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Chapter 1 Customization and MEL Scripting
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Resetting to Factory/Swapping Prefs Files
There comes a time in every animator’s life when it’d be nice to return to the past. That is,
it’s sometimes necessary to return Maya to either its “factory default” or to a state that is
known to be productive.
To return the Maya user interface (UI) and global preferences to the factory default,
choose Window
➔ Settings/Preferences ➔ Preferences. In the Preferences window, choose
Edit
➔ Restore Default Settings from the upper-left drop-down menu. This returns all the
options in the Preferences window to default and redisplays any UI elements that were previ-
ously hidden. Restore Default Settings will not, however, restore individual tools to their
default settings.
Every options window that is provided by a tool has an Edit
➔ Reset Settings option in
the upper-left drop-down menu. Unfortunately, Reset Settings does not provide a universal
way to reset every tool.
You can force Maya to return to its original installation configuration by exiting the pro-
gram, deleting the
prefs folder, and restarting the program. If Maya discovers that the prefs
folder is missing, but detects an older installation of the program, it displays a message win-
dow with two buttons. Choosing the Create Default
Preferences button returns Maya to its installation
configuration. Choosing the Copy Old Preferences
button retrieves a copy of the
prefs folder from the
older installation.
If the
prefs folder is missing and no other installation exists, Maya automatically
supplies a new, factory-default
prefs folder. You can find the prefs folder in the following
default locations with Maya 8.0:
Windows:
drive:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\maya\8.0\prefs
Mac OS X: Users/username/Library/Preferences/Alias/maya/8.0/prefs
Linux: ~username/maya/8.0/prefs
The prefs folder contains a series of subfolders and text files that store user settings. If
you have Maya configured the way you like it, it’s advisable to copy the entire
prefs folder to
a safe location. Should Maya wind up in a state you don’t like, you can simply exit the pro-
gram, delete the current
prefs folder, and return your backup copy to its place. Saving and
replacing the
prefs folder is the perfect way to carry your preferences to machines that you
are forced to share, such as those in a classroom. A description of default subfolders follows.
icons A folder that is available for user icon storage.
markingMenus A folder that contains custom marking menus. Each marking menu is saved as
a separate file (for example,
menu_ChangePanelLayout.mel).
The Maya startup preferences window
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