Graph Editor menu bar
 
 
 

The Graph Editor menu bar contains tools and operations for manipulating animation curves and keys within the graph view of the Graph Editor. Note that you still have access to the main menu bar while working with the Graph Editor.

The Graph Editor menu bar contains the following menus:

Edit menu

Many of these menu items appear and behave in a similar fashion to the main Edit menu in the scene view. However, as the Graph Editor works directly with animation curves and attributes, there are no hierarchy options available within the settings windows for the edit operations.

Undo/Redo

Undo cancels the last operation. Redo does the last undone operation again.

Cut

Cut removes existing keys from a selected attribute and places a copy of that information on the keys clipboard. If a curve segment is selected in the graph view, this area will be removed when you choose Edit > Cut. If no curve segment is selected, Cut will operate on the item selected in the Outliner portion of the Graph Editor. See Edit > Keys > Cut Keys.

Copy

Copy copies existing keys from a selected attribute and places that information on the keys clipboard. If you select a curve segment in the graph view, this area will be removed when you choose Edit > Copy. If no curve segment is selected, Copy will operate on the item selected in the Outliner portion of the Graph Editor. See Edit > Keys > Copy Keys.

Paste

Paste adds keys from the keys clipboard to an attribute. Pasted keys can be merged with existing keys, inserted at a time (displacing existing keys), or used to replace keys at a time. See Edit > Keys > Paste Keys.

Delete

Delete removes existing keys from an attribute. It works the same way as Cut except it doesn’t put a copy of the removed keys on the keys clipboard. See Edit > Keys > Delete Keys.

Scale

Scale expands or compresses a selected range of keys and curve segments to fit a specified time range. If a channel is selected in the Graph Editor Outliner, and a curve segment is not selected, then Scale adjusts all the keys for the selected channel. Also, you can scale keys that are in a selected region of the Graph Editor when the Only Scale Specified Keys option is on.

For more information on Scale, see Edit > Keys > Scale Keys.

Transformation Tools > Move Keys Tool

You can manipulate groups of keys proportionally or in relation to a selected key using the Move Keys Tool.

The Move Tool’s Move Key Settings are only available when the Graph Editor is active.

Move Option

The Move Option settings are identical to those of the Move Nearest Picked Key Tool’s Direct Key Settings. See Move Nearest Picked Key Tool.

Move Falloff

Set one of the following options:

Constant

Moves all keys the same amount in the direction you -drag.

Linear

Moves all keys based on the distance they are from the mouse down location. The amount a key moves decreases linearly as its distance from the mouse down location increases.

Exponential

Moves all keys based on the distance-squared they are from the mouse down location. The amount a key moves decreases exponentially as its distance from the mouse down location increases.

Transformation Tools > Scale Keys Tool

Use the Scale Tool to scale a region of animation curve segments and the positions of keys in the graph view.

In the Scale Tool Settings window, you can select two ways to scale keys in the graph view. To display the Scale Tool Settings window, double click the Scale Tool icon when the Graph Editor is the active window.

For more information, see Scale keys and Scale curves.

ScaleKey Options

Set one of the following options:

Manipulator

Lets you scale keys by using a manipulator box style.

Gestural

Changes the way keys are scaled in the graph view so the mouse position determines the scaling vectors.

Transformation Tools > Lattice Deform Keys Tool

You can manipulate curves in the Graph Editor with the Lattice Deform Keys tool. The Lattice Deform Keys tool lets you draw a lattice deformer around groups of keys, so that you can manipulate many keys at once. This tool gives you a high-level of control over your animation curves.

Once you draw a lattice around a group of keys, you can then move the control points of the lattice to deform the affected animation curves or scale the lattice points around a picked point to transform the affected curves.

You can also use the Lattice Deform Keys Tool to deform keys that lie along a single (horizontal or vertical) graph view axis.

For more information, see Manipulate curves with the lattice manipulator.

Lattice Settings

Set one of the following options:

Columns

Specifies the number of columns for the current lattice manipulator. The minimum number of columns is 2 and maximum number is 20.

Rows

Specifies the number of rows for the current lattice manipulator. The minimum number of rows is 2 and the maximum number is 20.

Falloff

Specifies the lattice manipulator’s level of influence or falloff value.

Middle Button Scales

When on, you can scale the active control points around the current lattice point.

Snap

Snap causes selected keys to snap in time to the nearest whole time unit values or attribute values. Use Select Unsnapped to check for keys not at whole time units. The default is to snap to nearest time units. Select Edit > Keys > Snap Keys > to view the options window and edit the settings. See Edit > Keys > Snap Keys.

Select Unsnapped

Selects all keys from the selected channel, or any keys in the graph view if no objects or attributes are selected that are not at a whole time unit.

Select Curve Nodes

Loads only the selected animation curves’ nodes into the Graph Editor and unloads all other objects and animation curves. For example, if you select the translateX and translateY curves for the rightWrist joint of your character and then select this menu item, only the following nodes will appear in the Graph Editor: rightWrist_translateX, rightWrist_translateY.

Change Curve Color

Changes the color of the curve selected in the graph view to the custom color specified in the Change Curve Color Options window.

Change Curve Color >

Opens the Change Curve Color Options window. This window lets you create custom curve colors for the animation curves selected in the graph view.

You can also create custom curve colors for your animation curves from the Attribute Editor or through MEL. See Change animation curve colors through the Attribute Editor or with MEL.

Color Swatch and Color Slider

Clicking on the Color Swatch launches the Maya Color Chooser. The Maya Color Chooser lets you select a new custom color for your curves.

Dragging the Color Slider increases or decreases the value of the color represented by the Color Swatch.

Color

Applies the current swatch color to the animation curves selected in the graph view and closes the Change Curve Color Options window.

Apply

Applies the current swatch color to the animation curves selected in the graph view. The Change Curve Color Options window remains open.

Close

Cancels the Change Curve Color operation and closes the Change Curve Color Options window.

Remove Curve Color

Removes the custom curve colors from the animation curves selected in the graph view and returns them to their default colors.

Set Curve Colors

Opens the Curve Colors window so you can set up a custom curve color scheme, associating curve colors with the names of the attributes. See Associate curve colors with attribute names.

Scene Time Warp

This item is also available in the main menu bar. See Animate > Scene Time Warp menu.

View menu

This menu controls which components are visible, and therefore editable, in the graph view of the Graph Editor. This is useful for controlling the amount of information displayed in the graph view, as well as specifying which of the animation curve components are available for editing.

NoteWhen framing the desired range, the Graph Editor may scale the area in the graph view horizontally and vertically to display the desired range.

Clip Time

Clip Time lets you view the clip animation curves at their position and scale in the Trax Editor.

Frame All

Adjusts the graph view to fit all animation curves in the window.

Frame Selection

Adjusts graph view to fit selected animation curves or curve segments in the window.

Frame Playback Range

Adjusts the graph view to fit the playback range in the window.

Center Current Time

If you change the view in the Graph Editor and want to shift the view so the current time is in the middle of the editor, select Center Current Time from the View menu.

Auto Frame

Automatically adjusts the graph view to fit the display of the animation curves associated with a selected object or objects.

Show Results Options window

When types of animation that do not create animation curves (such as motion paths and Expressions) are part of your animation, you can use Show Results to see a graphic representation of the behavior of these animation types.

Any numeric attribute can drive Show Results. This is useful for looking at animations driven by anything other than a single animation curve.

NoteTo edit these types of animation, you must transform them into animation curves by performing a Bake Channel.

Screen Based samples the result of what one pixel represents in time. This may not accurately reflect the actual animation (especially if you are zoomed out). However, by adjusting the sampling rate, you can choose between curve accuracy and update time. A higher sampling rate means more accurate representation but longer computation time.

Samples

When screen based sampling is turned on, the sample rate specifies the number of pixels per sample. When it’s turned off, the sample rate specifies the number of frames or current time units per sample.

Performance options

These options are used to specify when the result curves are updated.

Delayed

Result curves are updated when the mouse is released.

Interactive

Result curves are updated as the mouse is moved.

Show Buffer Curves

Turning this on will cause the graph view to display the original shape of edited curves.

Keys menu

In order to operate on a component of an animation curve, you must make it viewable by loading it into the Graph Editor. By default, objects selected in a scene view are automatically loaded in the Graph Editor.

Keys are represented in the graph view as black points, and when selected, they are highlighted yellow.

Always

Setting the viewable status of keys to Always results in keys being visible at all times in the graph view of the Graph Editor.

Never

Setting the viewable status of keys to Never hides keys in the graph view. Because keys are no longer available for picking, you can no longer edit them.

Active Only

When the viewable status of keys is set to Active Only, keys are available only when you select the curve they are associated with.

Tangents

In order to operate on a component of a tangent, you must make it available by being designated as viewable.

Tangents are represented in the graph view as brown handles tangential to the curve segment of the animation curve. When selected, they are highlighted green.

Note that if Unify Tangents has been turned on for a curve segment, the handles on both sides of the key will be adjusted uniformly when you edit the selected handle. If Break Tangent is in effect, each tangent handle operates independently of the other.

Always

Setting the viewable status of tangents to Always results in tangents being visible at all times in the graph view of the Graph Editor.

NoteIf you wish to operate on tangents and you’ve disabled curves and keys in the Select menu of the Graph Editor, set the visibility of tangents to Always so they are available for selection.
Never

Setting the viewable status of tangents to Never hides tangents in the graph view. Because tangents are no longer available for selection, you can no longer edit them.

On Active Keys

When the viewable status of tangents is set to On Active Keys, tangents are available only when you select their associated curve or curve segment.

Infinity

Infinity turns on or off the display of the animation curve extrapolated outside the first and last keys of the curve.

The curves before the first key and after the last key will be constant by default.

Stacked Curves

When on, the graph view displays individual curves in a stack, rather than displaying all curves overlapping.

When Stacked Curves is on, each curve displays with its own value axis, normalized between 1 and -1 by default. Use the Stacked Curves Options to determine how the stacked curves display.

See Display stacked curves.

ImportantWhen using the Scale Keys Tool or the Lattice Deformer Keys Tool with Stacked Curves turned on, you can only modify the time value.

Stacked Curves Options window

Layout

Set the following options:

Min Value

Sets the minimum value for each curve’s axis. Default is -1.

Max value

Sets the maximum value of each curve’s axis. Default is 1.

Spacing

Sets the amount of space between each curve in the stack. Default is 0.20.

Normalization

Set the following options:

Enable normalized display when enabling stacked curves

When on (default), curves display normalized when you switch to Stacked Curves display.

Disable normalized display when disabling stacked curves

When on (default), curves are automatically de-normalized when you turn off Stacked Curves display.

Stacked Curves button

Click to apply your settings and close the Stacked Curves Options window.

Display Normalized

When on, this option scales down large key values or scales up small key values to fit within a -1 to 1 range. When animation curves are normalized, they are adjusted to fit within the range of normalization.

Curve normalization is useful when you want to view, compare, or edit animation curves that are related (such as rotation and translation curves), but have drastically different ranges. For example, with curve normalization you can compare all the translation and rotation animation curves for an object.

When you turn Display Normalized off, the curves revert to a non-normalized state, back to their original ranges.

NoteAnimation curves that are normalized appear thicker than other curves in the Graph Editor.

Limitations

Curve normalization does not work with the following types of curves:

  • Rotation curves that use quaternion rotation interpolation
  • Referenced animation curves
  • Locked animation curves.

Renormalize

Available only when Display Normalized is on. Select this option to renormalize the curves displayed in the graph view.

NoteCurves are automatically renormalized when you turn on Display Normalized or the active curve list changes.

You can also quickly renormalize curves by selecting the Renormalize icon in the Graph Editor toolbar.

Select menu

These options control which components of an animation curve are available for selection and editing.

NoteWhen you select components of an animation curve in the graph view of the Graph Editor, a box appears in the Outliner corresponding to the attribute whose components are currently selected.

All

Enables selection of any of the components of an animation curve.

Only Curve

Constrains your selection to only animation curve segments.

Curve

Constrains your selection to animation curve segments.

Key

Constrains your selection to keys.

In Tangent

Constrains your selection to the in tangents of a key. In tangents are the tangents that describe the shape of the curve segment entering a key.

Out Tangent

Constrains your selection to the out tangents of a key. Out tangents are the tangents that describe the shape of the curve segment leaving a key.

NoteTo select a tangent when the Key and Curve selections are disabled, you must select View > Tangents > Always.

Pre-Select Highlight

Turns on pre-selection highlighting for curves, segments, tangents, and keys in the graph view, giving you visual feedback on what you are about to select. See also Turn on Pre-selection highlighting in the Graph Editor.

Curves menu

The Curves menu items process entire animation curves.

Animation curves are extrapolated outside the first and last keys of the curve. Curves before the first key and after the last key will be flat (no change in value over time) unless you set the pre and post infinity controls to anything other than constant. You can use these options to automatically generate specific types of repeating animation.

NoteIf you want to create editable animation of a repetitious or cyclical nature, you can bake a channel with Infinity turned on.

Pre and Post Infinity

The Pre and Post settings define the behavior of an animation curve before and after the first key of that curve.

Cycle

The Cycle setting repeats the animation curve as a copy infinitely.

Cycle with Offset

The Cycle with Offset setting repeats the animation curve infinitely, except it appends the cycled curve’s last key’s value to the value of the first key’s original curve.

Oscillate

The Oscillate setting repeats the animation curve by reversing its values, and therefore shape, with each cycle, creating an alternating backwards and forwards effect.

Linear

The Linear setting extrapolates the value of the first key using its tangent information. It projects a linear curve infinitely beyond.

Constant

The Constant setting maintains the value of the end keys. This is the default setting for animation curves in Maya.

Curve Smoothness

This setting controls the smoothness resolution of curves in the graph view. Decreasing the resolution lessens the time to display the graph view.

Note that this setting has no impact on the behavior of animation curves, and it affects only the display of the curves in the graph view.

Bake Channel Options window

This operation calculates a new animation curve for an attribute using the input nodes that contribute to its properties. This is different from the Edit > Keys > Bake Simulation operation. This operation is useful when you want to:

  • edit a single animation curve instead of all the contributing attributes that affect the behavior of a single attribute. For example: an object affected by a driven key or an Expression.
  • add keys to an existing curve
    NoteBake Channel operates only on animation that can be evaluated explicitly. Inverse Kinematics systems, Dynamics, and some Expressions cannot be operated on with Bake Channel.

    To create animation curves from these animation types, you will need to perform Edit > Keys > Bake Simulation.

    Time Range

    Specifies what keys are baked.

    Time Slider

    All keys present in the region between the Playback Start and End times in the Time Slider are baked into a new channel.

    Start/End

    All keys within the specified time range (start time/end time) are baked into a new channel.

    Start Time

    Specifies the start of the time range. This is available only if Start/End is on.

    End Time

    Specifies the end of the time range. This is available only if Start/End is on.

    Sample By

    Specifies the frequency with which Maya will evaluate the animation and generate keys. Increasing this value decreases how often Maya sets keys for the animation. Decreasing has the opposite effect.

    The Sample By value is based on the Time Unit setting. It represents the frequency with which Maya will analyze the object’s animation and generate a key. A value of 1 creates a key at each time unit. Greater values decrease the frequency of generated keys, and smaller values increase the frequency.

    Keep Unbaked Keys

    This is on by default. This option preserves the keys that are outside the baked time range and only applies to directly connected animation curves.

    When turned on, bake simulation does not remove keys that are outside the bake range.

    When turned off, only the keys created within the specified time range during the bake will be present on the animation curve after the operation.

    Sparse Curve Bake

    This option operates only on directly connected animation curves. It produces bake results that create only enough keys to represent the shape of the animation curve.

Mute Channel

Mutes the selected channel.

Mute appears under the current animation channel’s name in the outliner and the muted animation curve appears as a dotted line in the graph view. See also Mute or unmute a channel in the Dope Sheet or Graph Editor.

Unmute Channel

Unmutes the selected (muted) channel. See also Mute or unmute a channel in the Dope Sheet or Graph Editor.

Template Channel

Templates the selected animation channel in the outliner and its corresponding animation curve in the graph view.

When an animation channel is templated, its keys continue to contribute to its object’s overall animation, but its curve and keys in the graph view are no longer selectable. Also, a small icon appears beside the templated channel in the outliner, and the templated channel curve appears gray in the graph view.

Templating animation channels and their curves is useful when you have several overlapping animation curves with many keys, and you want to edit only one curve, but you need to be able to see all the other curves in the graph view.

Untemplate Channel

Untemplates the selected animation channel in the outliner and its corresponding animation curve in the graph view. When an animation channel is untemplated, its curve and keys in the graph view can once again be selected.

Pin Channel

Pins the selected channel so that its curve displays in the graph area regardless of what is selected. See also Pinning channels.

Unpin Channel

Unpins the selected channel so that its curve displays only when it is selected.

Change Rotation Interp

This menu lets you can change the rotation interpolation type of existing curves.

You can change the rotation interpolation type only on rotation channels that have keyframes on all three channels (rotateX, rotateY, rotateZ). In addition, because the rotateX, rotateY and rotateZ channels always share the same interpolation type, changing interpolation for a single channel such as rotateX, will automatically change rotateY and rotateZ as well.

For more information on rotation interpolation, see Animated rotation in Maya.

Independent Euler

Calculates the rotation using three separate 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 discretion—they 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

Creates curves that have keyframes on sibling curves locked together but with interpolation between keyframes in performed in Euler-space.

It’s 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.

Quaternion Slerp

Interpolation is calculated using spherical linear interpolation and does not depend on the tangents of the input curves.

Quaternion Cubic

Interpolation is calculated using quaternion cubic interpolation (Squad) and does not depend on the tangents of the input curves.

Quaternion Tangent Dependent

Interpolation is calculated using quaternion interpolation based on the input curve tangents. For example, if the tangents are linear, Maya uses spherical linear interpolation (Slerp), and if the tangents are clamped, Maya uses cubic interpolation (Squad).

Simplify Curve

Use this operation to remove keys that are not necessary to describe the shape of an animation curve. Excess keys may accumulate on an animation curve as a result of adding keys manually or performing operations such as Bake Channel. You may need to remove keys from an animation curve to reduce the graph complexity and provide larger spans for adjusting curve tangents.

Time Range

Specifies the time range where the curve is simplified.

All

Simplifies the curve for the entire time range.

Time Slider

Simplifies the curve for the time range defined by the Playback Start and End times of the Time Slider.

Start/End

All keys within the specified time range (start time/end time) are simplified.

Start Time

Specifies the start of the time range. This is available only if Start/End is on.

End Time

Specifies the end of the time range. This is available only if Start/End is on.

Simplify Method

Set one of the following options:

Classic

Removes excess keys using the algorithm used in previous versions of Maya. Use this method on light data sets, such as keyframe animations, which don’t have keys on every frame.

Dense Data

Removes excess keys using an algorithm designed for dense data sets, such as motion capture data, which have a key on every frame. This method may also work well if the Classic method doesn’t give you the desired results.

Time Tolerance

The amount (in seconds) that the timing for the keys is averaged when the selected curve is simplified. The higher the Time Tolerance, the sparser your keys and the less your resulting curve resembles the original curve. The default Time Tolerance is 0.05.

Value Tolerance

The amount (in your current working units) that the values of the keys are averaged when the selected curve is simplified. The default Value Tolerance to 0.01.

Euler Filter

See Euler angle filtering.

Resample Curve Options window

Resampling creates a periodic frame rate by placing keys at uniform intervals.

To resample a curve, you select a sampling filter, which is an algorithm defining how the keys in the curve are resampled. Tangent and curve values are ignored. The filter converts animation curves with keys at either uniform or non-uniform intervals to curves with keys at a uniform interval that you specify.

TipThe resampling filters are designed to reduce the number of keys in dense data curves. It may not produce the desired results when used on curves with few keys.

Time Range

Specifies the range of time in where keys are resampled.

All

Resamples the curve for the entire time range.

Start/End

All keys within the specified time range (start time/end time) are resampled.

Time Slider

Resamples the curve for the time range defined by the Playback Start and End times of the Time Slider.

Start Time

Specifies the start of the time range. This is available only if Start/End is on.

End Time

Specifies the end of the time range. This is available only if Start/End is on.

Resample Type

Specifies the resampling filter, which is an algorithm that defines how the keys in the curve are resampled. Choose one of the following:

Closest Sample

Uses the value of the sample that is closest to the nearest time step.

Linear Interpolation

Uses linear interpolation between two samples closest to the nearest time step.

Box Filter

Sums up all the samples in the filter area with an equal weight.

Triangle Filter

Uses a linear curve that affects the keys so that the least filtering happens at the edges of the sampled area.

Gaussian2

Uses a sloped curve that weights the sampling gently at the top of the peak and toward the edge of the sampled area. This is the default.

Gaussian4

Similar to the Gaussian2 filter but with a narrower base.

Time Step

Sets the period for resampling. If you set Time Step to 4, then a key frame will be placed every four frames. Resampling works best when the Time Step period is greater than the frequency of keyframes on the curve.

Spreadsheet

This menu selection lets you edit the values and attributes of the selected animation curves in a spreadsheet format in the Attribute Editor.

Buffer Curve Snapshot

Takes a snapshot of your curve. Use Swap Buffer Curve to switch between your curve snapshot and the current curve. See Swap Buffer Curve and View curves while editing.

Swap Buffer Curve

Toggles between the original curve (the buffer curve snapshot) and the current, edited curve. Lets you view and play both the curves animations. See Buffer Curve Snapshot, Swap Buffer Curve, and View curves while editing.

Non-Weighted Tangents

The default setting is non-weighted tangents, which provide simple handles for manipulating the tangent’s angle. To change the weighting of an animation curve, use Curves > Weighted to change the curve’s tangent type to weighted.

NoteYou cannot mix weighted and non-weighted tangents in the same curve.

Weighted Tangents

Weighted tangents represent the amount of influence a tangent’s length has on an animation curve segment. By turning on Free Tangent Weight (see Free Tangent Weight), it is possible to simultaneously edit the influence and angle of the tangent quickly and intuitively. Users of desktop illustration packages will recognize the familiar Bezier-style behavior when in this mode.

Tangent weights are represented by the length of the tangent handle, and editable tangent weights are manipulated by dragging the handle’s length.

Tangents of weighted animation curves have not only an angle but also a weight. The higher the weight of a tangent, the more influence it has on the shape of the curve segment compared with the tangent at the other end of the curve segment.

Keys menu

Break Tangents

Allows manipulation of the in and out tangent handles individually so you can edit the curve segment entering or exiting the key without affecting its opposite handle.

Unify Tangents

Causes the manipulation of an in or out tangent handle to affect its opposite handle equally. Unify Tangents retains the relative position of the tangent handles even after tangents are individually adjusted (by editing tangents separately after choosing Keys > Break Tangents).

Lock Tangent Weight

Specifies that when you move a tangent, only its angle can be changed. This forces the associated curve segment to retain the weight of the tangent. This applies only to weighted curves.

Free Tangent Weight

Specifies that when you move a tangent, its angle and weight can be changed. This allows the weight of a tangent to be adjusted as well as the angle. This only applies to weighted curves.

Convert to Key

Converts selected breakdowns to keys.

Convert to Breakdown

Converts selected keys to breakdowns.

Add Inbetween

Inserts an inbetween at the current time.

Remove Inbetween

Removes an inbetween at the current time.

Mute Key

Mutes the selected keys. Keys that are muted do not contribute to the animation on their channels.

When keys are muted, the following occurs:

  • A green symbol appears next to the names of the muted keys channels in the Graph Editor Outliner.
  • Mute curves with keys appear under the muted keys curves in the Graph Editor.

    Mute curves have the same number of keys as the muted keys animation curves, and their keys are positioned the same as those on the muted keys animation curves.

Unmute Key

Unmutes the selected keys. Keys that are not muted contribute to the animation on their channels. Unmuting keys disables their Mute curves (indicated by the red symbol next to the names of the muted keys curves in the Graph Editor Outliner) but does not remove them.

To remove Mute curves, see Mute or unmute a channel in the Dope Sheet or Graph Editor.

Tangents menu

Tangents describe the entry and exit of curve segments from a key. This menu operates on the shape of curve segments around selected keys. Note that these settings affect only existing animation curves segments’ tangents.

TipIf the Graph Editor is displayed in a panel, you can also edit tangents using the marking menu. In the Graph Editor, press +s+ -click to display the marking menu.

Spline

Specifying a spline tangent creates an animation curve that is smooth between the key before and the key after the selected key. The tangents of the curve are co-linear (both at the same angle). This ensures that the animation curve smoothly enters and exits the key. When animating fluid movement, a spline tangent is an excellent place to start. You use a minimum number of keys to achieve your look.

When animating fluid movement, a spline tangent is an excellent place to start. You use a minimum number of keys to achieve your look.

Linear

Specifying a linear tangent creates an animation curve as a straight line joining two keys. If the in tangent type is linear, the curve segment before the key is a straight line. If the out-tangent type is linear, the curve segment after the key is a straight line. When animating the color of a heating element on a stove, you would use linear to achieve that gradual change in color from charcoal gray to burning hot red.

Clamped

Specifying a clamped tangent creates an animation curve that has the characteristics of linear and spline curves.

The keys’ tangents will be splines unless the value of two adjacent keys are very close. In this case, the out tangent of the first key and the in tangent of the second key will be interpolated as linear.

When animating a skeleton in a walk-cycle, you may notice a slipping of the pelvic and foot joint position. This occurs because the value of the keys on the curve are either the same or close to (within tolerance of) the value of the other. Maya assigns a default spline tangent to describe what occurs between these keys. This is why you get the joint positions slipping.

By setting the tangent type to clamped for these keys, the slipping is corrected and the tangents becomes a combination of linear and spline.

In the Maya environment preferences, Clamped is the default tangent type.

Stepped

Specifying a stepped tangent creates an animation curve whose out tangent is a flat curve.

The curve segment is flat (horizontal), so the value changes at the key without gradation.

The light from a strobe light turns on and off. To create a strobe-like effect, you would use a step tangent.

Stepped Next

FBIK animation keys use the stepped next tangent type by default. This tangent type differs from regular Stepped tangents in that its interpolation values jump immediately to that of the next key, rather than holding the value of the current key until the next key is reached. For more information on Stepped Next tangents and FBIK, see FBIK Keys in the topic .

Flat

Sets the in and out tangents of the key to be horizontal (with a slope of 0 degrees). When a ball reaches its ascent, it hangs in the air for a brief time before starting its descent. You can create this effect by using a flat tangent.

Fixed

Specifying a fixed tangent allows a key’s tangents to remain unchanged as the key is edited.

When animating a ball, you may find the ball isn’t falling from a desired height, yet its impact with the floor and everything else is perfect. Using a fixed tangent lets you change the height of the ball while retaining the tangent’s angle. This is somewhat different from Edit > Keys > Bake Simulation.

This process is useful when you want to:

  • Edit a single animation curve instead of all the contributing attributes that affect the behavior of a single attribute, for example, an object affected by a driven key or an Expression.
  • Add keys to an existing curve

Plateau

Specifying a plateau tangent forces your animation curves to not go beyond the positions of their keyframes so that their maximum and minimum values (‘hills and valleys’) do not extend past or overshoot their keyframes. Plateau tangents are useful when you want the positions of your keyframes to be exact because they stop your animation curves from wandering beyond the boundaries set by the values of their keyframes.

For example, if you animate a ball rolling off a table, falling to the floor, and then rolling on the floor; the resulting animation will look different with spline tangents than with plateau tangents. With spline tangents, the ball will fall through the floor and then come back up to the floor. With plateau tangents, the ball will not fall through the floor.

Plateau tangents are similar to spline and clamped tangents. Plateau tangents ease animation curves in and out of their keyframes like spline tangents, but also flatten curve segments that occur between equal-valued keyframes like clamped tangents. Plateau tangents also have two unique characteristics: they flatten keyframes at the points in their curves where hills and valleys occur and they flatten the first and last keyframes on their curves.

In Tangent menu

Lets you specify a type of tangent for the In Tangent only. The In Tangent defines the type of curve segment that comes before a key. For descriptions of the tangent type options in this menu, see Tangents menu.

Out Tangent menu

Lets you specify a type of tangent for the Out Tangent only. The Out Tangent defines the type of curve segment that comes after a key. For descriptions of the tangent type options in this menu, see Tangents menu.

List menu

Auto Load Selected Objects

When Auto Load is turned on, the objects that appear in the Outliner will change every time you make a selection to show the currently selected objects. If Auto Load is turned off, it locks the objects currently in the Outliner so you can continue to edit their animation curves even if you make a new selection in a scene view.

Load Selected Objects

You can use this item only when Auto Load is off. When Auto Load is off, the objects appearing in the Outliner may be out of sync with what is currently selected in a scene view. To reload the Outliner with the current selection, choose Option > Reload List.

Add Selected Objects

To work on the animation of one object in the Graph Editor and another object not loaded in the Outliner, select that object and choose Options > Add Selected to List. This will add the selected object to the Graph Editor Outliner without disrupting the layout of the objects and animation curves currently in the Graph Editor.

Bookmarks

To save the view of the animation of one or more objects in the Graph Editor, create a bookmark.

Bookmark Current Objects

Opens the Bookmark Current Objects window. This window lets you set a bookmark for the objects currently loaded in the Graph Editor. An object bookmark allows you to load objects into the Graph Editor without having to select them in the scene view.

Object bookmarks appear as a list in the Bookmarks menu. When you select an object bookmark (indicated by the checkmark), its associated objects are loaded into the Graph Editor. When you remove an object bookmark selection (no checkmark), its associated objects are unloaded from the Graph Editor.

Bookmark name

Specifies the name of the object bookmark you want to create.

OK

Creates a bookmark for the currently loaded objects.

Cancel

Cancels the Bookmark Current Objects operation.

Bookmark Selected Curves

Opens the Bookmark Selected Curves window. This window lets you set a curve bookmark for the selected curves. A curve bookmark allows you to load curve nodes into the Graph Editor without having to select the curves’ objects in the scene view.

Curve bookmarks appear as a list in the Bookmarks menu. When you select a curve bookmark (indicated by the checkmark), its associated curve nodes are loaded into the Graph Editor. When you cancel a curve bookmark selection (no checkmark), its associated curve nodes are unloaded from the Graph Editor.

Bookmark name

Specifies the name of the curve bookmark you want to create.

OK

Creates a bookmark for the selected curves.

Cancel

Cancels the Bookmark Selected Curves operation.

Remove All Bookmarks

Removes all bookmarks from the current objects and curves displayed in the Graph Editor.

Show Upstream Curves

Lets you limit which curves display in the graph view for a selected channel. When on, only directly connected curves display. When off, all curves for the selected channel display.

See Display directly connected curves only.

Show menu

This menu is the same as its counterpart in the Outliner. See Outliner.