... Do this
Make an object use the Select the object(s) and select Display >
default wireframe color. Wireframe Color, then click Default.
Related topics
Change the look and smoothness of the selected objects on page 47
Change user interface colors on page 144
Basics
52
4 Transforming objects
About Transformations
Transformations change an objects position, size, and orientation without
changing its shape. Transform is basically a fancy way of saying Move, Scale,
and/or Rotate.
Transformations are relative to an objects (or components) pivot point, and take
place along/around either the world axes, object axes, or local axes.
In Maya, the transformations you make to an object are saved in a transform
node. That is, Maya remembers that the object is rotated 32,0,5 degrees and
moved -3,6.2,7 cm from its original position.
When you group objects together, each group remembers its own
transformations. This lets you create hierarchical animations easily.
Related topics
The pivot point on page 53
World space, object space, and local space on page 54
Nodes and attributes on page 85
Move, rotate, or scale objects and components on page 59
Set transformation values to zero on page 71
Group objects together on page 138
Basics
53
4 | Transforming objects
About > World space, object space, and local space
Related topics
Change the pivot point on page 66
Move, rotate, or scale objects and components on page 59
Object space is the coordinate system from an objects point of view. The origin
of object space is at the objects pivot point, and its axes are rotated with the
object.
Local space is similar to object space, however it uses the origin and axes of the
objects parent node in the hierarchy of objects. This is useful when you havent
transformed the object itself, but it is part of a group that is transformed.
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
Basics
54
4 | Transforming objects
About > Construction history
Mayas interface
Construction history
As you work in Maya, most of your actions create nodes in the construction
history of the objects you work on. At each point in your work, the current scene
is the result of all the nodes youve created so far.
For example, you can revolve a curve around a centerpoint to create a new
surface with a cross-section in the shape of the curve. When you apply this action
to the curve, a new revolve node is created. The new node has the shape of the
curve as an input. It has attributes that control how it creates the surface from
the curve. And it has the resulting surface as its output.
This chain of nodes, from the curve to the revolve node to the surface, is called
the surfaces construction history. The most important thing about construction
history is that you can change it. You can reshape the curve, or change the
attributes on the revolve node, and the resulting surface updates automatically.
Construction history is part of Mayas dependency graph. While construction
history refers to the history of actions that created the scene, the entire
dependency graph refers to all connections (input and output) between nodes.
Related topics
Edit completed commands (construction history) on page 77
Show a custom manipulator for the selected node on page 78
Nodes and attributes on page 85
Dependency graph on page 89
Construction planes
A construction plane is a construction aid that can make creating objects with
orientations other than along XYZ easier. When you make a construction plane
live, all drawing is locked to the plane.
Related topics
Snap to the grid, a curve, points, or a view plane on page 72
Snap all creation tools to a surface or construction plane on page 73
Basics
55
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Copies vs. instances
Limitations
Instanced lights have no effect.
Some functions, such as extrude and insert, cannot be used on instances.
You cant apply clusters and deformations to instances, although you can of
course use them on the original.
There is always at least one non-instanced transformation node between the
instance nodes and the actual geometry nodes.
You cannot create a hierarchy of instances. If you create an instance of an
instance node, Maya simply makes a new sibling.
File referencing connects objects by name. If you replace a reference with a
different file, instanced objects within both files should have the same name.
Otherwise you may encounter errors when retrieving the scene.
Related topics
Duplicate on page 80
Use manipulators
The Move Tool, Rotate Tool, Scale Tool, and the Universal Manipulator show a
manipulator on the selected objects. You move, rotate, or scale the objects by
dragging handles on the manipulator.
Basics
56
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Use manipulators
Other tools and objects can also have manipulators. Usually these are the same
manipulators (or combinations of the manipulators) used by the Move, Rotate, or
Scale Tools.
For more details on the Universal Manipulator, see Use the Universal
Manipulator on page 62.
Position manipulator
Y handle
Center handle
Z handle X handle
Rotation manipulator
Basics
57
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Use manipulators
Scale manipulator
Drag to scale in the
Y direction
Drag to scale
proportionally
This manipulator combines the handles from the Position, rotation, and scale
manipulators in one. The Move/Rotate/Scale Tool and Proportional Modification
Tool use this manipulator.
When a move or scale handle is active, the axis rotation rings are hidden. Click
the outer ring rotation ring to show all rotation handles.
Some tools add another handle projecting from the center of the manipulator.
Clicking this handle switches the manipulator axes between world and local
space.
Basics
58
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Lock a manipulator to the current selection
Complex manipulators
Many objects/nodes have manipulators that let you control the attributes of the
node. Often these manipulators are based on the position, rotation and scale
manipulators, although some objects and nodes (for example, the spotlight) use
complex custom manipulators.
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
World space, object space, and local space on page 54
Move, rotate, or scale objects and components on page 59
While the lock icon is on, you cannot select other objects using this tool.
Clicking or dragging the left mouse button operates the active manipulator
handle (like the middle mouse button does normally).
Click the Lock current selection icon again to unlock the manipulator.
Basics
59
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Move, rotate, or scale objects and components
For details of how to move, rotate, and scale with the Universal Manipulator, see
Use the Universal Manipulator on page 62.
Basics
60
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Move, rotate or scale components proportionally
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
Use manipulators on page 56
Move, rotate or scale components proportionally on page 61
Change the pivot point on page 66
Flip objects on page 68
Transform along different axes on page 68
Modify > Transformation Tools > Move Tool, Rotate Tool, Scale Tool, Show
Manipulator Tool on page 262
Input box on page 181
Basics
61
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Use the Universal Manipulator
Related topics
Use manipulators on page 56
Move, rotate, or scale objects and components on page 59
Basics
62
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Use the Universal Manipulator
Size numbers
The rotation arrows are color-coded based on what axis they are rotating around
(red for the x-axis, green for the y-axis, and blue for the z-axis). A selected arrow
is yellow.
Basics
63
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Move, rotate, or scale components with reflection
When editing a model with the transformation tools (Move, rotate, and scale), you
often need to make changes symmetrically. For example, when modifying a
character's head, if changes are made to the top of the left ear, you may also
want the top of the right ear to also be affected. The Reflection setting lets you
do this.
You can select a component(s) on one half of the model, and the Reflection
setting will highlight the affected component(s) on the opposite half of the model
with a white color. This is called the color feedback.
Basics
64
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Move, rotate, or scale components with reflection
Basics
65
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Change the pivot point
Related topics
Move Tool on page 186
Rotate Tool on page 190
Scale Tool on page 192
Basics
66
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Change the pivot point
2 In the Pivots section, turn on the pivot display options so you can see the
effects of editing the pivot values.
3 Do one of the following:
In the Local Space section, type X, Y, and Z coordinates for the Rotate
Pivot and Scale Pivot relative to the objects origin.
In the World Space section, type X, Y, and Z coordinates for the Rotate
Pivot and Scale Pivot relative to the world origin.
Note If the pivot point of an object is changed from its default value,
duplicating multiple copies of that object results in additional
transforms to the channels of the duplicated transform node.
However, the resulting position, orientation and the pivots of the
duplicated objects will be correct. To avoid these extra transforms,
the duplicate command should be invoked with No of copies set to
1. The hotkey g can then be used as many times as needed.
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
The pivot point on page 53
Modify > Center Pivot on page 271
Basics
67
4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Flip objects
Flip objects
Scaling an object by a negative amount in one or more directions has the same
effect as flipping it across its axes.
1 Click the Scale Tool and then click the object you want to flip.
2 In the Status Line (toolbar) right-click the input box and set
it to Numeric Input: Absolute or Numeric Input: Relative.
3 In the text box, type three numbers representing X, Y, and Z, separated by
spaces. To flip the object across an axis, enter -1 for that axis, otherwise
type 1.
For example, to flip the object across Y, type 1 -1 1. To flip the object
across X and Z, type -1 1 -1.
4 Press Enter.
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
Move, rotate, or scale objects and components on page 59
Change the pivot point on page 66
In the Move Tool and Rotate Tool, you can select what axes to use.
Move Tool
Object moves along an objects own rotated axes.
Local moves along an objects parents rotated axes.
World moves along the world (grid) axes.
Normal lets you move CVs on a NURBS surface along U, V, or Normal
directions.
You can specify the movement axis of the Move Tool in four additional ways:
Move along live object axis
Orient the Move axis towards a point (Set to point).
Align the Move axis with an edge (Set to Edge).
Align the Move axis with a face (Set to Face).
Move along custom axis (Custom Axis orientation).
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Transform along different axes
By clicking and dragging the move arrows, you can now move the torus in a
constrained manner: along the surface in two directions or at exact right angles
to the surface.
Clicking and dragging the center point of the move arrows moves the object with
default behavior (snap to live geometry). For more information, see Modify >
Make Live and Move Tool.
The geometry of the live object doesnt matter; the move aligns to the axes of the
live object.
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Transform along different axes
You can set the Move Tool to move the selected object along a axis defined by
selecting a point.
1 Select an object.
2 Using the marking menus for the Move Tool (the left mouse button + w),
select Align Along and then Orient Axis Towards Point.
3 Select a point in the scene. It can be a point on any object, including the
currently selected object.
The axis of the Move Tool changes.
You can see the new axis settings by opening the Move Tool settings (double-
click the Move Tool icon or select Modify > Transformation Tools > Move Tool >
) and examining the three boxes under Custom Axis Orientation.
You can set the Move Tool to move the selected object along an axis defined by
an edge or a face.
1 Select an object.
2 Using the marking menus for the Move Tool (the left mouse button + w),
select Align Along and then Align Axis With Face or Align Axis With Face.
3 Select an edge or face in the scene. It can be an edge or face on any object,
including the currently selected object.
The axis of the Move Tool changes.
You can see the new axis settings by opening the Move Tool settings (double-
click the Move Tool icon or select Modify > Transformation Tools > Move Tool >
) and examining the three boxes under Custom Axis Orientation.
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Set transformation values to zero
Rotate Tool
Local rotates around an objects own axes.
Global rotates around the world (grid) axes. When this option is on the rings
do not rotate with each other but instead stay locked to the world axes.
Gimbal changes only the X, Y, or Z rotation value. In local and global modes,
the rings may change more than one of the rotation XYZ channels.
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
World space, object space, and local space on page 54
Move Tool on page 186
Rotate Tool on page 190
To... Do this
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Snap to the grid, a curve, points, or a view plane
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
Modify > Transformation Tools > Move Tool, Rotate Tool, Scale Tool, Show
Manipulator Tool on page 262
Grid x
intersections
Curves c
CV, vertex, or v
pivot
View plane
Note If you have snapping turned on and drag an arrow on the position
manipulator (as opposed to the center), the manipulator snaps to
the first available point along that axis.
Related topics
Snap all creation tools to a surface or construction plane on page 73
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Snap all creation tools to a surface or construction plane
While the Make live icon is on, creation tools snap to the surface. Click the
icon again to stop snapping to the surface.
Note When you use Make Live to snap a curve to a NURBS surface, the
curve becomes a curve-on-surface and you can use it to trim.
Related topics
Construction planes on page 55
Snap to the grid, a curve, points, or a view plane on page 72
Create > Construction Plane on page 259
Align objects
To align objects using an interactive manipulator
1 Select Modify > Snap Align Objects > Align Tool.
2 Select the objects you want to align.
The other objects align to the last selected (key) object. This object is
highlighted in green.
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Align objects
Objects align
to the far right
of the cube.
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Snap one object to another
3 Select the align mode. Min aligns objects along the side closest to 0. Max
aligns objects to the side farthest from 0. Mid aligns centers. Dist distributes
objects equally along the distance between them. Stack moves objects so
they are lined up with no space between them.
4 Select which axes to align along. For example, to align tops/bottoms turn on
World Y.
5 Select what to move the objects to. Selection Average moves the objects to
the average of the objects coordinates. Last selected object moves the
objects to the key object. This object is highlighted in green.
6 Click Align.
Related topics
Snap one object to another on page 75
Modify > Snap Align Objects > Align Objects on page 268
Modify > Snap Align Objects > Align Tool on page 269
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Snap one object to another
Tip You can also use the Snap Together Tool on polygon edges. Press
the right mouse button on an object and select Edge from the
marking menu to enter edge selection mode, then apply the Snap
Together Tool to polygon edges.
Related topics
Snap to the grid, a curve, points, or a view plane on page 72
Snap all creation tools to a surface or construction plane on page 73
Align objects on page 73
Modify > Snap Align Objects > Point to Point, 2 Points to 2 Points, 3 Points
to 3 Points on page 267
Modify > Snap Align Objects > Align Objects on page 268
Modify > Snap Align Objects > Align Tool on page 269
Modify > Snap Align Objects > Snap Together Tool on page 270
Change history
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Undo, Redo, and Repeat
To... Do this
Related topics
Edit completed commands (construction history) on page 77
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Show a custom manipulator for the selected node
Related topics
Construction history on page 55
Dependency graph on page 89
Edit completed commands (construction history) on page 77
Show inputs and outputs (dependency graph) on page 111
Edit > Delete by Type > History on page 224
The manipulator lets you edit the attributes of the node visually.
Related topics
Construction history on page 55
Nodes and attributes on page 85
Show or hide the manipulator for an attribute in the Channel Box on
page 97
Create text
The Create > Text action lets you create curves or surfaces in the shape of styled
text.
1 Select Create > Text > .
2 Type the text you want to create.
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Create text
3 Use the menu button at the right end of the Font box to select a type face
and style.
4 Select one of the following:
Click Curves to create NURBS curves from the outline of the text.
Click Trim to create planar NURBS surfaces trimmed to the shape of the
text.
Click Poly to create polygonal surfaces in the shape of the text. You can
set the options for the NURBS to Polygons conversion; they are the same
as the Modify > Convert > NURBS to Polygons command.
Click Bevel to create bevelled text. You can set the options for the
bevelled text; they are the same as the Surface > Bevel Plus command.
5 Click Create.
Notes
The text is always created starting at the origin in the XY plane. In some
views it may appear to be a line because it is edge-on to the view.
The letters of the text are individual objects in a group. To transform the text,
select the group in the Outliner.
When you use the Curves option, the NURBS curves use CV multiplicity to
achieve sharp corners.
There is also a textForBevel node in the history. The text attribute on this
node allows you to edit the text string. For example, you can go to the
textForBevel tab in the Attribute Editor for the beveled text object and modify
the text in the Text Curves History section:
Related topics
Create geometric primitives on page 78
Annotate or document objects on page 140
Create > Text on page 257
Edit objects
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Cut, Copy, and Paste
To... Do This
Related topics
Edit > Cut on page 224
Edit > Copy on page 224
Edit > Paste on page 224
Delete
To... Do this
Delete all objects of a Select an item from the Edit > Delete All by
certain type. Type submenu.
Related topics
Edit > Paste on page 224
Edit > Delete by Type > Channels, Static Channels, Non-particle
Expressions on page 225
Edit > Delete All by Type on page 225
Duplicate
The Duplicate and Duplicate Special commands let you create multiple copies of
the selected objects, with optional transformations applied to each copy.
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Duplicate
Note If the pivot point of an object is changed from its default value,
duplicating multiple copies of that object results in additional
transforms to the channels of the duplicated transform node.
However, the resulting position, orientation and the pivots of the
duplicated objects will be correct. To avoid these extra transforms,
the Duplicate Special command should be invoked with No of
copies set to 1. The hotkey g can then be used as many times as
needed.
Related topics
Copies vs. instances on page 56
Flip objects on page 68
Edit > Duplicate on page 227
Edit > Duplicate Special on page 227
Edit > Duplicate with Transform on page 229
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Edit component numeric values directly
To... Do this
Show different component Click the tabs across the top of the
types or influences. Component Editor window.
Enter values in cells. Select all the cells you want to enter the
same value in, then type the value or use
the slider at the bottom of the window.
You can select one or more cells, rows,
columns, or any combination.
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Edit component numeric values directly
To... Do this
Switch between always In the Component Editor, turn List > Auto
showing the current Update on or off.
selection and manually
updating the selection. When Auto Update is off, use the Load
Components button to update the window
with the current selection.
Related topics
Component Editor on page 332
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4 | Transforming objects
How do I? > Edit component numeric values directly
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5 Nodes and attributes
Attributes
An attribute is a position associated with a node that can hold a value or a
connection to another node. Attributes control how a node works. For example, a
transform node has attributes for the amount of rotation in X, Y, and Z. You can
set attributes to control practically every aspect of your animation.
There are many ways to set attributes in Maya: with the Attribute Editor, the
Channel Box, the attribute spread sheet, menu selections, and MEL.
Attribute Editor
Channel Box
Every node is created with certain default attributes. Some attributes (such as
Opacity and Color of particle objects) are added dynamically when you need them.
You can also add your own attributes to any node to store information. This is
often useful for animation expressions and scripts, and can be used to control
several normal attributes using one custom attribute.
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5 | Nodes and attributes
About > Nodes and attributes
Related topics
Two views of the scene: hierarchy and dependency on page 87
Node types on page 92
Change attribute values in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box on page 95
View and edit the hierarchy of nodes on page 105
Show inputs and outputs (dependency graph) on page 111
Construction history
As you work in Maya, most of your actions create nodes in the construction
history of the objects you work on. At each point in your work, the current scene
is the result of all the nodes youve created so far.
For example, you can revolve a curve around a center point to create a new
surface with a cross-section in the shape of the curve. When you apply this action
to the curve, a new revolve node is created. The new node has the shape of the
curve as an input. It has attributes that control how it creates the surface from
the curve. And it has the resulting surface as its output.
This chain of nodes, from the curve to the revolve node to the surface, is called
the surfaces construction history. The most important thing about construction
history is that you can change it. You can reshape the curve, or change the
attributes on the revolve node, and the resulting surface updates automatically.
Direct manipulation
Much of working in Maya involves directly manipulating nodes and attributes
using manipulators.
Manipulators are visual objects that let you accomplish complex tasks easily,
concretely, and visually by dragging handles and seeing the results immediately.
Using the revolve example above, you can select the revolve node and edit its
attributes (how it creates the surface) visually by showing its manipulator with the
Show Manipulator Tool.
AxisEndPoint
CircleSweep
AxisMidPoint
AxisStartPoint
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5 | Nodes and attributes
About > Two views of the scene: hierarchy and dependency
This lets you control attributes (such as how far around the centerpoint the
surface goes) simply by dragging a handle.
You can also show manipulators for individual attributes to edit their values
visually.
Keyable attributes
Animation in Maya is not limited to making things move. You can animate
practically any attribute of any node in Maya. Attributes that control how a surface
is constructed, or the look of a texture, or the influence of a deformer or physical
force, can all change over time.
MEL
MEL stands for Maya Embedded Language. It is Mayas scripting language. It is
deeply integrated with Maya, and allows you to do anything from open a window
or perform a simple action with a command, to total customization of the Maya
interface, to writing an entirely new application on top of Maya. Practically
everything that Maya can do can be accomplished through MEL (and what cant
can be done in another language with the Maya API).
Scene hierarchy
The scene hierarchy is the grouping of child nodes under parent nodes.
While you could create a scene without establishing a hierarchy, you will find that
it makes modeling and especially animation much easier.
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5 | Nodes and attributes
About > Scene hierarchy
You can view and edit the scene hierarchy with the Outliner or the Hypergraph.
Example 1
When you transform a parent, its children are transformed with it. This lets you,
for example, model a leg by making the thigh the child of the hip, the knee the
child of the thigh, the shin the child of the knee, the foot the child of the shin,
and so on. Rotating one join rotates the rest of the leg under that joint.
Example 2
Suppose you animate a planet to orbit the center of the workspace. If you make a
moon the child of the planet, it follows the motion of the planet.
Though the moon is the child of the planet, you can also give the moon motion
thats independent of the planet. For example, you can make it orbit the planet. If
you later change the orbiting motion of the planet, the moon continues to follow
the planets motion, but stills retains its original orbiting motion.
Parenting
Among Maya users, establishing hierarchy is often called parenting objects. When
make node B the child of node A, we say you have parented node B to node A.
(This might be somewhat confusing at first, since parenting something does
not mean making it a parent but rather means making it a child, but thats
the way it is.)
Grouping
To control multiple objects with one node, you can group objects together under a
new transform node. By grouping objects, you can move, shade, texture, and do
many other actions to all the objects at the same time.
Organizing
You can also use the scene hierarchy to organize objects to make them easier to
work with, even if youre not animating them.
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5 | Nodes and attributes
About > Dependency graph
Related topics
Nodes and attributes on page 85
Dependency graph on page 89
The Outliner on page 90
The Hypergraph on page 91
View and edit the hierarchy of nodes on page 105
Group objects together on page 138
Dependency graph
The dependency graph is one of two ways Maya represents your scene (the other
being the scene hierarchy). Its a chain of nodes.
The dependency graph is like a series of instructions for how to get the current
scene starting from scratch: create a sphere A, move these CVs, create a curve
B, project curve B onto sphere A to create curve-on-surface C, trim sphere A using
curve on surface C, and so on.
The dependency graph gets its name from the connections between nodes. In the
example above, the project curve operation depends on two inputs: sphere A and
curve B.
Each node in the dependency graph represents an action to build up or change
the scene, with the final result being the scene in its current state.
What this lets you do is modify or reshape input objects, change attributes on a
node, change node connections, or delete nodes, and have Maya automatically
and instantaneously update the entire scene to reflect the changes.
The connections between creation and editing nodes is also called construction
history, because it records the history of how the scene was constructed.
You can view and edit the dependency graph in the Hypergraph.
You can organize nodes together using container nodes. Container nodes are a
special type of node that lets you organize nodes into logical groupings for a
special purpose. They can be used to simplify the view of dependency graph.
Related topics
Construction history on page 55
Scene hierarchy on page 87
Edit completed commands (construction history) on page 77
Show inputs and outputs (dependency graph) on page 111
Connect input and output attributes on page 112
Connect attributes with an expression on page 113
Organize nodes into logical groupings on page 107
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5 | Nodes and attributes
About > The Outliner
The Outliner
The Outliner is one of two main scene management editors in Maya (the other is
the Hypergraph).
The Outliner shows the hierarchy of all objects in the scene in outline form: You
can expand and collapse the display of branches in the hierarchy, and lower
levels of the hierarchy are indented under higher levels.
The outline includes objects that are normally hidden in the view panels, such as
the default cameras. You can control what objects appear in the Outliner using
the menus and the text filter box. For example, type *top* in the box and press
Enter to only show objects with the letters top in their names.
Clicking the name of a node in the Outliner selects the node. The selected
node(s) are shown with a gray background. You can double-click the name of a
node to renaming it.
You use the Outliner most often for two functions:
Selecting objects. With complex scenes it is often easier to select an object
by clicking its name in the Outliner than trying to hit it in a view panel.
Changing the hierarchy of nodes. You can move nodes around the hierarchy
and parent nodes to other nodes by dragging them with the middle mouse
button.
Related topics
Nodes and attributes on page 85
The Hypergraph on page 91
View and edit the hierarchy of nodes on page 105
Outliner on page 334
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5 | Nodes and attributes
About > The Hypergraph
The Hypergraph
The Hypergraph is one of two main scene management editors in Maya (the other
is the Outliner).
The Hypergraph shows a network of boxes representing nodes and lines
connecting them representing relationships.
You can use the Hypergraph to view and edit hierarchical relationships (the same
information the Outliner shows) or dependency relationships (input and output
connections between attributes).
While the Hypergraph can seem more intimidating than the Outliner at first, it has
several advantages of its own:
You can use it to show and edit connections between nodes.
You use the same move keys to move around the graph as you do to move
around view panels (alt + the middle mouse button and alt + the right mouse
button).
You can bookmark different views of the scene and zoom between them
The Hypergraph draws animated nodes with slanted sides making them easy
to see.
Related topics
Nodes and attributes on page 85
The Outliner on page 90
View and edit the hierarchy of nodes on page 105
Show inputs and outputs (dependency graph) on page 111
Connect input and output attributes on page 112
Connect attributes with an expression on page 113
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5 | Nodes and attributes
About > Node types
Node types
Transform node
A node that contains an objects transformation attributesvalues for its
translation, rotation, scale, and so on. It also holds information on parent-child
relationships it has with other nodes. InnerSolarSystem, Sun, Moon, and all other
boxes shown in the example are transform nodes.
Shape nodes
Holds an objects geometry attributes or attributes other than the objects
transform node attributes. A shape node is the child of a transform node. A
transform node has only one shape node.
Auxiliary nodes
There are several nodes, such as unitConversion, which are hidden to reduce
clutter in the editors. They are not normally useful to see or edit; however, if you
need to you can show these nodes. (You can also hide nodes that are normally
shown if you want to further reduce clutter.)
Hidden nodes
Any object hidden using Display > Hide. Maya hides the default cameras (top,
front, side, and persp) by default.
Underworld nodes
A pair of nodes below a shape node. When you create a curve-on-surface, Maya
creates an underworld transform node and shape node for the curve-on-surface
below the surfaces shape node. The CV positions of underworld nodes have UV
coordinates on the surface rather than coordinates in world or local space.
Rendering nodes
Materials and textures each have nodes containing attributes that control their
look. Texture placement nodes have attributes that control how a texture is fitted
onto a surface.
Lights are of course nodes too, with attributes controlling their properties.
Container nodes
You can organize nodes within the dependency graph into logical node groupings
using Container Nodes. A container node is a special type of node that lets you:
simplify the display of nodes related to a particular item in the scene.
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5 | Nodes and attributes
About > Node types
Utility nodes
Maya has a few utility nodes that provide extra functions you can use in a shader
network. For example, multiply/divide nodes let you alter inputs and outputs
between other nodes.
Script nodes
Script nodes are a way of storing a MEL script in a Maya scene file:
You can set a script node to execute its payload in response to various events:
When the node is read from a file.
Before or after rendering a frame.
Before or after rendering an animation.
When a file is closed or de-referenced.
Examples
Example 1
If you select Create > NURBS Primitives > Sphere to create a sphere, Maya
creates a transform node and a shape node.
The spheres shape node holds the mathematical description of the spheres
shape. The spheres transform node holds the spheres position, scaling,
rotation, and so on. The shape node is the child of the transform node.
If you select Options > Display > Shape Nodes in the Hypergraph, the scene
hierarchy shows these nodes for the sphere:
Maya gives the nodes the default names shown in the preceding figure. The
transform node is nurbsSphere1, the shape node is nurbsSphereShape1. If you
rename the transform node, for example, to Bubble, Maya renames the shape
node to BubbleShape.
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How do I? > Node types
If you rename the shape node, Maya does not rename the transform node. Maya
doesnt transmit a childs attribute changes up to its parent.
Example 2
If you select Create > NURBS Primitives > Sphere to create a sphere, Maya
creates a transform node and a sphere node. If you then select Modify > Make
Live, then use the Create > CV Curve Tool to draw a curve on the surface of the
sphere and turn on the display of shape nodes and underworld nodes, the scene
hierarchy appears as follows:
Maya gives the nodes the default names shown. The transform node is
nurbsSphere1, the shape node is nurbsSphereShape1. The curve1 and
curveShape1 nodes are underworld nodes for the curve created on the spheres
surface.
When a curve-on-surface is hard to select in the workspace because of crowding
or complex geometry, you can select it easily in the scene hierarchy with
underworld nodes displayed.
Related topics
Nodes and attributes on page 85
Scene hierarchy on page 87
The Hypergraph on page 91
Organize nodes into logical groupings on page 107
Dependency graph on page 89
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Change attribute values in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box
To... Do this
Enter a value for an Click in the text box and type a new value and
attributes press Enter.
For boolean (on/off) values, type 1 or on, or 0
or off.
Change a value and Type the value and press the Enter or Return
return the keyboard key.
focus to the view
windows so you can
use hotkeys.
Change a value and Type the value and press the Enter key on the
leave the keyboard numeric keypad.
focus in the edit box.
Adjust the value of a Click the attribute and drag left or right
numeric attribute with with the middle mouse button.
the mouse. Use the icons in the Channel Box toolbar
to control the mapping between mouse
move distance and numeric change.
Linear Hyperbolic
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Change attribute values in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box
To... Do this
Quickly link the You can type =time or =frame in the text box
attribute to another to use the reserved keywords time or frame
value. (Attribute Editor and link the value of the attribute to the
only) current time or the current frame. You can
also include simple operators; for example,
=frame/2, =time*3.5.
Create a complex Right-click the text box and select Create New
expression Expression (Attribute Editor) or Expressions
(Channel Box). See the MEL book for details
on creating and using expressions.
Related topics
Show or hide the manipulator for an attribute in the Channel Box on
page 97
Inline numeric calculation in multiple cells on page 97
View and edit multiple attributes on multiple nodes on page 99
Save and reuse attribute presets on page 101
Lock the value of an attribute on page 102
Creating animation expressions
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Show or hide the manipulator for an attribute in the Channel Box
Standard Invisible No
Manips Manips Manips
To perform a calculation
1 Select the cells to operate on.
2 In the active cell, enter the operation prefixes and values.
3 Press Enter.
All selected cells get a new value specified by the operation.
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Inline numeric calculation in multiple cells
Examples
Adding a value to selected cells
1 Select the cells to operate on.
2 Enter +=4.0 into the active cell.
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > View and edit multiple attributes on multiple nodes
Note Some values are subject to limitations and may not change to the
desired value because they are bounded by other factors.
Related topics
Change attribute values in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box on page 95
To... Do this
Open the attribute spread Select a node and select Windows >
sheet. General Editors > Attribute Spread Sheet.
Enter values in cells. Select all the cells you want to enter the
same value in, then type the value.
You can select one attribute, multiple
attributes on the same object, or the
same attribute on multiple objects, or any
combination.
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How do I? > View and edit multiple attributes on multiple nodes
To... Do this
Display different types of Click the tabs across the top of the
attributes. attribute spread sheet window.
Many useful attributes of an object are
not stored in its main node, but instead
in its shape node. The Attribute Editor
includes tabs that show attributes from
an objects associated shape node.
Key certain attributes. Select the cells and select Key > Key
Selected.
When the Attribute Editor opens for the first time, the Keyable tab is shown. This
tab only shows attributes that are marked as keyable (able to be animated). Click
the All tab to show all attributes, keyable and not.
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How do I? > Save and reuse attribute presets
Related topics
Change attribute values in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box on page 95
Show or hide the manipulator for an attribute in the Channel Box on
page 97
Open multiple Attribute Editors on page 103
To create a preset
1 Open the node you want to take presets from in the Attribute Editor.
2 In the Attribute Editor, press the left mouse button on the Presets button (to
the right of the node name) to show a pop-up menu and select Save (preset
type) Preset.
3 Type a name for the new preset and click Save Attribute Preset.
If the preset already exists, you are prompted to overwrite it or save it with a
different name.
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Lock the value of an attribute
3 Point to the name of the preset to show another submenu with options for
applying the preset to this node. You can replace the current attribute values
with the values in the preset, or blend the preset values together with the
current values.
Notes
Presets do not save connections to other nodes (such as texture maps).
Applying a preset does not overwrite connections to other nodes.
Maya saves presets as editable MEL scripts in a presets folder inside the
main Maya application folder. Presets for each node type are in separate
folders inside the presets folder.
Related topics
Change attribute values in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box on page 95
Lock the value of an attribute on page 102
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Open multiple Attribute Editors
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Control the display of attributes in the Channel Box
You can set an option in Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences to always
open the Attribute Editor in a window instead of in the side panel.
Related topics
Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences on page 304
Related topics
Change attribute values in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box on page 95
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > View and edit the hierarchy of nodes
To... Do this
Tips
You can set the options of the Parent menu item to make the command
create an instance under the new parent instead of moving the actual object
in the hierarchy.
Unparenting an object removes it from under its parents transformation
node, which can change the objects position in the scene.
Open the Unparent menu items options and turn on the Preserve Position
option to apply the transformations to the object as it is unparented so it
retains its current position.
Related topics
Change the visual layout of nodes in the Hypergraph on page 106
Change the order of nodes on page 107
Show or hide nodes on page 115
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Change the visual layout of nodes in the Hypergraph
To... Do this
Move nodes in freeform Drag nodes with the left mouse button.
layout.
Related topics
Two views of the scene: hierarchy and dependency on page 87
The Hypergraph on page 91
Hypergraph overview on page 390
Basics
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Change the order of nodes
Related topics
Scene hierarchy on page 87
The Outliner on page 90
Outliner on page 334
You can organize nodes within the dependency graph into logical node groupings
using container nodes. A container node is a special type of node that lets you:
simplify the display of nodes related to a particular item in the scene.
assemble multiple nodes together for a special purpose.
For example, container nodes can be used by a character rigger to allow a
simplified subset of attributes on a character model to be used by an animator.
The rigger would construct a container node and place within it all of the nodes
that the animator would require to pose keyframe the model. The rigger would
then create a reduced set of attributes on the container node and connect them
to the appropriate attributes on the nodes they had placed within the container
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Organize nodes into logical groupings
node. When the animator worked with the model, they would only need to access
the simplified set of attributes created on the container node. Their work would
be less complicated a result.
A container node is differentiated from other nodes in the Hypergraph by its thick,
round-cornered border outline.
You select nodes within container nodes the same way you select other nodes in
the Hypergraph. You move nodes in or out of a container node by Alt + Shift
selecting the node and then dragging it while pressing your left mouse button.
You can expand or collapse the display of container nodes by double-clicking on
the container nodes border. Expanding a container node lets you view the nodes
contained within it. Collapsing a container node reduces the display of the
contents so they appear as a single node in the graph display. Collapsing and
expanding a container node does not affect its contents, nor does it affect the
connections and attributes of the nodes inside the container node.
The background of an expanded container node appears in a semi-transparent
manner so you can see nodes that may lie behind it. Attribute connections in and
out of container nodes are also visible.
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5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Organize nodes into logical groupings
Container nodes are also available when working within the Hypershade Editor
and can be used to simplify the display of attributes on shading materials.
Basics
109
5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Organize nodes into logical groupings
Drag the orangeShape node to stretch the size of the container node
Basics
110
5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Show inputs and outputs (dependency graph)
Tip You can also remove a node from an existing container node by
right-clicking the node and selecting Remove from container on the
marking menu.
Related topics
Dependency graph on page 89
Create, edit, or delete custom attributes on page 102
Show inputs and outputs (dependency graph) on page 111
Connect input and output attributes on page 112
Node types on page 92
Hypergraph overview on page 390
Basics
111
5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Connect input and output attributes
Related topics
Connect input and output attributes on page 112
Connect attributes with an expression on page 113
Show or hide nodes on page 115
Basics
112
5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Connect attributes with an expression
Related topics
Connect input and output attributes on page 112
Connect attributes with an expression on page 113
Break connections between attributes on page 113
Related topics
Connect input and output attributes on page 112
Connect input and output attributes on page 112
Break connections between attributes on page 113
Basics
113
5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Set a nodes update state
In the Channel Box or Attribute Editor, press the right mouse button on the
attribute and select Break Connections.
Select the connection line (or lines) in the Hypergraph and press Delete.
Related topics
Connect input and output attributes on page 112
Connect attributes with an expression on page 113
Notes
The HasNoEffect state has a different meaning for each node type. Some
node types do not implement the state, in which case the state acts just like
Normal.
The Waiting node states are used internally by Maya to keep track of nodes
that are waiting for a view update in the Hypergraph. You should not normally
set nodes to a Waiting state.
Basics
114
5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Show or hide nodes
To... Do this
Show auxillary node types. In an editor, select Show > Show Auxiliary
Nodes.
Related topics
View and edit the hierarchy of nodes on page 105
Show inputs and outputs (dependency graph) on page 111
Basics
115
5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Save and reuse object or attribute visibility filters in editors
To... Do this
Only show items with Type text in the text filter box and press
specific text in their Enter. An asterisk (*) matches anything. A
names. question mark (?) matches any single
character.
For example, to show all items whose name
starts with spot, type spot* in the text
filter box. To show items with new anywhere
in their names, type *new*.
Only show certain types In the Show > Objects submenu, select the
of objects. object types you want to show.
To show all object types again, select Show
> Objects > Clear Below.
Related topics
Outliner on page 334
Hypergraph overview on page 390
Basics
116
5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Save and reuse object or attribute visibility filters in editors
Related topics
Outliner on page 334
Hypergraph overview on page 390
Basics
117
5 | Nodes and attributes
How do I? > Save and reuse object or attribute visibility filters in editors
Basics
118
6 File management
Related topics
Create, open, or save a scene file on page 126
Import files on page 128
Export objects to a new file on page 128
Export objects as a referenced file on page 129
Organize files into projects on page 129
Recover data after a crash on page 130
Supported file formats on page 122
View images or animations on page 130
Basics
119
6 | File management
About > Supported image formats (rendering)
Basics
120
6 | File management
About > Supported image formats (rendering)
Apple Mac -- -- -- --
Quicktime Image
(.qtif)
Image formats are divided into seven classes: Vector, Movie, Sixteen Bit, PSD
Layered, Quantel, and Mac. A description of each class is listed below:
Vector
An image format comprised of segments of vector data. Vector graphics are
resolution independent: they appear smooth and crisp regardless of the
magnification level.
True Vector True vector art outlines every line in the figure and
contains points.
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About > Supported file formats
Movie
An image format used to store video and audio information. This information
can be played back as a sequence of images from within the movie file.
Sixteen Bit
A bitmap image format. Bitmaps store a single raster image in any color
depth. For a 16-bit image, thirty-two thousand different colors can be
represented. Unlike vector images, bitmap images are resolution dependent:
image degradation occurs when images are magnified at a high level.
PSD Layered
Photoshop Drawing Layered image format. Layers are independent images
that can be manipulated in Adobe Photoshop. PSD layered images can be
multi-layered. In multi-layered images, each layer is a part of the final image.
You can work on each layer independently without interference from any
graphical elements that are on other layers.
Quantel
An image format made by Quantel. This 16-bit uncompressed image format
contains video and RGB channels. Quantel image formats are typically used
for broadcast.
Mac
An image format unique to Macintosh applications. These formats are only
supported on Macintosh machines.
Translators
Translators are plug-ins that let you open and/or save data in a given file format.
You must have the proper translator plug-in loaded to be able to open, save,
import, or export data in the format.
Use the plug-in manager to load or unload translators.
Basics
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6 | File management
About > Supported file formats
VRML2 Yes * *
* via wrl2ma
Basics
123
6 | File management
About > Supported file formats
Shockwave3D Yes
AVI Yes
EPS Yes
Basics
124
6 | File management
About > Supported file formats
MacPaint Yes
PNG Yes
QuickDraw Yes
AVI Yes
Basics
125
6 | File management
How do I? > Create, open, or save a scene file
MacPaint Yes
Adobe Yes
PhotoShop
QuickDraw Yes
Note The mayaAscii and mayaBinary file formats are the only ones that
preserve all the information contained within your scene. Setting the
output format for an export using the Export Options box will change
your default export format for the current and subsequent export
operations. If you set the output format to something other then
mayaAscii or mayaBinary and export using that format and then quit
without saving the entire file then you can lose data.
Always check the export type in the export file browser to ensure
you are writing the file using the expected file format.
Basics
126
6 | File management
How do I? > Open recently saved files
Note You can open a file that is created in a later version, provided the
Ignore version setting is turned on.
Maya files of later version types that are opened in an earlier
version of Maya are not supported as feature compatibility to earlier
software versions cannot be ensured. The Ignore version feature is
primarily provided for users in production environments where
multiple versions of Maya are in use simultaneously.
Related topics
Supported file formats on page 122
Import files on page 128
Work with proxy references on page 42 of the File Referencing book
Optimize scene size on page 134
To open a Maya scene file that was recently saved, do one of the following:
Select File > Recent Files and click the name of the file you want from the list
that appears.
Right-click the Open Scene icon on the Status Line and choose the name of
the file from the list of recently opened files that appears.
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6 | File management
How do I? > Import files
Note The number of files that appear in this list can be customized using
the Files/Projects preferences found in the Preferences dialog box.
For descriptions of the File/Projects preferences, see Files/
Projects preferences on page 429.
Related topics
Preferences overview on page 407
File > Recent Files on page 223
Import files
Warning Before importing files, always check your current Maya Playback
preferences. Playback preferences can affect the import of
animation data. See Timeline preferences on page 436.
To... Do this
Import data from a file into the Select File > Import.
scene.
To set file format import options, click the
file in the Import dialog box and then click
Options.
To... Do this
Basics
128
6 | File management
How do I? > Export objects as a referenced file
Note The mayaAscii and mayaBinary file formats are the only ones that
preserve all the information contained within your scene. Setting the
output format for an export using the Export Options box will change
your default export format for the current and subsequent export
operations. If you set the output format to something other then
mayaAscii or mayaBinary and export using that format and then quit
without saving the entire file then you can lose data.
Always check the export type in the export file browser to ensure
you are writing the file using the expected file format.
To... Do this
Export objects to a new file Select the objects you want to export as a
that is referenced to the reference.
current scene.
Select File > Reference Editor.
In the Reference Editor, select File > Export
Selection as a Reference.
Select the file type from the File of Type drop-
down list.
Related Topics
About file referencing on page 5 of the File Referencing book
File referencing workflows on page 7 of the File Referencing book
Work with file references on page 38 of the File Referencing book
Basics
129
6 | File management
How do I? > View images or animations
To... Do this
A file browser appears and FCheck is launched with the image or animation you
specify.
Related topics
Overview of FCheck
Basics
130
7 Scene management
Related topics
Group objects together on page 138
Sets and partitions on page 132
Make an object unselectable (template) on page 135
Organize objects on display layers on page 136
Copies vs. instances on page 56
About file referencing on page 5 of the File Referencing book
File referencing workflows on page 7 of the File Referencing book
Basics
131
7 | Scene management
About > Organizing objects
Organizing objects
Groups
A group is a way to transform multiple objects at once. The group shares a single
pivot point for rotation and scaling.
In terms of the scene hierarchy, grouping objects together moves them under a
new transformation node.
Display layers
Layers are a way of grouping large pieces of the scene together so you can show,
hide, or edit them all at once.
Related topics
Scene hierarchy on page 87
Organize objects on display layers on page 136
Basics
132
7 | Scene management
About > Layers
Partitions
A partition is a collection of related sets. Partitions prevent the sets in them from
having any overlapping members. Maya uses partitions to keep sets separate
where overlapping members could cause problems.
Maya creates partitions to keep character sets, shading groups, skin point sets,
and exclusive deformers from having overlapping members.
You can create your own partitions when you want to create sets that have no
overlap.
For example, suppose youre animating a cartoon characters nose as he smiles
and laughs. You added a cluster to several CVs for adjusting the nose as he
smiles and another cluster to different CVs for adjusting the nose as he laughs.
Creating the two clusters creates a set for each group of CVs. Occasionally you
want to move CVs from one set to the other. When you move the CVs from one
set to the other set, they remain in the first set. You might not want the CVs in
the first set because they add undesirable deformations as you transform the
cluster.
To avoid this problem, you can create a partition and put both sets in it. The
partition prevents one set from having members of another set. When you move
the CVs from the first set to the second set, theyre automatically removed from
the first set.
Related topics
Create and edit sets on page 138
Keep a collection of sets from having overlapping membership on
page 139
Layers
Layers are overlapping views of your scene that have objects attached to them.
With layers, you can organize related elements of your scene and selectively
make them visible or invisible in the 3D view. You can also template or reference
all objects associated with a given layer.
For example, you can attach completed objects to a layer and template it. By
turning the visibility of this layer on or off, you can see these completed objects
in the 3D view only when you need to. Also, since the layer is templated, you will
not accidentally select or change any of the completed objects on that layer. If
you want to make changes to any objects on that layer, simply make it visible and
untemplate it.
Related topics
Organize objects on display layers on page 136
Edit all objects on a layer at once on page 137
Basics
133
7 | Scene management
How do I? > Optimize scene size
To... Do this
Remove empty, invalid, and File > Optimize Scene size > .
unused information from the
scene.
Remove construction history Select the objects and select Edit >
from the selected object(s). Delete by Type > History.
Only do this if you are sure
you do not need to edit the
objects history again.
Delete static animation Edit > Delete by Type > Static Channels.
channels.
Related topics
Construction history on page 55
Delete on page 80
Organize objects
Basics
134
7 | Scene management
How do I? > Make an object unselectable (template)
Note In node and attribute names, all punctuation except for the
underscore (_) and the pound sign (#) are illegal characters.
To add a prefix to the names of a parent node and all its children
Select the parent node and select Modify > Prefix Hierarchy Names.
To... Do this
Basics
135
7 | Scene management
How do I? > Organize objects on display layers
To... Do this
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
Select a node on page 34
Select objects based on hierarchy on page 36
To... Do this
Show the Layer Editor. Select Display > UI Elements > Channel Box/
Layer Editor, or click the Show or hide the
Channel Box/Layer Editor button in the Status
Line (toolbar).
Set the pop-up menu to Display.
Create a new layer. In the Layer Editor select Layers > Create
Layer, or click the Create a new layer button
on the Layer Editors toolbar.
Rename a layer. Double click the layer in the Layer Editor and
type the new name in the layer window.
Assign the selected Select the layer in the Layer Editor and select
objects to a layer. Layers > Add Selected Objects to Current
Layer.
Delete a layer. Select the layer in the Layer Editor and select
Layers > Delete Selected Layer(s).
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136
7 | Scene management
How do I? > Edit all objects on a layer at once
To... Do this
Delete layers without In the Layer Editor, select Layers > Delete
any objects. Unused Layers.
Related topics
Organizing objects on page 132
Edit all objects on a layer at once on page 137
Group objects together on page 138
To... Do this
Show the Layer Editor. Select Display > UI Elements > Channel Box/
Layer Editor, or click the Show or hide the
Channel Box/Layer Editor button in the Status
Line (toolbar).
Set the pop-up menu to Display.
Show or hide a layer. Click the left column next to the name of the
layer.
A V in the box means the layer is visible.
Cycle the layers Click the middle column next to the name of
display type between the layer to cycle through three values:
normal, reference, and
A blank box means the layer is normal.
template.
A T means the layer is templated.
An R means the layer is reference.
Change the wireframe Double click the layer in the Layer Editor and
color of all objects on click a color in the layer window.
a layer.
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7 | Scene management
How do I? > Group objects together
Related topics
Organizing objects on page 132
Organize objects on display layers on page 136
To... Do this
In terms of the scene hierarchy, the Group command moves the selected objects
under a new transformation node.
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
Scene hierarchy on page 87
View and edit the hierarchy of nodes on page 105
To delete a set
Select the set in the Outliner or Relationship Editor, and press Delete.
Deleting the set does not delete its members.
Related topics
Sets and partitions on page 132
Basics
138
7 | Scene management
How do I? > Keep a collection of sets from having overlapping membership
To create a partition
1 Use the Outliner or Relationship Editor to select the sets you want to go in
the new partition.
2 Select Create > Sets > Partition.
The sets in the partition are now prevented from having overlapping
membership.
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139
7 | Scene management
How do I? > Annotate or document objects
2 On the left side, click the plus icon to next to the partition name to show its
contents.
3 Click the set you want to remove.
4 In the Relationship Editors left side menus select Edit > Remove Highlighted
From Partition.
To delete a partition
1 Select Window > Relationship Editors > Partitions.
2 Select the partition and press Delete.
Deleting the partition does not delete its member sets.
Related topics
Sets and partitions on page 132
Create and edit sets on page 138
Related topics
Measure the distance between two points on page 140
Show parameter or arc-length values on a curve or surface on page 141
Basics
140
7 | Scene management
How do I? > Show parameter or arc-length values on a curve or surface
If you snap a measurement locator to an object, the locator moves with the
object.
Related topics
Show parameter or arc-length values on a curve or surface on page 141
To show arc-length
1 Select Create > Measure Tools > Arc Length Tool.
2 Press the left mouse button on a curve or surface and drag to show arc-
length from the beginning of the curve or (0,0) corner of the surface.
Release the mouse button to create an arc-length locator.
Related topics
Measure the distance between two points on page 140
Basics
141
7 | Scene management
How do I? > Show parameter or arc-length values on a curve or surface
Basics
142
8 Preferences and customization
Note Maya does not detect if you are out of space if your disk overflows
while Maya is saving preferences. If this occurs, your preferences
may become corrupt or irretrievable. Ensure that your hard drive has
space available to save your Maya preference files. If the disk runs
out of space, free up some space before exiting the Maya
application.
Related topics
Directly modify the settings files on page 162
Basics
143
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Show or hide user interface elements
To... Do this
Show or hide a specific part Open the Display > UI Elements submenu and
of the user interface select an item.
Hide all user interface and Select Display > UI Elements > Hide UI
only show the view/editor elements.
panels.
Related topics
Main window on page 19
Display > UI Elements on page 292
Basics
144
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Create a custom panel layout
Related topics
Change an objects wireframe color on page 51
Window > Settings/Preferences > Color Settings on page 306
To assign a custom layout to one of the icons in the Quick Layout bar below
the Tool Box
1 Create custom panel layout.
2 In the Quick Layout bar, press the right mouse button on the thumbnail you
want to assign the new layout to, and select the layout from the menu.
3 To change the thumbnail image, press the right mouse button on the
thumbnail again and select Change Image. You can select a pre-made image
or load an icon image from a file.
Related topics
Change the panel layout on page 44
Add a new panel to the list of available panels on page 145
Quick layout buttons on page 196
Panel editor on page 327
Basics
145
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Change the length (scale) of normals in the display
Not all panels can be duplicated. For example, only one Hypergraph panel is
allowed.
To... Do this
Change the size of normals Show the Attribute Editor for the
on polygonal surfaces. surface.
Open the Mesh Component Display
section.
Turn on Display Normal and set the
Normal Size.
Change the size of normals Show the Attribute Editor for the
on subdivision surfaces. surface.
Open the Subdiv Surface Display
section.
Set the Normals Scale.
Customize shelves
Basics
146
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Add a tool, action, or MEL script to a shelf
Related topics
Add a tool, action, or MEL script to a shelf on page 147
Edit the contents of a shelf on page 148
Change the display of shelves on page 150
Window > Settings/Preferences > Shelf Editor on page 307
Basics
147
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Edit the MEL script associated with a shelf item
Related topics
Create, rename, rearrange, or delete a shelf on page 146
Edit the MEL script associated with a shelf item on page 148
Related topics
Add a tool, action, or MEL script to a shelf on page 147
Window > Settings/Preferences > Shelf Editor on page 307
To... Do this
Remove an icon from a Drag the icon with the middle mouse button
shelf. onto the trash icon in the upper right corner
of the shelf bar.
Rearrange icons on a Drag the icon with the middle mouse button
shelf. to a different position on the shelf.
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8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Use a custom name or icon for a shelf item
To... Do this
Move an icon to another Drag the icon with the middle mouse button
shelf. onto the shelf tab you want to move the
icon to.
Copy an icon to another Hold Ctrl and drag the icon with the middle
shelf. mouse button onto the shelf tab you want
to copy the icon to.
Related topics
Create, rename, rearrange, or delete a shelf on page 146
Add a tool, action, or MEL script to a shelf on page 147
Use a custom name or icon for a shelf item on page 149
Change the display of shelves on page 150
Window > Settings/Preferences > Shelf Editor on page 307
Basics
149
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Change the display of shelves
Related topics
Change the display of shelves on page 150
To... Do this
Hide the shelf tabs to Press the left mouse button on the black
save space. triangle to the left of the shelf area. In the
pop-up menu, turn off Shelf Tabs.
Switch shelves when the Press the left mouse button on the small
shelf tabs are hidden. tab icon to the left of the shelf area. In the
pop-up menu, select the shelf to display.
Related topics
Use a custom name or icon for a shelf item on page 149
Basics
150
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Manage custom menu sets
Related topics
Manage custom menu sets on page 151
Menu Sets on page 331
Basics
151
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Manage custom menu sets
Basics
152
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Create or edit a marking menu
Tip You can also rename a menu set in the Menu Sets column by
double-clicking its name, entering a new name, and pressing Enter.
Related topics
Custom menu sets on page 150
Menu Sets on page 331
Basics
153
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Create or edit a marking menu
To... Do this
Edit an existing In the Marking Menus dialog box, click the name
marking menu. of the marking menu you want to edit, then click
Edit Marking Menu.
Change the label Press the right mouse button on an item and
or MEL script of an select Edit Menu Item.
item.
Save your changes Click Save and close the marking menu editor
to a marking window.
menu.
Related topics
Assign a marking menu to a hotkey on page 155
Basics
154
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Assign a marking menu to a hotkey
Related topics
Create or edit a marking menu on page 153
Add a marking menu to the hotbox on page 155
Basics
155
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Customize the hotbox
You can set each mouse button press (left, middle, or right) in each different
area (north, south, east, or west) to show one of the pre-made marking menus
that come with Maya, or a custom marking menu you have created.
Related topics
Create or edit a marking menu on page 153
Basics
156
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Assign a predefined command to a hotkey
Related topics
Add a marking menu to the hotbox on page 155
Hotbox Controls > Hotbox Style on page 407
Customize hotkeys
Basics
157
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Assign a MEL script to a hotkey
The distinction between Press and Release can be important, for example
when you assign a hotkey to a snapping mode. You want to assign the
command to turns the snapping mode on to the key press, and the command
that turns the snapping mode off to the key release.
5 Click Assign.
If the hotkey you set already has a command assigned, Maya asks if you
want to override it.
Related topics
Assign a marking menu to a hotkey on page 155
Assign a MEL script to a hotkey on page 158
View a list of all assigned hotkeys on page 159
Hotkey editor on page 369
Basics
158
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > View a list of all assigned hotkeys
If the hotkey you set already has a command assigned, Maya asks if you
want to override it.
Related topics
Assign a marking menu to a hotkey on page 155
Assign a predefined command to a hotkey on page 157
View a list of all assigned hotkeys on page 159
Hotkey editor on page 369
Related topics
Assign a marking menu to a hotkey on page 155
Assign a MEL script to a hotkey on page 158
Hotkey editor on page 369
Basics
159
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Switch operations between actions and tools
Basics
160
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Load or unload Maya plug-ins
Tool options
If you change an action to a tool, the options window for that tool displays two
extra options:
Exit Upon Completion
If this option is off, Mayas focus remains on the tool after you finish using it.
You can use the tool repeatedly without selecting it again.
If this option is on, Maya exits the tool. The following menu items, when used
as tools, have Exit Upon Completion as the default option.
Edit Curves > Cut Curve Tool
Edit Curves > Intersect Curves Tool
Edit NURBS > Stitch > Global Stitch Tool
All other tools, including actions converted to tools, use Auto Completion as
the default.
Auto Completion
If this option is on, you dont have to press Enter (Linux and Microsoft
Windows) or Return (Apple Mac OS X) to finish a modeling task. The tool
completes its task as soon as you select enough objects or components.
Basics
161
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Improve performance, quality, or interactivity
Note You cannot load a plug-in for any version of Maya that predates the
Maya version the plug-in was compiled for. For example, you cannot
use a plug-in compiled with the Maya 6 API in Maya 5.
Check the For API Version number in the plug-ins information
window.
Related topics
Supported file formats on page 122
Plug-in Manager on page 372
Related topics
Window > Settings/Preferences > Performance Settings on page 304
Related topics
3D coordinates on page 17
Advanced customization
Basics
162
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Directly modify the settings files
Note Maya does not detect if you are out of space if your disk overflows
while Maya is saving preferences. If this occurs, your preferences
may become corrupt or irretrievable. Ensure that your hard drive has
space available to save your Maya preference files. If the disk runs
out of space, free up some space before exiting the Maya
application.
Basics
163
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Run MEL commands whenever Maya starts up
menu_CommonModelingPanes.mel Center
menu_ControlPaneVisibility.mel East
User preferences
The following files define user preferences.
userPrefs.mel Contains preferences defined in the Preferences window
(Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences).
windowPrefs.mel Defines the default size and position of Maya windows.
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164
8 | Preferences and customization
How do I? > Create a custom heads-up display readout
The following explains the basics of using the command. Read the
headsUpDisplay command documentation in the online help for a full
explanation of the commands usage and flags.
Related topics
Show information over top of a view (heads-up display) on page 47
Ingredients
Procedure
Create a MEL procedure that returns the information you want to show in the
heads-up display.
Update event
Decide when Maya needs to update the display item. For example, if your display
item shows some information about the selected object, Maya only needs to
change it when the selection changes. This is the event that triggers a display
update.
Maya has a number of events you can listen for. Use headsUpDisplay -
listEvents to see the list of all events.
If you update on a selection-based event (SelectionChanged or
SomethingSelected), you can refine the event listening to only fire on a specific
type of change to the selected nodes using the -nodeChanges flag.
-nodeChanges "attributeChange" fires when any attribute on a selected node
changes.
-nodeChanges "connectionChange" fires when any input or output on a
selected node changes.
-nodeChanges "instanceChange" fires when any selected instanced node
changes.
0 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9
Select a line within the section on which the display item appear. This is called
the block.
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Label
Select the label that appears before the information on the display line, for
example Position:.
The command
To create a heads-up display item:
headsUpDisplay
-section <section number>
-block <block number>
-label "<label>"
-command "<procedure()>"
-event "<event>"
<object name>;
Then, to show the item:
headsUpDisplay -edit -visability 1 <object name>;
Or to hide the item:
headsUpDisplay -edit -visability 0 <object name>;
See the example below.
The command has many more options than are described here, especially for
changing the appearance of the display item and checking the usage of blocks.
Read the headsUpDisplay command documentation for more information.
Example
For example, if you want to show the XYZ coordinates of the selected object in
the heads-up display, create a MEL procedure (for example, objectPosition() ) that
returns the XYZ coordinates of the selected object.
objectPosition procedure
global proc float[] objectPosition ()
{
string $selectedNodes[] = `selectedNodes`;
float $position[3];
if (size($selectedNodes) > 0)
{
string $mainObject = $selectedNodes[ (size($selectedNodes) - 1) ];
$position[0] = `getAttr $mainObject.translateX`;
$position[1] = `getAttr $mainObject.translateY`;
$position[2] = `getAttr $mainObject.translateZ`;
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}
else
{
$position[0] = 0;
$position[1] = 0;
$position[2] = 0;
}
return $position;
}
headsUpDisplay command
Then use the headsUpDisplay command to create the heads-up display object,
and add a user interface to turn the display item on or off.
// Create custom HUD objects
// To create a script like this for testing, see the command documentation
// for the headsUpDisplay command.
//
headsUpDisplay
-section 4
-block 5
-label "Position:"
-command "objectPosition()"
-event "SelectionChanged"
-nodeChanges "attributeChange"
HUDObjectPosition;
// Add one menu item per heads up display object created above
//
menuItem -parent $gHeadsUpDisplayMenu
-checkBox true
-label "Object Position"
-command "headsUpDisplay -e -vis 1 HUDObjectPosition"
-annotation "Object Postion: Toggle the display of object position"\
myObjectPostionItem;
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9 Performance tips
Interactive drawing
Turn on Shading > Interactive Shading to improve performance when moving
the camera.
Save the file in the simplest display mode to make load time faster. Avoid
saving files in textured display mode.
Use default display options for polygons.
Turn off display of all non-essential UI that updates when the scene view
updates, for example: Heads Up Display, Time Slider, Range Slider,
Hypershade, Attribute Editor, UV Texture Editor.
Turn off the display of all non-essential scene elements, ranging from the
Grid to drawing skeletons.
Work with a layout that only includes a single modeling panel.
Segment your scene into areas that dont overlap (for example, using a grid
layout). Use display layers to turn on or off the areas as required.
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Hardware Shaders
These are coding tips for hardware shader plug-in writers.
Do not push and pop all GL attributes if not required. This is more expensive
than pushing specific attributes.
If youre only using hardware shaders in the scene view, we recommend that
you use the older API: geometry(), bind() and unbind(). If you also want to
batch render your hardware shader, we recommend you use the newer API:
glGeometry, glBind and glUnbind.
We recommend you cache all node attributes as internal. The example plug-
ins hwColorPerVertex, hwPhongShader and the cgFxShader all do this. Non-
cached values are very expensive to evaluate and can double the draw time.
Avoid using complex attributes (structures and arrays).
If the output color on the shader is not important, do not make any attributes
affect it. This causes additional computation as marking one attribute dirty
causes a recomputation to derive the dependent one.
The compute() method can be left empty if not required. The simpler the
method the better. You will not see Hypershade swatches if you do not
compute the output color.
Do not post-normalize tangents in the plug-in. This is done for you.
Data sent via the geometry calls are read-only and are cached internally. Do
not modify the values.
Use simple data structures (versus Maya API objects) for simple data. For
example, use float3 versus MFloatVector. There is a performance overhead
due to the interfaces used in OpenMaya.
Take advantage of methods available on M3dView. OpenGL state is cached
internally and can give better performance than using beginGL(), endGL() and
direct calls to OpenGL.
Use glDrawRangeElements to draw with. This is the API recommended by the
card vendor for drawing with the geometry arrays passed to the hardware
shader.
Make sure to set the hasTransparency() return value appropriately. Setting it
to true causes Maya to draw an object twice (once culling front faces, once
culling back).
Take into account the current display state in M3dView. For example, don't
disable lighting if the display mode is Use No Lights.
When transparency is enabled, framebuffer blending is already enabled. You
do not need to enable it again.
Take advantage of the new method: MPxHwShaderNode::currentPath() to
send the appropriate information for attribute query methods (for example,
getTexCoordSetNames()).
Test which parameters on color/alpha and depth mask are enabled for
interactive and especially for hardware rendering. They can give hints as to
how to draw a simpler version of the geometry.
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For the Hardware renderer, the plug-in can be called multiple times. The
general sequence is usually: depth pass, [lighting pass[es]], color pass,
[shadow map pass], [alpha pass], [depth pass]. Items marked with braces
[ ] are optional and dependent upon the number of lights in the scene,
whether shadows are enabled for those lights, and whether alpha and depth
output images are specified in the Render Settings.
Use the new Ignore Hardware Shader option which is available per object
(NURBS or polygonal surfaces). This is available in the Attribute Editor in the
Object Display section and as a new option in the Display > Object Display
menu. Use Ignore Hardware Shader to make the hardware shader not show
up on the object, or use Use Hardware Shader to restore the default state of
showing the shader. This allows users of the plug-in to selectively disable
shader display for performance reasons.
Memory
Unlimited undo queue takes more memory than a limited undo queue. The
default Undo queue is set to 50 in the Preferences window.
Take advantage of large address awareness on Windows XP up to 3 GB.
Use instancing when possible. This includes geometry, materials, textures,
lights, and so on.
Animation
Use Skin > Edit Smooth Skin to limit max influences, remove unused
influences and prune small influences.
Use Deform > Prune Membership to remove components that arent affected
by the deformer.
Fur
Lowering the Fur Accuracy value for the Fur Feedback hairs significantly
increases interactive draw speed, but makes it less easy to preview Scraggle,
Curl or Clumping.
Since Shadow Maps are expensive to render, dont use more than you need.
Autoshading is free and can provide an acceptable alternative for some lights
when using the Maya Software renderer.
Miscellaneous
On Windows, fragmented hard drives can cause serious performance issues.
We suggest you defragment regularly and thoroughly with a dedicated
application. Standard tools offered by the operating system are often not
sufficient to gain performance benefits.
Take advantage of file referencing. For more information, see About file
referencing on page 5 of the File Referencing book.
Become very familiar with Windows > Settings/Preferences > Performance
Settings.
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Use File > Optimize Scene Size > to remove unused scene data.
Modeling
Use the Reuse Triangles attribute on polygons.
Use Poly Reduce to simplify complex geometry. Polygonal models that don't
have the following will display faster: unshared normals, unshared texture
coordinates, unmapped faces, and faces that are not triangles (not
triangulated).
Dynamics
Use the Stand In attribute on rigid body geometry.
When starting or setting up a simulation, start with less geometry on
particles.
Classic Cloth
Turn off Classic Cloth collisions for the initial setup and testing of a
simulation.
Animate settings like Frame Samples and Time Step Size to improve solve
time.
Solve in batch mode.
Rendering
Use Render Diagnostics for hints on improving performance. See Maya
render diagnostics in the Maya Help for more information.
Remove duplicate shading networks.
Artisan
Increase Stamp Spacing if possible (Stroke section of Artisan Tool settings
editor).
Use Screen Projection if possible (Stroke section of Artisan Tool settings
editor).
Paint Effects
Lower the Display Quality in the Paint Effects Tool settings editor.
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10 Running Maya in Japanese
A Japanese user interface for Maya is available for users working on computers
that support a Japanese environment on Windows and Mac OS X operating
systems. (Not available for Linux operating systems.)
To run Maya with a Japanese user interface on Windows, ensure that:
the computer is operating using either a Maya qualified Japanese Windows
operating system or a Maya qualified Windows operating system with
Japanese language support. If you are unsure how your computers operating
system is configured, please contact you companys system administrator or
Microsoft technical support.
the default language for non-Unicode programs is set to Japanese. For more
information on setting the default language setting on a Windows operating
system, see Run Maya with a Japanese user interface on page 176.
To run Maya with a Japanese user interface on Mac OS X, ensure that:
the computer is operating using a Maya qualified Mac OS X operating
system.
the personal system language preference is set to Japanese. For more
information on setting the default language setting on a Mac OS X operating
system, see Run Maya with a Japanese user interface on page 176.
Be aware of the following issues that relate to the different language user
interfaces of Maya:
If Japanese Maya text files (.ma, .mel) are to be used on other hardware
platforms and operating systems, you may need to convert them to the text
encoding appropriate for the destination platform (for instance, Shift_JIS or
UTF 8). For more information, see Prepare Maya files containing Japanese
text on page 178.
Maya only supports object names entered as single byte characters (ASCII, or
plain Western text).
Maya user preferences cannot be shared between its two language user
interfaces.
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How do I > Run Maya with a Japanese user interface
Related topics
Run Maya with a Japanese user interface on page 176
Run Maya in English within a Japanese environment on page 177
Prepare Maya files containing Japanese text on page 178
The Maya user interface automatically appears in Japanese when launched within
a Japanese operating system environment. If you wish to run Maya with a
Japanese UI on a system that is enabled to run in multiple languages, you must
set the operating system preferences for that operating system. The steps for
doing this differ depending on the operating system:
Note If you want to run the English language user interface of Maya when
operating on Mac OS X, you can click-drag the text titled English
that appears in the list of languages up to the top of the Languages
list. The next time Maya is launched; the English language user
interface will appear.
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How do I > Run Maya in English within a Japanese environment
Related topics
Run Maya in English within a Japanese environment on page 177
Japanese Maya Overview on page 175
Prepare Maya files containing Japanese text on page 178
Many existing Japanese users of Maya may already be comfortable working within
the English language user interface of Maya.
If youre working on a Windows operating system with a Japanese language
environment and want to use Maya in English, you can do so by setting the
MAYA_UI_LANGUAGE environment variable.
Note If you later want to run Maya in Japanese you can set User
Environment Variable Value to ja_JP or remove the variable from
the list of User Environment Variables.
Related topics
Run Maya with a Japanese user interface on page 176
Japanese Maya Overview on page 175
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How do I > Prepare Maya files containing Japanese text
If you are running Maya in the Japanese language user interface and need to
share Maya ASCII text files (.ma, .mel) with other users on other hardware
platforms and operating systems, youll need to convert your Maya files to the
correct text encoding appropriate for the target platform. Use the Save As feature
of your favorite text editor or a utility like iconv. Text encoding is platform-
dependent and Maya text files cannot be guaranteed to open correctly otherwise.
When Maya files are saved from the Maya Japanese language user interface in
the .mb (Maya Binary) format, they can be shared between the various supported
platforms and operating systems without conversion.
If you need to save and work with Maya text files containing Japanese (.ma,
.mel), the text files must be saved with the following text encoding depending on
the hardware platforms and operating systems:
Related topics
Japanese Maya Overview on page 175
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11 Basics Tools
File buttons
These buttons let you start a new scene file, open an existing scene file, or save
the current scene file.
Create, open, or save a scene file on page 126
Selection mask
The Status Line (toolbar) contains several different controls to change the
selection mask. The selection mask determines what type of objects or
components you can select.
The selection mode menu lets you select common preset selection masks.
The selection mode buttons let you switch between Select by hierarchy and
combinations mode, Object mode, and Component mode.
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Reference > Status line (toolbar)
The selection mask buttons let you make specific object/component types
selectable or unselectable.
Selection, tools, and actions on page 19
Select objects or components on page 33
Select only certain types of objects or components (selection masks) on
page 34
Selection options
Snapping buttons
Snap to grids
Snaps a vertex (CV or polygonal vertex) or pivot point to a grid corner. If you
select Snap to grids before you create a curve, its vertices snap to the grid
corners.
Snap to curves
Snaps a vertex (CV or polygonal vertex) or pivot point to a curve or curve on
surface.
Snap to points
Snaps a vertex (CV or polygonal vertex) or pivot point to a point. This can
include face centers.
Snap to view planes
Snaps a vertex (CV or polygonal vertex) or pivot point to a view plane.
Snap to the grid, a curve, points, or a view plane on page 72
Snap all creation tools to a surface or construction plane on page 73
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Reference > Status line (toolbar)
Render buttons
Click these buttons to open the Render View window, perform a normal render,
perform an IPR render, or open the render settings window.
Input box
Use the Input box to quickly select, rename, or transform objects and
components within the Maya scene without having the Channel Box displayed.
Click the arrow to the left of the input fields to choose an Input mode; Absolute
transform, Relative transform, Rename, or Select by name. The default setting is
Absolute transform. The Input mode is saved with your user preferences.
Absolute transform
Type numbers in the X, Y, Z fields to
move, scale, or rotate, based on the
currently selected transformation tool.
The objects or components are
transformed with reference to their
original creation position.
You can also enter a single value in
one field (for example, X) without
affecting the other transformation
values.
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Reference > Status line (toolbar)
Relative transform
Type numbers in the X, Y, Z fields to
move, scale, or rotate based on the
currently selected transformation tool.
The objects or components are
transformed with reference to their
current position.
You can also enter a single value in
one field (for example, X) without
affecting the other transformation
values.
Move, rotate, or scale objects
and components on page 59
Rename
Edit the name of the currently selected
object. When more than one object is
selected, Maya increments a number
at the end of the name for each
object.
Change the name of one or more
objects on page 134
Select by name
Type the name of an object to select
it. You can use wildcard characters (*
and ?) to select multiple objects.
Select objects or components
on page 33
Sidebar buttons
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Reference > Command line
Command line
The command line lets you type single MEL or Python commands without having
to open the Script editor. You can switch between MEL and Python mode by
clicking the MEL/Python button. The result from the command appears in the
output
MEL/Python switch
Type MEL or Python commands in the command line. The result appears in the
colored box to the right of the command line. You can drag the divider between
the input and result boxes to resize them. When the cursor is in the command
line, press up and down to scroll through the command history.
To enter more complex scripts, click the Script Editor button to the right of the
result box. For more information, see Script editor on page 374.
Tool Box
Select Tool
Lets you select objects and components in view panels and the texture editor.
Select Tool
The Select Tool has no options when you use it in view panels. When you work in
a texture editor panel, the Select Tool has texture-editor specific options.
Related topics
Selection, tools, and actions on page 19
Select objects or components on page 33
Lasso Tool
Lets you select objects and components in view panels by drawing a freeform
shape around them.
Lasso Tool
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Reference > Paint Selection Tool
Related topics
Selection, tools, and actions on page 19
Select objects or components on page 33
Lets you select components by painting over them with the stylus. See also How
Artisan brush tools work in the Artisan and 3D Paint guide.
Related topics
Select components by painting on page 37
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Reference > Paint Selection Tool
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Reference > Move Tool
Move Tool
Move Tool
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
The pivot point on page 53
World space, object space, and local space on page 54
Use manipulators on page 56
Move, rotate, or scale objects and components on page 59
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Reference > Move Tool
When you select Normal, the Update [UVN] Triad check box appears. Turned
on, this option causes the manipulator orientation to reflect the moved
surface rather than the original surface. This is the default. Turned off, the
manipulator retains the orientation for the original surface.
Along Rotation Axis
Aligns to the Rotate Tools axes on the object. If you have set the Rotate Axis
in the objects Transform Attributes to a different value (which offsets the
orientation of the object relative to the orientation of the object's local
rotation axis) this attribute will have an affect; otherwise, Along Rotation Axis
is the same as Object.
Along Live Object Axis
(This setting does not work with Reflection on.) Sets the Move Tool to move
objects along the axis of a live object. Most commonly, you would make a
construction plane live, but any object can be set live. When you have a live
object and select this option, the move arrows of the Move Tool align to the
live construction plane. (The geometry of the live object doesnt matter; the
move aligns to the axes of the live object.)
Custom Axis Orientation
Enter the x, y, and z offset of the custom axis in radians.
Set to Point
You can set the Move Tool to move the selected object along a axis defined
by selecting a point.
1 Select an object.
2 Click Set to Point.
3 Select a point in the scene. It can be a point on any object, including the
currently selected object.
The axis of the Move Tool changes.
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Reference > Move Tool
You can see the new axis settings in the three boxes under Custom Axis
Orientation.
Set to Edge
You can set the Move Tool to move the selected object along an axis defined
by an edge.
1 Select an object.
2 Click Set to Edge.
3 Select an edge in the scene. It can be an edge on any object, including the
currently selected object.
The axis of the Move Tool changes.
You can see the new axis settings in the three boxes under Custom Axis
Orientation.
Set to Face
You can set the Move Tool to move the selected object along an axis defined
by a face.
1 Select an object.
2 Click Set to Face
3 Select a face in the scene. It can be a face on any object, including the
currently selected object.
The axis of the Move Tool changes.
You can see the new axis settings in the three boxes under Custom Axis
Orientation.
Discrete Move
The Discrete Move setting enables the Relative option and lets you specify
the amount an object is moved in increments (determined by the Step Size
value).
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Reference > Move Tool
Relative
While Maya moves the object, relative spacing is maintained. Turn this option
off if you dont want to preserve relative spacing while translating.
Step Size
Enter a value to determine the amount an object is moved in increments
when the Discrete Move option is selected.
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Reference > Rotate Tool
Rotate Tool
Rotate Tool
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
The pivot point on page 53
World space, object space, and local space on page 54
Use manipulators on page 56
Move, rotate, or scale objects and components on page 59
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Reference > Rotate Tool
Relative
While Maya rotates the object, relative spacing is maintained. Turn this
option off if you dont want to preserve relative spacing while rotating.
Step Size
Enter a value to determine the amount an object is rotated in increments
when the Snap Rotate option is selected.
Component Use Object Pivot
Lets you rotate object components about the objects pivot point.
Center as virtual trackball
If this option is turned on, dragging the area inside the rotation manipulators
(the center) rotates the object or component. If this option is turned off, you
can only rotate the object or component by dragging directly on the rotation
manipulators, also allowing you to select objects or components by clicking in
the area bounded by the rotation manipulators.
This is useful when you want to add to a component selection. With Center
as virtual trackball off, you can immediately add to the component selection
even if the component is within the area bounded by the rotation
manipulators. Otherwise, you would have to change manipulators to the
Select Tool, shift-select to make your selection, and choose the Rotate Tool
again.
Reflection
When you rotate a component, this rotate the corresponding component
along the reflection axis.
Center
Select whether the reflection center is at the origin or with the bounding box
of the object.
Reflection Axis
Set the axis along which reflection occurs.
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Reference > Scale Tool
Tolerance
Set the Tolerance for the reflection (that is, how closely the selected
component and the component across the reflection axis have to mirror each
other in order for mirroring rotation to occur).
Scale Tool
Scale Tool
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
The pivot point on page 53
World space, object space, and local space on page 54
Use manipulators on page 56
Move, rotate, or scale objects and components on page 59
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Reference > Universal Manipulator
Discrete Scale
The Discrete Scale setting enables the Relative option and lets you specify
the amount an object is scaled in increments (determined by the Step Size
value).
Relative
While Maya scales the object, relative spacing is maintained. Turn this option
off if you dont want to preserve relative spacing while scaling.
Step Size
Enter a value to determine the amount an object is scaled in increments
when the Discrete Scale option is selected.
Component Use Object Pivot
Lets you scale object components about the objects pivot point.
Reflection
When you scale a component, this scales the corresponding component
along the reflection axis.
Center
Select whether the reflection center is at the origin or with the bounding box
of the object.
Reflection Axis
Set the axis along which reflection occurs.
Tolerance
Set the Tolerance for the reflection (that is, how closely the selected
component and the component across the reflection axis have to mirror each
other in order for mirroring scale action to occur).
Universal Manipulator
Universal Manipulator
The Universal Manipulator combines the functions of the Move Tool, Rotate Tool,
and Scale Tool. You can also use it to enter precise values to scale and rotate
your object directly in the scene view.
Use the Universal Manipulator on page 62
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Reference > Soft Modification Tool (toolbox)
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Reference > Show Manipulator Tool
Move Settings
Discrete Move
Lets you specify the amount an object is moved in increments (determined by
the Step Size value).
Relative
Sets spacing relative to the current position while translating. That is, if the
current position is 0.75, step size is 1 and Relative is on, you snap to 1.75,
2.75, and so on. If Relative is off and step size is 1, you snap to 1.00, 2.00,
3.00, and so on. Only selectable if Discrete Move is on.
Step Size
Specify the increment size. One unit is the default. (The scale of the unit
(mm, cm, inches, feet, and so on) is dependent on your preferences.)
Rotate Settings
Snap Rotate
Lets you specify the amount an object is rotated in increments (determined
by the Step Size value).
Relative
Sets spacing relative to the current position while rotating. That is, if the
current position is 10 degrees, step size is 15 degrees and Relative is on,
you snap to 25, 40, 55, and so on. If Relative is off and step size is 15, you
snap to 15, 30, 45, and so on. Only selectable if Snap Rotate is on.
Step Size
Specify the increment size. 15 degrees is the default.
Scale Settings
Discrete Scale
Lets you specify the amount an object is scaled in increments (determined by
the Step Size value).
Relative
Sets spacing relative to the current position while scaling. That is, if the
current size is 1.25, step size is 1 and Relative is on, you scale to 2.25,
3.25, and so on. If Relative is off and step size is 1, you snap to 2.00, 3.00,
4.00, and so on. Only selectable if Discrete Scale is on.
Step Size
Specify the increment size. One unit is the default. (The scale of the unit
(mm, cm, inches, feet, and so on) is dependent on your preferences.)
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Reference > Quick layout buttons
Note Changes to the tool settings are shared by all menu items that use
this tool. For example, if you change the Snap Rotate value to 45
degrees for the Extrude Face tool, the same value is used for the
Move Component tool.
Related topics
Use manipulators on page 56
Show a custom manipulator for the selected node on page 78
Hypershade/Render/Persp
Persp/Outliner
Quick Layout buttons
Persp/Graph
Hypershade/Persp
Persp/Graph/Hypergraph
Panel/Layout
The quick layout buttons let you switch to one of a few common panel layouts
quickly.
Click one of the layout thumbnails to switch to the pictured layout and
panels.
Press the right mouse button on one of the layout thumbnails to change the
layout/panels the button loads.
Press the left mouse button on a box in the layout thumbnail at the bottom to
change the content of a panel in the current layout.
Press the right mouse button on the layout thumbnail to change the current
layout.
Related topics
Change the panel layout on page 44
Create a custom panel layout on page 145
Panel editor on page 327
Hotkeys
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Reference > View hotkeys
View hotkeys
Press Function
a Show all
f Show selected
Press Function
1 Rough display
2 Medium display
3 Smooth display
Press Function
4 Wireframe display
5 Shaded display
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Reference > Tool and action hotkeys
Press Function
Related topics
Create or edit a marking menu on page 153
Assign a predefined command to a hotkey on page 157
View a list of all assigned hotkeys on page 159
Press Function
q Select Tool
w Move Tool
e Rotate Tool
r Scale Tool
Press Function
z Undo
Shift + z Redo
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Reference > Tool and action hotkeys
Press Function
p Parent
Shift + p Unparent
s Set key
Press Function
Hold Function
x Snap to grid
c Snap to curve
v Snap to point
Related topics
Create or edit a marking menu on page 153
Assign a predefined command to a hotkey on page 157
View a list of all assigned hotkeys on page 159
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Reference > Tool and action hotkeys
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12 Basics Menus
Reference File
Related topics
Create, open, or save a scene file on page 126
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Reference > File > Open Scene
Note When you open a file with File > Open, the working units (mm,
degrees, and so on) are changed to those specified in that file. If
you want to avoid having the working units changed, use File >
Import to read the file.
Related topics
Supported file formats on page 122
Create, open, or save a scene file on page 126
Import files on page 128
File > Import on page 208
File > Create Reference on page 217
General options
File type
Select the file format you want to use as a default for the next time you open
a file.
If you have a project set up, when you open a scene, the browser points to
the directory containing files of that type. On Windows and Mac OS X, it also
sets the filter to display only files of the selected type.
Depending on the File Type you select, various File Type Specific Options are
displayed.
Execute Script Nodes
Script nodes contain MEL scripts in mayaAscii or mayaBinary files. You can
designate a script node to execute its script when the node is read from a
file, or before or after rendering a frame. You can
and edit the script nodes using the Expression Editor. See the chapter Using
Script Nodes in the MEL book for information on creating and editing script
nodes.
User interface configuration information is stored inside the Maya scene file
as an attribute on a script node. If you disable the Execute Script Nodes
option, the UI script nodes are not executed. However, we recommend
disabling script node execution only if you have an error in your script.
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Reference > File > Open Scene
Ignore version
Disregards the file version when opening a Maya file. The Ignore version setting
lets you open a file that was created by a later version of Maya regardless of
whether it was saved in ascii or binary format. This eliminates the need to save
and then manually edit an ascii version of the Maya file to remove the required
version line when you need to open it in an earlier version.
Note Maya files that are opened in an earlier version of Maya are not
supported as feature compatibility to earlier software versions
cannot be ensured. The Ignore version feature is primarily provided
for users in production environments where multiple versions of
Maya are in use simultaneously.
Referencing options
Load Default References
Respects the referenced files state in the referencing file when the
referencing file was last saved. Whatever references were loaded or unloaded
the last time you worked on the file are properly loaded or unloaded when you
re-open it.
Load All References
Opens the file with all references loaded. You can change the state of
reference loading after the file is open in Maya by opening the Reference
Editor (Reference Editor overview on page 380) and selecting the
references you want to unload.
Load No References
This opens the file without loading any references. You can load references
after the file is open in Maya by opening the Reference Editor (Reference
Editor overview on page 380) and selecting the references you want to load.
Load Top-Level References Only
Loads only the top-most referenced files (which may themselves contain
many nested referenced files). This is useful in cases where you may be
opening a complex nested scene reference hierarchy with many nested
references and you want to easily work at the top level of the hierarchy.
Selective preload
Selecting this option opens the Preload Reference Editor before opening any
file (Preload Reference Editor on page 364). You can select to load or defer
any references in the file.
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Reference > File > Save Scene
Move files
You must import move files. See File > Import on page 208.
Anim files
You must import anim files. See File > Import on page 208.
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Reference > File > Save Scene As
Related topics
Supported file formats on page 122
Create, open, or save a scene file on page 126
Recover data after a crash on page 130
Work with proxy references on page 42 of the File Referencing book of the
File Referencing book
File > Save Scene As on page 205
File > Export All, Export Selection on page 212
Note When the Limit Increment Saves check box is turned on,
Incremental Save stores only the limited number of incremental
backup files. Once the limit is reached, Maya deletes the oldest
incremental file and replaces it with the latest incremental backup
file.
Allows you to select a new name and location for the scene file.
Related topics
Supported file formats on page 122
Create, open, or save a scene file on page 126
Recover data after a crash on page 130
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Reference > File > Save Scene As
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Reference > File > Save Preferences
Note In both the New Project and Edit Project windows, there is a Disk
Cache option in the list of Data Transfer Locations (File > Project >
New, File > Project > Edit Current). This allows you to set the
default directory in which to store the jiggle deformers disk cache
files.
Referencing options
Related topics
Directly modify the settings files on page 162
Preferences overview on page 407
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Reference > File > Import
Related topics
Optimize scene size on page 134
Related topics
Supported file formats on page 122
Create, open, or save a scene file on page 126
Recover data after a crash on page 130
General options
Group
Specifies whether the imported objects are grouped under a single transform
when you import the file. Grouping makes it easier to work on the nodes of
imported objects. The default is off.
Remove duplicate shading networks
This setting prevents the duplication of geometry and shading networks if you
import a file more than once into Maya
File type
Select from the drop-down list the file type you are importing. If you arent
sure what type of file you are importing, you can select Best Guess.
Depending on the file type you select, various file type specific options may
be displayed.
Referencing options
Preserve references
If Preserve References is turned on, the references within the imported file
are preserved. If it is turned off, all references are imported into or exported
within the file; that is, they are no longer references, but are now objects in
the scene. The default is off.
Load default references
Respects the referenced files state in the referencing file when the
referencing file was last saved. Whatever references were loaded or unloaded
the last time you worked on the file are properly loaded or unloaded when you
re-open it.
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Reference > File > Import
Tip Before importing or referencing a file, make sure that the renaming
prefix contains no invalid characters.
You can create, name, parent, and remove namespaces using the
namespace command.
Namespaces do not effect selection, the DAG, the Dependency Graph, or any
other aspect of Maya.
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Reference > File > Import
Resolve options
When you import a scene into another scene, naming conflicts occur if the
nodes share the same name and parent nodes.
To resolve these naming conflicts, you can rename only nodes with the same
name and parents (clashing nodes) or you can rename all nodes. You specify
whether to use the filename as the prefix (the default) or to create a prefix
string.
For more information on node hierarchy, see MEL and Expressions.
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Reference > File > Import
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Reference > File > Export All, Export Selection
Related topics
Supported file formats on page 122
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Reference > File > Export All, Export Selection
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Reference > File > Export All, Export Selection
Note The mayaAscii and mayaBinary file formats are the only ones that
preserve all the information contained within your scene. Setting the
output format for an export using the Export Options box will change
your default export format for the current and subsequent export
operations. If you set the output format to something other then
mayaAscii or mayaBinary and export using that format and then quit
without saving the entire file then you can lose data.
Always check the export type in the export file browser to ensure
you are writing the file using the expected file format.
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Reference > File > Export All, Export Selection
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Reference > File > View Image
Shapes
This option determines if the animation of a shape attribute of an object as well
as the animation of the associated transform attribute are copied, or if only the
transform nodes animation is copied.
Generally, when an object is selected in a modeling window, the transform node
(above the shape hierarchically) is selected.
For example, if a camera, NURBS object, or light is selected, the associated
transform node is selected for copying.
Time Range
All Copies all the animation information of the selected object or objects to
the keys clipboard.
Start/End copies only the animation information in the range specified in
the Start Time and End Time fields of the selected object or objects to the
keys clipboard.
Help Images
When checked, this option displays a diagram of the copy action, and in
particular represents graphically the two methods of copying animation
information.
Method
Keys Copies only keys within the selected range to the keys clipboard.
Segments Copies animation curve segments and any keys in the selected
range to the keys clipboard.
Note The Segments method of copying keys creates keys for the copied
animation segment at the start and end times in order to preserve
the shape of the animation curve, if keys do not already exist at
those points.
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Reference > File > Create Reference
Related topics
About file referencing on page 5 of the File Referencing book
File referencing workflows on page 7 of the File Referencing book
Work with file references on page 38 of the File Referencing book
About the Reference Editor on page 17 of the File Referencing book
Reference Editor overview on page 380
About proxy references on page 9 of the File Referencing book
Work with proxy references on page 42 of the File Referencing book
File referencing tips on page 23 of the File Referencing book
The following describes the reference options available when creating a file
reference.
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Reference > File > Create Reference
File type
Select from the drop-down list the file type you are importing. If you arent
sure what type of file you are importing, you can select Best Guess.
For more information on file type options, see File > Import.
Load options
Load Default References
Respects the referenced files state in the referencing file when the
referencing file was last saved. Whatever references were loaded or unloaded
the last time you worked on the file are properly loaded or unloaded when you
re-open it.
Load All References
Opens the file with all references loaded. You can change the state of
reference loading after the file is open in Maya by opening the Reference
Editor (Reference Editor overview on page 380) and selecting the
references you want to unload.
Load No References
This opens the file without loading any references. You can load references
after the file is open in Maya by opening the Reference Editor (Reference
Editor overview on page 380) and selecting the references you want to load.
Load Top-Level References Only
Loads only the top-most referenced files (which may themselves contain
many nested referenced files). This is useful in cases where you may be
opening a complex nested scene reference hierarchy with many nested
references and you want to easily work at the top level of the hierarchy.
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Reference > File > Create Reference
Maya uses the display layer name to determine how the referenced layer is
added to the current scene. If a display layer name already exists in the
parent scene, any objects assigned to an identically-named display layer in a
child scene are added to the original parent display layer when they are
referenced.
If a child scene contains a display layer that does not exist in the parent
scene, the layer from the child scene appears in the parent scene when the
child scene is referenced. If these child scenes are later removed from the
parent scene, their associated layers are removed as well.
Shared layers are automatically placed in the default namespace.
Shading Networks
If you reference a file into your current scene with shared shading networks
enabled, the shading networks from the referenced scene are combined with
those in the current scene (including those of any references). This avoids
creating duplicate shading networks when you want the same ones used
throughout your scene, including the reference.
Shading networks can only be shared if the shading networks are identical.
Maya considers two shading networks to be identical only if all the nodes
included in it have both the same name and type while traveling upstream
from the shading group.
While the name and type of each node in the shading network must be
identical in order for the shading network to be shared, the actual values in
each node are not considered. So, a node in a child scene with one value (for
example, blue) is considered identical to a node in the parent scene with a
different value (for example, red) as long as its name and type match.
However, certain shading networks cannot be shared. They are:
networks that include DAG objects (such as those that include the
place3dTexture node)
networks with animation applied to a node
networks with an expression applied to a node
If any of these items appear in the shading network, the network is not
shared when the file is referenced with shared shading networks enabled.
Any items that exist downstream of the shading network are also not shared.
The only items shared are those items upstream of the shading network.
Render Layers
When the reference is created, the render layers associated with the child
scene are integrated into the parent scene.
You can choose to use the render layer name or number to determine which
render layers are merged. If a render layer name or ID already exists in the
parent scene, any objects assigned to a render layer with the same name or
ID in a child scene are added to the referencing scenes render layer when
they are referenced.
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Reference > File > Create Reference
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Reference > File > Reference Editor
For example, you may want to tag multiple file references in succession with
a tag named hiRes when you first create each one. In this case, you need
only type the tag name once and it is automatically assigned to successive
file reference tags. If you want to tag multiple proxies for those same
references, you only need type in the proxy tag name for the proxy once, and
the proxy tag will be remembered for successive proxies.
Alternatively, you may want to create and tag one file reference named hiRes
and then immediately create and tag its corresponding proxy reference
named loRes. You can then create the next file reference and it will
automatically be assigned the tag hiRes, then create its proxy reference, and
it will automatically be assigned the tag loRes.
Because Maya can distinguish between the most recent file reference and
proxy reference tags specified, this alternating tagging workflow is possible.
If a file reference has not been assigned a unique proxy tag prior to the
creation of the first proxy in the scene, the file reference will be assigned a
proxy tag named original to differentiate the original file reference from the
first proxy. Once a tag has been specified for a file reference, it will continue
to be used as the default file reference tag until another is specified. That is,
Maya only uses the default original tag if the user has not previously explicitly
specified a tag for a file reference.
If a proxy tag is not specified when the first proxy reference is created in the
scene, Maya will automatically apply a unique proxy tag based on the name
of the reference node. Once a proxy tag has been specified for a proxy
reference, it will continue to be the default tag for proxy references until
another is specified. That is, Maya only uses a default proxy tag name when
the user has not previously specified an explicit tag name for a proxy
reference.
Once you create a proxy tag, it will become available for selection within the
Proxy Tag Options drop-down menu in both the Proxy Options and Reference
Options windows.
Proxy tags must be unique within a given proxy set. That is, a proxy tag will
be available for a proxy set provided it is not already in use within the same
proxy set. You can create your own tags and reuse them in different proxy
sets.
Related topics
About the Reference Editor on page 17 of the File Referencing book
Work with file references on page 38 of the File Referencing book
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Reference > File > Project > New
Related topics
Organize files into projects on page 129
Options
Scenes
Specifies the directory used to save scene files. This directory normally
contains only geometry information, unless you instruct Maya to put all of the
information on the file into this subdirectory. You can also use this text box
to enter search criteria for scene information.
Project Data Locations
Specifies the directories for files containing project textures, lights, source
images, images, and render scenes.
Data Transfer Locations
These locations specify the paths to the directories containing files in
formats that may require conversion.
Note The location directories can be expanded using plug-ins. Each time
you add a plug-in, the New Project window displays the addition. You
can then specify the path to the plug-ins directory.
Note If you leave a text box blank, Maya does not create a subdirectory.
If you create a scene using an unspecified project setting, Maya
saves the information in the project location directory.
Related topics
Organize files into projects on page 129
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Reference > File > Project > Set
Related topics
Organize files into projects on page 129
Related topics
Open recently saved files on page 127
Related topics
Organize files into projects on page 129
Edit
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Reference > Edit > Undo, Redo, Repeat
Related topics
Cut, Copy, and Paste on page 80
Related topics
Cut, Copy, and Paste on page 80
Related topics
Cut, Copy, and Paste on page 80
Related topics
Construction history on page 55
Edit completed commands (construction history) on page 77
Dependency graph on page 89
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Reference > Edit > Delete by Type > Channels, Static Channels, Non-particle Expressions
Related topics
Delete on page 80
Related topics
Select Tool on page 183
Selection, tools, and actions on page 19
Select objects or components on page 33
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Reference > Edit > Lasso Select
Related topics
Lasso Tool on page 183
Selection, tools, and actions on page 19
Select objects or components on page 33
Related topics
Paint Selection Tool on page 184
Select components by painting on page 37
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
Related topics
Select objects based on hierarchy on page 36
Scene hierarchy on page 87
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Reference > Edit > Invert Selection
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
Related topics
Select objects or components on page 33
Related topics
Save and reuse a selection on page 36
Create > Sets > Quick Select Set on page 261
Related topics
Duplicate on page 80
Edit > Duplicate Special on page 227
Related topics
Duplicate on page 80
Edit > Duplicate on page 227
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Reference > Edit > Duplicate Special
Note The default for Translate and Rotate is 0.0000. The default for
Scale is 1.0000. With the default values, Maya places the copy on
top of the original geometry. You can specify offset values (positive
or negative floating point) for translation, rotation, and scaling that
are then applied to the copied geometry.
Number of Copies
Specify the number of copies to create. The range is from 1 to 1000.
Tip As a shortcut for duplicating with Smart Transform on, use Edit >
Duplicate with Transform.
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Reference > Edit > Duplicate with Transform
Related topics
Duplicate on page 80
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Reference > Edit > Group
Related topics
Group objects together on page 138
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Reference > Edit > Level of Detail
Related topics
Group objects together on page 138
Related topics
Level of Detail group node on page 451
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Reference > Edit > Level of Detail
In the Hypergraph, use the middle mouse button to drag the new object
onto the lodGroup node.
In the Outliner, use the middle mouse button to drag the new object onto
the group.
The new object is added to the bottom of the lodGroups hierarchy.
Tip You can also re-order a group by selecting Edit > Level of Detail >
Ungroup. Re-order the objects and create a new group.
Tip Reset the Display Levels to uselod to return to the regular level of
detail behavior.
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Reference > Edit > Parent
Related topics
View and edit the hierarchy of nodes on page 105
Edit > Unparent on page 233
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Reference > Create > NURBS Primitives
Preserve Position
Turn Preserve Position on to preserve overall world-space position by
modifying the parented objects transformation matrix.
Create
Note When the Maya workspace is set to High Quality Rendering mode,
primitives created using the Interactive Creation option do not
appear shaded until the primitive creation steps are complete.
Related Links
Create NURBS primitives on page 31 of the NURBS Modeling book
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Reference > Create > NURBS Primitives
Pivot
By default, the Pivot is set to Object, and the primitive is created at the
origin. Specifically, its rotate and scale pivots are at the origin.
If you set Pivot to User Defined, you can enter values in the Pivot Point X, Y,
and Z boxes to position the pivots (and the primitive).
Axis
Select X, Y, or Z to specify a preset axis direction of the object.
Select Free to enable the X, Y and Z Axis Definition boxes. Enter new values
to select your own axis direction.
Select Active View to create the object perpendicular to the current
orthographic view. The Active View option has no effect when the current
modeling view is a camera or perspective view.
Start and End Sweep Angles
These options let you create a partial sphere by specifying a degree of
rotation. Degree values can range from 0 to 360 degrees. The following
example shows the top view of a sphere with an End Sweep Angle of 180
degrees.
Cubic
Default = 360 End Sweep Angle = 180
Radius
Sets the width and depth of the primitive.
Surface Degree
A Linear surface has a faceted appearance; a Cubic surface is rounded. For
details on surface degree, see Degree on page 11.
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Linear
Use Tolerance
You can use this option to improve the precision of the primitives shape. If
set to Global tolerance, the Positional tolerance value in the Settings part of
the Preferences window is used (Window > Settings/Preferences >
Preferences). Lower values increase surface precision.
If set to Local, you can enter a value in the options window to override the
Positional tolerance value in the Preferences window.
If set to None, tolerance is ignored and the sphere is created with the
specified number of sections and spans (see below).
Number of Sections
Sets the number of surface curves created on the sphere in one direction.
Surface curves, also called isoparms, show the outline of the surface shape.
The more sections (and spans) a surface has, the more precisely it shows
surface deformations.
The following figure shows two spheres, the left with 8 sections and the right
with 16 sections. A value less than 4 gives a crude sphere.
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Number of Spans
Sets the number of surface curves created on the sphere in the direction that
crosses the Section direction. A value less than 4 gives a crude sphere.
Cube
A cube has six sides, each selectable. You can select a side of the cube in the
view, or click its heading in the Outliner. For example, if you select leftnurbsCube
in the Outliner, you select a single side of the cube. To select the whole cube,
marquee-select the cube and press the keyboards up arrow.
Options unique to cubes follow:
Width, Length, Height
Sets the cube dimensions.
U/V patches
Sets the number of U and V Patches between the edges that make up the
cube. This value changes the number of spans and sections.
Cylinder
You can create a cylinder with or without end caps. The options unique to
cylinders pertain to end caps. You can create caps for either, both, or no ends of
the cylinder. You can also create caps as separate transform nodes so you can
manipulate them independently of the cylinder.
Cone
You can create a cone with or without a cap on its base. Its other options are
similar to those of other NURBS primitives.
Plane
A plane is a flat surface made up of a specified number of patches. Its options
are similar to other NURBS primitives.
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Torus
A torus is a 3D ring. It has options similar to other NURBS primitives.
Circle
A circle is a curve, not a surface. Its options are similar to a sphere.
Square
A square is a group of four curves, not a surface. A square is useful in various
modeling operations, for instance, trimming window shapes from buildings. Its
options are similar to other NURBS primitives.
Note When the Maya workspace is set to High Quality Rendering mode,
primitives created using the Interactive Creation option do not
appear shaded until the primitive creation steps are complete.
Related Links
Create polygon primitives on page 34 of the Polygonal Modeling book
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Cube
Width
Specifies the width of the cube. (For interactive creation, appears as a single-
click setting only.)
Height
Specifies the height of the cube. (For interactive creation, appears as a
single-click setting only.)
Depth
Specifies the depth of the cube. (For interactive creation, appears as a
single-click setting only.)
For more information, see:
Divisions on page 246
Axis on page 248
Create UVs on page 249
Cylinder
Radius
Specifies the distance from the center of the cylinder. (For interactive
creation, appears as a single-click setting only.)
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Height
Specifies the height of the cylinder. (For interactive creation, appears as a
single-click setting only.)
For more information, see:
Divisions on page 246
Axis on page 248
Create UVs on page 249
Cone
Radius
Specifies the distance from the base of the cone in all directions. (For
interactive creation, appears as a single-click setting only.)
Height
Specifies the height of the cone. (For interactive creation, appears as a
single-click setting only.)
For more information, see:
Divisions on page 246
Axis on page 248
Create UVs on page 249
Plane
Width
Specifies the distance along the x axis (by default). (For interactive creation,
appears as a single-click setting only.)
Height
Specifies the measurement along the y axis (by default). (For interactive
creation, appears as a single-click setting only.)
For more information, see:
Divisions on page 246
Axis on page 248
Create UVs on page 249
Torus
Radius
Specifies the distance from the center of the torus in all directions. (For
interactive creation, appears as a single-click setting only.)
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Section Radius
Specifies the size of the sections that make up a torus. Change this value to
increase or decrease the radius of these sections.
Twist
The Twist option value specifies the twist angle of the torus. Change this
value to adjust the distance around the torus in all directions.
For more information, see:
Divisions on page 246
Axis on page 248
Create UVs on page 249
Prism
A prism is a polyhedron with two polygonal faces lying in parallel planes and with
the other faces parallelograms.
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Side Length
Enter values or use the slider to specify the side length of the prisms
polygonal caps. (For interactive creation, appears as a single-click setting
only.)
Number of Sides
Enter the number of sides for the ends of the prism. The above example is a
triangular prism (3 sides). The size and volume of the prism increases with
the number of sides if the edge length and length/height are kept constant.
For more information, see:
Divisions on page 246
Axis on page 248
Create UVs on page 249
Pyramid
A pyramid is a polyhedron with a polygon base and triangles with a common
vertex for faces. Maya creates 3-, 4-, or 5-sided pyramids with equilateral
triangles.
Side Length
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Pipe
The options are very similar to the options for the cylinder polygonal shape, with
the addition of Thickness (which specifies the thickness of the wall).
Radius
Specifies the distance from the center of the pipe in all directions. (For
interactive creation, appears as a single-click setting only.)
Height
Specifies the height of the pipe. (For interactive creation, appears as a single-
click setting only.)
Thickness
Specifies the thickness of the pipe walls.
For more information, see:
Divisions on page 246
Axis on page 248
Create UVs on page 249
Helix
A helix is a curve in three dimensional space that lies on a cylinder, so that its
angle to a plane perpendicular to the axis is constant.
Height
Radius
Width
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Coils
Specifies the number of coils.
Height
Specifies the height of the helix. (For interactive creation, appears as a
single-click setting only.)
Width
Specifies the width of the helix. (For interactive creation, appears as a single-
click setting only.)
Radius
Specifies the radius of the helix coils. (For interactive creation, appears as a
single-click setting only.)
Direction
Specifies the direction of the helixs twist: clockwise or counterclockwise.
For more information, see:
Divisions on page 246
Axis on page 248
Create UVs on page 249
Soccer Ball
The soccer ball is a truncated icosahedron: thirty-two faces, alternating hexagons
and pentagons.
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Platonic Solids
You can create many different types of polygonal platonic solids. Platonic solids
are shapes where all sides are equal, all angles are the same, and all faces are
identical. These are:
Tetrahedron: four triangular faces
Octahedron: eight triangular faces
Dodecahedron: twelve pentagonal faces
Icosahedron: twenty triangular faces
(The cubethe fifth platonic solidhas a separate listing in the primitives.)
You can switch between these types by selecting Solid Type in the Attribute Editor
or in the option box for Platonic Solids.
For these four shapes, you can set the following options:
Radius
Enter values or use the slider to specify the radius of the platonic solid. (For
interactive creation, appears as a single-click setting only.)
Side Length
Enter values or use the slider to specify the side length of the platonic solid.
(For interactive creation, appears as a single-click setting only.)
Platonic type
You can switch between platonic solid types in the options for these shapes.
For more information, see:
Divisions on page 246
Axis on page 248
Create UVs on page 249
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Divisions
The values you enter in these boxes change the primitive by adding or taking
away faces of the polygonal surfaces.
Almost all primitives allow you to subdivide along the height axis. The
exception is the helix, which subdivides per coil instead.
Primitives with radial symmetry allow you to subdivide around the axis. These
include spheres, cylinders, cones, tori, pipes, and helixes.
Primitives with caps allow you to subdivide the caps. These include cylinder,
cones, pipes and helixes.
The plane allows subdivisions along the width axis, and the cube allows
subdivisions along both the width and depth.
Axis divisions
This option defines the number of subdivisions there are around the axis.
This option is called Subdivisions Axis in the Channel Box and the Attribute
Editor.
10 Subdivisions
around the Y axis.
Increase or decrease this value to add or take away faces around the axis
defined by the Axis option.
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Height divisions
This option defines the number of subdivisions there are along the axis
defined by the Axis option. Height is equivalent to the Y direction by default.
This option is called Subdivisions Height in the Channel Box and the Attribute
Editor. Increase or decrease this value to add or take away faces in the Axis
direction.
Value=10 Value=40
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Round Cap
This option allows you to create a round surface for the cap. Your
Subdivisions Cap value must be one or greater to see the round cap effect.
This option applies to the Cylinder, Cone, Pipe, and Helix primitives.
Axis
This option does not appear in Interactive Creation.
Tip To set the axis for your primitive during interactive creation, you can
use the orthogonal views. Whichever view you create your primitive
intop, front, or sideis the way your primitives axis will be
aligned (y, z, or x).
By default, a primitive is created along the Y axis. You can change a primitives
default orientation before you create it by changing the Axis option.
You cannot change the orientation for a new primitive from the Channel Box, but
you can enter values in the Axis boxes in the Attribute Editor.
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Reference > Create > Polygon Primitives
Create UVs
The following table lists the common Create UVs attributes for each type of
polygon primitive.
Sphere Yes
Plane Yes
Torus
Pipe
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To correct the problem, select the faces of the primitive and use any of the
mapping items in the Edit UVs menu.
You can then use the UV Texture Editor to view the created UVs. Select the object
and use any of the UV creation or editing Create UVs menu items.
Create UVs
(Default.) This option assigns UV texture coordinates on the primitive for
texture mapping.
Normalize
The normalize option fits the UVs within the 0 to 1 texture space. Normalize
Collectively is the default setting.
Collectively
This option maps the texture over each face of the primitive and normalizes it
so that it covers the entire object.
Each face Separately (only available for Cubes, Soccer Balls and Platonic
Solids)
If you select this option, Maya maps the texture to each face separately.
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Reference > Create > Polygon Primitives
Sawtooth at poles
(Default.) Creates a UV texture map where the rings of triangles around the
poles are treated as individual triangles, giving the edges of the UV map a
sawtooth look. Often, this looks better in the 3D view; however, it also
introduces texture borders, which may not always be desirable.
When Interactive Creation is turned on for primitives, you can optionally modify
the subdivisions for a primitive using the following options. These options exist
only for primitives that possess subdivision attributes.
Adjust subdivisions after create
Adds additional steps to the Interactive Creation process that let you adjust
the subdivisions for the primitive when interactively creating primitives. The
number of additional steps is dependent on the primitive type. The default
setting is on when Interactive Creation is turned on.
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Reference > Create > CV Curve Tool
Related topics
Components of NURBS curves on page 19
Draw curves on page 25
Create > EP Curve Tool on page 255
Display > NURBS on page 299
6
1 2 3 4
5
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If you create a pair of curves with Multiple End Knots off, you can use Snap to
Points to align the second CVs (next to the end CVs) of each curve to create
tangent continuity between the two curves.
Note As with all tools in Maya, you can change the options after you
create an object. Select the curve and open the Channel Box or the
Attribute Editor.
Related topics
Components of NURBS curves on page 19
Draw curves on page 25
Create > EP Curve Tool on page 255
Display > NURBS on page 299
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Reference > Create > Pencil Curve Tool
Related topics
Components of NURBS curves on page 19
Draw curves on page 25
Create > EP Curve Tool on page 255
Create > EP Curve Tool on page 255
Create > Arc Tools > Three Point Circular Arc, Two
Point Circular Arc
Lets you create arcs by specifying points and then using a manipulator.
Related topics
Create arcs on page 26
Create > Arc Tools > Two/Three Point Circular Arc >
Circular Arc Degree
1 Linear creates jagged curves. The default setting (3) creates smooth
curves.
Sections
Sets the number of curve segments of the arc.
Related topics
Measure the distance between two points on page 140
Show parameter or arc-length values on a curve or surface on page 141
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Reference > Create > Text
Related topics
Create text on page 78
Annotate or document objects on page 140
You can reload the file if you make changes to it. You can also edit the path to
the Adobe Illustrator file in the Attribute Editor after you create the object, and
history and bevel information is automatically applied.
To use this feature, make sure the following conditions apply:
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Text must be converted to outlines in Adobe Illustrator (select the text and
then select Type > Create Outlines).
Adobe Illustrator CS and earlier files are supported; however, you must save
your .ai files with compression turned off in the Save options.
Be sure to delete any guides in Illustrator before saving the file, even
hidden guides. These will be loaded into Maya as curves, which will cause
problems for the bevel operation.
Options
You can choose to import the Adobe Illustrator object as curves or generate
polygonal surfaces (bevel).
The standard Bevel Plus options are available within the Adobe Illustrator Object
options (see Surfaces > Bevel Plus for a description of the options).
Once you have imported the Adobe Illustrator object, there is a Tolerance
attribute in the Attribute Editors illustratorforBevel tab that can help fixing
beveling problems. See Where curve changes direction, the bevel is not correct
on page 259.
Troubleshooting
The inside of letters or curves appear filled-in
Maya may not know which curves are on the inside and which are on the outside
and your bevel results will be incorrect. In this case, you must open the file in
Adobe Illustrator and add some more curve information to the file.
Here are two possible Adobe Illustrator workflows that may help to correct any
problems with incorrect beveling in Maya.
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Reference > Create > Construction Plane
Bevel error
Tolerance=0.001 Tolerance=0.014
Fixing the curves in Adobe Illustrator and re-exporting. This may be necessary
if changing the value of the Tolerance attribute makes the points snap in a
way you dont want.
Note If you use Tolerance, CVs may be snapped together. This can cause
edges with zero length, which can be removed with the Poly Cleanup
Tool.
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Reference > Create > Locator
Related topics
Construction planes on page 55
Snap all creation tools to a surface or construction plane on page 73
XY YZ XZ
Size
Sets the size of the plane in grid units.
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Reference > Create > Empty Group
Deleting annotations does not remove the corresponding locator node from the
scene. To delete the locator node, do one of the following:
After deleting the annotation node, select the locator node and delete it.
Select the annotation and press the pick walk up hotkey (default is up arrow
key). The locator node will be selected and deleting it will also delete the
annotation node.
Selecting File > Optimize Scene Size.
Related topics
Annotate or document objects on page 140
Related topics
Transformations on page 53
Scene hierarchy on page 87
Group objects together on page 138
Related topics
Create and edit sets on page 138
Keep a collection of sets from having overlapping membership on
page 139
Related topics
Save and reuse a selection on page 36
Edit > Quick Select Sets on page 227
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Reference > Modify > Transformation Tools > Move Tool, Rotate Tool, Scale Tool, Show Manipulator Tool
Modify
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Reference > Modify > Transformation Tools > Proportional Modification Tool
Select None to show the nodes custom manipulator, rather than a transform
manipulator. This is the default.
This information is saved with the scene. It is also shown in the Attribute Editor
in the Transform Display section.
Related topics
Use manipulators on page 56
Show a custom manipulator for the selected node on page 78
Related topics
Move, rotate or scale components proportionally on page 61
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Reference > Modify > Transformation Tools > Proportional Modification Tool
Anim. Curve
Enter the name of an existing animation curve. Its vertical direction maps into
the modification factor. The distance maps to the anim curve time axis (in
seconds).
You can use the drop-down list to the right of the box to list and select all the
anim curves with names starting with propModAnimCurve. You can also
create one of those by choosing Create New from the same drop-down list.
Scale U, Scale V
For Parametric (NURBS) Modification type only.
Distance Based On
The distance from the manipulator handle to the object directly influences the
modification factor. The distance is computed along the selected axes only.
Example
Create myPropMove.mel file as:
global proc float myPropMove
(float $mx, float $my, float $mz,
float $px, float $py, float $pz)
{
float $value = rand (1.0);
return $value;
}
...which produces a random value between 0 and 1.
If you select myPropMove as the script name, you get a random modification
factor for all selected points.
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Reference > Modify > Transformation Tools > Soft Modification Tool
Related topics
Set transformation values to zero on page 71
Normals
The normals on polygonal objects will be frozen.
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Reference > Modify > Snap Align Objects > Point to Point, 2 Points to 2 Points, 3 Points to 3 Points
Note You only need to turn on Normals if you are applying Modify >
Freeze Transformation to an object that has been sheared, skewed
or non-proportionally scaled. Turning on Normals will bake the
normals so they will not update if you make subsequent tweaks to
the objects shape.
Normals will not be frozen on a polygonal object that has been
negatively scaled.
Related topics
Snap one object to another on page 75
Options
Move
Object Apply the transformation to the object itself.
Parent Apply the transformation to the objects parent.
Grandparent Apply the transformation to the object two levels up in
the scene hierarchy.
Snap Type
Only appears in Snap 2 points to 2 points. You click two pairs of points on
the two objects to align them. This option controls what Maya does when the
pairs of points are different distances.
Left Snaps the first and third points you click, and aligns the
second and fourth points in the same direction as the
first and third.
Middle Snaps the second and fourth points, aligns the first and
third in the same direction.
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Right Snaps the midpoint of the first and third points to the
midpoint of the second and fourth, and aligns the other
matching points in the same direction.
Related topics
Align objects on page 73
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Reference > Modify > Snap Align Objects > Align Tool
Selection
Average Uses the average minimum, middle, or maximum value
of the objects bounding boxes as the alignment
reference.
Last Selected
Object Uses the minimum, middle, or maximum value of the
bounding box of the key object as the alignment
reference. This object is highlighted in green.
Click an icon to align the objects. The icons show how the bounding boxes
align. For example:
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Reference > Modify > Snap Align Objects > Snap Together Tool
Objects align
to the far right
of the cube.
Related topics
Align objects on page 73
Related topics
Snap one object to another on page 75
Modify > Snap Align Objects > Snap Together Tool >
Move and rotate object(s)
As the tool snaps the points together, it rotates the moving object so the
objects snap together along normals. This can help prevent the objects from
intersecting.
Move object(s) only
The tool snaps the points together without rotating the moving object. The
objects retain their orientation after the snap.
Snap to Polygon Face
Constrains the snap points to the centers of polygon faces.
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Reference > Modify > Make Live
Related topics
Snap all creation tools to a surface or construction plane on page 73
Related topics
Change the pivot point on page 66
Related topics
Change the name of one or more objects on page 134
Related topics
Change the name of one or more objects on page 134
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Reference > Modify > Add Attribute
Related topics
Create, edit, or delete custom attributes on page 102
Options
Attribute Name
Type the name of the attribute you are adding.
Make Attribute Keyable
Turn this option on to make this attribute keyable. For information about
keyable attributes, see Animation.
Data Type
Select the data type for the attribute:
Vector Creates a vector attribute consisting of three floating
point values.
Float Creates a floating point attribute.
Integer Creates an integer attribute.
Boolean Creates an attribute consisting of an on/off turn.
String Creates a string attribute that accepts alphanumeric
entries as data entry, such as a filename.
Enum Creates an attribute that accepts selections from an
enumerated or drop-down list.
Note If you select Float or Integer, you can also set Numeric Attribute
Properties.
Attribute Type
Select a type:
Scalar Creates a per object attribute that you can set to a
single value that applies to every particle in the object. A
vector scalar is considered a single value with three
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infoBits
lightData
lightTable
matrixObjectToWorld
matrixWorldToObject
mediumRefractiveIndex
normalCamera
numShadingSamples
objectId
objectType
opticalDepth
outColor
outGlowColor
outMatteOpacity
outParticleEmission
outTransparency
particleAge
particleAttrArray
particleColor
particleEmission
particleEntryParam
particleExitParam
particleIncandescence
particleLifespan
particleOrder
particleTransparency
particleWeight
pixelCenter
pixelCoverage
pointCamera
pointObj
pointWorld
primitiveId
rayDepth
rayDirection
rayOrigin
receiveShadows
refPointCamera
refPointObj
refPointWorld
renderState
shadowAttenuation
tangentUCamera
tangentVCamera
translucenceDepth
triangleNormalCamera
uvCoord
uvFilterSize
vertexCameraOne
vertexCameraThree
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vertexCameraTwo
vertexUvOne
vertexUvThree
vertexUvTwo
Related topics
Create, edit, or delete custom attributes on page 102
Options
You can rename a custom attribute. Select it in the Attributes list and modify
the name in the New Name text box.
In attribute names, all punctuation except for the underscore (_) and the
pound sign (#) are illegal characters
You can add, remove, or modify minimum and maximum values (for Integer,
Float, and Vector type attributes). Select the attribute in the Attributes list
and then turn on or off the Has Minimum and Has Maximum check boxes, as
well as type values for these in the corresponding Min/Max text boxes.
You can control the display of custom attributes in the Channel Box. Select
the attribute in the Attributes list and then turn the Keyable check box on or
off. When Keyable is turned on, the custom attribute appears in the Channel
Box.
You can change Enum strings. Select the Enum attribute in the Attributes list
and modify the strings in the Enum list the same way you created them.
Note When you create a Vector type custom attribute, three child
attributes are created (nameX, nameY, nameZ, where name is the
name of the attribute).
For example, if you created a vector attribute named Speed, the
children would be SpeedX, SpeedY, and SpeedZ. You cant access
the Numeric Attribute Properties (Keyable and Min/Max) of the
parent vector attribute. You have to select a child attribute and
modify its Numeric Attribute Properties.
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Reference > Modify > Delete Attribute
Related topics
Create, edit, or delete custom attributes on page 102
Related topics
Convert NURBS surfaces to a polygon mesh on page 53 in the Polygon
Modeling guide
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Reference > Modify > Convert > NURBS to Polygons
Standard fit
Standard Fit is the default tessellation method. It is adaptive tessellation,
meaning that the following options are used to determine when to stop the
tessellation.
For example, the tessellation stops at the Fractional Tolerance value you set. If
there is an edge shorter than the Minimal Edge Length, the tessellation stops on
that edge. If the surface is flat enough within the edge (the specified chord/
height ratio is small enough), the tessellation stops there.
Chord Height Ratio
The Chord Height Ratio is the ratio between the maximum distance of the curve
from the polygon edge used to approximate it and the chord length. The chord
length is the linear distance between two polygon vertices.
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Valid values range between 0 and 1, where larger values result in fewer polygon
vertices.
For example, the default value, 0.1, means that the height must be larger than
1/10 of the chord length before additional edit points are created.
Fractional Tolerance
The Fractional Tolerance value determines the degree of accuracy maintained
between the original surface and the interpolated polygonal surfaces. The default
is to be accurate to within 0.01 units, where a unit refers to the current unit of
linear measure (the default unit of measure is centimeters). Therefore, at no
point will the polygonal surface be more than the tolerance distance away from
the original NURBS surface.
In this next example, notice how you can enhance the polygonal surfaces
accuracy when you change the Fractional Tolerance value from 1 to 0.01.
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General
Set the Tessellation Method to General to display the following options.
Number U/Number V
Each span or surface is split into the number of polygons you specify here.
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Count
Set the Tessellation Method to Count to display the following slider.
Count slider
Use the Count slider to determine how many polygons the surface can be
tessellated into. See the following examples.
Control Points
This tessellation method converts the NURBS model to polygons while matching
the CVs of the original NURBS surface. There are no other options for this
operation.
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Reference > Modify > Convert > NURBS to Subdiv, Polygons to Subdiv
Notes
When you use the Control Points Tessellation Method:
The Type option you set is ignored and the resulting polygon is in Quads by
default.
If you convert trimmed NURBS surfaces the surfaces convert as though they
were not trimmed.
When you use the Attach Multiple Output Meshes option, the operation may fail
to attach surfaces for a variety of reasons:
When attaching a number of surfaces, and some of the surfaces are
extremely small, the tolerance must be set to an appropriately small value or
the attach operation will fail.
When attaching multiple surfaces, all of the surfaces must be contiguous to
within the user-defined tolerance. Separated regions cannot be attached in a
single operation. Use the attach operation multiple times for this case; once
for each contiguous region.
The surfaces to be attached must have their normals facing in the same
direction or the attach will fail.
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Hotkeys
` (left single quote Turns on/off the display of the original surface or
beside the 1 key) the converted subdiv surface.
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Share UVs
With this option turned on, the resulting polygon will maintain existing UV
mesh borders. If this option is off, UV borders are created for each polygonal
face.
Related topics
Convert textures to a polygon mesh on page 50
Convert Texture to Geometry workflow tips on page 53
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Reference > Modify > Convert > Texture to Geometry
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Reference > Modify > Convert > Texture to Geometry
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Reference > Modify > Convert > Texture to Geometry
Note Its possible to fit the resulting mesh to a different mesh after the
initial creation. To do this you must connect the output mesh
attribute from the mesh shape node to the inputMesh on the
converter node. For example:
connectAttr -f pSphereShape1.outMesh
<n>Converter.inputMesh
Where pSphereShape1 is the name of the mesh you want to fit on,
and <n>Converter.inputMesh is the name of resulting mesh, with n
being the name of the original input image.
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Reference > Display > Grid
When shading materials are generated for the mesh with this option, they
have a connection to the texture to geometry node. For example, if you
update parameters for the texture to geometry node in the Attribute Editor,
the assignment of shading materials will update automatically.
Shader Template
Lets you specify an existing shading material type for use as a template for
the shading materials that are assigned to the resulting polygon mesh when
Generate Shaders is turned on. The drop-down list lets you select shader
types from the existing shading materials in the current scene so that the
shading attributes for your resulting mesh match the attributes of the
selected surface mesh when it gets applied.
Display
Related topics
Show, hide, or change the grid on page 46
Show > Grid on page 321
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Color
You can change the color of the axes, grid lines and labels, and subdivision lines.
Axes
Specifies a color for the X and Z axes on the grid. The default is dark grey.
Grid lines & numbers
Specifies a color for the grid lines and the grid line numbers. The default is
light grey.
Subdivision lines
Specifies a color for the subdivision lines. The default is light grey.
Note You can also change the color of the axes, grid lines and numbers,
and subdivision lines in the Colors window (Window > Settings/
Preferences > Colors). Go to the Inactive tab and then the Modeling
category to find these color options. Here you can also change the
color of the X-, Y-, and Z-axis that appear in the Origin and View
axes.
Display
You can turn on and off the display of grid elements, including axes, thicker lines
for axes, grid lines, subdivision lines, and grid line numbers.
Axes
Turns on or off the display of the axes. The default is on.
Thicker line for axes
Turns on or off the display of thicker lines for the axes. The default is on.
Grid Lines
Turns on or off the display of the grid lines. The default is on.
Subdivision lines
Turns on or off the display of the subdivision lines. The default is on.
Perspective grid numbers
In the Perspective view, you can set the grid line numbers to display on the
axes, along the edge of the grid, or just hide them.
Orthographic grid numbers
In the Orthographic views (top, side, front), you can set the grid line numbers
to display on the axes, along the edge of the grid, or just hide them.
Hide Hides the grid line numbers. This is the default for both
Perspective and Orthographic Grid Numbers.
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Reference > Display > Heads Up Display
Note To restore the default grid option settings, select Edit, Reset
Settings in the Grid Options window. However, this does not restore
the default grid color settings. To restore the default colors, go to
the Colors window (Window > Settings/Preferences > Colors) and
select Edit, Reset to Defaults. This restores all color defaults,
including the grid colors.
Related topics
Show information over top of a view (heads-up display) on page 47
Create a custom heads-up display readout on page 164
Items
Object Details
Displays a list of object details that includes: Backfaces, Smoothness,
Instance, Display Layer, Distance From Camera and number of Selected
Objects. The details are displayed in the top-right corner of the panel. The
default is off.
Poly Count
Displays polygon statistics for the visible objects displayed in the view panel,
including Vertices, Edges, Faces, Triangles, and UVs. This feature is useful
for games development. The first column on the left lists the total
components of all the polygons in the scene. The second column lists the
total components of the selected polygon(s). The third column lists the total
selected components. The default is off.
Subdiv Details
Subdiv current level: Displays the level setting for the currently selected
components of the subdivision surface. This option is particularly useful when
subdivision components are displayed as points rather than numbers and the
level information is required.
Subdiv mode: Displays the mode for the currently selected subdivision
surface. That is, Standard or Polygon Proxy mode.
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Animation Details
Turns on or off the display of a list of animation details, which include:
Playback Speed, Current Character, and IK Solver Enable. The details are
displayed above the Frame Rate in the bottom-right corner of the panel. The
default is off.
Frame Rate
Displays the frame rate in fps for the current view in the bottom-right corner.
The default is off.
Camera Names
Displays the camera name (persp, top, side, front) in the bottom-center of
camera views. The default is on.
View Axis
Displays the global axis in the bottom-left corner of all views. The default is
on.
Origin Axis
Displays the global axis at the origin (0, 0, 0) within the perspective view. The
default is on.
Poly Count
Object
Details
SubDiv Details
Origin Axis
View Axis
Camera
Name
Animation
Details
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Reference > Display > UI Elements
Tool Message
Shows or hides the tool prompts that appear for certain tools. See also Help
Preferences.
Related topics
Main window on page 19
Related topics
Show or hide objects on page 48
The Hide menu items are:
Items
Hide Selection
Hides selected object(s).
Hide Unselected Objects
Hides all unselected objects.
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Reference > Display > Hide, Show
The selective CV display function operates exclusively from other Maya Hide
and Show commands, and therefore menu selections such as Display >
Show > All and others do not effect CVs whose display has been set using
selective CV display.
All
Hides all objects, whether they are selected or not.
Hide Geometry
Displays a menu that lets you select the type of geometry you want to hide.
Hide Kinematics
Displays a menu that lets you select the type of kinematics you want to hide.
Hide Deformers
Displays a menu that lets you select the type of deformers you want to hide.
Hide Cloth
Available only if you have Maya Unlimited and are using Maya Cloth. Hides
cloth objects. For details, see Cloth.
Lights
Hides lights.
Cameras
Hides cameras.
Texture Placements
Hides texture placements.
Construction planes
Hides construction planes.
Fluids, Hair Systems, Follicles, Fur
Hides fluids, hair systems, follicles, or fur.
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Reference > Display > Wireframe Color
Animation Markers
Hides animation markers.
Light Manipulators
Hides light manipulators.
Camera Manipulators
Hides camera manipulators.
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Reference > Display > Transform Display
Fast Interaction
Improves performance by displaying fewer geometric entities (such as
polygons), especially when moving the camera (for example, tumbling the
scene view).
UV Texture Editor
Related topics
Make an object unselectable (template) on page 135
Change the look and smoothness of the selected objects on page 47
Show or hide objects on page 48
Related topics
Show or hide components on page 49
Show or hide object-specific UI on page 50
Local Rotation Axes
Turns on or off the display of the objects local rotation axes.
Rotate Pivots
Turns on or off the display of the objects rotate pivots.
Scale Pivots
Turns on or off the display of the objects scale pivots.
Selection Handles
Turns on or off the display of selection handles on manipulators.
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Backfaces No backfaces
Culling Options
Keep wire Displays wireframe outlines.
Keep hard
edges Sets backface culling for soft edges only.
Keep vertices Displays vertices.
Vertices
Show vertex points on the selected polygons.
UVs
Show UVs on the selected polygons.
Unshared UVs
Show the UVs on your object.
If UVs are shared, they display as single purple dots.
If the UVs are not shared, multiple purple dots display close to the vertex to
which a given UV belongs. When you select the UV in the UV Texture Editor, a
line displays pointing to the face it belongs to.
Turn on the Unshared UVs option to display and be able to select unshared UVs.
3D view
Selected UV Selected UV
Translated UV
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Component IDs
Display index numbers on an objects vertices, edges, faces or UVs,
depending on which component types you select. The numbers for UVs only
appear in the UV Texture Editor.
Face Normals
Show perpendicular lines (normals) of each face of the polygon.
Vertex Normals
Show perpendicular lines (normals) of each vertex of the polygon.
Normals Size
Adjust the length of the normals by entering a value or using the slider to
specify a size. The range is from 0.2 to 10.
Standard Edges
Display all edges in default settings.
Soft/Hard Edges
Show dotted lines as soft edges and solid lines as hard edges.
Hard Edges
Show only hard edges (soft edges are invisible).
Border Edges
Highlights all border edges (only in the Texture Editor).
Crease Edges
Turn on or off the crease edges on polygons.
Texture Border Edges
Turn on or off the texture border edges.
Edge Width
Adjust edge width by entering a numeric value or using the slider to select
ranges of 0.02 to 10.
Face Centers
Show a small square to indicate the face center.
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Face Triangles
Show all polygon faces as triangles.
Non-planar Faces
Highlight all non-planar faces.
Reset Display
Restore default settings.
Limit to Selected
Limits the changes that you make to the selected polygons. To apply display
changes to all polygons, turn off this option.
Custom Polygon Display
Using the Custom Polygon Display window, you can set how specific
components of your polygons display. This dialog box provides a way to set
multiple options also available in the Display > Polygons menu, and
compatibility with previous versions of Maya.
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Reference > Display > NURBS
Color operations When Color in Shaded Display is on, you can see the
effects of Apply Color, Prelighting, and the Paint Vertex
Color Tool while in shaded mode. This option is turned
on by default whenever you select these commands.
Select a Color Material Channel to refine your
application. See Coloring polygons for details about
using these options and the Apply Color operation.
Custom
Allows you to customize your NURBS display options by setting many options
at once. You can specify the scope of which NURBS objects display their
components using the Scope drop-down list. The scope can be active
objects, all objects, new curves, or new surfaces.
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Hull
Shows hulls only. You can apply the setting to active objects or to all objects.
Additionally, the options allow you to control the number of hull divisions
displayed.
Rough/Medium/Fine
Displays objects at preset levels of quality. Selecting Medium or Fine slows
the display and interactive performance, but improves image precision.
The options for these selections allows you to apply the setting to active
objects or to all objects.
Note The hotkeys for these settings are: 1 (Rough), 2 (Medium) and 3
(Fine).
Custom Smoothness
Lets you customize the display quality.
In the following figure, an objects smoothness is changed from a default
medium level of quality to a custom hull quality level.
Before
After
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Reference > Display > Subdiv Surfaces
Wireframe
Surface Div per Span U
Surface Div per Span V
Together, these settings subdivide the NURBS patches for display purposes
to give it the appearance of a finer mesh. The range is from 0 to 32.
Curve Div per Span
Specifies the number of curve divisions per span to give the curves a rougher
or smoother appearance. The range is from 1 to 128.
Shaded
Display Render Tessellation Geometry
Turn on to see the pattern of tessellation that the renderer will use for the
surface. You must be in shade mode to see this pattern.
Surface Div per Span
Specifies the number of surface divisions per span in shaded mode. The
range is from 0 to 32.
Hull
Hull Simplification U
Hull Simplification V
If you have the Geometry set to Hull, you can use these settings to control
the number of hull divisions displayed.
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Hull/Rough/Medium/Fine
Displays objects at preset levels of quality. Selecting Medium or Fine slows
the display and interactive performance, but improves image precision.
The options for these selections allows you to apply the setting to active
objects or to all objects.
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Pivot
Turns on or off the display of the cameras pivot, which is the point that the
camera rotates around.
Clipping Planes
Turns on or off the display of the cameras clipping planes.
Cycling Index
Turns on or off the display of the cameras cycling index. By clicking on this
control, you can cycle through the available manipulator controls one at a
time for the selected camera.
Light
Center of Interest
Turns on or off the display of a lights center of interest manipulator.
Pivot
Turns on or off the display of a lights pivot, which is the point that the light
rotates around.
Cycling Index
Turns on or off the display of a lights cycling index. By clicking this control,
you can cycle through the available manipulator controls for the selected light
on at a time.
Other options
Painted Effects Mesh Display
Show the paint effects as a 3D mesh.
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Reference > Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences
Window
Related topics
Selection, tools, and actions on page 19
Select tools and actions on page 25
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Reference > Window > Settings/Preferences > Performance Settings
Surfaces options
To control complex operations on surfaces during mouse interaction, in the
Surfaces section, select one of the following beside the surface:
On
Performs complex operations during mouse interactions.
Off
Completely disables complex operations during mouse interaction.
Interactive
Suspends complex operations during mouse interaction.
Paint Effects
To control the playback of animated Paint Effects brushes or animated strokes, in
the Paint Effects section, select one of the following:
On
The scene view refreshes whenever something changes, whether during
playback or if a parameter is modified.
Off
A brush won't update until setAttr is run on it.
Interactive
The scene view refreshes when playback ends, or when a parameter is
modified.
Deformers options
To control complex operations on deformers during mouse interaction, in the
Deformers section, select one of the following beside the surface:
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On
Performs complex operations during mouse interactions.
Off
Completely disables complex operations during mouse interaction.
Interactive
Suspends complex operations during mouse interaction.
Per Node
For Cluster Resolution and Lattice Resolution only, improves redraw
performance for individual cluster or lattice deformations by setting the Use
Partial Resolution attribute to partial and setting the Percent Resolution on a
per node basis. For details, see Character Setup.
Global
For Cluster Resolution and Lattice Resolution only, improves the redraw
performance of all cluster or lattice deformations. (You do not need to set the
Percent Resolution for each cluster or lattice.)
Set Global Cluster Resolution and Global Lattice Resolution to Full, High,
Medium, or Low. A Low setting corresponds to a low percentage, and
therefore more improved performance.
For more information on surfaces, see NURBS and Polygonal modeling. For more
information on deformers, see Character Setup.
Related topics
Change user interface colors on page 144
General tab
Use the General tab to change the default colors for components in these areas:
3D Views, User Defined, Ghosts, Heads Up Display, Animation, Animation
Editors, Multilister, Hypergraph / Hypershade, Outliner, and Trax Editor.
Active tab
Use the Active tab to change the default colors for components in these areas:
General, Objects, Components, Deformers, Manipulators, Animation, and Artisan
Brushes.
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Reference > Window > Settings/Preferences > Shelf Editor
Inactive tab
Use the Inactive tab to set the colors for objects that are not selected. The
Inactive tab lets you change the default colors in the following areas or tools:
General, Modeling, Objects, Components, Deformers, and Animation.
Related topics
Shelves on page 23
Select actions on a shelf on page 28
Add a tool, action, or MEL script to a shelf on page 147
Edit the contents of a shelf on page 148
Use a custom name or icon for a shelf item on page 149
Change the display of shelves on page 150
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Options menu
Icon Only
Displays only the icon. This is the default.
Icon/Text Below
Displays the label below the icon.
Icon/Text Beside
Displays the label beside the icon.
Save Automatically
When this option is on, your changes to the shelves are saved when you exit
Maya. This is the default.
Save Only on Request
When this option is on, your changes to the shelves are only saved when you
select Save All Shelves in the Shelves window. If you dont save your
changes, then they are lost when you exit Maya.
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Reference > View > Camera Tools > Tumble Tool
To show all objects or the selected objects in a specific view panel, use the
panels View menu.
Related topics
Center the view on selected or all objects on page 43
Panel menus
View
Related topics
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 41
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Orthographic views
Locked
If on, you cannot tumble an orthographic camera. If off, you can tumble an
orthographic camera. Locked is on by default.
Stepped
If on, you can tumble an orthographic camera in discrete steps. The Stepped
operation lets you easily return to the Default Home positions. If off, you can
tumble an orthographic camera smoothly. Stepped is only available if Locked
is off. Stepped is on by default.
Ortho step
The angle of steps (in degrees) that you can tumble an orthographic camera
when Locked is off and Stepped is on. The valid range is 0.01 to 180. The
default value is 5.
Related topics
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 41
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Reference > View > Camera Tools > Dolly Tool
Related topics
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 41
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Reference > View > Camera Tools > Zoom Tool
Related topics
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 41
Use the mouse to control camera azimuth, elevation, yaw or pitch on
page 42
Related topics
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 41
Use the mouse to control camera azimuth, elevation, yaw or pitch on
page 42
Related topics
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 41
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Reference > View > Camera Tools > Yaw Pitch Tool
Related topics
Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view on page 41
Use the mouse to control camera azimuth, elevation, yaw or pitch on
page 42
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Shading
Shading menu
The Shading menu provides a number of ways to look at your scene. The quality
can range from a simple wireframe display to a smooth- shaded view.
Related topics
Change the look and smoothness of the selected objects on page 47
Shading > Wireframe on page 315
Shading > Smooth Shade All on page 316
Shading > Smooth Shade Selected Items on page 316
Shading > Flat Shade All on page 316
Shading > Flat Shade Selected Items on page 316
Shading > Bounding Box on page 316
Shading > Points on page 316
Shading > Shade Options on page 316
Shading > Interactive Shading on page 318
Shading > Color Index Mode on page 318
Shading > Backface Culling on page 319
Shading > Smooth Wireframe on page 319
Shading > Hardware Texturing on page 319
Shading > Hardware Fog on page 319
Shading > Apply Current to All on page 319
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Reference > Shading > Smooth Shade All
Note To see bounding box coordinates, open the Attribute Editor, click
the shape node tab, and open the Object Display section. It shows
the read-only minimum and maximum world space boundary
coordinates of a surface along the X, Y, and Z axes.
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Reference > Shading > Shade Options
Wireframe isoparms
appear over the
shaded objects
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Reference > Shading > Interactive Shading
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Reference > Shading > Backface Culling
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Reference > Lighting menu
Lighting
Lighting menu
Use the items in this menu to select which lights or groups of lights to use in
your scene.
Related topics
Change the look and smoothness of the selected objects on page 47
Lighting > Use Default Lighting
Lighting > Use All Lights
Lighting > Use Selected Light
Lighting > Use No Lights
Lighting > Use Previously Specified Light
Lighting > Two Sided Lighting
Lighting > Shadows
Lighting > Specify Selected Lights
Show
Show menu
Use the items in this menu to show or hide specific object types in a panel.
Related topics
Show or hide objects on page 48
Show > Isolate Select on page 320
Show > Grid on page 321
Related topics
Show an isolated subset of objects or components in a panel on page 50
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Items
View Selected
Activates or deactivates the isolate select feature. When activated, the word
Isolate appears at the bottom of the panel and the current selection becomes
isolated.
Bookmarks
Enables you to bookmark an isolated selection. To create a bookmark, select
Show > Isolate Select > Bookmarks > Bookmark Current Objects. Select the
option box if you want to name the bookmark; otherwise, a default name is used.
To view bookmarked items, select Show > Isolate Select > Bookmarks >
BookmarkName. Select it again to turn it off and return to the previous view. You
can view multiple bookmarks at the same time.
Bookmarks are saved with the scene as a set.
Notes
Isolate Select does not work for subdivision surface vertices or edges. Isolate
subdivision surface faces instead.
Related topics
Show, hide, or change the grid on page 46
Display > Grid on page 288
Panels
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Reference > Panels > Look Through Selected
Tip The objects you want to render are usually within a certain range
from the camera. Setting the near and far clipping planes just
slightly beyond the limits of the objects in the scene can help
improve image quality.
Note The ratio of far:near clipping planes determines the depth precision.
Try to keep that ratio as small as possible for better results.
Since most of the depth precision is concentrated around the near
clip plane, try to avoid a lot of detail on distant objects.
This concept is crucial for hardware rendering because it has only
24 bits of depth precision, as opposed to software rendering which
has 32 bits.
Panels menu
The items in this menu let you set the contents of this specific panel as well as
the overall layout and panel contents.
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Related topics
Change the panel layout on page 44
Control what camera is shown in a view on page 46
Create a custom panel layout on page 145
Quick layout buttons on page 196
Panel editor on page 327
Items
Perspective
Lets you change to a perspective view or create a new perspective view.
Orthographic
Lets you change to an orthographic view or create a new orthographic view.
Panel
Displays a menu containing the following:
Outliner Opens the Outliner, where you can view objects and their
attributes hierarchically.
Graph Editor Opens the Graph Editor where you can edit visual
representations of keys and animation curves (keysets).
For more information, see Animation.
Dope Sheet Opens the Dope Sheet, where you can edit event and
sound synchronization and timing. For more information,
see Animation.
Trax Editor Opens the Trax Editor, where you can create and edit
time-independent clips of character animation. For more
information, see Animation.
Hypershade Opens the Hypershade, which you can use to create and
edit rendering nodes, and to view and edit rendering (or
shading) networks. For more information, see Rendering.
Visor Opens the Visor, which you can use to show images of
shading nodes you can create, those already in your
scene, and those in online libraries, in a visual outline
form. For more information, see Rendering.
UV Texture
Editor Opens the UV Texture Editor window, which you use to
map textures to a polygonal model. For more
information, see Polygonal Modeling.
Render View Opens the Render View window, where you can test
render single frames and interactively tune rendering
attributes. For more information, see Rendering.
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Layouts
Lets you specify how different camera views are arranged spatially in the
Maya window.
Saved Layouts
Lets you select a panel layout.
Tear Off
Moves the current camera view into a separate window. The current view is
replaced with the next view in the Panels list (to see this list, select Panels >
Panel Editor).
Tear Off Copy
Copies the current camera view into a separate window.
Panel Editor
Opens the Panel editor window, where you can create new panels, re-label
existing panels, rename layouts, and change layout configurations.
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Tabs
Panels
Displays existing panels you can rename or delete.
Select a panel and edit the Label field to rename it. You cannot rename the
Top, Side, Front, or Persp view panels.
Select a panel and click Delete to remove it from the list.
New Panel
Contains controls for creating a new panel type.
Add a new panel to the list of available panels on page 145
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Reference > Panel editor
Layouts
Displays existing panel layouts.
Click New Layout to add an item to the list.
Click a layout and click the Edit Layouts tab to edit it.
To delete a layout, click it in the list, then click Delete.
Edit Layouts
Displays the current panel layout for editing.
Create a custom panel layout on page 145
Configurations
Use this tab to change the configuration and proportions of the layout.
From the drop-down list, select the panel layout you want.
Resize the panes by dragging the borders in the thumbnail view of the layout.
The main window changes to reflect your changes.
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Contents
Use this tab to change which panel contents appear in the layout.
Scene
Independent Scene independent layouts are available for all scenes.
Their contents are defined by panel types.
If you have multiple panels of the same type in a scene,
it is not certain which panels show up when you select
your layout. This is not a problem in most cases;
however, if you are working in a particular scene a great
deal, then develop layouts that you can save specifically
with that scene.
Associated with
Scene These layouts are only usable with the current scene.
You can specify a particular panel if you have more than
one of the same type.
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History
Displays the history of the panels you used.
Maya keeps a record of panel layout changes. This lets you step forward or back
through each view. This is helpful if you are moving between two layouts and
cannot remember their names.
History Depth
Specify the number of configurations you want stored in the history.
Wrap History
Toggle this on to return you to the first view or the most recent view
configuration when you reach the end of recorded history.
Clear History
Click this button to delete the record of all the panels you have used.
Previous Layout
Click this button to browse back through the panel layouts.
Next Layout
Click this button to browse forward through the panel layouts.
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Reference > Menu Sets
Menu Sets
From the Menu Sets editor, you can create, edit, rename, remove, and restore
menu sets.
To open the Menu Sets editor, select the Status Line drop-down list and select
Customize.
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Revert to Default
Restores the menu set to its default state. This option is available if the
menu set currently selected in the Menu Sets column is one of the default
Maya menu sets (the Animation, Polygons, Surfaces, Rendering, and
Dynamics menu sets in Maya, as well as the Cloth menu set in Maya
Unlimited).
Restore Default Menu Sets
Restores the default Maya menu sets (the Animation, Polygons, Surfaces,
Rendering, and Dynamics menu sets in Maya, as well as the Cloth menu set
in Maya Unlimited), while preserving any custom menu sets that have been
added.
Component Editor
A spreadsheet of values contained in the components of an object.
Related topics
Edit component numeric values directly on page 82
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Layout
Load Selected Components
This is the same as the Load Components button at the bottom of the
window. Updates the editor with the current selection when Auto Update is
off.
Show Selected Columns
Removes all columns from the view, except those which are selected. This
gives you a way to specify a set of influences/joints and view only them.
Show Selected Objects
Allows you to view only those components which are influenced by a selected
object.
For example, create a Smooth Skinned object and select all of its CVs. The
Component Editor shows all the CVs. If you select one of the influences and
select Show Selected Objects, you'll see only CVs for that influence; the
others will be hidden.
Show All Columns
Shows all columns.
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Rigid Skins
Lists component data of CVs, vertices, or lattice points bound to a skeletons
joints by rigid skinning (joint cluster weights).
Smooth Skins
Lists component data of CVs, vertices, or lattice points bound to a skeletons
joints by smooth skinning (skin cluster weights).
Springs
Lists component data for springs, including stiffness and damping data.
Particles
Lists component data for particles, including color or velocity data.
Outliner
The Outliner shows a hierarchical list of all objects in the scene in outline form.
To show the Outliner select Windows > Outliner.
Related topics
The Outliner on page 90
View and edit the hierarchy of nodes on page 105
Outline
To... Do this
Expand all levels under a Hold Shift and click the square plus
node. next to the nodes name.
Change a nodes order in Drag the node with the middle mouse
the hierarchy. button and drop it between two other
nodes.
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Reference > Outliner
To... Do this
Make a node a child of Drag the node with the middle mouse
another node. button and drop it on top of the node you
want to be its parent.
If you cant see both nodes at the same
time in the Outliner, use Edit > Parent
instead.
Bring a node out from Select the child node and select Edit >
under its parent. Unparent.
Split the Outliner window. Drag the divider bar at the bottom of the
window up.
When the pointer is over the bar the
cursor changes to a up/down drag
indicator .
To unsplit the window, drag the divider
back down to the bottom of the window.
Show or hide the attributes Click the round plus ( ) or minus ( ) next
on a node. to the nodes name.
You can further expand multi-value
attributes.
You cannot edit attribute values in the
Outliner.
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Reference > Outliner
Note The Display and Show menu settings are saved with a scene file.
The menu settings are not saved when you open a new or different
scene.
Menus
Display
DAG Objects Only
Only show transformable nodes.
Shapes
Show shape nodes.
Attributes (Channels)
Allow the display of attributes on nodes. Use the round plus and minus
buttons to show a nodes attributes.
Set Members
Allow the display of members under the sets.
Connected
Only show attributes that are connected another node, keyed, or connected
by set driven key, a constraint, a motion path, or an expression.
Reveal Selected
Expands the outline to show the currently selected node(s).
Channel Names
Select what attribute names to show when Attributes (Channels) is on. Nice
names are more readable. Long and Short names are the actual names of
attributes, which you can use in expressions and MEL.
Sort Order
Select Scene Hierarchy to show the hierarchy. Select Alphabetical Within Type
to show flat alphabetical lists of each node type.
Attribute Order
Changes the order in which the attributes are displayed in the Connection
Editors list. Attributes can be sorted in ascending or descending alphabetical
order.
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Reference > Outliner
Show
Objects
Select which object types to show in the Outliner. Select Clear Below to turn
off all filters.
Attributes
Select which attribute types to show in the Outliner. Select Clear Below to
turn off all filters.
Hidden Hidden attributes.
Keyable Keyable attributes.
Scale, Rotate,
Translate Scale, Rotate, or Translate attributes.
Driven by Anim
Curve Attributes with an animation curve. This includes
attributes animated with keys, set driven keys,
constraints, and motion paths.
Driven by
Expression Attributes controlled by expressions.
User Defined User-defined attributes.
Invert Shown
Reverse the filters so visible objects are hidden and hidden objects are
visible.
Show All
Turns off all filters in the Show menu.
Show Selected Type(s)
Shows only object types of the same type as the current selection. This
option lets you create a filter that limits the types of objects and attributes
displayed in the Outliner to the same type of object or attribute as the current
selection.
For example, if you select an objects Translate X, Y, and Z attributes in the
Outliner and then select Show Selected Type(s), then all non-translation
attributes will be filtered and only translation attributes will appear in the
Outliner. The Show Selected Type(s) filter will remain active until you select
another Show menu option (such as Show All).
Create Entry
Lets you save the current Show menu filter with a name.
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Reference > Attribute Editor
Create Entry is only available when the objects and attributes displayed in the
Outliner have been filtered by the Show Selected Type(s) menu option.
Delete Entry
Lets you delete a saved Show menu filter.
Show Auxiliary Nodes
Shows node types that the Outliner normally does not show because they are
rarely needed (such as underworld nodes).
Auxiliary Nodes
Lets you set what nodes are considered auxiliary.
Attribute Editor
Lists attributes on the selected object. Tabs across the top of the Attribute Editor
let you select nodes connected to the shown node.
While the Channel Box provides a more compact view of keyable attributes, the
Attribute Editor gives you full graphical controls to edit attributes rather than just
text boxes. There are ramp and graph graphical controls. For more information,
see Attribute editor graphical controls on page 344.
You can set an option in Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences to have
the Attribute Editor open in a window instead of the side panel.
Related topics
Nodes and attributes on page 85
Change attribute values in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box on page 95
Save and reuse attribute presets on page 101
Lock the value of an attribute on page 102
Create, edit, or delete custom attributes on page 102
Open multiple Attribute Editors on page 103
Channel Box on page 346
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Reference > Attribute Editor
Note If you select more than one item, Maya automatically updates the
most recently selected one (that is, the most recent one in the pick
list).
Menus
List
Use this menu to load attributes into the Attribute Editor and to define which
items display in the Selected/Object menu.
Selected/Object
The Selected menu lists objects currently selected in the scene while the Object
menu displays all the objects in the scene of a selected type.
Focus
This menu displays all nodes that have been selected in the scene while the
Attribute Editor is open. The most recently selected node is at the top of the list.
Attributes
Use this menu to add, edit, and delete extra attributes for an object or node.
These appear under the Extra Attributes section. You can also add, edit, and
delete attributes using the Modify menu.
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Context menu
output connection node
If you set a key for the attribute or connect a texture to it, the resulting output
connection node name displays as the first menu item. To load the attributes for
this node into the Attribute Editor, select it.
Create New Expression
Select this option to create a new expression for the attribute.
Set Key
Select this option to set a key for the attribute. This options disappears from the
menu if you have already connected a texture to the attribute.
Set Driven Key
Select this option to link the attribute values.
Break Connection
Select this option to break the connection between the attribute and a key or
texture.
Create New Texture
Select this option to connect a texture to the attribute.
Color Chooser
This option displays for color attributes only. Select it to open the Color Chooser.
Lock/Unlock Attribute
Select the Lock option to lock an attribute value so that it cannot be changed.
Use Unlock Attribute to unlock the value.
Ignore/Dont Ignore when Rendering
This option displays only for attributes that are connected to keys or textures.
Select the Ignore when Rendering option to ignore the connection when
rendering. If the attribute has a map button, the button changes to indicate that
the connection is ignored.
Select the Dont Ignore when Rendering option to render with the set connection.
For details, see Rendering.
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Note If you select Float or Integer, you can also set Numeric Attribute
Properties.
Attribute Type
Select a type:
Scalar Creates a per object attribute that you can set to a
single value that applies to every particle in the object. A
vector scalar is considered a single value with three
numbers. If you select Scalar, you can specify Minimum,
Maximum, and Default values for a Float or Integer
attribute.
Per Particle
(Array) Creates a per particle attribute. You can set this type of
attribute to different values for each particle. If you
select Per Particle (Array), you can also create a
counterpart initial state attribute by turning on Add Initial
State Attribute.
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Warning! The following list of names are reserved internally for (dynamic)
shading attributes. You may use these names for custom
attributes, but beware they may produce unexpected results in the
shading network. For example, during shading the uvCoord value is
provided, therefore ignoring your custom uvCoord attribute value.
blobbySurfaceFactor
displacement
easMask
farPointCamera
farPointObj
farPointWorld
filterSize
flippedNormal
illuminationIndex
infoBits
lightData
lightTable
matrixObjectToWorld
matrixWorldToObject
mediumRefractiveIndex
normalCamera
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numShadingSamples
objectId
objectType
opticalDepth
outColor
outGlowColor
outMatteOpacity
outParticleEmission
outTransparency
particleAge
particleAttrArray
particleColor
particleEmission
particleEntryParam
particleExitParam
particleIncandescence
particleLifespan
particleOrder
particleTransparency
particleWeight
pixelCenter
pixelCoverage
pointCamera
pointObj
pointWorld
primitiveId
rayDepth
rayDirection
rayOrigin
receiveShadows
refPointCamera
refPointObj
refPointWorld
renderState
shadowAttenuation
tangentUCamera
tangentVCamera
translucenceDepth
triangleNormalCamera
uvCoord
uvFilterSize
vertexCameraOne
vertexCameraThree
vertexCameraTwo
vertexUvOne
vertexUvThree
vertexUvTwo
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Ramp
Each color entry in a ramp has a circular color handle above the ramp, and a
square color icon below the ramp. The active color has a white border around its
color handle and icon. Ramps can be used for many types of gradients, including
transparency, color, and so on.
For more details about ramps in shading, see Ramp Shader in the Shading book.
Graph
The graph control has handles which you can drag in the graph area to set
position-value pairs. The active point has a white border around its handle and
icon. Graphs can be used for many types of attributes where value changes per
position, including paint effect settings, fluid settings, and so on.
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Checking the vertical box alters the size of your ramp. Once you check the vertical
box, the ramp or graph automatically adjusts to a suitable size.
When you save your scene, Maya also saves the layout that you have chosen for
your control.
Related topics
View and edit multiple attributes on multiple nodes on page 99
Menus
Names
Names > Short Attribute Names, Long Attribute Names
Select whether to show the short or long attribute names at the tops of the
columns.
Layouts
Layouts > Show Selected Columns Only/Show All Columns
Hides the attribute columns that are not currently selected. Select Show All
Columns to return to the full display.
Layouts > Remember This Layout
Creates a new tab with only the currently visible attribute columns. Select the
columns you want in the new tab, select Show Selected Columns, then
Remember This Layout.
Layouts > Delete This Layout
Deletes a custom tab created with Remember This Layout. Click the tab and
select Delete This Layout to delete the tab.
Key
Key > Key Selected
Sets keys at the current frame for the attributes (cells) currently selected in
the spreadsheet.
Tabs
The different tabs show different types of attributes.
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Use the arrows at the right end of the tabs to show more tabs that are hidden by
the windows edge.
Use Layouts > Show Selected Columns Only and Layouts > Remember This
Layout to create a new custom tab with only the attributes you want.
Spreadsheet
Each object is a row, and each attribute on the object is a column.
Click, shift-click, or drag across a cell, column, or row to select it.
Type a value to enter it in all selected cells.
Channel Box
The Channel Box is the primary, fastest, and most streamlined tool for editing
object attributes. It lets you quickly set keys, and lock, unlock, or create
expressions on attributes.
Channel Box
Selected object
Object attributes
Object attributes
Like the Attribute Editor, you use the Channel Box to modify an objects attribute
values. The Channel Box is different from the Attribute Editor in the following
ways:
It displays only the keyable and nonkeyable displayed attributes for the
selected object. This lets you easily access nonkeyable channels from the
Channel Box without running the risk of accidentally keying them. You can
make a channel keyable or nonkeyable from the Channel Box.
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Related topics
Nodes and attributes on page 85
Change attribute values in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box on page 95
Show or hide the manipulator for an attribute in the Channel Box on
page 97
Lock the value of an attribute on page 102
To make a channel keyable or nonkeyable on page 350
Create, edit, or delete custom attributes on page 102
Control the display of attributes in the Channel Box on page 104
Connect attributes with an expression on page 113
You can resize the Channel Box using the arrow buttons at the bottom of the
Channel Box / Layer Editor.
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Attributes
When you select a geometric object, the Channel Box displays these sections:
Section Usage
INPUTS Lists the names of other nodes that affect this one.
Typically, these comprise the construction history of
the node.
If youve selected two or more objects, the Channel Box displays the attributes
for the last object selected only. To display the attributes in the Channel Box of
another selected object, select Object > objectName.
Edits you make in the Channel Box affect all selected objects of the same type as
the one displayed.
Component attributes
If you display attributes of an object component, the Channel Box displays only
one section for shape attributes that pertain to the component.
For example, suppose youve created a NURBS curve with the following CVs:
If you turn on component selection mode (in the main menu bar) and select the
CVs, the Channel Box displays this:
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You can display the CV values in the Channel Box and enter new values. To
display the values, click CVs (click to show) in the Channel Box.
State Color
Locked Gray
Muted Brown
Blended Green
Expression Purple
Constrained Blue
Connected Yellow
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INPUTS
Use the INPUTS component of the Channel Box to modify an objects
construction history.
Related topics
Organize objects on display layers on page 136
Edit all objects on a layer at once on page 137
Menus
Layers menu
Create Empty Layer
Creates a new display layer, depending on the selection in the drop-down list,
with a default name, for example layer1.
Select Objects in Selected Layers
Selects the objects contained in the selected layer(s).
Remove Selected Objects from Selected Layers
Removes all objects from the selected layer(s) and assigns them to the
default layer. The selected layer(s) becomes empty so you can assign other
objects.
Membership
Opens the Relationship Editor for removing or adding objects to layers.
Attributes
Opens the Attribute Editor for the selected layer(s). There are some attributes
in the Attribute Editor not available through the Edit Layer window.
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Options menu
You can set the following binary options:
Make New Layers Current
Add New Objects to Current Layer
Show Namespace
When using namespaces, object names can sometimes get very long. This
can make it difficult to differentiate objects by name. Turning off the display
of namespaces replaces the namespace portion of a nodes name (if any)
with ...:. The shortened name makes it easier to distinguish between
different objects in your scene.
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Reference > Display Layer editor
Note Namespaces are the preferred method for managing naming when
working with file references in Maya. It is not recommended that
you employ Maya's renaming prefix convention when using file
referencing. While the DAG path or long name of a node may make
it unique when using renaming prefixes, they do not work
consistently within file referencing and complicate the hierarchical
DAG changes, which may cause problems later on.
Context-sensitive menu
The following commands are available when you right-click a layer:
Add Selected Objects
Remove Selected Objects
Select Objects
Add or remove objects from a display layer. You can also select all objects in
the current display layer.
Set All Layers
Set Selected Layers
Set Only Selected Layers
See above.
Empty the Layer
Removes all objects from a layer, leaving it empty.
Delete Layer
Deletes the layer.
Membership
Attributes
See above.
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By Number All layers read in that have the same index number as an
existing layer are merged with that layer rather than
creating a new layer.
By Name All layers read in that have the same name as an
existing layer are merged with that layer rather than
creating a new layer.
Relationship Editor
Use the Relationship Editor to edit relationships in Maya, where a relationship is
a collection or grouping of objects or components. These relationships include:
sets
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deformer sets
character sets
partitions
display layers
render layers
light linking (light-centric and object-centric)
UV linking (texture-centric, UV-centric, Paint Effects/UV, Hair/UV, and Fur/UV)
Hair and Fur linking
Related topics
Organize objects on display layers on page 136
Create and edit sets on page 138
Keep a collection of sets from having overlapping membership on
page 139
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To display objects
On the right side panel, select one of the following options from the List menu.
Auto Load All
Turn this on to automatically display all objects in the scene.
Auto Load Selection
Turn this on to automatically display objects in the relationships associated
with the objects selected in the scene.
Manual Load
Turn this on to display objects by choosing one of the following options:
Load List from
Selection Display only the selected objects.
Add Selection to
List Add to the display the objects selected in the scene.
Remove
Selection from
List Remove from the display the objects selected in the
scene.
Panels
Type text in the text boxes at the top of each panel to only show items with
that text in their names. Click the icon to the left of the text boxes to switch
the filter on or off.
Click a set on the left side, then click items on the right side to highlight or
unhighlight them. Highlighted items on the right are connected to the item on
the left.
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Color Chooser
The color Chooser appears whenever you click a color swatch; for example, when
you select Window > Settings/Preferences > Color Settings and change a color
setting in Maya.
Eyedropper
Color wheel
Blend box
Palettes (including
Adobe palettes)
Related topics
Change an objects wireframe color on page 51
Change user interface colors on page 144
Controls
Color wheel and storage tiles
The fastest way to select a color is to drag the selector in the color wheel. Once
you have the color selected, you can drag the brightness control on the left.
Another quick way to select a color is to left click one of the storage tiles at the
top. To store the current color on a tile, right click a tile or click the arrow button.
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Eyedropper
The eyedropper tool lets you grab a color from anywhere on the computer screen,
including other applications. Click the eyedropper button, then position the
eyedropper cursor anywhere on your screen. Click again to grab the color.
Blend box
The Blend box creates a blend between colors so that you can select a new color
from the blended gradient. The following illustration explains how to use it.
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Palette
In the Palette section, you can create and save custom color palettes. You can
also open Adobe color palettes (file extension .aco), if it is in one of the following
formats: RGB, HSV, CMYK, Lab, or Inverted Lab. (Other formats, such as
Pantone, are not supported.)
The following illustration highlights the palette components.
Blended tiles
4 When finished assigning colors, click Save and specify the filename.
You can save the file in any directory. It is saved in ascii format.
Visor
Window > General Editors > Visor
The Visor displays textures, images, and shading nodes in the project directory.
Visor tabs contain a collection of items in the scene, or directories and files on
disk. You can customize the way you view files, and create and customize tabs.
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You can also drag items with the middle mouse button from Visor into
Hypershade to create a new node, or onto a swatch in Hypershade to connect
nodes.
To view an image
Double-click an image file in the images directory to view the image in fcheck.
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Menus
File menu
Import
Opens the Import dialog box so you can select a Maya scene file (such as a
file containing a shader) to import into Maya.
Import Selected Scene Files
Reads information from another file and loads it into the current file.
Import Selected Image Files
Select an item from the pull-out menu to select how to import image files.
Include Placement is on by default.
As Normal For normal textures, Maya applies a texture map
according to the geometry characteristicstextures are
placed onto polygons based on UV information or placed
onto NURBS surfaces based on parametrized
information.
As Projection To create projection textures, Maya applies a texture
map to the surface of a 3D object by projecting a 2D
texture into 3D spacein other words, Maya projects the
texture maps independently of the geometry
characteristics.
Tip For textures created with As Projection turned on, you need to
explicitly connect the texture to the bump so the texture is visible in
the bump map.
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View menu
Frame Selected
Frames only the selected nodes in the current Visor layout.
Frame All
Frames all the nodes displayed in the current Visor layout.
Tabs menu
Each tab contains the nodes that make up the current scene. These options let
you create new tabs and customize the default tabs.
Create New Tab
You can create and name tabs to help you organize a scenes rendering
elements.
Move Tab Left/Right
Select a tab then select one of these options to re-arrange the tabs.
Rename Tab
Select a tab then select this option to rename it.
Remove Tab
Select a tab then select this option to remove it.
Revert to Default Tabs
Removes new tabs and reverts to the default organization.
Current Tab Options
Select a tab, then select one of these options to control the display: Show
Directories Only, Show Files Only, Show Both, Refresh File Listing.
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Reference > Preload Reference Editor
To selectively load file and proxy references using the Preload Reference Editor
1 Select File > Open Scene > .
The Open Options window appears.
2 In the Referencing options section, turn on Selective Preload, then click
Open.
The file browser appears, listing the default scene directory for your project.
3 Select the file that contains the file references you want to load, then click
Open.
The Preload Reference Editor appears. The Preload Reference Editor lists all
available file references for the scene. Depending on how the Referencing
options were set, some file references will appear loaded or unloaded in the
Preload Reference Editor. When an icon appears beside a particular file
reference it indicates that one or more proxy references exist for that
reference.
4 Select one or more items in the Preload Reference Editor by doing one of the
following:
Click the check box next to a reference to indicate that you wish the
reference to be loaded.
Right-click an item and select Bring in Reference Loaded or Bring in
Reference Unloaded from the menu that appears.
Right-click an item and select Set Active Proxy To from the menu that
appears. When a file reference contains one or more proxy references,
the Set Active Proxy To option appears. Set Active Proxy lets you select
which proxy reference you want to load into the scene by displaying the
list of available proxy references (by their proxy tags) in the Set Active
Proxy To submenu.
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Reference > Marking Menus editor
Tip It is possible to set the load or active state for multiple proxies
simultaneously when using the Preload Reference Editor. The list of
proxy tags that appear in Set Active Proxy To submenu (when
multiple file references are selected) is generated from all of the
proxy tags currently in use for the proxy sets associated with the
selected file references.
Related topics
Create or edit a marking menu on page 153
Assign a marking menu to a hotkey on page 155
Add a marking menu to the hotbox on page 155
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Command(s)
Enter the MEL script used as the command for the menu item. You can drag the
MEL script from the Script Editors bottom panel with the middle mouse button.
Check Box
Displays a check box beside the marking menu item.
Radio Button
Displays a check box beside the marking menu item.
Neither
Displays nothing beside the marking menu item.
Option Box
Turn Option Box on to display the option box beside the menu item so you can
change a tools options from the marking menu.
Note If the tool or action does not have an options window, you must use
MEL code to create the box. Once the box is created, you must
write MEL code to invoke the option window. For more information
on MEL commands, see MEL and Expressions.
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Hotkey editor
Lets you assign predefined commands, MEL scripts, or marking menus to keys
and key combinations.
Related topics
Assign a marking menu to a hotkey on page 155
Assign a predefined command to a hotkey on page 157
Assign a MEL script to a hotkey on page 158
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Current hotkeys
List box
Shows all hotkeys that active the selected command.
Remove
Select a hotkey and click Remove to unassign the hotkey.
List All
Opens a window listing every assigned hotkey and its command.
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Restore Defaults
Returns all hotkey assignments to their factory defaults (the original
commands they were assigned to when Maya was installed).
Edit area
New
Create a new user-defined command which you can then assign to a hotkey.
Edit
Edit the selected user-defined command in the Commands list.
Delete
Delete the selected user-defined command in the Commands list.
Name
The name of the selected command.
Description
A description of the commands purpose and effect.
Category
The category in which the command appears (in the Categories list box).
Command
The script that runs when the command is activated.
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Reference > Plug-in Manager
Accept
Click to save the command you are creating or editing. This button is only
available after you click New or Edit to create or edit a command.
Cancel
Click to cancel editing a command. This button is only available after you
click New or Edit to create or edit a command.
Search
Lets you search for text in the name or script of all defined commands. Use
asterisks as wildcards.
Plug-in Manager
A plug-in is an add-on module that extends Mayas capabilities. File translators
are plug-ins you use to import and export various file formats. You can create or
purchase specialty plug-ins to customize Maya for a specific job.
Some features that can be added through plug-ins are:
file translators
tools
objects (nodes)
MEL commands
device drivers
Related topics
Supported file formats on page 122
Load or unload Maya plug-ins on page 161
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Reference > Plug-in Manager
Information window
To view information about a particular plug-in, you must first load it, then click the
i button beside the plug-in.
Maya caches the list of current plug-ins. If you have added a new plug-in, click
Refresh to update any changes.
Maya displays the following information for a selected plug-in:
Name
The name of the plug-in. On Linux, plug-ins have the extension .so. On
Windows, they have the extension .mll. On Mac OS X, the extension is .lib.
Path
The location of the file. On Linux, the default plug-in location is:
/usr/autodesk/maya85/bin/plug-ins
On Windows, the default plug-in location is:
drive:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya8.5\bin\plug-ins
On Mac OS X, the default location is
/Applications/Autodesk/maya8.5/Maya.app/Contents/MacOS/plug-ins
Vendor
The manufacturer of the plug-in.d
Plug-in Version
The version number of the plug-in.
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Reference > Script editor
Note You cannot load a plug-in for any version of Maya that
predates or post-dates the version it was compiled for. That
is, if a plug-in was created for Maya version 7, it will not work
with either Maya 6.5 or Autodesk Maya 8. Dot releases
(minor version upgrades) are compatible with their major
version and vice versa; for example, a plug-in compiled for
Maya 7.0 works with Maya 7.0.1.
Auto Load
Indicates whether the plug-in has been marked for auto load.
Is Loaded
Indicates whether the plug-in is loaded.
Plug-in Features
Displays a list of the features added by the plug-in (for example, commands,
dependency nodes, file translators).
To display additional plug-ins, click the triangle to open the Other Registered Plug-
ins section.
Script editor
The Script editor lets you type in single or multi-line scripts in either MEL or
Python and see their output in the history pane.
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Toolbar
Related topics
Create and run a MEL script on page 21
Panes
The top pane shows the history of commands and their results.
Type MEL or Python commands and scripts in either the MEL or Python tab in the
bottom pane.
To execute the script in the bottom pane, do one of the following:
Press the Enter key on the numeric keypad
Select Script > Execute.
Select the text you want to execute and press Ctrl+Enter
Tip On Windows, you can change the font size of the text in the top or
bottom panes of the Script editor.
Select the top or bottom pane of the Script editor (click in the
window), then hold the Ctrl key and scroll with your middle-
mouse wheel.
The text gets larger or smaller as you scroll.
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Toolbar
You can access most Script editor commands directly from this toolbar.
Icon Command
Load script.
Source script.
Save script.
Clear history.
Clear input.
Clear all.
Show history.
Show input.
Show all.
Execute all.
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Icon Command
Go to line: enter the line number in the text box and click this icon.
Menus
File
Load script
Loads the contents of a text file into the Script editor.
Source script
Executes the contents of a text file.
When you source a MEL script, local procedures are not declared or
executed.
If you change a script after sourcing it, the change is not automatically picked
up by Maya. You need to re-run the script with File > Source Script.
Save script
Saves the selected text to a text file.
Save script to shelf
Adds a button to the current shelf which executes the selected text.
Edit
The edit menu includes standard editing commands and their associated
hotkeys: Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, and Select All, as well as the following
commands:
Go to...
Goes to the specified line number.
Search and replace
Opens a search dialog where you can search for a string and replace it with a
different string. You can choose the search direction and choose whether
your search is case-sensitive.
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History
Batch render messages
Shows batch rendering messages in the Script editor.
Echo all commands
When this item is on, all MEL commands executed by Maya appear in the top
pane of the Script editor.
For example, if you select Create > Polygon Primitives > Sphere, the
corresponding MEL command (polySphere) that Maya executes is printed in
the top pane.
Line numbers in errors
Shows line numbers in errors.
Show stack trace
Opens another window which lists errors and their line numbers in external
script files. This is very useful for debugging scripts in external files.
Suppress command results
When turned on, the Script editor does not show the result of commands.
Result messages start with // Result:.
Suppress info messages
When turned on, the Script editor does not show informational messages.
Informational messages are of many different types and do not have a set
prefix (except for //).
Suppress warning messages
When turned on, the Script editor does not show warning messages. Warning
messages start with // Warning:.
Suppress error messages
When turned on, the Script editor does not show error messages. Error
messages start with // Error:.
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Command
The following commands allow you to create, delete, and rename new tabs in the
input area of the Script editor.
New Tab
Creates a new tab. You must choose whether the tab is for MEL or Python.
Rename Tab
Renames the current tab.
Select Tab
You can step through the tabs using the Previous and Next commands.
Delete Tab
Deletes the current tab.
Show line numbers
Shows line numbers in the Script Editor.
Execute
Runs the MEL script in the bottom pane of the Script editor. You can also
press Enter on the numeric keypad.
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Additional notes
When Python requests input through stdin (for example, the Python raw_input
command), a dialog box appears where you can type your input.
Reference Editor
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Reference > Reference editor menus
A Text Filter field appears in the File List and Outliner views in the Reference
Editor. To filter the items that are displayed in each of these views, type text into
the field.
The icon to the left of the Text Filter field indicates if the Text Filter is currently
active. If the Text Filter is active, click the icon to turn the filter off.
For more information about using the Text Filter field, see Control which objects
or attribute types appear in an editor in the Basics guide.
File menu
Create Reference
See File > Create Reference on page 217.
Import Objects from Reference
Imports the selected references objects directly into the current scene.
Export Selection
Exports the selected objects as a reference and links that reference into the
current scene. You can set options here (see File > Export Selection). A file
browser opens to save the file with the name and location you specify.
Save Reference Edits
Saves edits that were made within the parent scene for a selected file
reference to the corresponding referenced file on disk. The edits get
transferred so they no longer reside within the parent scene.
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Note Using Clean Up Reference should be done only if you are certain
that you will no longer require the edits it will remove. Using Clean
Up Reference on a loaded reference removes all edits which could
not be applied. Using Clean Up Reference on an unloaded reference
will remove all edits, whether they could be applied or not, and so
should be used with care to avoid unwanted data loss.
Reference Menu
Reload Reference/Unload Reference
Loads or unloads the selected reference. If the current reference is already
loaded, reload updates the loaded reference. This is useful when the
reference file is being edited simultaneously.
Load Related Reference/Unload Related Reference
Loads or unloads references related to selected objects.
For example, if you want to unload an object and the reference to which it
belongs without having to open the Reference Editor and figure out which
reference should be unloaded, you can simply right+click on the object and
choose Unload Related Reference. As well, you can select a locator or
annotation, and then load its related references (you must select both the
locator/annotation and the foster parent node for this to work).
Duplicate Reference
Duplicates the file associated with the selected reference.
Replace Reference
Opens a file browser to replace the current reference with the one you select.
The group node and/or locator remains the same.
Recently Replaced Files
Lists recently-replaced reference files.
Remove Reference
Removes the selected reference and associated reference nodes from the
scene file. This is the preferred method for removing a reference and its
associated nodes.
Lock Reference/Unlock Reference
Locks or unlocks all of the nodes and attributes for a selected file reference.
A lock icon appears beside the listed file reference within the Reference
Editor to indicate the locked status.
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Reference > Reference editor menus
Proxy Menu
Add Proxy >
Adds a proxy reference to the currently selected file reference. When you
select Proxy > Add Proxy > you can specify the file type to add and set the
Proxy Tag Options within the Proxy Options window that appears.
Note The Proxy Options menu items are also available from the context
sensitive menu in the Reference Editor. To display this menu, select
a file reference and right-click the item.
If a proxy reference does not exist for the file reference, a proxy set is
created for the proxy references for that file reference. If a proxy reference
exists, the new proxy becomes a member of the existing proxy set for that
reference.
When a proxy reference is created, the listed file reference updates to display
a icon to indicate that one or more proxy references exist for that reference.
For information on how proxy references are tagged, see Proxy Tag options
below.
The Proxy Options () window is used to set the following options:
General Options Select the file format you want to use as a default for
the next time you add a proxy reference. If you have a
project set up, when you open a scene, the browser
points to the directory containing files of that type. On
Windows and Mac OS X, it also sets the filter to display
only files of the selected type.
Proxy Tag
Options Type the text string for the proxy tag you want applied to
the proxy reference or select an existing tag from the list
in the drop-down menu. When a proxy tag appears in gray
in this list, it indicates that the tag is already in use for
this specific file reference. The proxy tag appears in the
Reference Editor.
Maya keeps track of, and can distinguish between, the
last proxy tag used for a file reference, and the last proxy
tag used for a proxy reference. This ability streamlines
the tagging process regardless of your preferred
workflow.
For example, you may want to tag multiple file references
in succession with a tag named hiRes when you first
create each one. In this case, you need only type the tag
name once and it is automatically assigned to
successive file reference tags. If you want to tag multiple
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Reference > Reference editor menus
Remove Proxy
Removes the proxy reference that is selected from the list of proxy tags that
appears within the Remove Proxy submenu. The proxy reference is deleted
from the proxy set.
The list of available proxy references is displayed in the menu based on their
proxy tags. The list of proxy tags is generated from all of the proxy tags
currently in use within the proxy sets selected. When a proxy tag appears in
gray, it indicates that it is currently loaded.
When a proxy reference is removed from a proxy set, and only a single file
reference remains, the proxy set is removed and the reference returns to a
normal reference state. In the Reference Editor, the icon is removed from the
listed file reference, and the listed name of the file reference is updated.
Reload Proxy As
Loads the proxy reference that is selected from the list of proxy tags that
appears within the Reload Proxy As submenu. The list of proxy tags is
generated from all of the proxy tags currently in use for the proxy sets
selected. When a proxy tag appears in gray, it indicates that it is currently
loaded.
Reload Proxy As is used to switch between proxy references for a given file
reference. The list of available proxy references is displayed in the menu
based on their proxy tags. When a proxy tag appears in gray, it indicates that
it is currently loaded.
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Reference > Reference editor menus
Note A proxy for a specific proxy set is only reloaded when the selected
proxy tag matches one of the available tags for that set. For
example, if multiple proxy sets are selected and the high proxy tag
is chosen for reload, only those proxy references that have the
high tag will be reloaded. Any proxy set that does not include the
high tag will remain unchanged.
View menu
View Selected References
Displays only the selected references.
Selecting this option also creates a new Reference View Set, which can be
found in the View menu. This Reference View Set acts as a bookmark;
selecting the created Reference View Set in the future filters the references
in the Reference Editor and only displays the references that were selected
when the Reference View Set was created.
See Reference View Sets on page 47 of the File Referencing book.
View All Reference
Displays all of the references in the current scene.
File Particulars
The following file information displays when a referenced file is selected in the
Reference Editor. You can select to show or hide this information by clicking on
the disclosure triangle.
Unresolved Name
Displays a relative or absolute path including name of the referenced file,
without locations where Maya searches for the file.
Resolved Name
Displays the filename and path where Maya found the file.
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
Namespace
Displays the current namespace for the selected file reference. The
namespace for a file reference can be edited within the text field. (This field
appears when namespaces are the selected name clash option.)
Notes The file reference must have been created using the
namespaces option for its namespace to be editable. That is,
you cannot edit references that were created using the older
file renaming prefix convention.
A namespace cannot be edited if the file reference is unloaded.
The new namespace you enter cannot already exist.
The namespace for a reference can only be edited for
references that are made from the currently open scene. That
is, you cannot edit namespaces for references that are nested
within other file references.
Rename Prefix
Displays a prefix that can be applied to object names in the event of name
clashes. (This field appears when namespaces are not the selected name
clash option.)
Hypergraph
Hypergraph overview
Presents a graphical view of the scene hierarchy or dependency graph, with boxes
representing nodes and lines representing relationships.
Related topics
The Hypergraph on page 91
View and edit the hierarchy of nodes on page 105
Change the order of nodes on page 107
Change the visual layout of nodes in the Hypergraph on page 106
Show inputs and outputs (dependency graph) on page 111
Connect input and output attributes on page 112
Connect attributes with an expression on page 113
Break connections between attributes on page 113
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
Toolbar
Text filter indicator Create bookmark Bookmark Editor
Create container
Input & output Remove container
Enter text connections
Collapse container
to filter listing Scene hierarchy
Expand container
Graph area
The graph area shows the network of boxes representing nodes, and lines
connecting them representing relationships. You can use the Hypergraph to
view and edit hierarchical relationships or dependency relationships (input
and output connections between attributes).
Use the camera move keys (alt + the middle mouse button and alt + the right
mouse button) to move around the graph the same way you move around in
view panels.
Hypergraph menus
Edit Menu
Rename
Rename the selected node.
Expand
Expand a node to one level below.
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Collapse
Collapse the selected node.
Expand All
Expand all subnodes below a node.
Show Selected
Display and expand a node that is currently not visible in the graph.
Create Container
Adds a new container node to the Graph area and adds any selected nodes
to it. Node connections between the original nodes are maintained. In
addition, unique attributes can be added to the container node.
Remove Container
Deletes the selected container node from the Hypergraph. Any nodes within
the selected container are moved out of the container before it is deleted.
When the container node is nested within one or more other container nodes,
the nodes within the container being removed are moved into the parent
container node one level up in the hierarchy.
To delete a container node and its contents, press the Delete key.
Collapse Container
Reduces the selected container node to the size of one node. The container
node is easily differentiated from other nodes in the Input/Output
connections graph via its thick, round-cornered border.
Expand Container
Increases the display size of the selected container node(s) to display all of
the nodes contained within it.
Reset Freeform Layout
Display the Hypergraph hierarchy as the last saved freeform layout.
Clear View
Clear the current hierarchies and return an empty Hypergraph panel.
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
Attributes
Open the attribute editor showing information of a selected node.
View Menu
Previous View
Show the previous view.
Next View
Show the next view.
Frame All
Zoom in to view the entire Hypergraph within the frame of the panel.
Frame Selection
Zoom in to view only the selected nodes.
Frame Hierarchy
Zoom in to view only the hierarchies of the selected nodes
Frame Branch
Zoom in to view only the branches of the selected nodes.
Set Background Image
Lets you import and adjust the position of an image that displays behind the
nodes within your Hypergraph panel when displaying in either the dependency
graph mode (input/output connections) or for scene hierarchy mode when set
to Freeform display.
Background images can be displayed in both scene hierarchy and input and
output connections display modes. You can only use image formats accepted
by Maya. For more information, see Supported file formats on page 122.
Background images are saved when using the Bookmarks feature.
Image Lets you specify the background image to load. Click the
Load button to select an image from either your local
drive or network.
Horizontal
position Adjust the horizontal position of the currently loaded
image by using the slider or typing a number into the text
field.
Vertical position Adjust the vertical position of the currently loaded image
by using the slider or typing a number into the text field.
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
Toggles the display of the currently loaded background image either on or off.
Bookmarks Menu
Create Bookmark
Store the current node arrangements as a quick reference. Select options to
name the bookmark, otherwise the bookmark is assigned a default name.
Bookmark Editor
Edit the stored bookmark.
Graph Menu
Scene Hierarchy
The scene hierarchy is the grouping of child nodes under parent nodes. For
more details, see Scene hierarchy on page 87.
Input and Output Connections/Input Connections/Output Connections
You can show Input and Output connections to a selected node. An Input
connection is a node that provides input to the selected node. An Output
connection is a node that receives input from the selected node.
To see connections to most objects, you must select the shape node of the
object rather than the transform node.
When you display output connections for a node, you see the chain of nodes
that output to each other, all the way through to the end receiving node.
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
Example
You create a wine glass surface by revolving a NURBS curve. The following
dependency graph appears when you select the revolved surfaces shape
node and select Graph > Input and Output Connections:
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
Note The dependency graph and scene hierarchy display animated nodes
as slanted boxes. If you animate a node with an expression, it
displays a regular rectangle rather than a slanted box. All other
animation techniques display a slanted box. Specifically, a slanted
box indicates Ball has a param curve connected to it.
Example
Keyframe the translateX attribute of a NURBS sphere named Ball. If you
select Balls transform node and display all Input and Output Connections,
this graph appears:
The slanted box indicates Balls transform node has been animated. The
graph doesnt indicate which type of animation technique controls the
attribute.
Connection line colors
The connection lines are color-coded to indicate the type of attribute that is
connecting the nodes. In this case, attribute types are single, double, triple,
data, and array. See the following table for an explanation.
You can change these default colors in the Colors window (Window >
Settings/Preferences > Colors).
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
Layout
Restores the hierarchy arrangement to the original Input and Output
Connection layout.
Rebuild
Update your scene hierarchy or dependency graphs when it does not update
automatically. For example, if you add an object to a scene and it doesnt
appear in the scene hierarchy, rebuild the graphs to make the scene
hierarchy aware of the objects presence.
Increase/Decrease Depth Traversal Limit
You can limit the number of nodes graphed in the connection mode of the
Hypergraph. By default, depth traversal is unlimited (set to -1).
Use the Hypergraph > Graph > Increase Depth Traversal and Hypergraph >
Graph > Decrease Graph Traversal to increase or decrease the depth
traversal. You can also use the arrows or enter an integer into the numeric
field of the Hypergraph menu bar to change the depth traversal value. Click
the Unlimited button or set the number to -1 to remove the depth traversal
limit.
Rendering Menu
Show ShadingGroups/ Show Materials/ Show Textures/ Show Lights
You can show connections to shading groups, materials, textures, and lights.
See Rendering for details.
Example
Suppose you create a NURBS sphere, then use the Hypershade to create and
assign a Phong shading group to it. Next you use the Hypershade to create a
2D checker texture and assign it to the Phong node.
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
The following dependency graph appears when you select Rendering > Show
Shading Groups in the Hypergraph.
Connection line
The white box next to an output node shows the nodes name and
attribute that provides the output. Each node name and attribute is
separated by a period, for example, checker1.outColor and phong1.color.
In the preceding figure, the outColor attribute of checker1 is output to the
color attribute of phong1.
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
In many cases, you must be familiar with Maya internal operation details
to understand the node and attribute names you see in the white boxes.
Create Render Node...
Create a render node with a texture map in the Hypergraph.
Options Menu
Display > Shape Nodes, Hidden Nodes, Underworld Nodes
By default, the scene hierarchy does not display shape nodes, hidden nodes,
or underworld nodes. It displays only transform nodesnodes that hold
attributes and other information on an objects transformation and parent-
child relationships.
Shape nodeholds an objects geometry attributes or attributes other than
the objects transform node attributes. A shape node is a child of a transform
node. A transform node has only one shape node.
Hidden nodeany object hidden using Display > Hide from Mayas menu bar.
The default cameras top, front, side, and persp are also hidden nodes.
Underworld nodea pair of nodes below a shape node. When you create a
curve on a NURBS surface, Maya generates an underworld transform node
and shape node below the shape node of the surface. The CV positions of
underworld nodes have UV coordinates on the surface rather than
coordinates in world or local space.
A dotted line in the scene hierarchy indicates a connection to an underworld
node. Connections to instanced objects are also indicated by dotted lines.
Note Hypergraph option settings are saved with a scene file. The options
are not saved for Maya globally.
Example 1
If you select Create > NURBS Primitives > Sphere to create a sphere, Maya
creates a transform node and a shape node.
The spheres shape node holds the mathematical description of the spheres
shape. The spheres transform node holds the spheres position, scaling,
rotation, and so on. The shape node is the child of the transform node.
If you select Options > Display > Shape Nodes in the Hypergraph, the scene
hierarchy shows these nodes for the sphere:
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
Maya gives the nodes the default names shown in the preceding figure. The
transform node is nurbsSphere1, the shape node is nurbsSphereShape1. If
you rename the transform node, for example, to Bubble, Maya renames the
shape node to BubbleShape.
If you rename the shape node, Maya does not rename the transform node.
Maya doesnt transmit a childs attribute changes up to its parent.
Example 2
If you select Create > NURBS Primitives > Sphere to create a sphere, Maya
creates a transform node and a sphere node. If you then select Modify >
Make Live, then use the Create > CV Curve Tool to draw a curve on the
surface of the sphere and turn on the display of shape nodes and underworld
nodes, the scene hierarchy appears as follows:
Maya gives the nodes the default names shown. The transform node is
nurbsSphere1, the shape node is nurbsSphereShape1. The curve1 and
curveShape1 nodes are underworld nodes for the curve created on the
spheres surface.
When a curve-on-surface is hard to select in the workspace because of
crowding or complex geometry, you can select it easily in the scene hierarchy
with underworld nodes displayed.
Display > Expression Connections/Constraint Connections/Deformer
Connections
You can display color-coded lines in the scene hierarchy that illustrate nodes
connected by an expression, constraint, or deformer.
Example
Create a NURBS sphere named Ball and a NURBS cone named Cone. Write
an expression to assign the value of Balls translate Y attribute to Cones
translate Y attribute. The expression links the two values. When you move
Ball up or down in the view (in a Y-axis direction), Cone moves up or down
the same amount.
If you select Options > Display > Expression Connections, the scene
hierarchy displays this:
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Reference > Hypergraph overview
Tip You can change the color-coding of the connection lines and other
important entities by selecting Window > Settings/Preferences >
Colors from Mayas main menu bar and expanding Hypergraph/
Hypershade.
The Graph Layout Style lets you rearrange the layout style of nodes to suit
your needs. This option is only available in the Connection View. Rearranging
the layout can make the connections and their relationships more
meaningful.
Circular Layout Displays the Hypergraph connections in a circular fashion
by placing nodes in circular cluster arrangements.
Hierarchical
Layout Displays precedence relationships in the graph by
placing nodes at different levels.
Orthogonal
Layout Aligns nodes within the graph vertically and horizontally.
Symmetric
Layout Displays the Hypergraph nodes symmetrically when the
topology of the nodes allows for it.
Tree Layout Displays the Hypergraph hierarchy as parent/child
relationships with the root nodes at the top and child
nodes further down the hierarchy.
Orientation
Horizontal
Display the Hypergraph hierarchy horizontally.
Vertical
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Reference > Hypergraph tips
Hypergraph tips
Use the following tips to define an easier and faster workflow when using the
Hypergraph.
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Reference > Hypergraph limitations
DG node display
The node type for a given DG node is displayed in the pop-up window only
during mouse-over feedback.
Bookmark
The Bookmark remembers your node arrangements and background images.
Container nodes
Use the Create Container node feature to create logical groupings within the
dependency graph. Container nodes simplify the display of the dependency
graph display by letting you organize nodes into groupings that are
meaningful to your production pipeline.
Hypergraph limitations
The following limitations and workarounds relate to the Hypergraph.
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Reference > Maya Help overview
Maya Help
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Reference > Maya Help overview
Navigation
frame,
showing
Contents
The left-hand navigation frame gives you tabbed access to Contents, Index, and
Search capabilities. Help information appears in the right-hand frame. When you
first open the Maya Help, a legend appears in the right-hand frame, showing the
various information types of the Maya Help.
Navigation buttons are available on the top of the right-hand frame. These
include:
Home: reloads the home page of the Maya Help
Show in Contents: opens the navigation in the left-hand frame, if necessary,
and highlights the current topic
Previous Page, Next Page
Send Email: sends a email to Maya documentation about the current page
Print
Bookmark: opens a pop-up window that allows you to bookmark the current
page.
Place browser window on left, Place browser window on right: these two
buttons work with the Maya Browser plugin (if it is installed) to arrange the
Maya help and Maya on the screen to be read side-by-side. Otherwise, these
buttons just move and resize the browser window.
For more information, see Maya Web browser plug-in on page 23 and
Install the Maya Web browser plug-in on page 31.
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Reference > Maya Help overview
Set preferences: sets the screen width for the buttons that change the
browser width (see above), as well as the name of the Maya command port.
To set the screen width, click the left area of the preferences icon. To set the
command port name, click the right area of the preferences icon.
You can choose to search the users guide for all new and updated
information. In the search tab, click Whats New search options and select
New, Updated, or New & Updated. Your search results show all selected new
or updated topics in this version of Maya. You can cut down your search by
selecting a group of guides, as discussed above.
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Reference > Hotbox Controls > Hotbox Style
Hotbox
Related topics
Customize the hotbox on page 156
Menu
Zones and Menu Rows
Make all of the menu rows visible.
Zones Only
Display just the five marking menu zones. Menu sets are not available.
Center Zone Only
Make only the center zone (Maya) active everywhere. North, South, East, and
West Zones and menu sets are not available.
Center Zone RMB Popups
Turn this option on to display menus for the selected menu set when you
right-click the workspace. The menu set appears as a pop-up instead of a
row. Note that the functional menu sets do not display when this option is
on, even if you have selected to show them.
Preferences
Preferences overview
The Preferences dialog box sets preferences for many functional elements of
Maya, detailed in the following sections:
Interface preferences on page 408
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Reference > Interface preferences
Interface preferences
Interface
Menu set
This determines which menu set displays in the main Maya menu bar on
start-up. The default is Animation.
Show menubar
Hides or displays the main menu bar (Windows and Linux). Hides or displays
the Panels menu bar (all platforms).
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Reference > Interface preferences
Tip To hide or display the main menu bar of Maya on Mac OS X, press
the asterisk button (*) three times.
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Reference > Interface preferences
Devices
Mouse Scroll Wheel
Lets you set whether or not Mayas scroll bars can be moved by your
mouses scroll wheel. When on, you can scroll through various lists and
windows in Maya using your mouses scroll wheel (for example, you can use
your mouses scroll wheel to scroll through a long list of attributes).
Mouse Tracking
On Mac OS X, Maya gives you the option of using either a three button
mouse, a two button mouse, or a single button mouse. (All documentation
assumes the use of a three button mouse).
The following table shows the functional equivalents of two or one button
mouse clicks to three-button mouse clicks.
the left mouse button the left mouse button the left mouse button
the right mouse button the right mouse button ctrl + the left mouse
button
option + the right mouse option + the right mouse ctrl + option + the left
button button mouse button
or
command + the right
mouse button
When you use tumble, track, dolly, or select zoom with a one or two button
mouse, the command controls are different from the controls described in
the documentation for the three button mouse. Below is a table that
specifies the control changes.
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Reference > UI Elements preferences
Tumble
Track
Dolly
Select zoom option + ctrl + the option + ctrl + the not available
left mouse button left mouse button
Note For select zoom, hold the corresponding buttons for select zoom
and draw a box around the part of the view where you want to dolly
in and out.
If you drag the box out from left to right, you dolly in.
If you drag the box out from right to left, you dolly out.
UI Elements preferences
Visible UI Elements
Hides or displays UI elements. You can also control this display from the Display
> UI Elements menu.
Turns on any elements you want displayed in the Maya main window.
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Reference > UI Elements preferences
Panel Configurations
When saving
When Save panel layouts with file is turned on, the panel layouts are saved
with the scene file. The default is on. (This replaces the former Save File
options.)
When opening
When turned on, this restores saved layouts from the file. The default is on.
(This replaces the former Open File options.)
Starting new scenes
You can specify a layout for new scenes.
Keep current
layout Keeps the current layout for new scenes.
Use layout
specified Below Creates new scenes based on the layout selected from
the drop-down menu. Single Perspective View is the
default.
File Browser
Environment variables
Controls if the Maya File Browsers expand environment variables in
pathnames.
Retain Environment variables typed into Maya File Browser
pathname textfields are displayed unexpanded. When
accepting the selected filename in a Maya File Browser,
the unexpanded pathname is passed to the recipient in
unexpanded form. For example, if the file browser were
invoked on a file texture node and a pathname such as
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Reference > Help preferences
Help preferences
Heads Up Display
You can show, hide, or change the display of the heads-up display text that
appears for certain tools.
Tool messages
Shows or hides the tool messages.
Display time
Sets how long the tool message appears on screen, in seconds.
Offset display vertically
Sets the vertical position relative to the view center, in pixels.
Offset display horizontally
Sets the horizontal position relative to the view center, in pixels.
Popup Help
Tooltips
You can enable or disable tooltips.
Display time
Specify a display time for pop-up help. The default is four seconds.
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Reference > Display preferences
Help Language
Sets which documentation language set Maya loads when you use the help.
If you have another documentation language set installed you can click Other
and type a language/dialect code in the Specify language box.
Help Location
Local
Maya displays online help locally.
Remote
Maya displays online help from the URL in the URL box. This can be a help
system on an accessible network drive.
For more information, seeMaya Help overview on page 404.
Display preferences
Performance
Fast interaction
Turns Fast Interaction on to improve performance by displaying fewer
geometric entities (such as polygons). The default is off.
Max. texture display res
If you find a large slowdown in performance when editing images larger than
1K by 1K, this can be due to insufficient video card memory to display
textures at that resolution. This option allows you to set the maximum size of
textures used for display.
It is recommended that you restart Maya for these settings to take effect.
Baked viewport textures
You can set the slider to display scene view textures in a trade-off between
fast and high quality.
Notes If the scene has only hardware textures, this slider has no
effect.
The scenes textures are not automatically updated with any
changes; you'll need to force an update; for example, by
reloading the scene.
The only textures affected are the ones set to use the default
texture quality but whose 2d texture placement options are not
handled in hardware (for example, use stagger or some other
option the card/drivers don't support in hardware).
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Reference > Display preferences
View
Axes
Displays one or both of the XYZ coordinates (view and origin axes). If you
disable both choices, no XYZ coordinates appear.
View Axis Displays the XYZ coordinates in the bottom left corner of
the view. The default is on.
Origin Axis Displays the XYZ coordinates at coordinates 0, 0, 0. The
default is off.
Grid plane
Displays or hides the grid plane. The grid is a 2D plane that represents 3D
dimensions in the view. It is useful when you want to animate motion relative
to a solid surface. Select Hide to hide the grid. The default is Show.
This setting overrides the Display > Grid setting.
Active object pivots
Specify whether to display pivot points. The default is off.
Affected highlighting
Turns highlighting display on or off. An object associated with or affected by a
selected object is highlighted in a different color. The default is on.
Note You can edit this highlight color by selecting Window > Settings/
Preferences > Colors, clicking the Active tab, expanding General,
and modifying Active Affected.
Wireframe on shaded
Select how you want to display the wireframe on shaded objects.
Full Displays normal resolution wireframes on shaded
objects. This is the default.
Reduced Displays fewer wires on shaded objects.
None Displays no wires on shaded objects. Performance is
enhanced if you select None.
Region of effect
This option lets you turn on or off the region of effect display. Region of effect
is the part of an object that potentially changes as a result of moving
selected CVs. Note that curves show the region of effect as well as surfaces.
The default is on.
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Reference > Kinematics preferences
Region of
Effect on
Region of
Effect off
Shade templates
If on, template objects appear shaded in shaded view. If off, the templated
objects appear as wireframes while all other objects appear shaded. The
default is off.
Kinematics preferences
Inverse Kinematics
Joint size
Changes the display size of skeleton joint sizes. The range is from 0.01 to
5.0.
IK/FK joint size
For skeletons with blended IK/FK animation, this option sets the display size
for the joints and bones in your IK and FK skeletons. This option does not
affect the display size of the joints and bones in the IK/FK Blend skeleton.
IK handle size
Changes the display size of IK handles. The range is from 0.01 to 5.0.
Ik/Fk blending display
For skeletons with blended IK/FK animation, this option specifies which
skeletons appear in the scene view.
None Only the IK/FK Blend skeleton appears in the scene
view.
IK Only the IK skeleton appears in the scene view.
FK Only the FK skeleton appear in the scene view.
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Reference > Animation (Display) preferences
Both The FK, IK, and IK/FK Blend skeletons appear in the
scene view.
Note By default, joints and bones appear dark navy blue. But when a
skeleton has both IK and FK, each skeleton appears as a different
color (FK is Black, IK is a Dark Red/Brown, and Blend appears
pink/magenta.
Manipulators preferences
Manipulator sizes
Global scale
Specifies the size of the manipulators. The range is from 0.10 to 10.00.
Handle size
Specifies the size of the handle. The range is from 4 to 100.
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Reference > Manipulators preferences
Line size
Specifies the line thickness size of the rotate manipulators rings.
Show Manipulator
Default manipulator
You can specify a Default Manipulator option in the Show Manipulator section
to control what manipulator, if any, appears when you select the Show
Manipulator Tool. The Default Manipulator options include:
None Does not display a manipulator.
Translate Displays the Move Tools manipulator.
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Reference > NURBS preferences
Component Manipulators
Reposition using middle mouse button
Reposition the move, rotate, and scale manipulators using the middle mouse
button in component mode. This moves the pivot point and manipulator in a
single action.
When you middle-click on an area of the screen, the manipulator moves to
that location and immediately is active. This is useful with the Rotate Tool as
the pivot point and the manipulator move in a single action.
NURBS preferences
NURBS Display
New curves, New surfaces
Select whether you want Edit Points, Hulls, CVs, or origins on new curves or new
surfaces:
Note These options work only on new curves or surfaces, not existing
items.
Surface divisions
Controls the smoothness of an object in a view. It also affects the rendering
of newly created surfaces. Enter a value or use the slider. The range is from
0 to 64. The higher the value, the smoother the surface.
Curve divisions
Controls the smoothness of a curve in a view. Enter a value or use the slider.
The range is from 1 to 128. The higher the value, the smoother the curve.
Shaded divisions
Controls how smooth your smooth-shaded object looks. Enter a value or use
the slider. The range is from 1 to 64. The higher the value, the smoother the
smooth-shaded object.
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Reference > Polygons preferences
Surface precision
Controls how NURBS primitives are displayed. When you create or move
NURBS objects far from the origin or when you scale NURBS objects to
extreme sizes, you may experience jitter during animation, problems selecting
objects, or problems with an objects display. Setting Surface Precision to
High can help these situations.
Polygons preferences
Polygon Display
Vertices
Specify how you want vertices to display:
Display Turns the display of vertices on or off.
Normals Displays vertex normals on or off.
Backculling Makes vertices invisible in areas where the normal is
pointing away from the camera.
Edges
Specify how you want edges to display:
Standard Displays all edges the same (hard or soft).
Soft/Hard Displays soft edges as dotted lines and hard edges as
solid lines.
Only hard Displays hard edges only (makes soft invisible).
Highlight
Specify how you want to highlight polygons:
Border edges Displays thicker outside edges to make them more
visible for certain operations.
Texture borders Displays a thick border to highlight the area a texture
affects per polygon or per vertex.
Crease edges Show polygon crease edges highlighted (thicker and
bold) or with no highlight. You can turn this option on
and off in the Display > Custom Polygon Display options
dialog box (where it affects the currently selected object)
as well as here. This preference affects any new polygon
objects you create, not existing objects.
Edge Width
Specify the width of the polygon edge. The range is from 1 to 10.
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Reference > Polygons preferences
Faces
Specify how you want faces to display:
Centers Displays a small square to indicate the face center.
Normals Shows the normals at the center of each polygon.
Triangles Displays all polygons as triangles.
Non-planar Displays non-planar faces with a tinted color for easy
identification. A non-planar face has vertices that lie
outside the plane of the face. By identifying and
eliminating non-planar faces, you can avoid unexpected
results from reshaping the surface later.
Show item numbers
Specify where you want item numbers displayed: at each vertex (Vertices), at
each edge (Edges), on each face (Faces), or at each UV (UVs).
Normals size
Specifies the display size of the normals. The range is from 0.1 to 10.
Color
Turn Colored Shading on to use the Apply Color operation (Color > Apply
Color).
Color material
These menu options override any existing material channels and replace
them with the vertex colors you assign. For all options other than None,
lighting affects the objects shading.
None None of the material properties of the shader(s)
assigned to the object are used. In this case lighting is
also disabled.
Ambient The ambient material channel of the assigned shader(s)
is overridden by the vertex color.
Ambient +
Diffuse The ambient and diffuse material channels of the
assigned shader(s) are overridden by the vertex color.
Diffuse The diffuse material channel of the assigned shader(s) is
overridden by the vertex color.
Specular The specular material channel of the assigned shader(s)
is overridden by the vertex color.
Emission The emission material channel of the assigned shader(s)
is overridden by the vertex color.
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Reference > Subdivs preferences
Material blend
Renders material blends in hardware. For details of how Material Blend
operates, see Color > Material Blend Setting.
Backface culling
Specify the display for backface culling:
Off No backface culling occurs. This is the default.
On Surfaces become invisible in areas where the normal is
pointing away from the camera.
Keep wire Displays wireframe outlines, but any areas where the
normal is pointing away from the camera are hidden.
Keep hard
edges Sets backface culling for soft edges only. See Polygonal
Modeling for more information on polygonal modeling.
Subdivs preferences
Subdivs Display
Component Display
Maya draws components (vertices or faces) by default as points to indicate
finer levels of the base mesh. You can switch back to the previous behavior
(drawing components as numbers).
Points Draw components as points.
Numbers Draw components as numbers.
Settings preferences
World Coordinate System
Up axis
Sets the up axis to Y or Z. The default is Y.
Working Units
The units in your preferences relate only to the current scene; you can change
your current scene units without changing the default new scene units.
You can now specify default working units for new scenes (File > New Scene >
). You can specify linear units, angular units, and time settings.
The units you specify are not overwritten when you open a scene file with
different units. The first time you run Maya, the Default Working Units are set
from the Working Unit values in your preferences.
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Reference > Settings preferences
Linear
Sets the unit of measure for operations that use linear values, for example,
moving and scaling. The default is centimeters.
Angular
Sets the unit of measure for operations that use an angular value, for
example, rotation. The default unit is degrees.
Time
Sets the working time unit for animation. The Time Slider displays time
values in the unit chosen. The Time Slider values update when you change
the time units. You can specify the time unit as frames or as clock values.
Frame selections include:
15 fps
Film (24 fps)
PAL (24 fps)
NTSC (30 fps)
Show (48 fps)
PAL Field (50 fps)
NTSC Field (60 fps)
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 40, 75, 80, 100, 120, 125, 150, 200,
240, 250, 300, 375, 400, 500, 600, 750, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000,
3000, and 6000 frames per second.
Clock values include:
milliseconds
seconds
minutes
hours
The terms frame and time refer to working time units as displayed in the
Time Slider. Technically the term frame applies only when Time is specified in
frames per second (fps). In general, time can refer to frames or to clock
values.
Keep keys at current frames
By default when you change the current time unit, the times for any existing
keys are modified so that playback timing is preserved. For example, a key
set at frame 12film changes to frame 15ntsc when the current time unit is
changed to NTSC, since they both represent a key at 0.5 seconds. When this
option is on, it leaves the key at 12ntsc that was originally at 12film. The
default setting for this option is off. The option turns on once the current time
unit is changed.
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Reference > Animation (Settings) preferences
Tolerance
The Tolerance value determines the degree of accuracy that is maintained
between the original and fit (or interpolated) curves. This setting applies globally
to Maya. You can change it on a case-by-case basis. Set the following tolerance
options:
Positional
Set the degree of accuracy between the actual positions of the original and
interpolated curves.
Tangential
Set the degree of accuracy required to determine if two NURBS objects are to
be made tangent across a shared edge or point.
Rotation Interpolation
To set the rotation interpolation options, see Set rotation interpolation for
curves in the Keyframe chapter of the Animation guide.
New curve default
Specifies the Type of rotation interpolation used when creating curves. For
more information on rotation interpolation, see Animated rotation in Maya
on page 30.
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Reference > Animation (Settings) preferences
Independent
Euler-Angle
Curves Calculates the rotation using three angles representing
rotations about the X, Y, and Z axes, and an order or
rotation. In this mode, the curves that define the rotation
for a given node are represented in Euler-angles,
interpolation is performed on each curve independently
in Euler space, and keyframes may occur at your
discretionthey are not synchronized with the other
sibling rotation curves at the node. You can also animate
a single rotation ordinate. This is the default setting.
Synchronized
Euler-Angle
Curves Creates curves that have keyframes on sibling curves
locked together as in Synchronized Quaternion Curves
but the interpolation between keyframes in performed in
Euler-space.
Its useful to keep rotation keyframes synchronized
because rotation is a composition of the three separate
rotate values. Deleting just one key on a curve can have
a dramatic and unexpected effect on the interpolation.
Synchronized
Quaternion
Curves Calculates the rotation interpolation using three
orientations about the X, Y, and Z axes, and an angle of
rotation. The interpolation between keyframes is defined
using quaternion interpolation. Keyframes on related
curves are locked together. When you add, delete, or
move a keyframe on one curve, the corresponding key is
also updated in the sibling curves.
For example, if you drag a keyframe on the X curve to
frame 14, the corresponding keys on the Y and Z curves
also move to frame 14. The Graph Editor displays a
quaternion key as a solid diamond shape.
Tangents
Tangents determine the status of curve segments when they enter and exit from
a key.
Weighted tangents
Weighted tangents represent the amount of influence a tangent has on an
animation curve segment. When on, all new tangents are automatically
weighted. Weighted Tangents is off by default. See Edit tangents in the
Keyframe chapter of the Animation guide.
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Reference > Animation (Settings) preferences
Default in tangent
Specifies the default in tangent type. The In Tangent setting controls the
shape of the animation segment before a key.
Spline A spline tangent rounds the animation curve smoothly
before the key. If the keys Out Tangent is also a spline,
the tangents of the curve are then
co-linear (both at the same angle). This ensures that the
animation curve smoothly enters and exits the key.
Linear A linear tangent creates an animation curve as a straight
line before the key.
Clamped The clamped tangent smoothly rounds the animation
curve (like the Spline selection) before a key unless the
next key is very close. If so, the In Tangent and the
previous keys Out Tangent are both straight (like the
Linear selection), making the animation curve between
the keys straight. Clamped is the default In tangent type.
Flat A flat tangent type sets the tangents before the key to
be horizontal with a slope of 0 degrees (flat).
Plateau A plateau tangent type eases animation curves in and
out of their keyframes, flattens curve segments that
occur between equal-valued keyframes, flattens
keyframes at the points in their curves where hills and
valleys occur, and flattens the first and last keyframes
on their curves.
Default out tangent
Specifies the default out tangent type. The Out Tangent setting controls the
shape of the animation curve right after a key.
Spline A spline tangent rounds the animation curve smoothly
after the key. If the keys In Tangent is also a spline, the
tangents of the curve are then co-linear (both at the
same angle). This ensures that the animation curve
smoothly enters and exits a key.
Linear A linear tangent creates an animation curve as a straight
line after a key.
Clamped Specifies the animation curve is smoothly rounded (like
the Spline selection) after a key unless the next key is
very close. If so, the Out tangent and the previous keys
In tangent are both straight (like the Linear selection),
making the animation curve between the keys straight.
Clamped is the default Out tangent type.
Flat A flat tangent type sets the tangents after the key to be
horizontal with a slope of 0 degrees (flat).
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Reference > Animation (Settings) preferences
Animation Blending
The Animation Blending preferences let you specify the types of blends that can
occur between object connections. For example, when you turn on the Always
Blend with Existing Connections Animation Blend preference, you can then both
animate and constrain a single object.
Always blend with existing connections
When this preference is on:
You can move or key objects that have existing connections such as
animation and constraints.
When you key or constrain an object, Maya inserts a pairBlend node
between the objects existing connections and the new keys or
constraints.
The Lock Output attribute is off by default for all new constraints.
Always Blend with Existing Connections is on by default.
Blend with all except constraints
When this preference is on:
You can only key objects that are not constrained.
When you key an object, Maya inserts pairBlend nodes between the
objects existing connections and the new keys.
Objects with connections cannot be constrained.
The Lock Output attribute is on by default for all new constraints.
Never blend with existing connectionsi
When this preference is on:
You can only key objects that have no existing connections.
Maya does not insert pairBlend nodes to blend object connections.
The Lock Output attribute is on be default for all new constraints.
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Reference > Cameras preferences
Cameras preferences
Default Cameras
Sets the default Near clip and Far clip values for cameras. For more
information, see Clipping planes.
Dynamics preferences
Dynamics
Auto create rigid body
Turn this option on to automatically create active rigid bodies when you
connect an object to a field (apply a fields influence to geometry).
Run up to current time
If you click a frame in the Time Slider, the correct state of all dynamic objects
in the scene is displayed only if Maya performs run-up to calculate each
frame prior to that frame. Turn this option on if you want to click frames in
the Time Slider. Note that run-up also occurs for hidden objects.
Leave run-up turned off if you want to prevent Maya from calculating
dynamics when you click in the Time Slider. This is useful in a scene that has
both nondynamic objects and complex dynamic objects, where you want the
state of nondynamic objects to appear promptly after you click the Time
Slider. If you are keying dynamic objects, its also useful leave run-up turned
off to avoid waiting for run-up calculations that are irrelevant to your keying
activities.
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Reference > Files/Projects preferences
Run up from
Select one of the following options:
Previous Time If you click a frame higher than the current frame, run-up
starts from the prior current time and ends at the frame
you click. Select this option if you wont be changing any
attributes of a dynamic object in the scene. This setting
lessens the time youll spend waiting for run-up. If you
click a frame lower than the current frame, run-up starts
from the beginning of the animation.
Start Time Run-up starts from the start frame regardless of where
you click in the Time Slider. Select this option if you plan
to change any attributes of a dynamic object in the
scene. This ensures that you see the correct object
states when you click in the Time Slider after modifying
an objects dynamics.
Save startup cache for particles
When this option is turned on (the default), Maya automatically saves the
start-up cache for all your particles every time you save the file. Unlike
particle disk caches, you don't have to create the start-up cache explicitly
every time. See Dynamics for more information.
Echo collision commands
When you have a particle collision MEL callback specified, every time a
collision happens, Maya echoes the command that it is running, then runs it.
In a scene with thousands of particles, that produces a great deal of
unnecessary output to the Script Editor. This preference enables and
disables echoing of the collision commands before they are run.
Files/Projects preferences
Projects Settings
Default projects directory, Always start in this project
Use these settings to set up a default projects directory when you create new
projects and on startup.
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Reference > Files/Projects preferences
Display Layer
File import merge
Specify how you want the Display Layer merged when you import a file.
None All layers read in are put in a new layer, renumbered, and
renamed, if necessary to preserve uniqueness.
By Number Rather than creating a new layer, all layers read in that
have the same index number as an existing layer are
merged with that layer.
By Name Rather than creating a new layer, all layers read in that
have the same name as an existing layer are merged
with that layer.
Render Layer
File import merge
Specify how you want the Render Layer merged when you import a file.
None All layers read in are put in a new layer, renumbered, and
renamed, if necessary to preserve uniqueness.
By Number Rather than creating a new layer, all layers read in that
have the same index number as an existing layer are
merged with that layer.
By Name Rather than creating a new layer, all layers read in that
have the same name as an existing layer are merged
with that layer.
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Reference > Modeling preferences
Modeling preferences
Output Geometry Type
Output geometry as
These settings determine the type of geometry created from modeling actions
such as Revolve, Loft, Extrude, Fillet Blend, and so forth. Setting it here
affects all applicable modeling actions. Otherwise, select Mixed to use the
individual settings of each modeling action.
NURBS Interaction
Interaction mode
Specify whether you want certain NURBS modeling commands to behave like
actions or tools. An action performs a discrete function on selected objects.
A tool lets you manipulate objects until you complete the operation. You may
want to change actions to tools as you become proficient at Mayas NURBS
modeling.
To globally change the applicable modeling tools, select Everything is a Tool
or Everything is an Action. To individually set each command, select Mixed.
Polygons
Convert component selection
Turn on Convert component selection to have Maya automatically convert an
object selection to the appropriate component selection mode if an action
works only on components.
For example, if you select a polygonal object and try to extrude faces, Maya
automatically selects all the faces on the object and proceed.
Create meshes single sided
When this is turned on, new polygonal meshes (for example, created by the
polygon primitive tools or by polygonal operations) automatically have their
Render Stats > Double Sided attribute turned off.
Smart command settings
Modifies polygon settings based on the kind of action being performed:
Sets display attributes to show polygon components relevant to the
action (for instance, displaying normals or border edges).
Sets the selection mask to objects/components appropriate for the
action.
Sets selection constraints that make sense for the action.
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Reference > Rendering preferences
Rendering preferences
Rendering
Preferred renderer
You can select your preferred renderer. This is the renderer that Maya resets
to when you create a new scene (File > New Scene) or when you start Maya.
This can be one of Maya Software, Maya Hardware, Maya Vector (if loaded),
or mental ray (if loaded).
Selection preferences
Modifiers
Modifiers control Maya selection operations. They work with masks to control
what is displayed when you select items. You can turn on one or more of the
following:
Single marquee select
Selects the first object in a hierarchy.
Click drag select
Lets you perform one-step click-dragging with the transformation tools. You
can move one object using the Move Tool, then click a second object and the
Move Tool displays. This means you do not have to select the object and the
Move Tool againyou can keep using the Move Tool on any subsequent
selected object. The default is off.
Affects active
If you change from object to component selection mode, the selected object
is not affected. This option lets you select objects and components at the
same time. The default is on.
Pick chooser
When objects overlap in the view, lets you display a pop-up list of the objects
so you can select them. Left-click the overlap area to display the menu. The
default is off. Your selection is highlighted in the scene view as you select an
item in this list. Currently-selected items are marked with a box when the list
appears. (This was formerly called Popup Menu selection.)
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Reference > Selection preferences
Note You must hold down the left mouse key on Linux to select an item
in this list.
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Reference > Selection preferences
Polygon Selection
Select faces with
Specify how you want to select polygonal faces:
Center Select polygonal faces at their center. In other words,
you must click the box at the center of the face to select
the entire face.
Whole Face Select the entire face. You can click anywhere on the
face, even any face edge, to select it.
Priority
You can specify a selection priority for objects and components. By default,
NURBS curves have a higher selection priority than surfaces. This means that
Maya selects the NURBS curve before the surface when you select geometry that
contains both NURBS curves and surfaces.
3 Enter the
priority number.
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Reference > Snapping preferences
Snapping preferences
With these options, you can control the size region around the mouse pointer that
is used for the snap operation.
Snapping
Use snap tolerance
When on, the snap region is restricted to a square area around the cursor,
defined by the Snap Tolerance option. When off, the snap region is unlimited;
you can snap to anything viewable.
Snap tolerance
Controls the size of the snapping area around the cursor when Use Snap
Tolerance is on. For example, if you have two curves close together and you
try snapping to one of the curves, the object may snap to the wrong curve. To
avoid this, try using a small Snap Tolerance value.
Edge Snapping
Snap magnets
Controls the number of magnet points inside edges. For example, 3 means
there are magnet points at each end and in the middle.
Magnet tolerance
Controls how sticky each magnet is; that is, how close the point must be to
a magnet before the point snaps to it. Set this to 100 to constrain points to
always be at magnet points.
Sound preferences
Sound
Waveform display
Controls how much of a sounds waveform (amplitude representation) is
displayed in the Time Slider. Default is Top.
Top Displays only the top half of the sound.
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Reference > Timeline preferences
Repeat on hold
Specifies that a sound continuously repeats at the current time as you hold
down the mouse button until you drag the Current Time Indicator to the next
time in the Time Slider. Useful for locating a particular sound in a soundtrack.
Default is off.
Repeat size
Specifies how much sound (in the current time unit) is repeated when you
turn on Repeat on Hold. 1 specifies the smallest segment of soundabout
one-third of a time unit in duration, with the other two-thirds being silent. 2
specifies about half a time unit of sound, the rest being silence. 3 species
that the sound loops for that time unit. Only available if Repeat on Hold is on.
Timeline preferences
Timeline
Playback start/end
Specifies playback ranges start and end times. The playback start and end
times specify the Time Sliders playback range. The playback range is always
within the animation range. You can also specify the time units. See Edit
animation preferences in the Animation Basics chapter of the Animation
guide.
Animation start/end
Specifies animation ranges start and end times. The animation start and
end times specify the Range Sliders range. The playback range always stays
within the animation range, so changing the animation start and end times
can also change the playback start and end times. Default animation start
time is 0.00. Default animation end time is 40.00. You can also specify the
time units. See Edit animation preferences in the Animation Basics chapter
of the Animation guide.
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Reference > Timeline preferences
Height
Specifies the Time Sliders height (the vertical space it occupies). Increasing
the height is especially useful when you are working with sound. Double or
quadruple the height for a better display of sound waveforms. Click 1x
(normal height), 2x (double height), or 4x (quadruple height). Default is 1x.
Key ticks
Specifies how the line markers that indicate keys appear on the Time Slider.
Click None, Active, or Channel Box. Default is Active.
None Specifies that key ticks are not displayed. Selecting
None is useful if you have a lot of keys and want to
improve workspace selection performance.
Active Specifies that key ticks are displayed, with associated
keys available for selection and editing.
Channel Box Specifies that key ticks appear only for the currently
selected channels in the Channel Box. This is useful if
you are using the Time Slider to edit keys on particular
channels of an animated object.
Key tick size
Change the thickness of ticks that represent keyframes in the Maya Time
Slider. Key thickness is measured in pixels. The minimum key thickness is 1
pixel and the maximum is 63 pixels.
Options
Options include Timecode and Snapping.
Timecode Specifies that Maya display the current time in video
standard timecode. The current time is displayed next to
the Current Time Indicator in the Time Slider. You can
specify an initial timecode value with Timecode Offset.
Default is off.
Snapping Specifies that Maya step through animation times by
integer values, snapping to the nearest integer. Default
is on. If working with sound or small time ranges, you
can turn off Snapping for smoother scrubbing.
Timecode offset
Specifies the timecode of the initial time on the Time Slider. Useful for
matching videotape timing. Available if Timecode is on. Default is
00:00:00:00.
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Reference > Timeline preferences
Playback
Update view
If your workspace layout includes several views (for example, selected from
Panels > Layouts), you can improve performance by having the scene play in
only the currently active view. Click Active or All. Default is Active.
Active Scene plays only in the current, active view.
All Scene plays in all the workspace views.
Looping
Specifies what happens when the scene plays forward and then reaches the
playback end time (or if playing backwards, the playback start time). Click
Once, Oscillate, or Continuous. Default is Continuous.
Once Specifies that the scene plays once and then stops.
Oscillate Specifies that the scene plays forwards (or backwards)
and then plays backwards (or forwards) until you stop
playback.
Continuous Specifies the scene plays forward to the playback end
time (or plays backward to the playback start time) and
then begins again at the playback start time (or playback
end time) until you stop playback.
Playback speed
Specifies the speed at which your scene plays. Select Play Every Frame, Real-
time (24 fps), Half (12 fps), Twice (48 fps), or Other. Default is Play Every
Frame.
You can also specify the playback time units. See Edit animation
preferences in the Animation Basics chapter of the Animation guide.
Play every
frame When selected, all the frames in your scene play,
updating each before displaying the next. The speed
depends on how long it takes your workstation to
compute and draw each frame. You can specify the
playback frame increment in the Playback by field. For
example, a Playback value of 2.0 will cause only every
other frame to play.
Real-time When selected, your scene plays in real-time or 24
frames per second (fps). Maya may not display all
frames, depending on your workstations capabilities, the
scenes complexity, and the display mode (for example,
wireframe or smooth shading).
Half When selected, your scene plays at half the speed of
real-time or 12 frames per second (fps).
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Reference > Undo preferences
Undo preferences
Undo
Undo
Select On if you want to be able to undo operations. This is the default.
Queue
Select Infinite to perform an unlimited number of undo operations. This
option can use a lot of memory. Select Finite to limit the number of undo
operations you can perform (specified in the Queue Size box). The default is
Finite.
Queue size
If Finite is the selected Queue setting, specify here the number of undo
operations you can perform. The default is 50.
Save Actions
Set whether or not to save preferences when you exit Maya.
Modules preferences
Maya includes a number of different software modules. Each time you start
Maya, the software loads all the available licensed modules.
Loading several modules can use a lot of RAM and thus increase the start-up
time. To avoid this, you can disable one or more of the modules. You can still
load a disabled module by selecting it from the main menu bar.
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You can also disable various modules based on the specific tasks you are
performing. For example, if you are only rendering, you can improve system
response time by disabling Dynamics.
Application preferences
There are two groups of options you can set.
Application Path for Viewing Images
Application Path for Viewing Sequences
Select your own image viewer or image sequence viewer to be launched from
within Maya instead of using FCheck. This program is used when you select
File > View Image or File > View Sequence; this also applies to Playblast and
Hypershade > Edit > Render Texture Range.
Type in the path to your image viewer, or browse for it by clicking the folder
icon.
In the Optional Flags section, use the following syntax to set up your image
viewer:
Identifier Meaning
%f File name
%s Start frame
%e End frame
%b Jump by frames
%r Frame rate
When Maya invokes this command, these identifiers are replaced by proper
values specified in Maya.
Example
The following examples refer to FrameCycler, although you can use many other
programs to view images and sequences. Please see your products
documentation for details of its command-line support.
To set up your View Image and View Sequence commands to work with
FrameCycler, enter the following:
View Image.
Path:
C:\Program Files\IRIDAS FrameCycler Standard\FrameCycler.exe
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Optional Flags:
%f
View Sequence.
Path:
C:\Program Files\IRIDAS FrameCycler Standard\FrameCycler.exe
Optional Flags:
%f %s-%e
Application Path for Editing Adobe Photoshop Files
Specifies the application used for editing Adobe Photoshop files from PSD
file texture nodes, using the View or Edit buttons, or when creating or editing
PSD networks. This setting is useful when you have more than one version of
Adobe Photoshop installed.
Application Path for Editing Other Image Files
Specifies the application used for editing images from file texture nodes,
using the View or Edit buttons.
For more information, see View or Edit file textures from Maya in the Whats
New.
For both of these options, do one of the following:
Type in the path to the application you want to use in the field provided.
Browse to the applications executable.
External Communication
This section sets options that control the command port of Maya. These settings
are generally used to facilitate communication with the Maya Web browser plug-
in. For more information, see Maya Web browser plug-in on page 23.
Default command port
Enables or disables the default command port.
Name
The name of the command port. You can change the name (for security
reasons, for example).
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Film Back
The Film Back attributes control the basic properties of a camera (for example,
the cameras film format: 16mm, 35mm, 70mm).
Film Gate
Lets you select a preset camera type. Maya automatically sets the Camera
Aperture, Film Aspect Ratio, and Lens Squeeze Ratio. To set these attributes
individually, set Film Gate to User. The default setting is User.
Camera Aperture
The height and width of the cameras aperture or film back, measured in
inches. The Camera Aperture determines the relationship between Focal
Length and Angle of View. The default values are 1.417 and 0.945.
Film Aspect Ratio
The ratio of the camera apertures width to its height. Maya automatically
updates the Film Aspect Ratio (and vice versa). The valid range is 0.01 to 10.
The default value is 1.5.
Film Offset
Vertically and horizontally offsets the resolution gate and the film gate
relative to the scene. Changing the Film Offset produces a two-dimensional
track. Film Offset is measured in inches. The default setting is 0.
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1 The view guide fills the view. The edges of the view guide may
be exactly aligned with the edges of the view, in which case
the view guide are not visible.
>1 The higher the value, the more space is outside the view
guide.
Depth of Field
These attributes provide control over the cameras focus.
Tip The more out of focus an image is, the longer it takes to generate
the final rendered image (that is, the post-render blur takes longer.)
Depth Of Field
If on, some objects in the scene are sharply focused and others are blurred
or out of focus, based on their distance from the camera. If off, all objects in
the scene are sharply focused. Depth Of Field is off by default.
Focus Distance
The distance from the camera at which objects appear in sharp focus,
measured in the scenes linear working unit. Decreasing the Focus Distance
also decreases the depth of field. The valid range is 0 to . The default value
is 5.
F Stop
The range of distances from the camera within which objects appear in sharp
focus (the depth of field). The range of distances is centered on the Focus
Distance. The range is smaller toward the camera and larger away from the
camera. The valid range is 1 (small depth of field) to 64 (large depth of field).
The default value is 5.6.
Focus Region Scale
Scales the Focus Distance value. The valid range is 0 to . The default value
is 1.
Output Settings
Control whether a camera generates an image during rendering, and what types
of images the camera renders.
Renderable
If on, the camera can create an image file, mask file, and/or depth file during
rendering. By default, Renderable is on for the default perspective camera,
and off for all other cameras.
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Note Changing the Camera attribute in the Image File Output section of
the Render Settings window can change the Renderable setting in a
cameras Attribute Editor.
Image
If on (and Renderable is on), the camera creates an image file during
rendering. The default setting is on.
Mask
If on (and Renderable is on), the camera creates a mask during rendering. A
mask is an 8-bit channel (the alpha channel) in the image file that represents
objects in shades of gray. Black areas represent areas where there are no
objects (or fully transparent objects), and white areas represent areas where
there are (solid) objects. Masks are used primarily for compositing.
Note If the Image Format in the Render Settings window is not set to
Maya IFF, Maya16 IFF, RLA, or one of the alpha channel enabled
formats which are supported by QuickTime, the camera does not
include the mask information in the alpha channel of the image file.
Instead, it creates a separate mask file. See also the Render
Settings chapter in the Rendering book.
Depth
If on (and Renderable is on), the camera creates a depth file during
rendering. A depth file is a type of image file that represents the distance of
objects from the camera by shades of gray. Depth files are used primarily for
compositing. When on, the Depth Type attributes (next) are enabled.
Depth Type
Determines which objects Maya uses to create the Depth file.
Closest Visible
Depth Uses the closest object to the camera. When
transparent objects are located in front of other objects,
turn on Transparency Based Depth to ignore the
transparent object.
Furthest Visible
Depth Most often used when a Particle Effect is occluded by an
opaque object. Maya uses the Furthest Visible Depth to
create a Depth file.
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Tip When transparent objects are located in front of other objects, you
can turn on Transparency Based Depth to ignore the transparent
object.
Threshold
Used when compositing multiple layers of transparency (which varies from 0
to 1). For example, if Threshold is 0.9 (the default), when transparent
surfaces add up to 0.9 or larger, the surface becomes opaque.
Environment
Control the appearance of the scenes background as seen from the camera.
Different cameras can use different backgrounds.
Background Color
The color of the scenes background. The default color is black.
Image Plane
Creates an image plane and attaches it to the camera. Clicking the Create
button automatically changes the focus of the Attribute Editor to include
attributes for an image plane. See the Rendering book for details about
Image Plane attributes.
Special Effects
Shutter Angle
Controls the blurriness of motion blurred objects.
In a real-world camera, the shutter is actually a metal disk that is missing a
pie-shaped section. This disk sits between the lens and the film, and rotates
at a constant rate. When the missing section is in front of the film, it allows
light from the lens to pass through and expose the film. The larger the angle
of the pie-shaped section, the longer the exposure time, and moving objects
are more blurred. Shutter Angle is measured in degrees. The valid range is 1
to 360. The default value is 144.
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Display Options
Controls the display of view guides in the cameras view, and provides options for
moving the camera. You can also access most of these attributes in any panels
View > Camera Settings pull-out menu.
Display Film Gate
Displays a rectangle that indicates the area of the cameras view that a real-
world camera would record on film. The dimensions of the film gate represent
the dimensions of the camera aperture. The film gate view guide indicates
the area of the cameras view that renders only if the aspect ratios of the
camera aperture and rendering resolution are the same.
Display Resolution
Displays a rectangle that indicates the area of the cameras view that
renders. The dimensions of the resolution gate represent the rendering
resolution. The rendering resolution values are displayed above the resolution
gate. See also the Rendering book.
Display Field Chart
Displays a grid that represents the twelve standard cel animation field sizes.
The largest field size (number 12) is identical to the rendering resolution (the
resolution gate). See also the Rendering book.
Display Safe Action
Displays a rectangle indicating the region in which all of the scenes action
takes place if you plan to display the rendered images on a television screen.
The safe action view guide represents 90% of the rendering resolution (the
resolution gate). See also the Rendering book.
Display Safe Title
Displays a rectangle indicating the region in which to keep titles (text) if you
plan to display the rendered images on a television screen. The safe title
view guide represents 80% of the rendering resolution (the resolution gate).
See also the Rendering book.
Display Film Pivot
Displays of the film pivot guide when looking through the camera.
Display Film Origin
Displays the film origin guide when looking through the camera.
Movement Options
Undoable Movement
If on, all camera movements are written to the Script Editor and become part
of the undo queue which lets you undo or redo them. This also lets you copy
camera movements and use them for other cameras or scenes.
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If off, you cannot undo or redo camera movements. Use Previous View or
Next View instead. Undoable movement is off by default.
Center of Interest
The distance from the camera to the center of interest, measured in the
scenes linear working unit.
Tumble Pivot
The point the Tumble Tool pivots the camera about when Tumble Camera
About is set to Tumble Pivot in the Tumble Tool settings window.
Orthographic Views
When you create a camera from the Create menu, the default view is perspective.
If you want an orthographic camera view, click the Orthographic check box and
change the Orthographic Width if necessary.
The Orthographic Views attributes also let you control the field of view for
orthographic cameras.
General attributes
General attributes
the name of the node (for example, nurbsSphere1 or lambert1)
Input Connection button
Click the Input Connection button to display the first input connection node
for the currently displayed node. Right-click the Input Connection button to
display a list of all input connection nodes. You can then select a node from
this list to display in the Attribute Editor.
Output Connection button
Click the Output Connection button to display the first output connection
node for the currently displayed node. Right-click the Output Connection
button to display a list of all output connection nodes. You can then select a
node from this list to display in the Attribute Editor.
Focus button Click this button to set the Attribute Editor focus to this
node.
a sample image or icon that represents the node (where appropriate)
Select button Click this button to select the node that is currently
displayed in the Attribute Editor.
Load Attributes button Click this button to manually load the attributes of
the selected object or node.
Copy Tab button Click this button to create a new window containing the
selected tab.
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Transform attributes
Translate
Specifies the objects translation (Translate X, Y, and Z) attribute values in
world space.
Rotate
Specifies the rotation (Rotate X, Y, and Z attribute values) of the object in
world space.
Scale
Specifies the objectss scale (Scale X, Y, and Z) attribute values in world
space.
Rotate Order
Specifies the objects rotation order. You can set the rotate order when you
want a specific final rotation for an object, because each rotate order option
produces a different end orientation. For example, if the rotation order for an
object is set to xyz, the object first rotates about its X-axis, then its Y-axis,
and finally its Z-axis. Default is xyz.
Rotate Axis
Offsets the orientation of the object relative to the orientation of the objects
local rotation axis.
Inherits Transform
When this attribute is on, the current object inherits the transformations
(Translate, Rotate, Scale, and Shear values) of its parent object.
Display
Sets the overall display settings for the current object.
Display Handle
When this attribute is on, the display handle for the current object is
displayed.
Display Local Axis
When this attribute is on, the local axis of the current object is displayed.
Selection Handle (xyz)
Lets you offset the selection handle in the X, Y, and Z axes from the object
relative to the handles current position.
Show Manip Default
Sets the current objects default manipulator shape.
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Node behavior
To change node behavior, select the node and expand the Node Behavior section
of the Attribute Editor.
Caching
Turn Caching on to temporarily store input node evaluations in the cache. When
Maya needs these evaluations (as input to the node), it uses the information
stored in the cache rather than re-evaluating the input node. If no changes have
been made to the node, it redraws more quickly. The cache is destroyed when
you edit an attribute. Note that caching uses more memory, which could affect
Mayas performance.
Node State
Changing the node state can improve performance. There are six possible node
states:
Normal Causes the node to behave normally, according to the
defined settings and effects. This is the default.
HasNoEffect Disables any effects on the node so that fewer
calculations are necessary at the time of redraw. The
effect does not render until you reset the Node State
back to Normal. Maya evaluates the nodes in the nodes
history, but not the node itself.
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Notes
The HasNoEffect state has a different meaning for each node type. Some
node types do not implement the state, in which case the state acts just like
Normal.
The Waiting node states are used internally by Maya to keep track of nodes
that are waiting for a view update in the Hypergraph. You should not normally
set nodes to a Waiting state.
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2 Edit the Threshold value for the object whose distance you want to change,
and press Enter (Windows and Linux) or Return (Mac OS X).
Tip You can also re-order a group by selecting Edit > Level of Detail >
Ungroup. Re-order the objects and create a new group.
Note If you reorder the children of a level of detail node from the
Hypergraph, the threshold values change unexpectedly. Use the
outliner to reorder the children.
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Index
azimuth cameras
control with mouse 42 aperture 443
description 313 azimuth 313
center of interest 313
Center of Interest option 448
B control which one is shown 46
backfaces elevation 313
culling, display options 422 hiding 293
Background Color attribute manipulators, hiding 294
node 443
Environment attributes 446
pitch 314
Based on distance option 263, 264
revolving 310
Bevel revolving about center of interest 313
text type 257 rolling 313
blend box for colors 360 tracking 311
Blend With All Except Constraints 427 yaw 314
Bounding Box zooming 313
Dolly camera setting 312 caps
option 316 for cones 237
bounding volumes of objects 355 for cylinders 237
buttons Center of Interest
File 179 about 448
quick layout 196 Center Pivot (Modify menu) 271
Render 181 center the view 43
Sidebar 182 Change Precision 332
snapping 180
Channel Box 346
colors 349
C Channel Control
option 346
Camera Tools (View menu) 310
Channels 225
Check Box option 368
check boxes in marking menus 368
Chord Height Ratio (tessellation) 277
Chord Length
knots for CV curves 254
knots for edit point curves 255
circle
create 238
Clamped animation option 424
Click Box Size option 433
Closest Visible Depth, Depth Type 445
cloth
hiding 293
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Index
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Index
editors faces
Attribute 338 display options 421
Attribute Spread Sheet 345 snap to center 190
attribute, open multiple 103 factory settings, resetting 26
Channel Box 346 falloff
Color 359 curve modification 264
Component 332 linear modification 263
component 82 power modification 264
hotkey 369 script modification 264
Hypergraph 91, 390
Far Clip Plane attribute 322
Layer 352
File buttons 179
Outliner 90, 334
Panel 327 File menu
plug-in manager 372 Create Reference 217
Relationship 356 Export All 212
shelf 146 Export Selection 212
Visor 361 Import 208
New Scene 201
elevation
Open Scene 202
control with mouse 42
Optimize Scene Size 207
description, for azimuth elevation tool 313
Project 222
Empty Group (Create menu) 261 Reference Editor 221
Enable Default Scene 201 Save Scene 204
Environment attributes 446 Save Scene As 205
EP Curve Tool (Create menu) 255 file referencing
EPS file import 211 Lock file 207
Evaluate Nodes (Modify menu) 270 Save Reference Edits 383
exact transformation values, typing 60 File Type option 202
Exit Upon Completion files
Tool option 161 formats, supported 122
Expand Popup List modifier option 433 setting default projects directory 429
Export All (File menu) 212 Film Aspect Ratio attribute 443
export objects to a new file 128 Film Back attributes 443
Export Selection (File menu) 212 Film Gate attribute 443
Expression Editor Film Offset attribute 443
interface 379 Fit To Selection 287
expressions Flat animation option 424
connect attributes with 113 Flat Shade options 316
External Communication 441 flat tangents 426
ExternalWebBrowser directory 32 flip objects 68
eyedropper tool 360 focal length of camera, changing 313
Focus Distance attribute 444
Focus Region Scale attribute 444
F focus, command line 409
F Stop attribute 444
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Index
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Index
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Index
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Index
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Index
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Index
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Index
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Index
primitives quick
circle curves 238 layout buttons 196
cones 237 Quick Select Set (Create > Sets) 261
creating 78 Quick Select Sets (Edit menu) 227
cubes 237
cylinders 237
interactive creation 234, 238 R
interactive setting of subdivisions 253
Radio Button option 368
plane 237
planes 237 radio buttons in marking menus 368
polygonal, setting axis (orientation) for 248 Radius
polygonal, setting texture mapping for 249 primitive sphere option 235
setting texture mapping 249 ramp control 344
spheres 234 rebuilding graph 397
square curves 238 redo 77
torus 238 Reference Editor
priority selection preference 434 description 380
prism primitive Reference Editor (File menu) 221
description 241 region
Project (File menu) 222 selection, change size of 38
Project Data Locations 222 Region of Effect 415
projects region of effect display 415
directory, default 429 Relationship Editor
organize files 129 interface 356
propMod script 264, 265 Relative transform 182
proportional transformation 61 Reload Proxy As 388
proxy references Remove Duplicate Shading Networks 208
adding a proxy reference 388
Remove Instance
Reload Proxy As 388
unparenting 233
Remove Proxy 388
Remove Proxy option 388
proxy tag
Rename 182
options 220, 389
Renderable attribute 444
pyramid primitive
description 242 rendering
buttons 181
nodes 92
Q repeat last command 77
quadrangles Repeat on Hold 436
converting NURBS to 277 Repeat Size 436
quality, performance 162 Replace option 284
Quantize 285 Reposition Using Middle Mouse Button 419
Quantize Levels 285 reset tools or actions 26
Queue option 439 Reset Transformations (Modify menu) 266
Queue Size option 439 return to previous views 43
revolving cameras 310
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selection shelves
about 19 about 23
handles, displaying 295 add an item 147
options 180 custom names or icons 149
selection masks customize 146
about 179 default 28
actions 34 edit 148
Selective Preload 203, 364 options 307
sending path 163
MEL protocol commands 23 shortcuts
sets tools and actions 198
defined 132 tumble, track, dolly 41
view 197
editing 356
partitions 139 Show (Display menu) 292
Sets (Create menu) 261 Show in Contents 405
settings files, modify 162 Show Manipulator tool 194
Shade options 316 Show menu
Shade Templates 416 Grid 321
Isolate Select 320
Shaded Divisions option 419
Show Nodes Which Are
shaded objects
Visor 362
smoothness, controlling 419
Show Selected Columns 333
wireframe on 415
Show Selected Objects 333
shader libraries
browsing with Visor 361 Shutter Angle attribute 446
Shader Template 288 Sidebar buttons 182
shading simplification, hull 301
applying to all objects 319 size
interactive 318 construction plane 260
shading groups handles 417
display example 397 manipulators 417
displaying in dependency graph 397 of scene, optimize 134
Shading menu 315 slanted boxes 396
shape nodes 92 Smooth Shade options 316
Shapes 225 smoothness
shapes option 216 change 47
setting 419
shelf editor 146
Snap Align Objects (Modify menu) 267
Snap box dolly to
camera settings 312
Snap Rotate 190
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Index
tools Two Point Circular Arc (Create > Arc Tools) 256
about 19, 160
add to shelf 147
changing to actions 160 U
creating from menus 160 U Type tessellation method 279
using 25
U/V
top of a view patches, cube option 237
show information 47
UI Elements (Display menu) 292
torus underworld nodes 92
create 238
undo
Track Geometry setting 311 change history 77
Track Scale setting 311 option 439
track the view 41 setting number of 439
track tool 311 Undoable Movement attribute 447
transform node 92 Ungroup (Edit menu) 230
transformation Ungroup Under 231
about 53 Uniform
along axes 68 knots for CV curves 254
rotate attributes 191 uniform knots
set values to zero 71 for edit point curves 255
type exact values 60
Uniform tessellation method
Transformation Tools (Modify menu) 262
when converting to polygons 283
transition speed, changing 402
Unparent (Edit menu) 233
Translate attributes 449 Unselect All button 185
translators 122
Unselect brush option 184
Transparency Based depth
unselecting
Output Settings attributes, for cameras 446
CVs 184
triad option 186 vertices 184
triangles Update View 438
converting NURBS to 277 upstream and downstream connections 402
Trim
Use Namespaces 220
text type 257
User Defined
Tumble
pivot point, reposition 235
about 41
User defined anim curve option 264
camera settings 310
Locked camera setting 311 User defined script option 264
Ortho step camera setting 311 user interface
Orthographic views camera settings 311 about 17
pivot camera setting 310 customize 143
Stepped camera setting 311 hide elements 411
Tumble camera about camera settings 310 object-specific, show or hide 50
Tumble pivot camera setting 310 preferences files 163
Tumble scale camera setting 310 userColors.mel 163
Tumble Pivot attribute 448 userHotkeys.mel 163
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Index
Z-up
about 18
switch to Y-up 162
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