Relationship Editor

In main menu bar: Window > Relationship Editors

In scene view: Panels > Panel > Relationship Editor

Use the Relationship Editor to edit relationships in Maya, where a relationship is a collection or grouping of objects or components. These relationships include:

Sets
Deformer Sets
Character Sets
Partitions
Display Layers
Render Layers
Render Pass Sets
Animation Layers
Dynamic Relationships
Light Linking (Light-centric and Object-centric)
UV Linking (Texture-centric, UV-centric, Paint Effects/UV, Hair/UV, and Fur/UV)
Hair/Fur Linking
NoteThe Relationship Editor is separate from the Dynamic Relationships Editor, which is used to control relationships of particle objects.

Related topics

Relationship Editor menus

List

Auto Load All Sets

Turn this on to automatically display all relationships of the selected type in the scene. This is the default.

Manual Load Sets

Turn this on to display relationships by choosing one of the following options:

Load Set from Selection: Display only the relationships associated with the objects selected in the scene.
Add Set from Selection: Add to the display the relationships associated with the objects selected in the scene.
Remove Set from Selection: Remove from the display the relationships associated with the objects selected in the scene.

To display objects

In the right side panel, select one of the following options from the List menu.
Auto Load All

Turn this on to automatically display all objects in the scene.

Auto Load Selection

Turn this on to automatically display objects in the relationships associated with the objects selected in the scene.

Manual Load

Turn this on to display objects by choosing one of the following options:

Load List from Selection

Display only the selected objects.

Add Selection to List

Add to the display the objects selected in the scene.

Remove Selection from List

Remove from the display the objects selected in the scene.

Relationship Editor toolbar

Drop down menu: Controls which type of relationship to edit. This is the same as the items in the Window > Relationship Editors submenu.
Plus and Minus icons: When you are editing an asset-like relationship, such as sets, partitions, or characters, the plus and minus icons add or remove the current selection from the highlighted asset in the editor.

For example, if you are editing sets, you can highlight a set on the left side of the editor and click the Plus icon to add the currently selected objects to the set.

Panels

Type text in the text boxes at the top of each panel to only show items with that text in their names. Click the icon to the left of the text boxes to switch the filter on or off.
Click a set on the left side, then click items on the right side to highlight or unhighlight them. Highlighted items on the right side are connected to the item on the left side.