Graph Editor Edit menu

Note 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 also 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 also 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 also 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 also 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.

Select Edit > Transformation Tools > Scale > to open the Scale Keys Options. (See Edit > Keys > Scale Keys.)

Transformation Tools

Lets you open the following tools:

Move Keys Tool
Scale Keys Tool
Lattice Deform Keys Tool
Region Keys Tool
Retime Tool

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.

Select Edit > Transformation Tools > Move Keys Tool > to open the Move Key Settings:

Move Option

Select from the following:

Move Only disables the tool’s ability to sweep throughout a curve’s keys (see Move Over, below).
Move Over (default) lets the tool sweep through an active curve along the curve’s keys. This expedites the fine-tuning of animation curves.

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.

Select Transformation Tools > Scale Keys Tool > to open the following Scale Key Settings.

Type

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.

Only scale selected keys: When on, the Scale Keys Tool affects only selected keys. When off, Scale Keys Tool affects all keys.

You can also select Edit > Transformation Tools > Scale Keys > to open the Scale Key Tool options window. See Scale Keys Options.

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.

Select Transformation Tools > Lattice Deform Keys Tool > to open the following Lattice Settings.

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.

Transformation Tools > Region Tool

Enables Region selection mode, letting you drag in the graph view area to select a region, then scale keys within that region in time and in value. You can also enable Region selection by clicking in the Graph Editor toolbar. See also Scale keys or Scale curves.

Transformation Tools > Retime Tool

Enables the Retime Tool, letting you double-click in the graph view area to create retime markers. You can then drag the markers to directly adjust the timing of key movements in your animations, making them occur faster or slower, and dragging them to occur earlier or later in time. See also Change the timing of movements in animation.

You can also enable the Retime Tool by clicking in the Graph Editor toolbar.

Select Transformation Tools > Retime Tool > (or double-click the Retime Tool icon in the Tool Box area) to open the following Retime Settings.

Snap Markers on Frame: When on, retime markers snap to whole frames in the graph view area as you drag. When off, you can drag and drop markers between frames.

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 > Snap Keys > to view Snap Keys Options and edit the settings. (The options available are a sub-set of those available from 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.