how to speed up your workflow in maya using hotkeys - tuts+ 3d & motion graphics tutorial

8/10/2019 How to Speed Up Your Workflow in Maya Using Hotkeys - Tuts+ 3D & Motion Graphics Tutorial

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otkeys/ Shortcut keys play a pivotal role in any software and can speed up your

orkflow immensely if you use them frequently and wisely. In this tutorial I will let younow about some of the shortcut keys found in Maya. I will not only tell you about

hese shortcuts, but Ill showyou how to use them too.

here are many hotkeys in Maya, but lots of people dont know about all of them. So

oday I will tell about some of the most important ones for the functions we frequently

se while working in Maya. So lets start.

ownload Shortcut Keys Summary PDF

Step 1ast Tool

irst, let's open Maya. I would like to advise you to use Maya 2009 or greater. The

rst shortcut key that I want to tell you about is G. G is the shortcut key to recall

he last used tool.

or example, when you're working on a model and you pick the Insert Edge Loop

ool from Edit Mesh>Insert Edge Loop Tool and then you suddenly press the W key

o activate the Move tool, if you need to use the Insert Edge Loop Tool, you dont

eed to go back into the Edit Mesh menu to pick the Tool again.

AYA

How to Speed Up Your Workflown Maya Using Hotkeysy Chandan Kumar 29 Oct 2012 11 Comments

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s you can see in the tool box below, the last tool which we used is shown there. We

an pick that tool from there or by pressing G. So G is the shortcut key to recall the

ast used tool.

Step 2

here are some tools in Maya which dont appear in the tool box, where the last

sed tool appears. For example, if you want to Merge two vertices, you have to go to

dit Mesh > Merge.


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ow you can see both vertices are merged when we clicked on the Merge Tool in

he Edit Mesh menu. But the place in the Tool Box is empty where the last used tool

hould appear. But dont worry! The G shortcut key to repeat the last tool is still

orking, but the Merge Tool is one of those tools which won't appear in the Tool Box

fter use.

Step 3ide


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ometimes we work on scenes which have one or more objects, and feel the need

o hide some of the objects from the viewport. So to Hide selected objects, press

Ctrl + H".

Step 4nhide

n reverse, if you want to see the last hidden objects, then press "Ctrl + Shift + H"


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his also shows up in the Command line.)

Step 5Moving the Pivot Point

y default an object is rotated from it's center. But sometimes we need to rotate it

om it's corner instead. So how can we rotate an object from it's corner? For

xample, Create a Box and choose the Rotate Tool by pressing "E". If you rotate the

ox now, it will be rotated from the center.


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o now press and hold the "D" key. Remember, dont release the D key, keep

olding it. You can now see the pivot point.

While still pressing and holding the D key, drag and move the pivot to the corner of

he box.


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Once the pivot point comes to the corner, release the D key and you can see the

otate pivot is now at the boxs corner. You can now rotate it from the corner instead

f the center.

Step 6hanging Modes

o quickly go into Vertex mode, just press "F9".


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Step 7

o quickly go into Edge mode, press "F10".

Step 8

o quickly enter Face/Polygon mode, press "F11".


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Step 9

nd to quickly go into UVs mode, just press "F12".

Step 10ivot Point Size

ou can also decrease or increase the size of the Pivot, by using the plus and minus


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eys. Press the + (plus) key to increase the size of the Pivot.

nd press the - (minus) key to decrease the size of the Pivot.

Step 11electing

would now like to tell you about an interesting shortcut to select Vertices, Faces


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nd Edges without changing modes. Right-click on the viewport and select "Multi".

ow you can select Vertices, Faces and Edges without going into their respective

modes.

Step 12Menu Bar

ou can change the options of the Main Menu Bar according to your needs, like

nimation, Modeling, Dynamics etc. Press "F2" to jump into Animation mode.

ress "F3" to jump into Polygon mode.

ress "F4" to jump into Surface mode.


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ress "F5" to jump into Dynamics mode.

nd finally, press "F6" to jump into Rendering mode.

Step 13moothing

ometimes we need to smooth objects while modeling, because we want to see how

he object will look after applying the smooth modifier. You can press 3 on your

eyboard to quickly view how your model will look smoothed.


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nd then to go back to the unsmoothed object, press 1 on the keyboard.

Step 14iew Modes

you want to see your model in wireframe mode only, press 4 on your keyboard.


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nd if you want to see it in shaded mode, then press 5.

Step 15

you apply a texture to a model, but the texture is not visible in the viewport, press

6 on the keyboard. This will make the texture visible in the viewport, then press 5

o see your model again in only shaded mode.


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Step 16uplicating

you want to make a duplicate (copy) of an object, select the object and press "Ctrl

D". And then move it with the help of the Move tool.


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Step 17ttribute Editor & Channel Box Toggle

o toggle between the Attribute Editor and Channel Box, press "Ctrl + A".


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Step 18arenting

you want to make an object the parent of another object. Like for example, if you

ant to set a Box as the parent of a Sphere. Then you have to select the Sphere

rst, and then select the Box and press P on the keyboard. Now if you move, rotate

r scale the Box, the Sphere will also act accordingly and follow it at all times. To

reak the relation, select the objects and then press Shift + P on the keyboard.


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Step 19imeline

When you make an animated sequence and you want to play the animation, you

ave to click on the Play button on the time slider. The shortcut key to turn playback

n/off is "Alt + V".

Step 20

ow if you want to move the Time Slider one frame forward in the Timeline, PressAlt + ." (period)(full stop), and to move backward, press "Alt + ," (comma).

Weve published a few related tutorials you might also be interested in:


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bout Chandan Kumar

My name is Chandan Kumar and I am a CG and VFX artist/trainer from India.
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