Outliner

Related topics

Outline

To...	Do this
Select an object.	Select the object node name in the Outliner.
Expand or collapse the level under a node.	Click the square plus or minus next to the node name.
Expand all levels under a node.	-click the square plus next to the node name.
Change a node’s order in the hierarchy.	-drag and drop it between two other nodes.
Make a node a child of another node.	-drag and drop it on top of the node you want to be its parent. If you can’t see both nodes at the same time in the Outliner, use Edit > Parent instead.
Bring a node out from under its parent.	Select the child node and select Edit > Unparent.
Split the Outliner window.	Drag the divider bar at the bottom of the window up. When the pointer is over the bar the cursor changes to a up/down drag indicator. To unsplit the window, drag the divider back down to the bottom of the window.
Rename a node.	Double-click the node name. In node names, all punctuation except for the underscore (_) and the pound sign (#) are illegal characters.
Allow the display of attributes (channels) in the Outliner.	Turn on Display > Attributes (Channels). You can also limit the display of attributes with the Outliner’s Show > Attributes submenu.
Show or hide the attributes on a node.	Click the round plus () or minus () next to the node’s name. You can further expand multi-value attributes. You cannot edit attribute values in the Outliner.
Open a node in the Attribute Editor.	Double-click the icon next to the node’s name.
Open an attribute in the Expression Editor.	Double-click the attribute name.

Note

The Display and Show menu settings are saved with a scene file. The menu settings are not saved when you open a new or different scene.

Menus

Display

DAG Objects Only: Shows only transformable nodes.
Reference Nodes: Shows reference nodes for referenced files in the scene.
Reference Members: Shows the object hierarchy of reference nodes when Reference Nodes display is on.
Shapes: Shows shape nodes.
Attributes (Channels): Allow the display of attributes on nodes. Use the round plus and minus buttons to show a node’s attributes.
Set Members: Allow the display of members under the sets.
Show Namespace: Shows the namespace of referenced objects.
Connected: Only show attributes that are connected to another node, keyed, or connected (by set driven key, a constraint, a motion path, or an expression).
Reveal Selected: Expands the outline to show the currently selected node(s).
Advanced Asset Contents: Select how nodes encapsulated in an advanced asset appear in the Outliner. You can select from the following options.

Under Asset only shows the node as a child of its asset while

Under Parent only shows the node in the hierarchy.

Both displays the same node under both its asset and in the hierarchy.

None hides encapsulated nodes completely.
Channel Names: Select what attribute names to show when Attributes (Channels) is on. Nice names are more readable. Long and Short names are the actual names of attributes, which you can use in expressions and MEL.
Sort Order: Select Scene Hierarchy to show the hierarchy. Select Alphabetical Within Type to show flat alphabetical lists of each node type.
Attribute Order: Changes the order in which the attributes are displayed in the Connection Editor’s list. Attributes can be sorted in ascending or descending alphabetical order.
Select Set Members: Selects the members of the highlighted set.

Show

Objects

Select which object types to show in the Outliner. Select Clear Below to turn off all filters.

Attributes

Select which attribute types to show in the Outliner. Select Clear Below to turn off all filters.

Hidden: Hidden attributes.
Keyable: Keyable attributes.
Scale, Rotate, Translate: Scale, Rotate, or Translate attributes.
Driven by Anim Curve: Attributes with an animation curve. This includes attributes animated with keys, set driven keys, constraints, and motion paths.
Driven by Expression: Attributes controlled by expressions.
Driven by Driven Key: Attributes driven by driven keys.
User Defined: User-defined attributes. For more information, see Create, edit, or delete custom attributes.
Published: Attributes published to assets.

Invert Shown

Reverse the filters so visible objects are hidden and hidden objects are visible.

Show All

Turns off all filters in the Show menu.

Select Attributes

Opens the Select Attributes window, which lets you filter which attributes display for a selected object.

The Select Attributes window displays a grid of checkboxes for the Translate, Rotate, and Scale XYZ attributes, as well as a list of any other attributes for the selected object. Use these checkboxes to turn the display of each attribute on and off. (For example, see Filter curve display in the Graph Editor.)

Show Selected Type(s)

Shows only object types of the same type as the current selection. This option lets you create a filter that limits the types of objects and attributes displayed in the Outliner to the same type of object or attribute as the current selection.

For example, if you select an object’s Translate X, Y, and Z attributes in the Outliner, then select Show Selected Type(s). All non-translation attributes will be filtered and only translation attributes will appear in the Outliner. The Show Selected Type(s) filter remains active until you select another Show menu option (such as Show All).

Create Entry

Lets you save and name the current Show menu filter.

Create Entry is only available when the objects and attributes displayed in the Outliner have been filtered by the Show Selected Type(s) menu option.

Delete Entry

Lets you delete a saved Show menu filter.

Show Auxiliary Nodes

Shows node types that the Outliner normally does not show because they are rarely needed (such as underworld nodes).

Auxiliary Nodes

Lets you set which nodes are considered “auxiliary”.

You can customize which nodes are hidden to reduce clutter in the editors. Generally, these are nodes that are not normally useful to see or edit. Select this option to display the Auxiliary Nodes editor and customize the node types that are hidden in editors. See Auxiliary Nodes for more information.

Reference menu

To access the Reference menu, -click either an empty area, or a reference node in the Outliner.

Create Reference >: See File > Create Reference and Creating file references.
Export Selected As Reference >: Exports selected objects as referenced files. When you export objects as file references, Maya creates a new scene file in the specified location and references that file into the open parent scene. See Export Selection As Reference Options and Exporting file references.
Unload/Load/Reload: Loads or unloads the selected reference. If the current reference is already loaded, reload updates the loaded reference. This is useful when the reference file is being edited simultaneously. See Unload and reload file references.
Select Reference Members: Selects the objects contained by the selected reference node. The referenced members are selected in the Outliner and scene view allowing you to view the reference organization of your parent scene.
Duplicate: Duplicates the file associated with the selected reference. See Duplicate file references.
Import: Imports the selected reference’s objects directly into the current scene. See Import file references.
Remove: Removes the selected reference and associated reference nodes from the scene file. This is the preferred method for removing a reference and its associated nodes.
Replace: Opens a file browser to replace the current reference with the one you select. The group node and/or locator remains the same.
Recently Replaced Files: Lists recently-replaced reference files.
Save Edits: Saves edits that were made within the parent scene for a selected file reference to the corresponding referenced file on disk. The edits get transferred so they no longer reside within the parent scene. See Reference edits.
Export to Offline File >: Exports edits made to objects in a scene, such as connected nodes, to a file you specify. You can then apply these edits to other scenes with the Assign Offline File option.

See File > Export to Offline File and Export to an offline file.
Assign Offline File >: References the edits from the file you select and applies them to the reference node selected in the Outliner or Reference Editor. Maya applies edits by matching each nodename.attribute in the edit file to the file its being applied to.

For example, you can export a reference edit for pSphere1.translateX in the scene sphere.ma. This edit is saved in the reference file as <main>:sphere_pSphere1.translateX. You can then apply this edit to the scene ball.ma so that ball:pSphere1.translateX is edited.

See File > Assign Offline File and Assign an offline file
List Edits: Displays a current list of edits on the selected reference. You can refresh this window manually by clicking the Refresh Edits List button or remove specific edits by selecting them and clicking Remove Selected Edits. See List copy or remove reference edits.
Lock Reference/Unlock Reference: Locks or unlocks all of the nodes and attributes for a selected file reference. A lock icon appears beside the listed file reference within the Reference Editor to indicate the locked status. See Locking a file reference.