Drawing shapes¶
Three drawing tools, chosen by how exact the outline has to be.
| Tool | Input | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Freehand — A | A mouse drag, sampled and simplified | Fast, rough, near enough |
| Pen tool — N | Deliberate clicks and drags | An outline that has to be right |
| Vector to Picker | An SVG somebody already drew | Artwork that already exists |
Why three and not one
A freehand drag is sampled and thinned, so the result is never quite the gesture you made — which is exactly what you want when blocking, and exactly what you do not want when tracing a jaw line. The pen tool is slower per shape and gives you the shape you meant. The SVG importer skips drawing altogether when a designer has already done the work.
Freehand — A¶
Hold A and drag. One polygon, where you dragged.
Rounded corners¶
Any closed polygon of three or more vertices can take a corner radius. Two-point items are lines and circles, so the idea does not apply to them.
| Key | Radius |
|---|---|
| 1 | Off |
| 2 | 4 px |
| 3 | 8 px |
| 4 | 16 px |
Pen tool — N¶
Press N (or canvas menu → Pen Tool) and place anchors one at a time. It works the way a vector-drawing pen works.
| Gesture | Result |
|---|---|
| N | Arm the pen. Press again to put it away. |
| Click | Corner anchor — the edges either side stay straight |
| Click-drag | Smooth anchor. The drag vector is the out-tangent; the in-tangent mirrors it |
| Shift + drag | Broken anchor — only the out side follows, so the two sides of the corner can hold different curves |
| Click the first anchor | Close the outline and create the item. Drag on that click to shape the closing curve |
| Enter | Same, without having to hit the first anchor exactly |
| Backspace | Take back the last anchor |
| Esc | Drop the outline in progress; again, put the pen away |
| RMB | Finish, like Enter |
The window's own gestures keep working mid-outline — Alt + LMB to move the window, Alt + MMB to pan, Alt + RMB to zoom — so you can reframe halfway through a long outline without losing it.
Editing an existing shape¶
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
| P | Show or hide the vertex handles |
| Shift+H | Show or hide vertex index numbers |
| Drag a handle | Move that vertex |
| Double-click an edge | Insert a vertex there — only while handles are visible |
| Select handles + Del | Delete those vertices |
Double-clicking an item with handles off does something else entirely: it starts typing a label on the item. Press P first if you meant to add a vertex.
With handles visible, the alignment keys work on vertices rather than whole items: select three handles, press ++num-8++, and their tops line up. The same key aligns whole items when no handles are selected.
Curves and tangents¶
Any vertex can be a sharp corner or a smooth curve with two tangent handles.
| Do | Result |
|---|---|
| Right-click ▸ Shape ▸ Curve vertices | Curve the selected vertices — the whole shape when none are selected |
| Straighten vertices | Back to sharp corners |
| Smooth tangents | Weld each pair of tangents into one smooth curve |
| Break tangents | Let the two sides of a vertex hold different curves |
| Hold S and click a vertex | Toggle that one vertex between corner and curve |
| Shift + drag a tangent | Break the pair — that split is saved with the shape |
| Ctrl + drag a tangent | Weld a broken pair back together |
| MMB drag, with handles selected | Move the selected vertices from anywhere on the canvas; Shift keeps the drag on one axis |
Box-select works on handles too: handles inside the box turn gold even under other items, and tangent handles are picked up whether the box touches the tip or only the arm.
For a shape that must be symmetric, turn on Shape symmetry. For outlines that are easier to model than to draw, use Maya's own tools.
Holes and compound shapes¶
One item can be made of several closed rings — an outline with holes cut out of it. A control drawn as a ring, a mouth shape with the teeth cut out, a belt buckle.
| Command | Does |
|---|---|
| Shape ▸ Combine as holes | Folds every other selected item into the one you invoked it on, as holes |
| Shape ▸ Release holes | Hands each ring back as its own item again |
Draw the outline, draw the holes on top of it, select all of them, and combine. Corner radius is a property of the corner, so a hole's corners round off exactly like the outline's.
Both commands are on the item right-click menu in Edit mode.
Two-point items¶
Some shapes — circles and arrow lines — are defined by two handles rather
than a vertex list. Drag either handle to resize or reorient; there is no vertex
editing, no rounded corners, and no holes. The shape library's Circle and
Arrow line entries are the common way to get one.
Which tool for which job¶
-
Blocking a body picker
Ctrl+Shift+A for bound squares, then A for anything extra. Do not reach for the pen — you are deciding positions, not outlines.
-
A face board over concept art
Background image first, then the pen tool over the top of it, or Image to Picker to trace the drawing automatically and tidy up after.
-
A stylised character shape
Draw it in Illustrator or Inkscape and use Vector to Picker. One item per outline, curves and holes intact.
-
The same button eighty times
Draw it once, save it to the shape library, and place it from there. Consistency for free.