maya hotkey questions! (from 3ds max & SI user)
Hi There,
I am trying to learn maya for future projects and I have some questions about the hotkeys I try to setup so hope you can help me out!
First I must say that I am a 3ds max/Softimage user (in case you want to make reference I'll understand)
Ok lets go then:
1) I noticed there is no "shift" option in the keyboard shortcuts by default, is there anyway to overcome this? I am very used to using the shift key for some shortcuts, is there a way around if not possible?
2) Is there a shell modifier in maya? extruding polygons while keeping backfaces.
3) how do you set up a shortcut for "inset polygons" can t seem to find it in the shortcut editor. I ve got a plugin called "Nex" which kinda copies softimage workflow in maya, but I cant seem to find that option there neither.
4) How do you "edge loop" and "ring loop" is there a way to assign a shortcut?
5) how do you set pivot to local, parent, world etc?
6) Is there a way to do adjacent selection? meaning for example selecting a polygon and then switching selection to the edges surrounding that polygon instead.
Thanks in advanced for your help!
I am trying to learn maya for future projects and I have some questions about the hotkeys I try to setup so hope you can help me out!
First I must say that I am a 3ds max/Softimage user (in case you want to make reference I'll understand)
Ok lets go then:
1) I noticed there is no "shift" option in the keyboard shortcuts by default, is there anyway to overcome this? I am very used to using the shift key for some shortcuts, is there a way around if not possible?
2) Is there a shell modifier in maya? extruding polygons while keeping backfaces.
3) how do you set up a shortcut for "inset polygons" can t seem to find it in the shortcut editor. I ve got a plugin called "Nex" which kinda copies softimage workflow in maya, but I cant seem to find that option there neither.
4) How do you "edge loop" and "ring loop" is there a way to assign a shortcut?
5) how do you set pivot to local, parent, world etc?
6) Is there a way to do adjacent selection? meaning for example selecting a polygon and then switching selection to the edges surrounding that polygon instead.
Thanks in advanced for your help!
Replies
2. Found this script http://hugobozzshih007.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-mel-tools-shell-modifier.html
3. Believe they fixed inset in 2012. But if you're using an older version, Robot Gilardi released an inset tool (http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/downloads/scripts-plugins/modeling/poly-tools/c/maya-inset-tool/description#tabs)
4. Do you want something like connect from max or the graphite version of edge loop. Insert edge loop works and you can change options to have x number of equal edges being cut.
As for #4, what I meant was simply how to select edges as "ring loop" (parallel edges) and edge loop (edge loop!)
1) Put a capital letter in the hotkey box
2) dunno yet
3) Just use extrude, keep 'Local Z' at 0 and just modify 'Offset'.
4) Edge loop = double click an edge. With NEX: edge ring = select an edge and then ctrl+shift+double click on the next edge in the ring. Without NEX: edge ring is in your ctrl+right click marking menu.
5) NEX has all this in the transform options. In 'vanilla' Maya, double click on whichever transform tool in the tool box, or click on the box next to the transform tool in the 'Modify' > 'Transformation Tools' menu.
6) in NEX: ctrl+click on the different component buttons. (i prefer hotkeys for this). Without NEX: use your ctrl+right click marking menu.
To Select an edge ring you can just double click an edge to select that loop.
For the ring select the edge, then hold ctrl and right click, then Hover over "Edge Ring Utilities" then over "To Edge Ring" and release and it will select an edge ring.
I wish there was a quicker way for selecting edge rings like there is for loops, but it isn't too bad.
5) Tool Settings of Translate/Rotate/Scale Tools have these options.
6) Select face and then go to the Select Menu - Convert Selection - To Edges.
Make a hotkey. Don't have Maya handy just now but I'm pretty sure I just copied the command from the script editor and assigned it to a hotkey.
Also, a quick way to access options for transform/scale/rotate is to press and hold the hotkey + left click. If you like to work with minimal interface all the marking menu stuff + hotkeys will allow for it. Ctrl+Space toggles between full interface and minimal. It also restores any UI elements you may have accidentally hidden.
or CTRL + F10
Convert selection shortcuts are CTRL +
F9 = verts
F10 = edges
F11 = faces
F12 = uvs
the marking menus become very quick after a week or 2 of maya.
i already know edge ring is in the bottom left of the select marking menu, so i can just activate the menu and flick to the bottom left in one action, and it happens sofast you don't even see the marking menu, this works for multi-level actions too, if you do it in one quick motion it acts like a mouse gesture instead of a menu.
also not sure if it's possible in maya, but silo and voidworld have a double middle mouse click for rings.
I think left and right are loops and up down is for rings.
pressing again selects the next loop or ring
Also selecting an edge then double click on another edge in the same loop will select all edges in-between on that loop
(also works with faces and verts)
Pinkbox, I was just looking for that... But do you think is possible to change f9, f10, f11...
to simply "1" , "2", "3", "4" I think it is setup for smoothing as default. But I'll prefer to have my smoothing to "+" & "-" [numpad] as in softimage ideally or as nurms toggle in max (jumping from 0 to "level 2" smoothing) Is some of that possible?
maybe I am doing things wrong?
Also when I said :
is possible to change f9, f10, f11...to simply "1" , "2", "3", "4"
I was refering to Nex icons, are they the same as maya defaults? I am bit confused.
see image here:
there is also the last mode in the icons which I am not sure what it stands for?
And lastly, once I am using any operation such as bevel, connect, extrude, etc... how do I go back to object mode? I looks like I have to "click back" the operation button to go out of that mode, can't I simply right click or a assign a keyboard shortcut to "object mode" ?
Thanks again for your help!!!
Just'a Reference link in case ya need it
1 normal display
2 smooth preview plus bounding box?
3 smooth preview
4 wireframe
5 shaded
6 texture
7 lights
upgrade to maya 2012 and flag nex tools. i only found nex useful for quaddraw.
maya2012 can pretty much do all those things without needing nex now?
also MMB and RMB do the same but MMB is faster and RMB is even fast at raising value
string $sel[] =`ls -sl`; for ($thisObj in $sel){ int $displaylevel[] = `displaySmoothness -query -polygonObject $thisObj`; if ($displaylevel[0] == 1) { //Go to 3 displaySmoothness -polygonObject 3; } if ($displaylevel[0] == 3) { //Go to 1 displaySmoothness -polygonObject 1; } }string $sel[] =`ls -sl`; for ($thisObj in $sel){ int $displaylevel[] = `displaySmoothness -query -polygonObject $thisObj`; if ($displaylevel[0] == 1 || $displaylevel[0] == 2) { //Going up int $increment = $displaylevel[0] + 1; displaySmoothness -polygonObject $increment; } }And the code for to go down subdivison levels mapped it to -
string $sel[] =`ls -sl`; for ($thisObj in $sel){ int $displaylevel[] = `displaySmoothness -query -polygonObject $thisObj`; if ($displaylevel[0] == 3 || $displaylevel[0] == 2) { //Going down int $decrement = $displaylevel[0] - 1; displaySmoothness -polygonObject $decrement; } }Haiddasalami, thanks a lot man!! that ll help a lot for sure!! I have a noob question, how do I enter that code in maya?? !!
I ll be back with more questions, I am still playing around with the interface, I dont know if there is a way to remove a lot of the buttons. I feel that the ui is cluttered with stuff, maybe is because I am not use to it yet..
Change the category to user(Just to find it easier down the road) and click new. Change name etc and in the command box make sure MEL is ticked and copy and paste the code for the respective key in there. Once done hit accept, then in the assign box type the key and assign the command you saved in the user category to the key. Hope that helps.
Also you can remove the buttons you dont want through the shelf editor (Window -> settings/preferences -> Shelf editro)
Its maya 2012 btw.
Also Iam having a bit of trouble finding this simple options in the hotkey editor (looking in the "edit poly" category)
-simple polygon extrude?
- inset? (again I am using 2012)
-Also cant seem to find the controls for polygon, vertex, edge.. As I wanted to set them to 1,2,3...
Please bare with me, I have one week learning maya.
Thanks !!
My bad. The code was at fault. Apparently Maya by default sets the subdivision level to 0 so that's why the if was not working. Fixed up the code and this should work
Incrementing
string $sel[] =`ls -sl`; for ($thisObj in $sel){ int $displaylevel[] = `displaySmoothness -query -polygonObject $thisObj`; if ($displaylevel[0] == 1 || $displaylevel[0] == 2 || $displaylevel[0] == 0 ) { //Going up int $increment = $displaylevel[0] + 1; displaySmoothness -polygonObject $increment; } }Decreasing
string $sel[] =`ls -sl`; for ($thisObj in $sel){ int $displaylevel[] = `displaySmoothness -query -polygonObject $thisObj`; if ($displaylevel[0] == 3 || $displaylevel[0] == 2) { //Going down int $decrement = $displaylevel[0] - 1; displaySmoothness -polygonObject $decrement; } }Polygon extrude is under the Edit Polygons. You can map either the face or edge and doesnt really matter as they run the same command (PolyExtrude)
Not sure about inset, I know they have a pop up gui that shows up when you extrude. Dont have 2012 on me
For the polygon vertex edge uv's etc they are underneath Status Line. SelectToggleMode is a toggle between object mode and the last mode you were in, and the rest should be self explanatory. EdgeMask is for edges, facetmask for faces etc.
as for selection, yeah cool I went to set up that and works fine as well, thanks.
m4dcow, yeah I use the offset although I am having a couple issues with the default values in the extrude operator and the pivot.
Also, is snap enabled by default in "translation mode"? I have the impression that when translating (x,y,z) polygons are jumpy as if it tries to snap or something??
-Ok As I was saying I am not sure if there is a way to set default of extrude to "0" I find it a bit annoying to have such random? high values, if not I ll have to get used to. See image:
And for scaling I am also a bit confused, I am attaching a quick image I did comparing the three main apps.
I like softimage the best because you can scale without touching the pivot. Max is ok but you need to drag from the triangle. And Maya, handles are too long, and the pivot square is really small. I am probably doing someting wrong, how do you guys deal with this?
thanks again for your time!!
Also regarding the level 2 subdivision, you basically just want it to go to the highest sub-d right? If so the script I posted up top will be perfect for that as it just toggles between 1 and 3. If not, I can definitely make any changes you want, its pretty simple.
Also that softimage scaling should be doable. Will look into it.
Regarding the snapping, is snapping on? Maya by default has divisions and offset to 0. Just tried it and you might have changed the settings through the option box. Just go to Edit Mesh -> Extrude -> option box and reset the settings.
ehh, I went to edit mesh (clicked on space bar, edit mesh=> extrude, but I can't find the option box... to reset settings, is it docked at the right side?
Also when I said snapping what I meant, that when I drag the object it does jump, as if its snapping its not smooth, see image (hope I am explaining myself correctly)
Lastly, do you think there is a way to map "object mode" to a shortcut?
Thanks for your time, I really appreciate your help.
with something called "dicreet mode" by default!!
string $sel[] = `ls -hl`; for ($thisObj in $sel){ maintainActiveChangeSelectMode $thisObj; select -add $thisObj; }Gonna look into drag context's as that's probably how I would tackle that scale tool functionality. You can technically do it without scripts (and avoid dealing with script jobs etc) but its an extra step. If you click and drag down in the channel box over the scale X,Y and Z you can then middle mouse drag to scale.
also the marking menus for select, move, scale and rotate work by holding
q + LMB
w + LMB
e + LMB
r + LMB
f9 verts
f10 edges
f11 faces
f12 uvs
to reset the extrude tool settings go the the box on the right side of the extrude option. a box will pop up with all your options for the extrude tool. up the top go edit > then reset tool.
thanks a lot haidasalami and pinkbox! I am feeling less of a stranger playing around in maya...
As for the little box in the extrude, gotta look twice! I thought it was a decoration (the square..) haha.
Ehh got one last question, how do you connect edges, I uninstalled NEX as suggested, so how do you do it regularly, cant seem to find it in the "edit mesh" dropdown.
Thanks!
no, by connect I meant simply adding an edge loop between two edges. But I wanted an option to add several edge loops, as the default "connect components" allows for one if I am now wrong...!
but you can select more than 2 edges or even verts to connect.
Also pressing "g" repeats the last tool
I tried the inset edge loop tool, it works great. I was just wondering how to add more than one edge loop at the same time and with a "constant" distance. in max there is a similar function as well.
Also I noticed that the "connect components" tool ads an edge but does not give me options for sliding it? and finally, this might sound easy, but how do you go out of
"bevel, extrude, connect...etc mode" usually in max I right click. But in maya I keep the operation active.
No idea about constant distance. Seems to just have it equal distance apart. Usually just throws the loops and slide them around/scale in the horizontal plane.
To get out of the tool, just hit w or q.
I am having a small problem though, I cant seem to find the "edit mesh" menu in my maya setup, do you know why?
I am using the polygons tab, so I am not sure how to add that missing tab.
EDIT:
Found it. Its Display -> Ui elements -> Status Line.
Soon you'll become one with using the space bar my friend thus the rest of the Ui becomes useless clutter...Soon
I ve got a couple more questions...
1) why does it looks like an edge is highlighted/selected, orange color, I might have done something without realizing.
2) Then while trying to use the lasso tool I noticed that sometimes I have to drag the lasso like 2 or 3 times before selecting some edges, vertex, this is HIGHLY annoying, do you know how can I change this! (yeah I mostly use lasso selection all the time)
Thanks for your help once again dudes.
2) I Don't use lasso select, but sometimes I have similar selection issues where it is selecting the backface components instead, backface culling usually helps that.
1) that sucks, it mixes me up!! does someone know if this is a SP1 fix sort of...
2) havent find a solution yet, although I remember I had the same issue in SI and play around in the preferences - selection settings. I ll take a look, but if someone know how to fix this that ll be cool. Basically I want to be able to drag select either, polygons, edges, or verts backfaces included (this is default behavior in max with any selection mode). I think there is some sort of smart filtering depending on the angle by default..
It happens to me in any version of Maya.. As you get faster it'll take almost an instant to get past it
Graphical bugs are the worst
That is not a bug per se...
It is a performance preference.
doubleclick the lasso selection tool to bring up it's toolbox options. ( choose between the default fast option or the slower accurate option )
The default behavior of the lasso assumes that it is chosen to carefully pick out tricky vertex selections which can ONLY be selected "whole" by a lasso and therefore calculate easily without the needed presicion of the "accurate setting".
If you want to use the fast option predicatably on other component types:
select a majority of the component's area "within" the lasso bounds than is "without" to result in a successfully selection.
With the "accurate option", you do not have to be as precise! and any partial area of the targetted component ( like pictured in the above example ) will calculate with the intended selection.
However, that accuracy comes at the cost of complex selection calculation to provide that precision...
Resulting in noticeably slower feedback with dense objects.
( but that performance hit is not noticeable with simple scenes )