How to Change Attribute Types in Maya

Maya is a professional 3D animation, visual effects and compositing application from AutoDesk. It has very advanced and detailed features which make it useful for big budget animation films. Attributes are a characteristics of an object in the scene. There are three types of attributes in Maya; static, dynamic and custom. Changing the attribute takes seconds to do. Customizing that attribute may take longer.

Instructions

1. Right-click on the object in Maya.

2. Click "Attributes."

3. Click on "Static" or "Dynamic" attributes. Clicking on one will bring up the menu for that attribute.

4. Change the static attributes. All objects have static attributes. These attributes exist as long as the object does. These atributes corrispond to the X, Y and Z coordinates of the object.

5. Change the dynamic attributes. You can select from five types of attributes from the dynamic attributes screen: "General," "Goal," "Opacity," "Color" an "Lifespan."

6. Click on "General" to add a "Custom" attribute. This is a widely customizable attribute and requires an advanced knowledge of the Maya platform.

References

• "Introducing Maya 2011"; Dariush Derakhshani; 2010
• "Mastering Autodesk Maya 2011"; Eric Keller, Todd Palamar and Anthony Honn; 2010
• "How to Cheat in Maya 2010: Tools and Techniques for the Maya Animator"; Eric Luhta; 2009