Modify menu

This menu is always available from the main menu bar, regardless of which menu set you choose.

Transformation Tools

Options in this submenu help you set the actions related to the transformation of scene objects.

For more information about the options in this submenu, see Transformation Tools Options.

Reset Transformation

Sets the transformations on the selected objects back to zero. This undoes any transformations since the object was created or the last “freeze”.

Use the options to control which types of transformations (Translate, Rotate, or Scale) are reset.

Freeze Transformations

Adjusts the current transformations on the selected object(s) to be at the object(s)’ zero position.

Tip: Perform a freeze transform before executing operations such as stitch, align, attach, sculpt, wire, and wrinkle; or delete history before doing a freeze.

Select Modify > Freeze Transformations > to set the Freeze Transformations Options.

Snap Align Objects

Options in this submenu help to snap objects together, align objects in space, and repositions a selection of objects evenly along a curve.

For more information about the options, see Snap Align Objects Options.

Align Tool

Lets you align objects visually by clicking icons representing the planes and positions you want to align.

Select the objects you want to align. The other objects align to the last selected (green) object.

Click an icon to align the objects. The icons show how the bounding boxes align. For example:
Use Edit > Undo or press z to reverse an align.

In the following example, the objects align to the far right of the cube outside the transparent box.

See also Align objects.

Snap Together Tool

Lets you visually pick the points on two objects to snap together.

Click a point on one object, then click a point on the second object. You can drag the selected points to edit them. Then press Enter to snap the points together. See also Snap one object to another.

Options in the Snap Together Tool are:

Move and rotate object(s) — As the tool snaps the points together, it rotates the moving object so the objects snap together along normals. This can help prevent the objects from intersecting.
Move object(s) only — The tool snaps the points together without rotating the moving object. The objects retain their orientation after the snap.
Snap to Polygon Face — Constrains the snap points to the centers of polygon faces.

Evaluate Nodes

The items in this submenu let you turn off evaluation of various animation and modeling nodes to improve performance. The effects of the nodes do not appear in the view panels until you turn them on again.

Make Live

Makes the selected surface live, letting you snap other objects and tools to its surface. Your live surface can be a polygon mesh, NURBS surface, or construction plane. Make Live also supports hidden surfaces. See Set a live surface and Snap to a live surface.

Tip: When Make Live is used with the Quad Draw Tool, you can create new topology that is snapped to a live surface. See Create polygons interactively with Quad Draw.

Center Pivot

Moves the pivot to the center of the object (based on its bounding box). See also Change the pivot point.

Prefix Hierarchy Names

Adds a prefix to the name of the selected parent object and all its children.

Select the parent.
Select Modify > Prefix Hierarchy Names.
Type a prefix and click OK.

Search and Replace Names

Searches node names for the string specified in Search For and replaces the named string with the string specified in Replace With.

You can choose to search a hierarchy, selected nodes, or all nodes. See also Change the name of one or more objects.

Add Attribute

Custom attributes are attributes you optionally add and define from the Add Attribute window. Although custom attributes are dynamically added to an object, we refer to them as custom to distinguish them from the built-in dynamic attributes.

Custom attributes have no direct effect on any characteristic of an object in Maya. You can use them to control a combination of other attributes. You might also use a custom attribute as a variable—a place to store a value temporarily to be read by other attributes.

When you add a custom attribute to an object, it appears in the Extra Attributes section of the Attribute Editor (and in the Channel Box, if you make the attribute keyable).

Select Modify > Add Attribute to set the Add Attribute Options.

See Create, edit, or delete custom attributes.

Edit Attribute

You can edit custom (or dynamic) attributes from either the Modify menu or from the Attribute Editor (Attributes > Edit Attributes).

Select Modify > Edit Attribute to set the Edit Attribute Options.

See Create, edit, or delete custom attributes.

Delete Attribute

You can delete custom attributes from the Modify menu or from the Attribute Editor (Attributes > Delete Attributes). You cannot delete built-in attributes.

Convert

Converts NURBS, Polygons, Curves, Paint effects, Fluids to Subdivs, Curves, Polygons, Objects, and so on. For more information this submenu options, see Convert submenu.

Replace Objects

Replaces one or more objects in the scene with a specified source object. Select the objects you want to replace as well as the object you want to use as the source object. The source object must be the last object in the selection.

Select Modify > Replace Objects > to set the Replace Objects Options.

Paint Scripts Tool

Lets you use the Paint Scripts Tool to paint MEL scripts.

For more information about painting scripts, see Overview of MEL script painting and Script paint.

For more information about Artisan brush tools, see How Artisan brush tools work.

Select Modify > Paint Scripts Tool > to set the http://beehive.autodesk.com/community/service/rest/cloudhelp/resource/cloudhelpchannel/guidcrossbook/jsonp?v=2015&p=MAYALT&l=ENU&guid=GUID-E6C55F41-EAC4-4F8D-896C-BED65A42079C.

Paint Attributes Tool

Lets you use the Paint Attributes Tool to paint MEL scripts. For more information, see Paint attributes. See also How Artisan brush tools work.