Maya and Blender - Side by Side

Switching From Blender to Maya – Key Commands

Introduction:

If you know Blender, but have not used Maya before and need to learn Maya, then the commands and shortcuts will help you to get up and running in no time at all. I am an experienced user of Blender and have been using the program for over 4 years. But I recectly also needed to learn Maya, so as I was doing so I noted down the key commands and shortcuts. Of which I have also put into this post.

One of the things are really helped me get up and running with Maya quick then I expected was the fact it uses the same viewport movement and navigate commands as Unreal Engine and also Substance painter (although I know these are industry standard!). Blender doesn’t acutally use an industry standard keys, but it does have a really quick and efficient modeling set up.

This post isn’t on which program is better, but is a practical resource for those who know Blender and are learning Maya. Saying that it will also be of use if you are coming from Maya to Blender.

One personal note I will add is that it’s been very interesting learning Maya and I’ve found the output to be very similar, perhaps even there is no difference, they just have different UIs! One thing I found kind of crazy was there are so many more tutorials and information on Blender as compared to Maya. The Blender community is huge, but the Maya community is so much smaller.

Prerequisites:

  1. The guide below does assume you have a basic understanding of the Maya interface.

  2. This guide does not go into granular details of the controls – but is to get you up and running.

  3. It also assumes you have some knowledge of 3D modeling and its key concepts.

 

Using this Info:

  1. You may wish to just search the page to see if you can find the item you are looking for or I would recommend working through each point to familirise yourself with each command.
  2. If you have any questions or see something that needs updating please do add a comment.

Animation Commands: Basics

Basics: Animate an object.

  1. Select an object.
  2. Press S to keyframe all transforms.
  3. Move the object.
  4. Move timeline scrubber to another time.
  5. Press S to keyframe new position.
  6. Press Shift and key below for keying one transform channel.

Graph Editor:

  1. Windows > Animation > Graph Editor
  2. Use tangents to change the ease in and out.

Key Commands:

The items below are listed in Alphabetical order.

General: UI and moving Viewport:

  1. Select and transform shortcuts:
    1. Q = Select
    2. W = Transform/Move
    3. E = Rotation.
    4. R = Scale.
  1. Maya has Quick Selection Menus:
    1. Right Click (on object) brings up component menu (a bit like an model editing mode – In Blender you can press Tab to go into Editing mode) and other tools selection menu.
    2. Shift and Right Click (on or off object) mouse click brings up a further editing menu > also it’s context sensitive depending on what you have selected.
  1. One click spacebar to go in and out of quad viewports.
    1. When clicking spacebar again it will go back to one viewport (this will be the active viewport).

Boolean:

  1. Select two objects.
  2. Press the Boolean button.
  3. Green object is that object that applies the Boolean.

 

 

 

Camera: Look Through Camera.

  1. Look through camera > Go to ‘Panels’ tab (top left of viewport).
  2. Select > ‘perspective’
  3. Select > ‘Look Through Selected’

Camera add:

  1. Go to Rendering > Press Camera button.

 

Convert Instance to Object:

  1. Modify (menu) > Convert > Instance to object.

 

Depth of field / Focal Distance:

  1. Select camera.
  2. Go to the ‘Attribute panel’ > Camera Attributes
  3. Add ‘focal distance’ of object to focus on.
    1. See HUD > ‘Distance from Camera’ for focal distance details.
  1. Use ‘Aperture size’ to change depth of field and blurriness!

Detach or Separate a Face:

  1. Select Face: Shift / RMB Hold > Detach component.
  2. Detaching a face: Edit Mesh > Detach
  3. Through the Menu and how to separate (a new object):
    1. Edit Mesh > Detach.
    2. Mesh > Separate.
    3. Select the faces press and hold shift + right mouse and choose duplicate face.
    4. Remember to clear history after detaching.

Grouping:

  1. Select 2 or more objects
  2. Ctrl G.
  3. In outliner > Select object > Edit > Parent and Unparent to remove from group.

HUD – Display Details:

  1. Go to > ‘Display’ > ‘Heads up Display’
  2. Select the details you are looking for.

Increase or Decrease selected faces:

  1. Increase or decrease selection:
    1. Select faces > Hold down shift and press period/.
    2. Press , to decrease face selection.

Linked / Instances:

  1. Select Edit (menu) > Duplicate Special
  2. Set the Geometry Type to Instance.
  1. Crtl-Shift-D

Linked / Mirroring:

  1. Similar to above.
  2. But delete half the object first.

Lock / Ignore Object or Objects:

  1. Select object or multiple objects.
  2. Select all transforms in the channel tab.
  3. Right click and lock.

Lock / Ignore Via Channel Box: Stops from selecting an object that is locked.

  1. Select an object > In Channel box at the bottom of the panel > Create a new layer
  2. Select objects > Right click on the new layer and select add to layer.
  3. Right Click > Set all layers to reference.
  4. Or press the third button a couple times for the R to come up.

 

Object Dimensions/Sizes:

  1. Press Crtl-T to see the object dimensions.

Merge Faces:

  1. Edit Mesh > Merge tool
  2. Or just delete edges!

Reset / Apply Scale(s): So they are all equal

  1. Press the Freeze Transformations’ button.
    1. In Blender > this is the same as Ctrl A > Apply scale.
  1. Then delete ‘History’ – delete history regularly – as it will get bogged down.
    1. Deleting history is like applying the modifier in blender.

Select a Face loop:

  1. Select a face > Then > Double click on an adjacent face.

Select an Edge Loop:

  1. Double click on the loop.

Scale all vertexes to one height: Edge Straighten

  1. Select vertexes.
  2. R for Scale
  3. Select ‘Object’ or ‘world’ in scale settings.
  4. Drag scale up or down.

Shade Smooth or Sharp:

  1. Mesh Display > Soften / Harden / Soften Harden Edges.
  2. Soften Harden Edges > Open the tab for the Angle Limit.

Soft Selection / Proportional Editing:

  1. With faces selected.
  2. Hold B to increase or decrease fall off.
  3. Double click on the transform tool > Get Soft Selection options.

Symmetry:

  1. Use the symmetry drop down box (next to snapping tools) to mirror as you work.
  2. Or
  3. Select one side of model (mid-line is required in the middle).
  4. Then select symmetry > Select a middle line.

Sub-surface Divisions: Smoothing

  1. To preview smoothing press 3 and then add loop cuts to sharpen edges where required.
  2. 3 is only a preview.
  3. To add divisions – press smooth tool button or right click and smooth faces.

Units and Scale:

  1. Default units are CM.
  2. Default Cube is 1cm by 1cm by 1cm
  3. Windows > Settings/Preferences > Prereferences
    1. Go to > Settings > Working Units
    2. Set as default > Go to New Scene > Select the little square icon.

 

 

Materials:

  1. Open material editor or right click on object and assign a new material.
    1. See image below for shortcut to material editor.
  2. Can use Maya or Arnold. Generally use Arnold materials.
  1. Add a material:
    1. Use Arnold
    2. Select object(s) > right click > and assign new material.
    3. aiStandardShader
  1. Add a Diffuse:
    1. In the object > In the attributes tab > rename material.