Categories and Commands

Maya includes a large number of useful pre-defined hotkey commands. You can use these commands instead of writing your own MEL script.

Click a category in the Categories list to see the list of available pre-defined Commands in the category.

Click a command in the Commands list to see its current hotkey(s) or assign it to a new key.

Current hotkeys

List box

Shows all hotkeys that active the selected command.

Remove

Select a hotkey and click Remove to unassign the hotkey.

List All

Opens a window listing every assigned hotkey and its command. In this window you can use the tabs to switch from listing the hotkeys by key, or by category.

Restore Defaults

Returns all hotkey assignments to their “factory defaults” (the original commands they were assigned to when Maya was installed).

Assign New Hotkey

Key

Enter the key you want to assign to the selected command. Enter a letter from A to Z (upper and lower case are different keys) or a number from 0 to 9. You cannot use more than one letter or number.

Or, select a special key from the pull-down list. For example, if you want the right arrow key to act as the trigger, assign it here.

Modifier

Select either (Windows and Linux)/ (Mac OS X) or or (Mac OS X) for the hotkey modifier.

Direction

Use Press or Release to associate a command with the press or a release of a key. For example, you can create a hotkey to instruct Maya to snap to a curve when you press a key, then turn off the snapping when you release it.

If you added a key to an operation ending with (Press) or (Release), add the same key to the corresponding (Release) or (Press) operation.

Add to Recent Command List

Turn on so that this hotkey can appear in the Edit > Recent Commands List window.

Assign

Assigns the key in the Key field along with the Modifier and Direction to the select command in the Commands list. If your hotkey combination is already assigned to a command, a prompt appears asking if you would like to overwrite the assignment.

Query

Click Query to determine whether the specified key settings have already been assigned to a command.

Find

Click Find to highlight the category and command for the key you enter in the Key field.

Edit area

New

Create a new user-defined command which you can then assign to a hotkey.

Edit

Edit the selected user-defined command in the Commands list.

Delete

Delete the selected user-defined command in the Commands list.

Name

The name of the selected command.

Description

A description of the command’s purpose and effect.

Category

The category in which the command appears (in the Categories list box).

Command

The script that runs when the command is activated.

Accept

Click to save the command you are creating or editing. This button is only available after you click New or Edit to create or edit a command.

Cancel

Click to cancel editing a command. This button is only available after you click New or Edit to create or edit a command.

Search

Lets you search for text in the name or script of all defined commands. Use asterisks as wildcards.