Maya Fundamentals and Interface
Scene structure and the dependency graph
Every Maya scene is a dependency graph: nodes hold data and connections carry data between them. Transforms own shape nodes, and a mesh shape connects to its transform's outMesh. Understanding this explains why deleting history changes behavior, why a node can exist without being visible, and why the Outliner and Hypergraph show different views of the same scene.
Coordinate systems and pivots
Maya uses a right-handed, Y-up world by default. Object-space, world-space, and parent-space coordinates diverge as soon as you rotate a parent. Pivot location determines rotation and scale results; freezing transformations bakes the current transform into the object and resets the pivot to the origin.
Traps in exam questions
- Freeze Transformations does not delete history; it zeroes transform channels. Delete by Type > History removes construction history.
- Grouping creates a new parent transform whose pivot sits at the world origin unless you use Group to pivot or modify the group pivot.
- The Channel Box edits numeric attributes; the Attribute Editor exposes all node tabs and connects shader and node settings.
- Display layers control visibility; render layers control what renders and with which overrides.
- Tool settings (double-click a tool icon) persist per tool and often explain unexpected behavior.
Rule of thumb
When a question asks where to change a value, ask which node owns that attribute. If it is geometry, it is the shape; if it is position, rotation, or scale, it is the transform.
Worked example
A candidate rotates a cube and the child sphere orbits away. The sphere's translate values were never altered, so the cause is parent-space inheritance: the sphere's transform is a child of the cube's transform, and the cube's rotation propagates. Setting the sphere's Inherits Transform off, or unparenting it, isolates the motion.