Softimage to Maya hotkeys
So what I'm trying to do is to replace Maya's "select vertices" (to t), "select faces"(to y), "select edges"(to u) Hotkeys with the ones from XSI. I cannot figure out how to "toggle selection", which would be the "S" key in XSI.
I remember I had at least a written tutorial about how to do this, but I think there even was a video where a guy did the exact same thing. It seemed really helpful, but I've been looking all over the internez and it can't be found.
If anyone knows about a video where someone shows how to setup Maya keys like XSI/Softimage ones, I'd be very happy about a link.
Or else, can someone tell me what the equivalent to toggle selection is in Maya and how to change it to the "S" key?!
I remember I had at least a written tutorial about how to do this, but I think there even was a video where a guy did the exact same thing. It seemed really helpful, but I've been looking all over the internez and it can't be found.
If anyone knows about a video where someone shows how to setup Maya keys like XSI/Softimage ones, I'd be very happy about a link.
Or else, can someone tell me what the equivalent to toggle selection is in Maya and how to change it to the "S" key?!
Replies
If by "toggle selection" you mean to switch between object and component mode, I think the code is
SelectToggleMode
That will switch between object mode and the last active component mode. There is an individual key to switch between each component selection mode. You can use the Search... button in the Hotkey Editor to locate specific commands (case sensitive). Wildcard searches work here also.
You can also search by hotkey (also case sensitive). Enter a key and press Find, and it'll take you straight to that command. If you want to re-bind vertex, edge, and face component modes, the hotkeys for that are F9, F10, and F11. Object mode is F8.
I did what you suggest though and it works perfectly! Cool thing.
Does anyone know about such a video, or how is it that I cannot find it? I can find the opposite: people using XSI like Maya ^^
The S key might be the only key of importance if you decide to rebind it. It's used to set keyframes. Alternatively you can toggle auto-keyframe or select individual channels in the Channel Box and use the right click menu to set keys.
You can always check what a key does by entering it into the box in the Hotkey Editor: the bound command should appear directly underneath.
I used Softimage, loved it, and I love Maya. It took a while for me to adjust, things were much simpler and easier with soft, but I made the switch because from what I've heard, there's not a lot of studios using soft (comparatively). And although you can probably map your keys to behave similarly to soft, I found it better to just adjust to Maya's hotkeys. Like zbrush, you have to stop fighting i/making it behave like something else that it's not. Embrace it, pros and cons. Once you get used to the program you'll find yourself being able to switch back and forth without struggling/squeezing your brain, and also you'll be able to capitalize on the strengths/weaknesses of each software. Also, you won't be completely crippled when you move to a workstation without your settings.
also once you realize the marking menu, can work like mouse gestures you might like it, for simple thins like changing component types, i do it so fast you don't even see the menu, since it is now muscle memory, for what direction to drag for what tools or components.
Maya is half Softimage with the 2014 release anyway. I'm just waiting for them to make those keytabs default ^^ If you tried XSI you know it is faster for modeling than Maya. I am bashing the best of two worlds together. And really - I only changed the four keybinds Bartalon clarified and already feel right at home.
As for settings on other workstations: I copy "userHotkeys.mel" and put them in the Documents folder there.
Coming from xsi, I used to hate hotbox and marking menus and found it pointless, cluttered, and slow...but now I can't live with it. You really have to give it a spin, I tried it several times, gave up several times, then powered through when I saw a colleague work blazing fast with the marking menus which I didn't know was possible. Seems like you're approaching Maya with a closed mind, similar to how I did initially, so it might just be better to stick with soft since it is equally awesome. May I ask why you're making the switch to Maya?
When I started using Maya I got used to all the default settings and eventually found huge workflow gaps which I closed by adding more hotkeys. Just gonna say: Select Shell and Extrude are excellent hotkeys to have.
If you're looking for vacant hotkeys to safely bind, the numbers 1-0 are available when used with any combination of shift, alt, or ctrl. Also the `/~ key.
@Sinking
Unrelated, I just realized you were also the poster recently asking about UVs in Maya. If you're sticking with Maya and plan on doing UVs in Maya, definitely install RoadKill. While it's not perfect, it's simple and gets the job done pretty good with some tweaking after. Also it's free. And just in case you miss the viewport render of soft, you might want to take a look at this (http://therenderblog.com/maya-viewport-render/).
And Roadkill. Yeah, I don't do a whole lot of organic modeling, so I won't be needing it all the time. I mostly try to get my uvs as straight as possible. I also found out new stuff about Maya's unwrapping tools. 2 Examples I found very useful:
1. If I select a UV shell and chose "Smooth UVs tool", Maya will just select the innermost vertices and I can smooth them (pointless). However, I can still select 'ctrl+RMB -> to shell", so it lets me use the smooth tool on the entire shell. And that results in a more organic unfold.
2. I wasn't aware I can use the "unfold selected UVs" on a selection of vertexes in the UV editor. This helps a lot when smoothing out parts of an organic shape, since you can select first a few vertexes and unfold them and then add some more, until the whole thing is neatly unwrapped.
I don't suppose any of this is new to you guys, but I just found that out a short time ago through trial and error. I'm always quite happy when Maya actually works in way better than I had imagined. And it surprises me lots of times. Cheers!
1) regarding the smooth UVs tool, I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing, but there's a toggle option there for the tool (pin borders if I remember correctly) so that the Shell border will/will not be affected by the smoothing. Both are useful for me.
Seems to me you've loosened up and are starting to see/accept Maya's differences/strengths and weaknesses already. Good luck!
Ctrl+RMB, Ctrl+Shift+RMB, Shift+RMB. The triforce of Maya marking menus. For a lot of hard-surface modeling tasks these are almost all that you will use, barring custom tools. These, however, are context-sensitive and will change depending on where your cursor is over and what selection mode or tool you are in.
As for setting up hotkeys, in my oponion you should stay as default as possible and get familiar with that. I only have 1 custom Marking Menu for modeling purposes and that is to access functions I commonly use that aren't in the default marking menus. The reason is that if I need someone else to drive, they know how to navigate around.
On the other hand, if you do a lot of freelance or remote/off-site work, then this doesn't matter and you can personalize all you like.