GRAPH EDITOR FUNDAMENTALS

Maya: Animation Basics

Overview

The Graph Editor in Maya is the animator’s tool of choice for animating big-budget movies and games. Its accuracy and broad range of features make it a vital resource for animators in the industry.

Despite its significance, some artists may find the editor daunting and, therefore, tend to overlook it.

This page will help you breakdown each of the various components of Maya’s graph editor illustrating how it functions using simple examples.

Scroll down for one hour of free video tutorials covering Maya’s Graph Editor in detail.

Jurassic Park: A Quick History Lesson

The film Jurassic Park was the pioneer in showcasing the potential of 3D animation in visual effect as compared to other techniques such as stop motion.

Steven Spielberg remarked that stop-motion animation appeared “jerky” during that era.

“The Making of Jurassic Park” documentary (below) recorded the moment the transition occurred from stop motion to CG animation, highlighting how the latter emerged victorious in the FX film battle, dominating movies and TV.

The Making of Jurassic Park

It was the ability of 3D animation to accurately track motion over time and smooth out the kinks that gave CG an edge over more traditional mediums.

About This Page

This page explains the fundamental aspects of Maya’s Graph Editor, using easy-to-understand cube examples.

But don’t be alarmed, as complexity emerges from these simple concepts. In the upcoming pages, we will illustrate how to utilize these concepts in more complicated situations.

Initially, the editor may appear perplexing or unimportant, but persist with it, and eventually, it will become a tool for liberation!

Hotkeys and C3dC Prefs

This page is taught from the Preferences/Tools/Hotkeys that are designed for animators to speed up workflow. All default hotkeys are the notes as well, along with menu items. The hotkeys can be downloaded with Site Subscription on this site.

Site Subscription

If you’re not already on the C3dC Site Subscription you can subscribe here.

Topics Covered

The main topics on this page are as follows…

Basic navigation
Moving Keys
Adding And Removing Keys
Scaling Key Methods
Copying And Pasting Keys
The Shelf Icons
All tangent Types Explained
Weighted Vs. Non-Weighted Curves
Breaking And Freeing Tangent Weights
Curve Management Display and Pinning
Cycling Curves
Snapping
Euler Filter For Gimbal Issues
Baking Keys On Every Frame For Export
Handy Hotkeys

Managing Animation Expectations

A lot of new animators are left feeling frustrated with their initial attempts at animation, particularly if they have already honed other skills.

It’s unreasonable to dismiss yourself as a terrible animator when you’ve barely started animating! Learning animation takes years of practice. Although it is a relatively simple skill to learn, achieving mastery requires significant effort and dedication.

We recommend taking these classes before reviewing this page:

Animation Fundamentals
Animation Pose Workflow
Run Cycle Class One

2017/2018 Note

This page was recorded using Maya 2016. If you’re using newer versions of Maya you’ll notice changes to the Graph Editor icons and background. Thankfully, these are mostly superficial changes, and the core functionality remains the same.

Contents (55 mins)

1.1 – Introduction
1.2 – Opening The Editor
1.3 – Graph Importance Explained
1.4 – Navigation
2.1 – Moving Keys
2.2 – Moving Numerically
2.3 – Create And Delete
3.1 – Scale Keys
3.2 – Other Scale Types
3.3 – Numerical Retime
3.4 – Multi Scale Script
4.1 – Copy And Pasting
5.1 – First Shelf Icons
5.2 – Key Values
6.1 – Tangents Intro
6.2 – Spline Tangents
6.3 – Linear And Stepped
6.4 – Auto Tangents
6.5 – Clamped Tangents
6.6 – Plateau Tangents
6.7 – Fixed And Default Tangents
7.1 – Break and Free Tangents
8.1 – Autoload Graph
8.2 – Pin Animation Curves
9.1 – Snapshot Curves
9.2 – Normalizing Stacking Curves
10.1 – Cycling Curves
11.1 – Snap Icons
11.2 – Move Lock
12.1 – Euler Filter
12.2 – Baking Keys
13.1 – Hotkeys Hold Snap
13.2 – Zoo Tangent Works

Instructor

Andrew Silke

Software

Maya

Date

March 2017

Last Updated

August 2026

1. INTRODUCTION (6:42 MINS)

Here are the first videos to get you started in the Graph Editor. To open the Graph Editor use the icons in the left toolbar (not in 2017/18). You can also use the spacebar hotbox by going to the top quadrant then left, or you can open a floating window under…

graphEditor
graphEditor

To navigate, use the same alt mouse combinations as you use in the regular viewport. Zooming on one axis is done with the following combination…

Zoom One Axis = Alt + Shift (hold) Right Click (directional drag)

2. MOVING CREATING AND DELETING KEYS (5:35 MINS)

Moving, creating and deleting keys is easy.

To move keys…

– Enter translate select keys or curves and middle click drag.

To create keys…

– Common shortcuts Set Key (Also Channel Box), Set Key All, Set Key Translate etc.
– insertKey icon then select a curve and middle click drag can also insertKey: Insert Key
– Graph Editor > Keys > Add Key Tool (middle click)

To delete keys

– select a key or curve and hit delete

No.	Video Points
1.	Selecting Keys (0:00)
2.	Move Keyframe (0:20)
3.	Hold Shift Tip (0:35)
4.	Move Up Axis (1:00)
5.	Snap Keys (1:15)

Information

This video goes through the basic move modes and selection of keys.

It’s a good habit to click drag box selections. translate enters the move mode. moveKeyOneAxis will move and constrain to one axis.

Be sure to have the time snap on otherwise keys will be on frames with decimal places like 64.56. Keys should usually be on whole numbers (integers) 64 or 65.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Move Tool	or with left mouse button for Move Tool marking menu Icon in toolbox, double click for options	w (C3dC) w (default)
Move Key One Axis Graph	Moves a key on one axis in the Graph Editor	w shift clk mdl drag (C3dC) w shift clk mdl drag (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Move Frame Numerically (0:00)
2.	Code Move Trick (0:26)
3.	Move Value Numerically (0:50)

Information

Simple video showing how to move modes numerically using the Graph Tool bar numerical slots. Important to remember the Maya trick of typing in a simple addition code into those fields like

+=10

This will move the selected curves by adding 10 units to every key. Another hotkey not mentioned in this video is

snapKeyRetain

, this will move all selected keys to start at the current time. Good to use this one too.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Snap Key Retain	Moves selected keys to current time in Graph Editor, retains spacing	ctl alt a (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Delete Keys (0:00)
2.	Delete Hotkey Timeline (0:08)
3.	Setting Keys (0:20)
4.	Insert Hotkey (0:33)
5.	Add Key Tool (1:35)

Information

Quick video on setting and deleting keys. Set Key Hotkeys…

setKey
setKeyAll
setKeyRotate
setKeyTranslate
setKeyScale
insertKey

Delete Keys…

delete
deleteCurrentFrame

Not shown in this video is the difference between

setKey

and

setKeyAll

setKey (C3dC Prefs) Keys channel box if selected (not Maya default)
setKeyAll (C3dC Prefs) Ignores channel box selection, always keys all

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Delete	Will delete selection, object or component, or node, key etc Edit > Delete	delete (C3dC) delete (default)
Delete Current Frame	Deletes keyframes at current time, or in a red timeslider selection	shift v (C3dC) None (default)
Set Key (Also Channel Box)	s in C3dC also works in channel box Animation > Key > Set Key	s (C3dC) s (default)
Set Key All	Keys all attributes, even if channel box selection Animation > Key > Set Key	shft s (C3dC) s (default)
Set Key Rotate	Keys rotate values at current time Animation > Key > Set Key On Rotate	shft e (C3dC) shft e (default)
Set Key Translate	Keys translate values at current time Animation > Key > Set Key On Translate	shft w (C3dC) shft w (default)
Set Key Scale	Keys scale values at current time Animation > Key > Set Key On Scale	shft r (C3dC) shft r (default)
Insert Key	For Graph Editor (press and release)	i (C3dC) i (default)

3. SCALING KEYS IN THE GRAPH EDITOR (6:03 MINS)

There are many ways to scale keys. You can use scaling to re-time your animation.

1. Enter scale select keys and middle click drag, hold shift to constrain to one axis.
2. Lattice Deform Keys (Shelf Icon)
3. Region Tool (Shelf Icon)
4. Retime Tool (shelf Icon)
5. Numeric Scale: Graph Editor > Edit > Scale (options)
6. Numeric Retime: C3dC Shelf > Keys (right click) > Retime With Percentage or FPS
7. Multi Key Scaler: C3dC Shelf > Keys (right click) > Scale Keys Center Window

See the videos for detailed information on each method.

No.	Video Points
1.	Scale Keys (0:20)
2.	Mouse Direction (0:40)

Information

Simple video showing how to scale keys using scaleKey

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Scale Tool	or with left mouse button for Scale Tool marking menu Icon in toolbox, double click for options	r (C3dC) r (default)
Scale Keys Graph	Scales keys around the click point, enter scale mode then middle click drag in a direction. Context sensitive.	r mdle clck drag (C3dC) r mdle clck drag (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Numeric Scale (0:00)
2.	Region Tool (0:55)
3.	Lattice Tool (1:18)
4.	Retime Tool (1:58)

Information

More ways of Scaling Keys in the Graph Editor, Numeric Scale, Region Tool, Lattice Tool, and the Retime. It’s good to be familiar with these tools as they can all come in handy in different scenarios.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Numeric Scale	Numeric Scale Window for scaling keys with numeric values. Graph Editor > Edit > Scale	None (C3dC) None (default)
Select	With left mouse button for Selection Mask marking menu Icon in toolbox, double click for options	q (C3dC) q (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Numerical Retime (0:00)
2.	Numerical Retime FPS (0:55)

Information

This video covers the numerical retime scripts. One for percentage and the other for fps. These are handy when moving backwards and forwards between an editing package. Often it’s handy to be able to retime in an editing package then apply the numerical retime back in Maya. Use these scripts to do that from the C3dC Shelf

No.	Video Points
1.	Creating Noise (0:00)
2.	Scale Issues (0:43)
3.	Scale Keys Center (1:05)

Information

A handy key scaling clip that scales from the center of each curve. Great for scaling noise among other things. This script is found under the key menu in the

C3dC Shelf > Keys (icon) > (right click) > Scale Keys From Center.

Script By David Peers

4. COPYING AND PASTING KEYFRAMES (2:51 MINS)

To copy and paste keys use ctl c and ctl v.

copyKey
pasteKey

If you’re on OSX, you can also use command c and command v.

Find these tools in the menu…

Graph Editor > Edit > Copy
Graph Editor > Edit > Paste (options)

In the paste options, you can change between “insert” and “merge” modes. You can paste in multiples, and there are other options too.

See the following video for more detailed information.

No.	Video Points
1.	Stepped Paste (0:15)
2.	Hardcoded Copy/Paste (0:49)
3.	Paste Options (1:34)

Information

Quick video about copying and pasting keys in the graph editor. Couple of notes that are worth remembering.

1. The C3dC paste hotkey pasteKey is hardcoded to merge while pasting.
2. The Default Maya Paste mode is like a stepped paste, or paste connect.

The Paste Key Options Window pasteKeyOptions, is a great window for pasting in different scenarios.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Copy Key	Note the default hotkey performs differently. See video.	ctl c (C3dC) ctl c (default)
Paste Key	Note the default hotkey performs differently. See video.	ctl v (C3dC) ctl v (default)
Paste Key Options Window	Options Window For Pasting Graph Editor > Edit > Paste (Options)	None (C3dC) None (default)

5. THE TOOLBAR ICONS: THE FIRST TOOLBAR ICONS (2:39 MINS)

This section demonstrates the first icons in the Graph Editor’s shelf.

You’ll see insertKey again, and various move/scale tools, lattice, region and re-time.

Learn how to use the value boxes for moving keys numerically. We also cover the different “framing” modes too.

No.	Video Points
1.	Move Key Tool (0:00)
2.	Insert Key Tool (0:57)
3.	Region Tool (1:15)
4.	Retime Tool (1:22)

Information

The first icons in the Graph Editor Shelf/Toolbar. Most of these we’ve already touched on.

– Move Key tool lets you move individual keys around quickly.
– Insert we’ve covered already but it’ll let you insert keys without affecting the curve.
– The Region tool is a quick scale method as explained in the Scale video
– The Retime tool is a tool for retiming animation as explained in the Scale video

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Select	With left mouse button for Selection Mask marking menu Icon in toolbox, double click for options	q (C3dC) q (default)
Move Tool	or with left mouse button for Move Tool marking menu Icon in toolbox, double click for options	w (C3dC) w (default)
Insert Key	For Graph Editor (press and release)	i (C3dC) i (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Frame Input (0:00)
2.	Value Input (0:15)
3.	Check Values (0:20)
4.	Frame All (0:30)
5.	Frame Range Slider (0:35)
6.	Center Time (0:42)

Information

Some more Graph Editor Toolbar icons covered here, most we’ve already covered. Frame and Value inputs and don’t forget the code trick that will move all keys additively…

Highlight the number then type a simple equation… +=10

The frame time icons are all easy though it’s often easier to just use the hotkey

frameSelected

6. TANGENT TYPES (9:56 MINS)

In this section, you can learn about Maya’s tangent types. These are all easy to learn, and they all have slightly different uses. Tangents affect the behavior of curves between keys so change the motion over many keyframes. The main tangent modes are…

– Auto
– Spline
– Linear
– Stepped

“Plateau” and “Clamped” are variations of “Auto” tangents. And then there are some hidden tangent types “Fixed” and “Stepped Next” under…

Graph Editor > Tangents

You can also set the default tangent types in the Preferences Window…

Preferences Window > Settings > Animation > Tangents

No.	Video Points
1.	Tangent Types (0:00)
2.	Main Tangent Types (0:40)

Information

A quick introduction into tangents explaining the main tangent types and also the tangent types less commonly used.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Zoo Tangent Works	Marking menu covering all tangent types in Maya and lots of extra aniamtion graph editor functionality. A Zoo Tools Tool	a (hold) (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Spline Tangents (0:00)
2.	The Tangent Result (0:20)
3.	End Tangents (0:45)

Information

Spline tangents angle the tangent of a key as the direction from the previous key to the next key.

When a key is on the end or beginning of a curve the tangent will point directly to the next/previous key.

This tangent type is great when we don’t want objects to stop between keys, the motion will be smooth and floaty.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Zoo Tangent Works	Marking menu covering all tangent types in Maya and lots of extra aniamtion graph editor functionality. A Zoo Tools Tool	a (hold) (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Linear Tangents (0:00)
2.	Stepped Tangents (0:15)
3.	Stepped Next Tangents (1:00)
4.	Enable Stepped Preview (1:15)
5.	Flat Tangents (1:40)

Information

Here we’ll discuss some more tangent types…

– Linear: Breaks the tangent and points each end to the next, straight lines/jerky
– Stepped: Removes any transitions, object will jump to the next position on the frame
– Stepped Next: Like stepped but in the reverse direction
– Flat: All tangent handles will be horizotal, no matter what the previous/next frames are doing

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Zoo Tangent Works	Marking menu covering all tangent types in Maya and lots of extra aniamtion graph editor functionality. A Zoo Tools Tool	a (hold) (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Auto Tangent (0:00)
2.	Changing Tangent Type (0:13)
3.	Splining End Keys (1:00)

Information

Auto tangents will automatically flatten tangents while previous/next keys are similar/same values.

When the keys on either side are different, the tangent will blend into spline mode.

End keys will always be flat.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Zoo Tangent Works	Marking menu covering all tangent types in Maya and lots of extra aniamtion graph editor functionality. A Zoo Tools Tool	a (hold) (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Clamped Tangents (0:00)
2.	Jerky behaviour (0:20)
3.	Auto Tangent Comparison (0:25)
4.	Clamp Advantages (1:00)

Information

Clamped Tangents are similar to Auto.

The rule here is if the next/previous keys are identical then it’ll flatten the tangents. If not then the tangents will be set to spline.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Zoo Tangent Works	Marking menu covering all tangent types in Maya and lots of extra aniamtion graph editor functionality. A Zoo Tools Tool	a (hold) (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Plateau Tangents (0:00)
2.	Plateau/Auto Comparison (0:20)
3.	Conclusion (1:15)

Information

Plateau Tangents are virtually identical to Auto Tangents, only the Plateau Tangents have a little more range so the flat tangents will stay flat even if the next/previous keys aren’t exactly at the same value.

The transition from flat to smooth happens immediately, like a quick snap and not a blend (see video). This is similar to Auto Tangent.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Zoo Tangent Works	Marking menu covering all tangent types in Maya and lots of extra aniamtion graph editor functionality. A Zoo Tools Tool	a (hold) (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Select Tangents Tip (0:00)
2.	Move Tangents Tip (0:10)
3.	Fixed Tangent Type (0:20)
4.	Change Default Tangents(0:39)

Information

The Fixed Tangent Type locks the tangents so they don’t automatically change as we move keys. A couple of tips here about selecting tangents and manually changing them too.

– It’s common to draw a box to select tangents
– Use middle click after selecting to alter the tangent manually

Default tangents can also be changed in

preferences

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Preferences Window	Opens the Preferences And Settings window. Icon in bottom right (cog man running) Windows > Settings/Preferences > Preferences	alt 6 (C3dC) None (default)
Zoo Tangent Works	Marking menu covering all tangent types in Maya and lots of extra aniamtion graph editor functionality. A Zoo Tools Tool	a (hold) (C3dC) None (default)

7. BREAK AND FREE TANGENT WEIGHTS (3:32 MINS)

You can obtain full control over your curves by breaking and freeing tangent weights.

To break a tangent, select a key and click the break tangents icon. Now you can tweak each side individually. To return to other tangent modes click on the regular tangent shelf icons.

Freeing tangent weights give you the ability to make your tangents longer or shorter.

You can only free tangents when you set the curve type to ‘Weighted’ mode. So switch to that curve type first…

Weighted Tangents: weightedTangents

Then select the keys you want to free and click the “free tangent weight” icon.

The default ‘Non-Weighted’ curve type is best in most situations, but fussy animators can change Maya to default to the “Weighted” type with…

Preferences Window: preferences

No.	Video Points
1.	Extra Tangent Icons (0:00)
2.	Break Tangents (0:10)
3.	Adjust Tangents (0:20)
4.	Unify/Join Tangents (0:29)
5.	Reset Tangents (0:35)
6.	Free Tangent Fail(1:00)
7.	Preferences Tangent Type (1:15)
8.	Weighted Tangents (1:28)
9.	Weighted Downsides (1:40)
10.	Free Tangent Weights (2:00)
11.	Full Tangent Control (2:30)
12.	Lock Reset (2:50)
13.	Shift Tip (3:10)

Information

Maya offers total control over tweaking the angle and length of each side of the tangents. There’s a couple of important things to remember.

The main point is that there’s two different curve algorythms in Maya. The default tangent type “Non Weighted Tangents” doesn’t allow us to weight tangents (or lengthen/shorten).

This video explains all the details and a few tricks that will give you full control over the tangents in Maya’s Graph Editor.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Weighted Tangents	Changes the curve type to weighted so tangents can be scaled. Graph Editor > Curves > Weighted Tangents	None (C3dC) None (default)
Non Weighted Tangents	Changes the curve type to non weighted so tangents can’t be scaled. Graph Editor > Curves > Non Weighted Tangents	None (C3dC) None (default)
Preferences Window	Opens the Preferences And Settings window. Icon in bottom right (cog man running) Windows > Settings/Preferences > Preferences	alt 6 (C3dC) None (default)

8. PINNING ANIMATION CURVES (2:43 MINS)

In this section learn about pinning animation curves in Maya; this will keep your animation curves visible even after you’ve deselected an object. Click the pin icons to pin the curves, they will remain visible even after you’ve deselected an object.

The autoload icon stops Maya from auto switching the display to the currently selected object.

No.	Video Points
1.	Default Load Mode (0:00)
2.	Load Off (0:18)
3.	Load Selection (0:35)

Information

The Load Icons allow you to edit the graph of objects that aren’t currently selected. Simple icons, not commonly used but handy in specific situations.

No.	Video Points
1.	Pin Curves (0:00)
2.	Keeps Curves (0:05)
3.	Pin Channel (0:25)

Information

Pin curves are good for comparing object’s curves without having to fish through many curves. A filtering method too.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Pin Channel	Pins all selected attributes in graph editor. Graph Editor > Curves > Pin Channel	None (C3dC) None (default)
Unpin Channel	Unpins all selected attributes in graph editor. Graph Editor > Curves > Unpin Channel	None (C3dC) None (default)

9. CURVE MANAGEMENT AND DISPLAY MODES (3:59 MINS)

Snapshot curves are useful for comparing animation. In this section, you’ll see how to use buffer curves to create these snapshots. They’re a little like a bookmark that we can return to at any time.

You can also display the curves in a variety of ways such as normalizing from -1 to 1 which allows you see all the curves at once in the same vertical scale.

No.	Video Points
1.	Buffer Curves (0:10)
2.	Show Buffer Curves (0:15)
3.	Swap Buffer Curve (0:25)
4.	Rebuffer Curve (0:55)

Information

Buffer curves are a little like bookmarking but for animation curves. You can save the curves to a version and then compare at anytime without needing undo. This mode only gives two states so you can only have one backup curve at a time.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Show Buffer Curves	Shows the Buffer Curves in the Graph Editor Graph Editor > View > Show Buffer Curves	None (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Trans vs Rot Values (0:20)
2.	Enable Normalize Curves (0:35)
3.	1 – 0 Range (0:40)
4.	Disable Normalize Mode (1:10)
5.	Renormalize Curves (1:35)
6.	Frame Select Method (2:10)
7.	Channel Box Filter (2:17)
8.	Stacked Curve Display (2:25)

Information

A few ways of displaying curves here. The normalize mode displays the curve displays from a 0 -1 range, no matter how large the values.

The stacked curve display will stack curves so that none overlap, this is similar to the dope sheet only more in a curve view.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Frame Selected	Frames the selected object in the viewport. Also works in other windows, graph, node etc Viewport Menu > View frame Selected	f (C3dC) f (default)

10. CYCLING ANIMATION IN THE GRAPH EDITOR (2:24 MINS)

Cycling curves will help you to repeat animations such as run cycles. Press the shelf icons to cycle your animation. To disable the cycles and for other cycle types, use the menus…

Graph Editor Menu > Curves > Pre (and Post Infinity To) > Constant

Infinity curves will show you how the cycle is behaving. You can find the infinity curve display under

Graph Editor Menu > View > Infinity

For advanced cycling, there are a few cycle types to understand. Other cycle types include “Linear,” curves continue straight from their current path, and “Oscillate” where the animation will loop backwards and forwards. “Constant” is the default curve setting and keeps the object still after the last keyframe.

No.	Video Points
1.	Create Keys (0:00)
2.	Cycle Icons (0:18)
3.	Pre Infinity Cycle (0:25)
4.	Post Infinity Cycle (0:30)
5.	Cycle With Offset (0:49)
6.	Linear Curve Mode (1:30)
7.	Constant Curve Mode (1:45)
8.	Oscilate Curve Mode (1:48)
9.	Turning Cycle Off (2:13)

Information

This video explores all the cycle modes.

To cycle the animation curves you can use the C3dC Hotkey cycleInfinity. Or we can use the Graph Editor’s toolbar icons.

Also remember that you can display infinity time (the dotted line) with Cycle Animation Curve: graphViewInfinity.

And there’s more modes in the Menus like Linear Animation Curve: cycleLinearAnimCurve and Cycle Animation Curve: cycleConstantAnimCurve.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Snap Key Retain	Moves selected keys to current time in Graph Editor, retains spacing	ctl alt a (C3dC) None (default)
Cycle Animation Curve	Cycles Animation Curves (pre/post) Graph Editor > Curves > Pre/Post Infinity > Cycle	None (C3dC) None (default)
Cycle Offset Animation Curve	Cycles Animation Curves With Offset(pre/post) Graph Editor > Curves > Pre/Post Infinity > Cycle with Offset	None (C3dC) None (default)
Cycle Oscilate Animation Curve	Cycles Animation Curves by oscilating backwards and forwards (pre/post) Graph Editor > Curves > Pre/Post Infinity > Oscilate	None (C3dC) None (default)
Linear Animation Curve	Sets Animation Curves to keep going in a linear direction (pre/post) Graph Editor > Curves > Pre/Post Infinity > Linear	None (C3dC) None (default)
Cycle Animation Curve	Animation Curves stay put in infinity range (pre/post) Graph Editor > Curves > Pre/Post Infinity > Constant	None (C3dC) None (default)
Cycle Animation Curve	Shows the infinity range for Graph Curves, before and after the anim curves stop (pre/post) Graph Editor > View > Infinity	None (C3dC) None (default)
Cycle Infinity Hotkey	In graph editor cycles infinity selected curves for both pre and post modes	alt o (C3dC) None (default)

11. SNAP IN THE GRAPH EDITOR (2:44 MINS)

Learn to use snapping in the graph editor in this section. Time-snap is usually “On” by default in the shelf. The value-snap value defaults to “Off”. Keys usually should be on exact frame numbers, as you will only ever see the whole frames in your animation. Snapping to time will also allow you to update the keyframes easily. Time snap can become more difficult while scaling as you’ll often want to keep animation with same relative spacing. But after scaling, you can snap to the closest frame with the global setting…

Graph Editor Menu > Edit > Snap

It’s rare to need to value snap for attributes (the up and down axis), but the option’s also there if you need it.

No.	Video Points
1.	Snap To Integer Time (0:00)
2.	Snap Off (0:18)
3.	Why Time Snap (0:34)
4.	Scale Snap Issues (0:55)
5.	Snap To Frame Old (1:06)
6.	Snap Menu Item (1:14)

Information

Snap is handy in the Graph Editor for Time Snap. This should be on by default and it’s best to leave it at the default.

There are times when keys will go off whole numbers (integers) in such cases we can snap them back with Key Snap Whole Frames: keySnapMenu

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Key Snap Whole Frames	Snaps all selected keys to closest whole numbers (integer) in time. Graph Editor > Edit > Snap	shift alt o (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Unconstrained Drag (0:00)
2.	Dope Sheet (0:18)
3.	Animation Mixer (0:38)

Information

The last icons on the Graph Editor Toolbar here.

Unconstrained drag will limit the move tool to time only by default, not value. Hold shift for value drag, this is useful if you don’t like hold shift with the context sensitive style.

The last two icons are for opening the Dope-sheet and Animation Mixer.

12. EULER FILTER AND BAKING (2:51 MINS)

Learn about a couple of handy graph editor features in this section. You can find those in the menus…

1. Euler Filter
2. Baking (Plotting) Keys

The Euler Filter will help you get out of unwanted flipping issues regarding Euler and gimbal problems. While the Euler filter isn’t a global gimbal fix, it can solve many flipping issues in regards to gimbal. The Euler filter will try to find the shortest path between keys and resolve some problems. The Baking feature will bake keys to every frame which is great for exporting to other programs like a game engine. Or it can also be handy in many advanced animation workflows too.

No.	Video Points
1.	Set Keys (0:00)
2.	Rotation Issues(0:15)
3.	Euler Filter Fix (0:53)

Information

The Euler Filter is an important menu item in the graph that will fix big rotation issues. These are usually related to curves rotating much more than we’d expect. 180 degrees on two axis or 360 on a single curve.

The filter will reset the curve values so that the object never rolls more than it should.

This will fail when objects are really supposed to rotate more than 360 degrees so be careful.

It also solves major Gimbal/Euler rotation errors, and not all gimbal issues are fixed with this tool. Gimbal is a large area that deserves it’s own page to explain all the issues and fixes but this one is a good one to try when your rotations are flipping more than you’d ordinarily expect.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Euler Filter	Fixes extreme problems with Gimbal/Euler rotations by setting rotation between keys to the smallest values (less than 306) whilst maintaining key rotations in the viewport. Graph Editor > Curves > Euler Filter	ctrl shift alt g (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Graph Bake Channel (0:00)
2.	Bake Channel Options (0:23)
3.	Bake Shelf Button (0:36)
4.	Key Menu Bake (0:45)

Information

Quick video covering some baking options which usually puts a key on every frame. While baking keys it’s often easiest to use the shelf icon in the Animation Shelf (not graph editor). But in the graph editor we’ve the menu item

graphBakeChannel

. Select the attributes in the channel box and run this menu item to bake keys. We can also bake keys using the menu item

keyMenuBake

. This is the window with most options. It can be found in two locations.

keyMenuBake

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Bake Channel Graph	Bakes animation curves on every frame or as per the options, based on channel box selection. Graph Editor > Curves > Bake Channel	shift alt b (C3dC) None (default)
Bake Keys	Menu item that bakes animation curves based on settings in the window. Animation Menu > Key > Bake Animation or Edit > Keys > Bake Simulation	shift alt b (C3dC) None (default)

13. EXTRA HOTKEYS: MAKE HOLD, MOVE SNAP AND ZOO TANGENT WORKS (3:22 MINS)

In this section see three hotkeys that will help you to speed your workflow.

1. Make Hold
2. Move Snap
3. Zoo tangent Works

The make hold hotkey (alt a) (also covered in the ‘Selection Set and Pose Workflow Page’) allows you to change two keys instantly for pose-to-pose animation. These keys make the area between keys flat or static.

The move snap hotkey (ctl alt a) will move the selected keys so that the first frame of the selection moves to the current time. This hotkey is super handy and a little addictive once you get used to it.

Zoo Tangent Works has a lot of features regarding animation and function curves. It can change tangent types without being in the Graph Editor with extra functionality. It also has a lot of other features like tighten tangents and graph filters, setting default tangent types and more.

No.	Video Points
1.	Snap All Keys Time (0:00)
2.	Make Hold Hotkey (0:30)
3.	Make Hold Info (0:50)
4.	Selection Based (1:27)

Information

A couple of C3dC hotkeys explained in this video. Great to know.

snapKeyRetain will snap keys to current time whilst retaining the spacing between keyframes.

makeAnimHold is great for pose to pose blocking. See more on the Zoo Anim Workflow page.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Snap Key Retain	Moves selected keys to current time in Graph Editor, retains spacing	ctl alt a (C3dC) None (default)
Make Animation Hold	Changes two keys to match. The keys either side of current time or the current and next key. Both keys will match causing the object to be still in animation. See video for more functionality.	alt a (C3dC) None (default)

No.	Video Points
1.	Zoo Tangent Works (0:00)
2.	Set Tangents (0:05)
3.	Tighten Tangents (0:47)
4.	Graph Filters (1:10)

Information

zooTangentWorks is a Zoo Tools hotkey with lots of tangent curve related functionality.

The most useful settings are quick access to all tangent types, and while this works based on selection in the Graph Editor you don’t need to be in the Graph Editor. This marking menu works in the timeline as well and if you’re not on a frame it will work backwards in the timeline to find the last.

The default tangent type is flat if you simply tap the hotkey without activating the marking menu.

Other functionality includes tools like Tighten Tangents and Graph Filters. A great hotkey to explore here for pro animators.

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Zoo Tangent Works	Marking menu covering all tangent types in Maya and lots of extra aniamtion graph editor functionality. A Zoo Tools Tool	a (hold) (C3dC) None (default)

Command	Menu/Description	Hotkey
Set Key All	Keys all attributes, even if channel box selection Animation > Key > Set Key	shft s (C3dC) s (default)
Camera Track	Click drag hold, also works in other non cam windows Display Menu > View > Camera Tools > Track Tool	Alt Mdl Mse (C3dC) Alt Mdl Mouse (default)
Camera Dolly	Click drag hold, also works in other non cam windows Display Menu > View > Camera Tools > Dolly Tool	Alt Rgt Mse (C3dC) Alt Rgt Mse (default)
Zoom One Axis Graph	Click drag hold, move mouse on the axis you want to zoom. Context sensitive.	Alt Shft Rgt Mse (C3dC) Alt Shft Rgt Mse (default)
Frame Selected	Frames the selected object in the viewport. Also works in other windows, graph, node etc Viewport Menu > View frame Selected	f (C3dC) f (default)
Time Dragger	Hold the key and then left click and drag in a viewport or in the graph editor to scrub though time. Also works with middle click drag.	v (C3dC) k (default)