Clever Keys 1.0.5 for Maya (maya script)

What is Clever Keys?

Clever Keys is a python script that aims to make keying in Maya easier and more intuitive. It will only key the channels you have selected and try to insert keys whenever possible, leaving your curves alone. It keys the channels based on where your mouse is, what windows are open and what is selected at the time. If you're curious exactly how it does all this awesome cleverness, take a look at the flow chart above.

Ahh, reading is boring. I want a video!

Umm, okay. Here's a video I made showing the features of Clever Keys.



Clever Keys is now a part of Guppy Animation Tools.

Guppy Animation Tools is a number of animation tools I've lumped together into one package.  The newesst, most bleeding edge of Clever Keys will always be available in Guppy Animation Tools.

Install Directions

1. Unzip the python files and put them in your Maya scripts directory.
2. Add the following line to your userSetup.mel.

python("import cleverKeys");

You may have to make a userSetup.mel if you haven't set one up before. It should go in your Scripts directory. Anything written in this mel file will run when Maya starts up.
3. Set clever keys to your desired hotkey in Maya. If you don't know how to set a hotkey in Maya, the documentation shows you.

 

The Following Commands Are Avaliable To You.

*These are all wrapped as Mel commands, so make sure you make Mel hotkeys!

The main one, setting a key. I suggest setting this to your default setKey hotkey, "s". It might also be a good idea to set Maya's original hotkey to something like Shift + "s". I've tried to make this script as bug free and stable as possible. But if something does go wrong at some point and you do need to set a normal key again, it's nice to have the fallback already set up.

python("cleverKeys.setKey()");

If you don't want clever keys to try to insert keys, you can use this command instead:

python("cleverKeys.setKey(insert = False)");

In Maya 2011 and later it is very easy to clear a channel selection. You just have to click away from the channel. Before 2011 things were a little trickier. To help with this, I've added the clear command, which will clear your selection.

python("cleverKeys.clearAttributes()");

That command works the same way that Clever Keys does. It clears whatever is under your mouse. If you want to just clear a specific window, you can use either of these:

python("cleverKeys.clearAttributes(graphEditor = True)");
python("cleverKeys.clearAttributes(channelBox = True)");

Or to clear them both:

python("cleverKeys.clearAttributes(graphEditor = True, channelBox = True)");

Select similar attributes. If your mouse is over the graph editor, this
will take any attribute you have selected and select that attribute on all
of the nodes in your graph editor. If your mouse is not over the graph
editor, this will sync the channels you have selected in the channel box
to the ones in the graph editor.

python("cleverKeys.selectSimilarAttributes()");

To explicitly select similar attributes in the Graph Editor without
detecting where your mouse is, use:

python("cleverKeys.selectSimilarAttributes(detectCursor = False)");

To explicitly sync the Channel Box to the Graph editor, use the following
command. Unfortunately, as far as I know, Maya doesn't offer me enough
control to write a command that syncs the channel selection the other way.

python("cleverKeys.syncGraphEditor()");

Requests

If you have a request for any of my scripts, please include a reason for why you want a feature. If I understand the reasoning behind a feature it helps me develop a better tool. I'm also more motivated to fill a request if I understand why it's needed.

The latest version of my scripts will always be available on my website rubberguppy.com.

If you like my scripts, feel free to Flattr me!