Maya Custom Hotkeys

 I feel it's about time to share my custom Maya hotkeys because I've been using them everyday for the past 4+ years in every job I've been in, and they were gifted to me by a friend who gave them to me on my first day, on my first job.

They'll save you hours days of your life! Days i tell you.

# Show geo only (alt+1)
import maya.cmds as mc
currentPanel = mc.getPanel(withFocus = True)
getStatus = mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, q=True, cameras=True)
if getStatus == True:
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, allObjects=False)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, polymeshes=True)
else:
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, allObjects=True)

# Show joints only (alt+2)
import maya.cmds as mc
currentPanel = mc.getPanel(withFocus = True)
getStatus = mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, q=True, cameras=True)
if getStatus == True:
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, allObjects=False)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, joints=True)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, handles=True)
else:
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, allObjects=True)

#Show joints and geo only (alt+3)
import maya.cmds as mc
currentPanel = mc.getPanel(withFocus = True)
getStatus = mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, q=True, cameras=True)
if getStatus == True:
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, allObjects=False)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, joints=True)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, polymeshes=True)
else:
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, allObjects=True)

#Show curves and geo only (alt+4)
import maya.cmds as mc
currentPanel = mc.getPanel(withFocus = True)
getStatus = mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, q=True, cameras=True)
if getStatus == True:
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, allObjects=False)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, nurbsCurves=True)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, polymeshes=True)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, cv=True)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, nurbsSurfaces=True)
else:
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, allObjects=True)

# Show curves only (alt+5)
import maya.cmds as mc
currentPanel = mc.getPanel(withFocus = True)
getStatus = mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, q=True, cameras=True)
if getStatus == True:
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, allObjects=False)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, nurbsCurves=True)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, cv=True)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, nurbsSurfaces=True)
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, locators=True)
else:
    mc.modelEditor(currentPanel, e=True, allObjects=True)

3ds Max, Maya Camera Settings

Yeaaah let's bring our stuff into max! Noooo the camera movement settings are woefully different from that of Maya!

Fear not, there's a setting that is going to save you hours of headache and muscle memory confusion! This will make 3dsMax viewport camera movement settings/hotkeys mirror that of Maya.

File>Preferences>Interaction Mode:

Oddly, all I got from many different forums after many different Google results, was "You shouldn't! Just learn the new hotkeys!", but.. there's a setting for this exact thing so.. i'm going to use it.

Joined Creative Assembly

The end of this week marks the first month that I have been at Creative Assembly; Total War Team!

It has been fantastic to work with DNEG over the past 3.5 years, but I felt that change was due. It's excellent to learn new things, but also to pass on knowledge that I have learnt in the VFX industry to the games industry.