Outliner

The Outliner shows a hierarchical list of all objects in the scene in outline form.

Related topics

Outline

To...	Do this
Select an object.	Select the object node’s name in the Outliner.
Expand or collapse the level under a node.	Click the square plus or minus next to the node’s name.
Expand all levels under a node.	Hold and click the square plus next to the node’s name.
Change a node’s order in the hierarchy.	Drag the node with and drop it between two other nodes.
Make a node a child of another node.	Drag the node with 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’s 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.

NoteThe 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.
Container Contents: Shows a container’s encapsulated nodes.
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.
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).
Container Contents: Select how nodes encapsulated in a container appear in the Outliner. You can select from the following options.

Under Container only shows the node as a child of its container while

Under Parent only shows the node in the hierarchy.

Both displays the same node under both its container 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.
User Defined: User-defined attributes.
Published: Attributes published to containers.

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.
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”.