File > Import

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File > Import >

General options

Group: Specifies whether the imported objects are grouped under a single transform when you import the file. Grouping makes it easier to work on the nodes of imported objects. The default is off.
Remove duplicate shading networks: This setting prevents the duplication of geometry and shading networks if you import a file more than once into Maya.
File type: Select from the drop-down list the file type you are importing. If you aren’t sure what type of file you are importing, you can select Best Guess.

Depending on the file type you select, various file type specific options may be displayed.
Ignore version: Disregards the file version when opening a Maya file. The Ignore version setting lets you open a file that was created by a later version of Maya regardless of whether it was saved in ascii or binary format. This eliminates the need to save and then manually edit an ascii version of the Maya file to remove the required version line when you need to open it in an earlier version.

NoteMaya files that are opened in an earlier version of Maya are not supported as feature compatibility to earlier software versions cannot be ensured. The Ignore version feature is primarily provided for users in production environments where multiple versions of Maya are in use simultaneously.

Referencing options

Preserve references: If Preserve References is turned on, the references within the imported file are preserved. If it is turned off, all references are imported into or exported within the file; that is, they are no longer references, but are now objects in the scene. The default is off.
Load default references: Respects the referenced file’s state in the referencing file when the referencing file was last saved. Whatever references were loaded or unloaded the last time you worked on the file are properly loaded or unloaded when you re-open it.
Load all references: Opens the file with all references loaded. You can change the state of reference loading after the file is open in Maya by opening the Reference Editor ( Reference Editor overview) and selecting the references you want to unload.
Load no references: This opens the file without loading any references. You can load references after the file is open in Maya by opening the Reference Editor ( Reference Editor overview) and selecting the references you want to load.
Load top-level references only: Loads only the top-most referenced files (which may themselves contain many nested referenced files). This is useful in cases where you may be opening a complex nested scene reference hierarchy with many nested references and you want to easily work at the top level of the hierarchy.

Name Clash options

Use namespaces: When you import or reference a scene with the Use Namespaces option turned on, Maya creates a new namespace that contains the imported or referenced data. Turning on the Use Namespaces option ensures that all nodes are uniquely named.

A namespace is a grouping of objects under a given name. Each item in a namespace is identified by its own name along with the namespace it belongs to.

By default, the basename of the imported or referenced file is added to the beginning of the imported or referenced object names, separated by colons.

For example, if you are importing a scene named foo.ma that contains an object named ball, after it’s imported the ball is named foo:ball.

You can change the prefix by selecting Resolve clashing nodes with this string and entering a prefix.

TipBefore importing or referencing a file, make sure that the renaming prefix contains no invalid characters.

You can create, name, parent, and remove namespaces using the namespace command.

Namespaces do not effect selection, the DAG, the Dependency Graph, or any other aspect of Maya.
Resolve options: When you import a scene into another scene, naming conflicts occur if the nodes share the same name and parent nodes.

To resolve these naming conflicts, you can rename only nodes with the same name and parents (clashing nodes) or you can rename all nodes. You specify whether to use the filename as the prefix (the default) or to create a prefix string.

For more information on node hierarchy, see MEL and Expressions.

TipWe recommend you use namespaces to resolve naming conflicts instead of using the Name clash options when importing or referencing files.

Move file options

The following file type-specific options apply to importing move files:

Attributes: Type the name of an attribute in the Attributes box and click Add to add the attribute to the list of attributes to use when importing or exporting. If the attribute is already included in the list, a duplicate is not made. You can add several attributes at one time by separating them with a space. To remove an attribute, type the name of the attribute and click Remove.
From Channel Box: Click From Channel Box to combine all of the selected objects in Maya, in the order of their selection, with the channels selected in the Channel Box and place them in the list. For example, if sphere and cone are selected, and tx, sx are selected in the Channel Box, sphere.tx sphere.sx cone.tx and cone.sx are added to the list of attribute to import and export.
Remove Selected: Click Remove Selected to remove all of the attributes selected in the list.
Remove All: Click Remove All to remove all of the attributes from the list.
Precision: This is ignored in file export. For file import, this sets the precision of the file.

When you click import or export, the move file is written or read and only the attributes in the list are affected.

Adobe Illustrator and EPS options

The Illustrator importer cannot import Illustrator text objects. Convert any text objects in your file to paths before you import the file into Maya.

Scale factor: Allows you to control the scale of the curves produced from the import. It is the same operation as using the Scale Tool.
Group: Turn on this option to group the imported curves. It is the same operation as using the Edit > Group option.

Animation curve options (animImport)

You must have the animImportExport plug-in loaded to see these options.

Time Range

Select a time range option and specify the appropriate settings.

Start: Imports the animation information to the selected objects so that the animation starts at the time specified in the Start Time field.
Start/End: Imports the animation information to the selected object or objects, scaling the animation to fit into the time range as specified in the Start Time and End Time fields. Animation information from the keys clipboard is either scaled or clipped depending on the setting of the Clipboard Adjustment option.
Current: Imports the animation information to the selected objects so that the animation starts at the current time as displayed in the Animation Controls.
Clipboard: Transfers the animation information to the selected object(s), preserving the duration and timing of the animation information on the keys clipboard.
Copies: The value specifies the number of copies of the anim curves that are imported. Multiple copies are appended sequentially.

Help Images: Turn on Help Images to display illustrations of the effects of the various anim import options.

Clipboard Adjustment

Specify an option for how to handle the Clipboard contents.

Preserve: Pastes the contents of the clipboard into their new positions on the curve without any changes.
Scale: Becomes enabled when Start/End is selected. The complete contents of the clipboard curves are stretched or compressed to fit into the specified import Time Range.
Fit: Becomes enabled when Start/End is selected. The contents of the clipboard are preserved (that is, not stretched or compressed) and as much as will fit into the specified time range is pasted into the new area.

Paste Method

Specify a paste method.

Insert: Places the clipboard contents before any existing keys in the specified time range. The keys from the original curve that were after the specified time range are shifted in time by the pasted range times.
Replace: Becomes enabled when Start/End or Clipboard is selected. The clipboard contents overwrite any existing keys in the specified time range.
Merge: The clipboard contents are added to any existing keys on the curve. In the case where a clipboard key is at the same time as an existing key, the clipboard’s key replaces the existing key.

Replace Region

These buttons are enabled when Paste Method is set to Replace.

Time Range: Replace keys and curve segment information in the specified time range with the contents of the keys clipboard.
Entire Curve: Is available only when the Time Range setting is Clipboard. The Entire Curve setting replaces the animation curve(s) on the imported attributes with the contents of the keys clipboard, in effect deleting any existing animation curves on these attributes and applying the new curves from the keys clipboard.

Connect: When turned on, adjusts the keys clipboard curves in value, so there’s no discontinuity in the animation at the start of the pasted segment.