Using the Hypergraph
The Hypergraph is a picture of the nodes and their connections in Maya. A complex scene can
look like a very intricate web of these connections. When you really need to know how a network
of nodes is connected, the Hypergraph gives you the most detailed view. There are two
ways to view the Hypergraph, the hierarchy view and the connections view:
•u The hierarchy view shows the relationships between nodes as a tree structure.
•u The connections view shows how the nodes are connected as a web.
You can have more than one Hypergraph window open at the same time, but you are still
looking at the same scene with the same nodes and connections.
This short exercise gives you a sense of how you would typically use the Hypergraph:
1. Create a new Maya scene.
2. Create a polygon cube by choosing Create Polygon Primitives Cube.
3. You will be prompted to draw a polygon on the grid by dragging on the surface. Drag a
square on the grid, release the cursor, and then drag upward on the square to turn it into
a three-dimensional cube (see Figure€1.2). Release the mouse button to complete the cube.
At this point, feel free to make your own decisions about the size and position of the cube
on the grid.
4. Select the cube in the viewport, and choose Window Hypergraph Hierarchy to open
the Hypergraph in hierarchy mode. You’ll see a yellow rectangle on a black field labeled
pCube1. The rectangle turns gray when deselected.
look like a very intricate web of these connections. When you really need to know how a network
of nodes is connected, the Hypergraph gives you the most detailed view. There are two
ways to view the Hypergraph, the hierarchy view and the connections view:
•u The hierarchy view shows the relationships between nodes as a tree structure.
•u The connections view shows how the nodes are connected as a web.
You can have more than one Hypergraph window open at the same time, but you are still
looking at the same scene with the same nodes and connections.
This short exercise gives you a sense of how you would typically use the Hypergraph:
1. Create a new Maya scene.
2. Create a polygon cube by choosing Create Polygon Primitives Cube.
3. You will be prompted to draw a polygon on the grid by dragging on the surface. Drag a
square on the grid, release the cursor, and then drag upward on the square to turn it into
a three-dimensional cube (see Figure€1.2). Release the mouse button to complete the cube.
At this point, feel free to make your own decisions about the size and position of the cube
on the grid.
4. Select the cube in the viewport, and choose Window Hypergraph Hierarchy to open
the Hypergraph in hierarchy mode. You’ll see a yellow rectangle on a black field labeled
pCube1. The rectangle turns gray when deselected.
Figure€1.2
When Interactive
Creation is on,
Maya prompts you
to draw the object
on the grid in the
scene.
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