Set driven keys

Driven Keys link the attributes—single or multiple—of one object to the attributes of another object. You can use Driven Keys when you want the attributes of one object to drive those of another object. See Driven keys.

To link two attribute values

1. Select Animate > Set Driven Key > Set.

   The Set Driven Key window appears.

   Note

   If you select an object before making the menu selection, the Set Driven Key window lists and selects it as the driven object by default.

2. In the scene view, select the driver object.
3. In the Set Driven Key window, click the Load Driver button.
   

   The object and its attributes appear in the Driver section of the window.

4. In the Set Driven Key window, select an attribute from the driver.

   This attribute will drive the attribute that is selected from the driven object.

5. In the scene view, select the driven object.
   Note

   The driven and driver objects can be the same object.

6. In the Set Driven Key window, click Load Driven.

   The object and its attributes appear in the Driven section of the window.

7. Select the driven attribute.
8. In the Channel Box or elsewhere, set values for the driver and driven attributes.
9. Click the Key button in the Set Driven Key window.

   Maya creates a key that links the selected attributes at the current values. The object with the driven attribute turns magenta in the workspace. The color indicates that the object has a driven attribute.

10. Set new values for the driver and driven attributes.
11. Click Key again.

    Maya creates a key that links the attributes at their new values. You can link the attributes with as many keys as necessary. The default interpolation between the keys is linear. To fine tune the relationship between the driver attribute and driven attribute, use the Graph Editor.

You can also examine the state of objects at their driven keys. This is helpful when you’re editing the Graph Editor curve or setting more driven keys.

To view driven objects

1. In the scene view, select the object with the driven attribute.
2. From the Set Driven Key window, select Key > Go To Next or Key > Go To Previous.

   With these menu items you can loop through all the keys for the driven attribute and view the state of the object at each of these keys.

To list the keyable or nonkeyable attributes for an object in the Set Driven Key window

1. Select the object in the scene view or Outliner.
2. Do one of the following:
   • To list keyable attributes, turn on Options > List Keyable Attributes for driven in the Set Driven Key window.
   • To list nonkeyable attributes, turn off Options > List Keyable Attributes for driven in the Set Driven Key window.
3. Click Load Driven.

   The Set Driven Key window displays the keyable or nonkeyable attributes for the object. You can use the Channel Control editor (Window > General Editors > Channel Control) to control whether an attribute is keyable or nonkeyable.

To add an object to the existing Driver or Driven list

1. Select the object in the scene view or Outliner.
2. In the Set Driven Key window, turn off Options > Clear On Load.
3. Click Load Driver or Load Driven.

   The current object is added to the Driver or Driven list.

To load the driver linked to a loaded driven object

1. Select the driven object in the scene view or Outliner.
2. Click Load Driven.
3. In the Set Driven Key window, select Load > Current Driver.

   The driver of the current driven object appears in the Driver list.

To load only shape nodes for an object

1. Select the object from the scene view or Outliner.
2. In the Set Driven Key window, turn on Options > Load Shapes.
3. Click Load Driver or Load Driven.

   Only the current object’s shape node appears in the Driver or Driven list.