Autodesk 663B1-05A111-1001 User Guide - Page 107

5 | Nodes and attributes How do I? > Change the order of nodes Change the order of nodes When Maya draws or renders the scene, it looks at each node in the scene in order and applies the node's effect (for example, creating an object or applying a rotation) to the scene. In certain limited situations, the order in which Maya evaluates nodes can affect the final result. To view the nodes in order • In Outliner (Window > Outliner), select Display > Sort Order > Scene Hierarchy. • In the Hypergraph (Window > Hypergraph), select Graph >Scene Hierarch and then Options > Layout > Automatic Layout. To change the order of nodes in the Outliner Drag a node with the middle mouse button and drop it between nodes. As you drag, Maya draws a single line to indicate that dropping the node results in reordering, or a double line (above and below the target) to indicate that dropping the node makes it a child of the target node. To change the order of nodes in the Hypergraph Hold Ctrl, drag a node with the middle mouse button, and drop it on the node you want it to precede in the order. Related topics ™ "Scene hierarchy" on page 87 ™ "The Outliner" on page 90 ™ "Outliner" on page 334 Organize nodes into logical groupings You can organize nodes within the dependency graph into logical node groupings using container nodes. A container node is a special type of node that lets you: • simplify the display of nodes related to a particular item in the scene. • assemble multiple nodes together for a special purpose. For example, container nodes can be used by a character rigger to allow a simplified subset of attributes on a character model to be used by an animator. The rigger would construct a container node and place within it all of the nodes that the animator would require to pose keyframe the model. The rigger would then create a reduced set of attributes on the container node and connect them to the appropriate attributes on the nodes they had placed within the container Basics 107