Change the display mode for objects

You can change the display mode that determines how Maya draws all geometric objects in a view panel.

These display modes are set per view panel, so you can display a different one in each panel. However, you can set the options in the Shading menu in one view panel as you like, then choose Shading > Apply Current to All to apply the settings from the current view panel to all other view panels.

To display objects as		Do this
Wireframe		Press 4 or Click the icon in the panel toolbar. or Choose Shading > Wireframe in the view panel.
Shaded		Press 5 or Click the icon in the panel toolbar. or Choose Shading > Smooth Shade All You can also choose Shading > Smooth Shade Selected Items to shade only selected objects.
Shaded with hardware-rendered textures		Press 6 or When Smooth Shade All is on: Click the icon in the panel toolbar or Choose Shading > Hardware Texturing
Wireframe on Shaded		When Smooth Shade All is on: Click the icon or Choose Shading > Wireframe on Shaded
Default material		When Smooth Shade All is on: Click the icon or Choose Shading > Use Default Material
X-ray mode		X-ray shading automatically displays objects with slight transparency to let you see and select things behind opaque surfaces. There are three X-ray display modes: All objects: click the icon or choose Shading > X-Ray Active components: click the icon or choose Shading > X-Ray Active Components Skeleton joints: click the icon or choose Shading > X-Ray Joints
Bounding box		Choose Shading > Bounding Box
Flat (faceted) shading		Choose Shading > Flat Shade All or Flat Shade Selected Items
Constant shading		Select Lighting > Use Flat Lighting. You can also turn on Shading > Wireframe on Shaded to see the geometry wireframe on the objects.

Related topics

• Tumble, track, dolly, or tilt the view
• Show or hide objects
• Change an object’s wireframe color