Graph Editor

A graphical representation of interpolation between animation keys that you can modify.

To open the Graph Editor:

Maya's Graph Editor is an updated version of the legacy Maya Graph Editor, giving you a more intuitive approach to manipulating animation curves and keys in your scene.

The Graph Editor is presented as graph view of scene animation so you can create, view, and modify animation curves various ways. For example, you can control interpolation between keyframes, extrapolation of curves, and change animation curves value and timing by altering the shape of animation curves using tangent handles.
Note: While the Graph Editor's color scheme is designed for high visibility, you can customize the colors in the Color Settings.
Other improvements include:

The following table provides a brief overview of tasks using the Graph Editor:

To... Do this

Place the Graph Editor in a scene view

Select the scene view in which you want the Graph Editor to appear, then select Panels > Panel > Graph Editor.

Select a key

Click the key or drag-select it.
Tip: You have to click directly on the key. Zoom in (Alt + drag) to increase precision. If you can't select a key this way, it may be a graphics card issue; make sure you have the most up to date drivers.

Insert a key

Alt + i inserts a key that corresponds to the position of the Current Time Indicator.

Insert a key on the Rotation, Scaling, or Translation channels at the Current Time Indicator position

Ctrl + Shift + E (Rotation), R (Scaling), or W (Translation).

Insert a key on a selected curve, regardless of position of the Current Time Indicator

Middle-click +i on a selected curve.

Move the Time Marker to selected keys. Alt + / (forward slash)

Turn on Pre-selection highlighting in the Graph Editor

In the Graph Editor menu bar, turn on Select > Pre-select Highlight.
Tip: Change the highlight color with the Colors window. Select Windows > Settings/Preferences > Color Settings, then change the Pre-selection highlight option in the Animation Editors section.
Pan and Zoom in the Graph Editor Same as Viewport navigation:
  • Pan: press Alt or Option (Mac OS X) key and middle-drag.)
  • Zoom: press Alt or Option (Mac OS X) and drag or right-drag. Zooming is centered based on the location of the mouse cursor.
  • Zoom horizontal: Press Alt or Option (Mac OS X) + Shift and right-drag.
Zoom on a curve Select the animation curve (see To select a curve,below) and click F to frame the selection.
Resize the Playback range On the Time Ruler, click the edge of the dark region and drag to change the playback range. Stretch the playback range in the time view by dragging the flags on the Time ruler.
Scrub animation Drag the Current Time Marker.
  • To scrub along the Time ruler at the top of the Graph view, drag the Current Time Marker left or right.
  • To scrub in the Graph view (below the Time ruler), press K to release the cursor lock. (The cursor is locked from scrubbing in the Time view to prevent moving keys/curves unintentionally.)
Lock a curve Press H to lock and J to unlock a curve.
Move to the previous or next view Use the square bracket hotkeys ([ and ]). These are the same hotkeys that let you move between camera views in the viewport.

To navigate through views using these hotkeys, click in the Graph Editor then press left bracket ([) to move to the previous view, or right bracket (]) to move to the next view.

Filter mangled Euler angles

Select the mangled animation curves (for example, Rotate X, Y, and Z), then select Curves > Euler Filter. See Graph Editor Curves menu.

Change the rotation interpolation type of existing curves

Use the Change Rotation Interp option in the Graph Editor and Dope Sheet Curves. See Graph Editor Curves menu.

Select a key
  1. Click the Move Nearest Picked Key Tool on the Graph Editor Toolbar.
  2. Click a key. The key becomes white to indicate it is selected.
  3. Middle-click the key so the cursor becomes a crosshair ().
  4. Position the key.
Tip: Double-click Move Nearest Picked Key Tool to open the options window, where you can set the Direct Key Settings. See the entry for Move Nearest Picked Key Tool in the Graph Editor Toolbar topic.
Select and move groups of keys. Drag a rectangular selection box, then hold Alt and reposition the selection box.

See also Region Keys tool.

Make keys larger You can increase or decrease the size of the keys with the Key Size setting in the Animation (Settings) Preferences.
Cut, copy, paste, and convert keys Use the Keyframe Tangent Marking Menu to access frequently used actions such as convert, cut, copy, paste, keys and to switch tangent types.

Press Shift + s in the Graph View and swipe left to access the key options in this menu.

Set an FK/IK key curve

Use the Set IK/FK Key option in the IK/FK Keys menu (Key > FK/IK Keys > Set IK/FK Key in the Animation menu set.)
Select a curve

Curve selection is on by default.

  1. Click (or drag-select) the curve between two keys to select it.
  2. Click (or middle-mouse-click) the curve again to move it.
Key types
  • Diamond key: non-weighted tangents
  • Square key: weighted tangents
  • Circle key: a key on a quaternion curve (no tangents)
  • Hollow key: A new key with 'automatic' tangents. The key is filled when you adjust the tangents to show that it has been edited.
See Graph Editor key colors/shapes in the Graph Editor colors topic.
Move a key Select a key and drag it.

To open the Move Key tool, select Edit > Transformation Tools > Move Keys Tool > Settings.

You can also middle-click an empty area of the Graph Editor and drag to reposition selected keys.

Nudge a key
Select a key and press Shift + 9 or Shift + 0 to move a key slightly to the right or the left by one frame.
Select previous/next key
Select a key and press Ctrl + Alt + , (comma) or Ctrl + Alt + . (period) to move the selection to the previous or next key.
Move multiple keyframes in time without changing the attribute value Drag-select the keyframes to move. Shift-middle-drag the frames left or right.
Change views Absolute view: Press 1

This view is the default.

Stacked view: Press 2

Normalized view: press 3

Select View > Renormalize to revert back.

Note:

Curves are automatically renormalized when you turn on Display Normalized or the active curve list changes.

Related topics