Introducing Maya® 2011

Hierarchy and Maya Object Structure

Let’s take a timeout from the Solar System exercise and look at how objects and hierarchies work in Maya. On top of everything that you see in Maya—its interface—is a layer you don’t see: the code. The layer of code keeps the objects in Maya organized through a network of nodes. How you relate these nodes defines how you’ve built your scene. In short, using Maya is essentially programming your computer directly to create 3D objects and animation.

So, having a solid understanding of how Maya defines objects and how they interact is essential to an efficient and successful animation process. This involves getting an intrinsic understanding of how nodes relate, whether it’s a straightforward parent-child hierarchy ...