Maya
stores preferences files in the following path:
Windows
- (Windows XP)
\Documents
and Settings\<username>\My Documents\maya\2011\en_US\prefs
- (Windows XP 64bit)
\Documents
and Settings\<username>\My Documents\maya\2011-x64\en_US\prefs
- (Windows Vista and Windows 7)
\Users\<username>\Documents\maya\2011\en_US\prefs
- (Windows Vista and Windows 7 64bit)
\Users\<username>\Documents\maya\2011-x64\en_US\prefs
Mac OS X
- /Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/en_US/2011/prefs
Linux (64-bit)
- ~<username>/maya/2011-x64/prefs
You can change the location
of your preferences and other important Maya folders (projects,
etc.) by using environment variables. See
File path variables for details.
Most preferences are
saved as text files of MEL commands.
Shelves are stored in the shelves subdirectory,
icons are stored in the icons subdirectory, and marking menus are
stored in the markingMenus subdirectory.
When you customize Maya,
your new settings are stored in user preference files, so that each
time you open Maya, your settings are used instead of the Maya default
settings. If you delete a preference file, Maya uses the default settings.
NoteMaya does not detect
if you are out of space if your disk overflows while Maya is saving
preferences. If this occurs, your preferences may become corrupt or
irretrievable. Ensure that your hard drive has space available to
save your Maya preference files. If the disk runs out of space,
free up some space before exiting the Maya application.
Color and hotkey files
The following .mel files store settings you have
customized using the Colors window and Hotkey
Editor.
- userColors.mel – Contains
preferences defined on the Active and Inactive tabs
of the Colors window.
- userRGBColors.mel – Contains
preferences defined on the General tab
of the Colors window.
- paletteColors.mel – Defines
the colors (RGB) making up the index palette in the Active and Inactive tabs
of the Colors window.
- userHotkeys.mel – Contains
any hotkeys you have assigned in the Hotkey Editor window.
- userNamedCommands.mel – Contains
all the commands that have hotkeys assigned to them.
Default hotbox marking
menus
The
following files define the default Hotbox marking menus.
- menu_ChangePanelLayout.mel – North
- menu_ChangePanelType.mel – South
- menu_ChangeSelectionMask.mel – West
- menu_CommonModelingPanes.mel – Center
- menu_ControlPaneVisibility.mel – East
User preferences
The following files define user preferences.
- userPrefs.mel – Contains
preferences defined in the Preferences window (Window
> Settings/Preferences > Preferences).
- windowPrefs.mel – Defines
the default size and position of Maya windows.
NoteMaya will not read
a previous version’s windowPrefs.mel file because some of the window
sizes change between versions of Maya. If Maya recognized the old
preferences, it could hide new functionality.