2009

Table Of Contents
Lesson 1:The Maya user interface
Introduction
Just as the driver of an automobile is familiar with the dashboard of their
vehicle, it is important for you to become familiar with the Maya dashboard.
The Maya user interface refers to everything that the Maya user sees and operates
within Maya. The menus, icons, scene views, windows, and panels comprise
the user interface.
Through the Maya user interface you access the features and operate the tools
and editors that allow you to create, animate, and render your three
dimensional objects, scenes, and effects within Maya.
As you spend time learning and working with Maya, your knowledge of and
familiarity with the user interface will increase until it becomes second nature.
In this lesson you learn how to:
Start Maya on your computer.
Use the Maya interface so that you can begin to understand where and
how to access the critical tools to get started with Maya.
Select the menu and icon sets within Maya.
Learn the names of tools related to the icons in Maya.
Create a new scene view.
This first lesson contains additional explanations of the tools and concepts
compared to many of the lessons later in this manual. We suggest you take
some time to review these explanations as they lay the foundation for
understanding where things are in Maya.
Starting Maya
To start Maya on Windows
1 Do one of the following:
Double-click the Maya icon on your desktop.
Lesson 1:The Maya user interface | 15