Chapter 1- Getting Started with MAYA | FREE tutorial , lesson & video training | Beginner | Advanced page 1
Chapter 1 - Getting started with MAYA (Beginner tutorials & video lessons)
Author - Saju Asokan
Last Updated: May 01 2009
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In this page, we will look into the panels in Maya and learn how to use them effectively.
What really is a Maya Panel:
A panel in Maya is nothing but a view into the scene from the angle you wish to see it. In this image you can see four different panels within the Maya window. Our scene contains only a single box / cube. But the four panels (named top, persp, front and side) gives you four different views of the same cube from four different stand points.
Note: Out of the four views, top, front and side are orthographic views, since they project the scene at a fixed perpendicular angle. The perspective panel in Maya, gives you a view at an angle and the object size tapers with distance from the eye as in the real world.
Switching between Maya Panels:
By default Maya opens up in the persp panel in the maximised mode. You can switch to the Four-view panel mode through either of the two easy ways:
Press and release the space-bar. By default, it will minimise the currently maximised persp view and show you the four-view mode in Maya, (unless you haven't selected another panel set). From the four-view mode, you can click on any of the four panels and press and release the 'space-bar' again to maximize that selected panel in Maya.
OR
Select the 'Four-View' option (second from the top) from the 'Panel Sets' (bottom-left of maya window). Similarly you can choose any of the panel layouts from among the 'Panel-Sets' in Maya to suit your design needs.
Rotating the Panels in Maya
You can rotate only those panels that are not orthograhic in Maya. Let's switch back to the maximised persp panel by clicking on it from the four-view mode by pressing and releasing the 'spacebar'. Now, keeping the 'Alt' key pressed, click and hold inside the persp view using the LEFT mouse button, and drag the mouse horizontally across the screen. You can see that the persp view rotates along with the mouse movemement. Now try moving the mouse vertically and in other directions and see the rotation. All you need is the 'Alt' key press and a mouse click.and drag in Maya. Very easy right?
Zooming the Panels in Maya
Zooming the panels in Maya is just similar to rotation. All that you need to do is hold down the 'Alt' key, and click and hold using the RIGHT mouse button and drag the mouse horizontally or vertically. You can see your persp panel zooming in and out in Maya as you move your mouse. Interesting.. huh?
Tip: You can also zoom in and out by using the scroll bar in your mouse.
Panning the Panels in Maya
Again, it is all very similar to what you have done. Hold down the 'Alt' key, and click and hold using the MIDDLE mouse button and drag the mouse horizontally or vertically in Maya. You can see that the panel moves as if it got glued to your mouse.
Well buddy.. you learned quite a bit about panels. We will come back and cover more details about panels later. Now let's move on to creating an object in Maya in the next page
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Press and release the space-bar. By default, it will minimise the currently maximised persp view and show you the four-view mode in Maya, (unless you haven't selected another panel set). From the four-view mode, you can click on any of the four panels and press and release the 'space-bar' again to maximize that selected panel in Maya.
