2016
Chapter 1: Learning the Maya Interface
34
FIGURE 1-46
The Hotbox
Chapter Summary
This chapter takes you through a tour of the Maya interface, covering the basic interface elements,
including the menus, the Status Line buttons, the Shelf, the Channel Box, the Layer Editor, the
Animation Controls, the Command Line, the Help Line, the Toolbox, and the Quick Layout buttons.
This chapter also explains how to work with these various interface elements and presents the marking
menus and the Hotbox as other ways to work with the interface.
What You Have Learned
In this chapter, you learned
* Howtoswitchbetweenthedifferentmenusets.
* Howtousekeyboardhotkeys.
* Howtoaccessoptiondialogboxesfrommenus.
* Howtotearoffmenus.
* Thedifferencebetweentoolsandaction s.
* Howtousepop‐uphelptoidentifybuttons.
* Howtoidentifyach
angeinthecursordenotingright‐clickmenus.
* Howtoexpandandcontractbuttonsets.
* Howtoopenandsavescenefiles.
* Howtoshowandhidethedifferentinterfaceelements.
* HowtousetheShelf.
* Howtoad
danddeleteitemsfromaShelf.
* HowtouseparametersintheChannelBox.
* HowtousetheLayerEditor.
* Howtoworkwiththeanimationcontrols.
* HowtousetheCommandandHelpLines.
* Howtoselectandtransformobjectsusingth
eToolboxtools.
* HowtoaddsoftmodificationstoobjectswiththeSoftModificationtool.