The Status Line

The Status Line contains shortcut icons to a lot of of the extra commonly used Maya tools.

Construction History allows you to undo operations. Every operation you perform on an object is added to its history. When you are happy with the current state of an object, you can remove its history by going to Edit _ Delete by Type _ History. The collection masks allow you to set node types to non-selectable. This can be very helpful if you have a dense scene and need to drag choose only specific object types. The snap tools allow you to snap the current object to the particular snap type: grid, curve, or point.

The Render existing Frame and IPR (Interactive Photorealistic Rendering) buttons on the Status Line will rapidly become two of the majority commonly used tools. These shortcuts will render the current frame based on the values set in the Render Globals into a fresh window.

The IPR has the added benefit of continually updating as you job. For instance, if you change a texture while the IPR is open, it will mechanically re-render the change.

The shelf tabs allow you to generate modified toolsets. The icons in the shelves are shortcuts to various tools. To insert a button to your shelf, press Ctrl _ Shift and click on the desired tool in the drop-down menus. A shortcut will show in your current shelf. If you change the shelves, remember to click the arrow on the left-hand side of the shelf bar and choose Save All Shelves.