FUNDAMENTAL TOOL-FLOW IN MAYA

In Maya, you will build and animate objects in three dimensions. These dimensions are defined by three axes which are labeled as x, y and z. These represent the length (x), height (y) and depth (z) of your scene. These axes are represented by colors in Maya - red for x, green for y and blue for z. As you position, scale and rotate objects, these three axes will serve as your main points of reference. The center of this XYZ coordinate system is called the origin and has a value of 0,0,0.

this is an image of Maya 7.0, orient-control in the upper right corner has been modified

3D positions and transformations exist within coordinate systems called spaces. Transformations change an object's 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 object's (or component's) pivot point, and take place along/around either the world axes, object axes, or local axes.

World space

World space is the coordinate system for the entire scene. Its origin is at the center of the scene. The grid you see in view windows shows the world space axes. World space is measured in terms you define. For example, you might create a model of a car using millimeters to define world space.

Object space

Object space is the coordinate system from an object's point of view. The origin of object space is at the object's pivot point, and its axes are rotated with the object.

Local coordinates

Local space is similar to object space, however it uses the origin and axes of the object's parent node in the hierarchy of objects. This is useful when you haven't transformed the object itself, but it is part of a group that is transformed.

One way to understand local space is to imagine an object sitting within a box. All of the points on the object's surface are then given with respect to one corner of the box. If you pick up the entire box and move it around the room, the coordinates of the object—with respect to the box—do not change: the coordinates of the box with respect to the room are changing. Focus on the two different descriptions: the object with respect to the box (the object's position in local space), and the box with respect to the room (the position of the object in worldspace).

Views

In Maya, you visualize your scenes using view panels that let you see into the 3D world space. There are two main types of view panels: perspective and orthographic.

Perspective views let you see your scene as if you were looking at it through the lens of a camera. Orthographic views are parallel to the scene and focus on two axes at a time. Think of an orthographic view as similar to a blueprint drawing. The top, front and side view panels are orthographic views.

Layout options

In many cases, you will require several views to help you define the proper location of your objects. Maya lets you view multiple views at one time to help coordinate what you see. The workspace can be split into a multi-panel layout. For example, press and release the Spacebar to switch to the default, four-panel layout. Press and release the Spacebar again to expand the active panel to full screen. You can also press the Spacebar + CTRL at the same time to hide the rest of the interface and expand the current layout to full screen.

In addition, you can display various editors in any panel, giving you the capability of arranging layouts to suit a specific workflow. Default layouts are listed under the Panels > Saved Layouts submenu. You can also use the Panels editor (Panels > Panel Editor) to create your own.

You can also use the Quick Layout buttons, located in the Tool Box, to select a different panel or to switch to another layout.

To change the view or layout, click one of the Quick Layout buttons in the Tool Box.

The Panel/Layout button changes based on the layout and view configuration you select from the Tool Box. For example, if you select Four View, four arrow buttons appear, one for each panel. Click one of these arrow buttons to change a specific panel.

Use the Panel/Layout button to change a specific panel or to change the view arrangement. To change a specific panel, click the Panel/Layout arrow button that corresponds to the panel. Select an option from the pop-up menu to change that panel.

To change the view arrangement, right-click the Panel/Layout button. Select a view arrangement from the pop-up menu. Note that 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.

Moving in View Panels

To look around within a view panel, you move the virtual camera by using the following key and mouse combinations:

Hold down ALT + LMB and drag with to TUMBLE (rotate the view).

Hold down ALT + MMB and drag with to TRACK (move left, right, up or down).

Hold down ALT + RMB and drag with to DOLLY (move forward or backward). Or you can scroll/roll if your mouse has a middle wheel.

Hold down ALT + CNTRL and drag with LMB to 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 will dolly in. If you drag the box out from right to left, you will dolly out.

This navigation is available in several editors too, like the Graph Editor and Hypergraph. Additional view commands are available under the View menu.

To frame selected objects within a view panel, select View > Frame Selection (or press the hotkey f). The camera tracks and dollies until selected objects fill the camera's view. If nothing is selected, the camera tracks and dollies until all objects in the scene (including lights and cameras, if their icons are displayed in the view) fill the camera's view.

Maya supports the use of scrolling wheels on mouse input devices. This feature allows you to:

* dolly in perspective or orthographic views
* zoom in the Hypershade, Graph Editor, Dope Sheet, Render View, Paint Effects, and other windows and editors
* scroll in the Script Editor and Console window